We went into Day 2 of Boot Camp in Miami with 60 acts
remaining. They were paired off and had to duet against one another. The singing
pairs had to pick the same song, and decide who sang what parts. Both singers could
advance. Only one could advance. Neither of them could advance. Ultimately we
didn’t get any results from this episode. Mostly we got a lot of people
forgetting their lyrics and breaking down. I mean a LOT of people.

First up: hyper irritating vocal coach Tara Simon and shy-girl-turned-blues-hoochieJenell Garcia. Tara and Jenell
picked “Landslide” – or rather, Tara picked it. Jenell
seemed more or less pushed into that song. I will say, I thought it was a smart
song for both of them, because it’s very different from what we’ve seen from
either contestant thus far. It’s much quieter and more restrained, and had the
potential to show off a totally different side. Jenell
struggled a bit with the low notes, but she was connected to the song. Tara
still oversang like a motherfucker, but when she actually
pulled back a bit there were some nice emotional moments. Simon thought it was
a terrible song choice for them, and said that neither one of them represented
themselves well. He picked up on the fact that Tara chose the song, which left Jenell with her “wings clipped.” I guess the judges don’t
want singers with range. They want to keep them in their easily checked boxes.
Good to know.

Beatrice Miller and Carly Rose Sonenclar,
13, did “Pumped Up Kicks,” which was a more mature
song than I think they should have gone with. I mean, there’s
lyrics about cigarettes. Come on. But they did well with it, especially
Carly, who is a phenomenon. Carly is the exception to my concerns about the
13-year-olds being in this competition. She’s incredible.

Older rock guys Vino
Alan and David Correy went with Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On.” Before
they started David made this stupid speech to the judges about how he looks at
them as the four roadblocks to his dreams. I’m sure he was going for earnest
and determined, but he’s coming off pathetic and desperate. He needs to quit it
with the begging and just sing. Because he IS good.
But I thought Vino worked better with that song – his deep, soulful voice just
really hit the pocket. Interestingly, Vino thought he blew it, and reacted very
negatively to it. Britney Spears said that Vino kind of scares her. I can see
that.

Diamond White,
13, was up against Dinah Jane Hansen,
16, for a very slowed down version of Kelly Clarkson’s
“Stronger.” (An aside: so many of the songs we saw last night were dreary,
sappy versions of upbeat pop songs. Is this show trying to bore us?) Dinah again
started much too low, and took too long to get warmed up – she also blew the
lyrics in the beginning. But once she opened up she was lovely. Diamond,
conversely, attacked the song from the beginning. I like Dinah’s voice better,
but Diamond has more star quality. But she is still a little girl aping older
artists’ moves, and that’s going to get very boring very quickly. She’s like
watching a doll come to life.

There were some quick clips of a couple of sing-offs that
the judges responded positively to, but honestly, I thought they were pretty
terrible. I sometimes wonder how different things must sound live than over the
TV.

There was a country showdown between Willie Jones and Tate Stevens to the 90’s r’n’b jam “Nobody Knows.” Willie TOTALLY
blew it. He completely forgot the lyrics, and beyond that, he didn’t use his
lower register, which is really what’s special about him. Tate didn’t sound
great on this, either. It was too slow and unengaging.
Willie admitted that he didn’t know the song, and the judges thought that Tate
hoodwinked him. I don’t think that’s fair. We saw no evidence of Willie getting
railroaded. What we saw was a guy not being able to remember lyrics and not
sing particularly strongly regardless. If Willie advances it’s a slap in the
face of everybody else who participated thus far. This is his second full-on
failure at Boot Camp. How many more chances do you give this kid?

Arin Ray, 16, and Normani Hamilton, 16, were given a fake showmance
angle, which always grosses me out. The two of them picked One Direction’s “You
Don’t Know You’re Beautiful.” I thought Normani was…fine. Not great, not bad, too stop-and-start
for my liking. Arin started out rough, and looked
like he was in pain when he sang. The high notes of the song were at the very,
very top of his range, but he got through it. I don’t think he’s nearly as
special as the judges seem to. I also continue to be put off by the fact that
he made the finals last year as part of a group, even though he original
started out as a solo artist. He’s operating at an unfair advantage here.

Jillian Jensen,
19, and Latasha Robinson, 27, did
“Why Don’t You Stay,” and Latasha cracked under the pressure and totally forgot
the lyrics. Jillian, to her credit, tried to give her the words, and then took
over the song very nicely. I really like Jillian’s voice, which has a mature
quality to it. But she has to figure out how to not contort her face into this
near tragedy mask whenever she sings. It’s very offputting.

Freddie Combs, the obese minister, and Jessie Bryant,
who I don’t remember seeing, BOTH forgot their lyrics in their duet. Cringe-worthy. And then we got a montage of act after act
blowing their words. When one girl broke down backstage, Britney got visibly
upset. She really is a delicate soul.

The big show was Cece Fray and Paige Thomas, who have been positioned
as arch rivals for episodes now. Honestly, I don’t feel like there’s any real
competition there – Cece’s a way better singer, but
Paige has a much better style. I had initially also given Paige the nod for
personality, but I’m already growing weary of all her crying and pleading that
this is what she was born to do. They did “Secrets” by One Republic. Paige
suggested that Cece bullied her into the song, Cece tried to make it sound like Paige’s idea. The song was
too low for Paige and she mumbled through the first verse, forgetting some of
her words. She was off pitch, and she did the already-tired crouch move. She told
the judges that she wants to win this because she’s tired of watching other
artists doing what she knows she can do. Really, Paige?
Then maybe you ought to start showing us, because three auditions in I am
seriously unimpressed with you vocally. Cece did a
much better job with the song, but it still was not a great song choice for
either one of them. And Paige really better step it up. The show keeps shoving
her down my throat, but thus far she’s a much better stylist than she is a
singer/performer.

Next week: we discover the 24 acts going through to Judges
Houses. Does that mean some of these children get to go live with Britney Spears?!
Cheetos for everyone!

This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2012.