‘American Idol’: Season 11 Premieres With Siblings, Country Singers And Swag

And we’re back! After the inaugural seasons of both The Voice and The X Factor, we’ve returned to the Original Don of singing reality competitions! (Shut up, Star Search, no one remembers you.) As pointed out to us at the very start of the episode, contestants this season have had American Idol in their lives since age 6 – that’s two thirds of their entire lives. For them, there basically was never a time when American Idol wasn’t on the air. (Scary, huh? Feeling old yet?) For me, American Idol premiered as I was preparing to graduate high school, not knowing where my life would take me… and it led me to a job where I blog regularly about American Idol. Funny how those things work out.

For the Season 11 premiere, the show flew down to Savannah, Georgia to seek out some talent. And, lo and behold, there actually was some!

Before we get to the five most promising contestants of the night, let’s talk about the panel. It’s Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler’s second year on the show, and many of our problems with their style of “judging” from last season still hold true — they’re too coddling, they appear afraid of telling contestants the hard truth, they take too many chances on just-okay singers. (We thought we told you not to do that anymore!)

But we’re happy to report that there’s at least a little bit of actual judging in place for Season 11. The otherwise likeable Jessica Whitley sounded like a tone-deaf Shakira, and Randy couldn’t even hide his disgust, calling it “awful” while Steven used some basketball metaphor to describe why they’re passing on her. (Jessica threatens that she’ll be back in Texas – can’t wait!) And when Stephanie Renae became the sole person on Earth who would choose to sing Season 4’scoronation song “Inside Your Heaven”, the judges told her to open her mouth more so her vocals wouldn’t sound so nasal. Actual advice! Wow! (Though if they really wanted to give her a tip, it would be to avoid that song altogether.)

The 5 People To Watch from the Savannah auditions:

David Leathers, 17. If you thought Justin Bieber looked young for his age, David must be suffering from Benjamin Button disease, because he looks all of 11-years-old. David’s nickname is “Mr. Steal Your Girl” (“When I sing, all the girls are like, ‘David, I love you!'” he explains) and, coincidentally, was in talent show with Scotty McCreery a few years back… and he finished first, with Scotty coming in second.  David is confident, and he’s definitely got swag. His arrogance might will definitely be a problem in the future, but he’ll be an interesting one to watch.

Amy Brunfield, 24. Amy from Tennessee lives in a tent in the woods with her boyfriend and dog. Seriously – the Blair Witch has better accommodation than Amy. She sings Alicia Keys’ “Superwoman”, and though it doesn’t wow us, we’re feeling charitable enough to want this poor gal to get a free trip to Hollywood. And hey, Jewel once lived in a van, so you never know!

Lauren Mink, 25. This blonde-haired natural beauty sang Gywenth Paltrow’s “Country Strong” better than Gywneth ever could. I really like her, and I hate that I do, because the last thing I want is another country singer to win this thing. But here she is!

Schyler, 16 and Colton Dixon, 19. First utterance of the phrase “In it to win it” wasn’t by Randy, shockingly, but was from Schyler Dixon. Schyler auditioned with her brother Colton during Season 10, but this year he was sitting this one out… until the judges practically beg him to audition. (You’d think, since he didn’t really get that far in the competition last year, why are they going so gaga over him now?) Anyway, we love us some sibling rivalries and family drama, so we’ll be keeping our eyes on these two. (And yes, we know including both Dixons makes this list actually Six People To Watch, but as far as we’re concerned, they count as one person until one inevitably gets voted off before the other one.)

Philip Phillips, 20. The man so nice, they named him twice. If you’re looking for a non-threatening young man who plays the guitar to swoon over this season, here you go. After performing a jolting rendition of “Superstitious”, he picked up his guitar and turned Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on its head. We’re sold.

What did you think of American Idol‘s 11th Season premiere? Which contestant impressed you the most? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.