It’s A No From Me
American Idol has been a television institution for over two decades. It is so beloved that it was canceled and then revived. It makes stars. However, sometimes we love it not for how good people are but for how bad.
Keith Beukelaer
Keith Beukelaer started his audition with relatability. He stated that he was nervous to be performing in front of Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. Most of us would be, too. However, most of us also wouldn’t do what came next.
Keith Beukelaer
Keith was convinced that he was interesting and unique. He was certainly both of those things. However, his audition, which included two songs, was not good. Later, Beukelaer claimed to appreciate Cowell's honesty, but at the time he told them to “kiss his butt”.
Leroy Wells
Leroy Wells made his attempt at fame in the fourth season of American Idol. He certainly had the passion and the energy. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the skills to back it up.
Leroy Wells
Wells danced his way through James Brown’s “I Feel Good”. He even got Randy and Paula up on their feet. However, he couldn’t win a golden ticket. This time, nor the second time he tried.
Rhonetta Johnson
Rhonetta Johnson had big beliefs. She told audiences that she would be bigger than legends like Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and Janet Jackson. However, her audition didn’t quite live up to the hype.
Rhonetta Johnson
According to Simon Cowell, Johnson’s chances of getting on idol were “absolutely never”. She may have been forgotten if this hadn’t prompted a long rant filled with profanity about how Paula and Simon didn’t know what they were missing.
Ian Benardo
Ian Bernardo felt that he had something going for him and was destined for greater things. Before auditioning for season 6 of American Idol, he gave So You Think You Can Dance a try—and failed. He couldn’t dance, but maybe singing would be his thing!
Ian Benardo
Unfortunately, Benardo failed to convince the judges that he was the one-of-a-kind talent that he so clearly thought he was supposed to be. He did make an impression by diving into a rant that called Cowell’s work visa into question. So, perhaps, he’ll still be a household name yet.
Martik Manoukian
One of the things that American Idol invites its contests to do, should they choose, is to sing their original music. For some contestants, this gives them an early edge against the other singers. Other times, they miss the mark. Manoukian was fairly wide off target.
Martik Manoukian
Manoukian performed his audition under his stage name “Eccentric”. His singing, dancing, and original song “Sweet Princess” certainly fit the word. Manoukian and his “panther spirit” weren’t good but they were fun.
Steve Thoen
Steve Thoen took an interesting approach to his audition. He admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the show. However, he had a secret weapon that he was sure was going to help him: His red hair.
Steve Thoen
Theon believed that his red hair would give him the edge. He also believed that his talent was equivalent to the late great Freddie Mercury. His attempt to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody” did not meet that claim, nor did his red hair save him.
Nick Zitzmann
Nick Zitzmann was a confident guitarist when he entered the American Idol audition stage. His coworkers supported him to go… though only based on his instrumental work. He was confident that his singing would stand up to judgment.
Nick Zitzmann
His loud and off-key rendition goes on so long one wonders why the judges didn’t stop him sooner. The judges ripped into him, leading to an awkward post-audition interview in which Zitzman feared he may scare himself if he watched it.
James Lewis
James Lewis certainly looked the part. Dressed in a nice suit, he was ready to step into his star role. Unfortunately, what came out of his mouth was not nearly as dapper as how he looked.
James Lewis
Lewis sang “Go Down Moses”. The judges fell apart almost immediately, with both Randy and Paula struggling not to laugh. They apologized afterward. However, Lewis was not going to be a star.
General Larry Platt
General Larry Platt was never going to be our next American Idol. He was 30 years past the maximum age cut-off for the competition. However, he endeared himself to our hearts anyway.
General Larry Platt
Platt performed an original song that expressed his frustration with modern fashion. His song was titled “Pants on the Ground”. He was so beloved he, along with William Hung, appeared for a reprisal in the season’s finale.
Trista Giese
Trista Giese had a unique talent that she wanted to show off. She did an interesting impression of the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. It was a party trick that perhaps needed to stay out of her audition.
Trista Giese
Giese performed an unusual song, breaking into her bizarre tongue-rolling ‘roar’ several times in the middle of her song. Her enthusiasm was real. Her talent was not.
Isadora Furman
As with the majority of the names we’ve already mentioned, Isadora Furman auditioned during season 6. Furman had beliefs that she was comparable to Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin. The judges did not agree.
Isadora Furman
Furman was a palm-reading clairvoyant. However, she couldn’t see the future very well if she felt her rendition of “Lady Marmalade” was going to get her anything but arrested. She told the judges her singing sometimes does.
Renaldo Lapuz
Renaldo Lapuz was no singing talent. However, he had an infectious personality that won over the hearts of the judges and audiences, even if it didn’t get him a golden ticket.
Renaldo Lapuz
Lapuz entered his audition in an outlandish outfit, complete with a winged hat and cape. His original song, “I Am Your Brother”, was not good. However, it was catchy. His audition ended in a sing-a-long, and he even got a hug from Simon Cowell.
