Hot Fashion Models, Fashion Models News, Catwalk Queens Poses, Fashion Models Folios

This has generally been a feel-good season for “American Idol,” with Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell offering helpful advice as often as biting criticism from their perches behind the judges’ table.

From the first auditioner in Miami, it was obvious that this city would be different, and it’s possible that the culprit wasn’t the lack of talent, but the proliferation of nighttime entertainment.

Shannon MacGough began the day singing “Cry Baby,” by Janis Joplin.

The 18-year-old seemed to have a lot going in her favor, like a camera-friendly job working for her parents in their meat market and a copious amount of background footage that aired before she sang. But right after she finished, Simon laid down the hammer.

“I had a late night and I’m not feeling great anyway, and you just made it a lot worse,” he said.

That was a sign of what was to follow, as a lot of Miami hopefuls got an extra-large dose of sarcasm from the judges.

Rejects run the gamut
Ben Hausbach had the best lyric switch, singing his own version of Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” where “I remember when rock was young, me and Paula had so much fun.” She wasn’t impressed, and he got the boot.

Richard Valles sang a little Rascal Flatts, but his rendition of “Bless the Broken Road” was cringe-worthy. Randy tried to imitate the nasally sound, then gave up and sent him away.

Grant Rhea’s voice was a little to high for Simon’s taste. “I’m tempted to say come back in a dress,” the judge said, overcoming his temptation as he did so. Not surprisingly, Rhea got denied as well.

Brandon Black provided the humorous badness, doing a weird comedy/singing routine that ended the Miami auditions and saw the judges walk out while he was still finishing up his performance. “The audition was verging on desperation, from the weird wig, the horrible dialogue you used, the terrible singing...” Simon said, before running out of words entirely.

But Julie Dubela had the rudest awakening, perhaps because she labors under the impression that “American Juniors” is remembered fondly by the “Idol” faithful. She made the top 20 in the short-lived and unsuccessful spinoff four years ago, and now that she’s 16 she figured she would come back and wow the judges again. “I can take what I’ve learned from that and use it now to my advantage,” she said.

The judges weren’t impressed with the resume, although they were straight-faced enough with their criticism to fool her. “That was a very interesting show,” Randy remembered. Simon said he wore out the DVDs of all the episodes because “I just love hearing kids that age sing!”