Derek Stillings
Derek Stillings may be credited with inventing the genre of horrible but entertaining American Idol auditions. He auditioned in season 1 of the show in New York. He was full of hope about his talent.
Derek Stillings
Unfortunately, Stillings may have had hope about his talent, but he didn’t have said talent to back it up. Paula Abdul could not stop herself from laughing during the audition, and Cowell claimed him to be “the worst singer in America”.
Douglas Davidson
If you can say anything about Douglas Davidson’s audition from season 7, it’s that Davidson was not interested in hearing from anyone. He initially performed a horrid rendition of “Livin’ on a Prayer”, but the audition didn’t stop there.
Douglas Davidson
When the judges began to express their dismissal of him, Davidson decided that they just hadn’t heard enough. He started to sing other songs, going through vocal warm-ups without any prompting from the judges. He ultimately had to be escorted out by security, still singing the entire time.
Mary Roach
Like many people before her, Mary Roach believed that she was about to make her dreams come true when she came to American Idol. Unfortunately, her rendition of “I Feel the Earth Move” was not just bad—it was almost incomprehensible.
Mary Roach
The judges were stunned. Silence ran out as they didn’t know what to say; when they did find words, they were far from polite. They implied that Roach may be mentally unstable. With this insult in mind, it’s somewhat unsurprising Roach left the room to go on a memorable screaming rant as she held back tears.
Jennifer Chapton
Jennifer Chapton made her mark initially by claiming to call herself “The Hotness”. She entered her audition full of confidence, stating that she had a “large vocal range”. The reality of her claim was a little different.
Jennifer Chapton
Chapton performed “Tenderoni” with uncomfortable moaning and vocal fraying spread throughout the performance. It’s not surprising that Chapton did not get the chance to go past the first round of the competition.
Lamar Royal
Lamar Royal was calm and collected before his audition. He spoke eloquently and presented himself in the stable manner that most views took to mean that someone with talent was about to come onto their screen. This wasn’t the case.
Lamar Royal
When Royal stepped into the audition room, all of the expectations that the audience had made about him went out the window. Royal practically screamed his way through “Kiss from a Rose”. He did not make it.
Kenneth Briggs
At the age of 23, Kenneth Briggs had nothing but confidence in his voice and his future success. When he entered the audition room, he went as far as to promise Simon that he was going to make his jaw drop. If Simon’s jaw did drop, it was for a different reason.
Kenneth Briggs
Briggs didn’t know how to sing. He was out of tune. His performance was the sort that hurt eardrums. He would not be making anyone’s jaw drop with talent any time soon.
Stefanie Sugarman
Stefanie Sugarman was charming and energetic. She was the sort of woman who gave you the impression she hadn’t heard “no” many times in her life. Which may be why her audition came as a shock.
Stefanie Sugarman
Sugarman performed with energy; she accompanied her singing with dance moves… and she didn’t win anyone over. She also expected to be allowed to go back into the audition room for a second chance. Sorry, Stef, that’s not how this works.
Sarah Goldberg
Sarah Goldberg was… interesting. She fully admitted that she couldn’t sing. She had been made fun of her entire life for the fact. Yet, she thought that she should be let onto American Idol anyway.
Sarah Goldberg
Goldberg seemed to think that if the judges let her through, they would spend the time and energy to teach her to sing and then compete against world-class singers. She even begged the judges for it. Despite her cringe-worthy display, she did not make it to Hollywood.
Tamika Bush
The truth is that Tamika Bush wasn’t a bad singer. She just wasn’t a great singer—and she couldn’t handle the critique that came along with that.
Tamika Bush
After being given one small piece of constructive criticism (leaps and bounds away from some of the truly rude things the judges have said to others), Bush flew off the handle. Her post-audition rant was so juicy, that the show even used it as the “Stay tuned” hook following the ad break.
Koby
Koby was an interesting case. Her lead-in package was filled with her history in musical theater. She was even currently performing in The Producers when that season went to air. It seemed that she was surely a shoo-in. Then came her actual audition.
Koby
Koby’s audition wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t good—her voice didn’t fit American Idol. Then, like many after her, once the judges gave her some criticism, she flew into a rage, demanding that she be given a golden ticket to Hollywood. That’s a no from me.
Anastacia Freeman
Anastacia Freeman had an emotional pre-audition package. In the early stages of her brief stint on American Idol, she had won the audience’s hearts over. However, things went downhill once she got into the audition room.
Anastacia Freeman
Freeman’s singing voice was weak at best. Then things start to go downhill once she accused the judges of laughing at her. They said no, though their refusal of her going to Hollywood was a bit rude.
William Hung
No one is more famous for a delightfully awful audition than William Hung and his iconic rendition of Ricky Martin. If you are unfamiliar with the audition, Hung sang a heartful rendition of “She Bangs” that didn’t hit the mark.
William Hung
No one can deny that Hung sang from the heart, even if he didn’t sing with skill. His poor audition made him a YouTube legend, and he did profit off of that for several years before settling on a more mundane job in the LA sheriff’s department.
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