Nonetheless, we see his Norman Gentle character take the stage in that same costume, red sweatbands and all. As he took the stage, he introduced himself with, "All right, time for some honesty. I'm here to have some fun. I'm Norman Gentle. I am 27 years old. I'm from Stratton, Vermont and I am gonna rock it." Norman then pulled out a pitch pipe and played it off-key.

Norman then broke into Jennifer Hudson's And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, except he changed the lyrics to sing about himself and he gave a shout-out to the balcony and to Seacrest to sing along:

I'm the best man you'll ever know
there's no way I could ever, ever go
Darling there's no way
no no no no no no no
no way I'm living without you
BALCONY!
I don't want want to be free
SEACREST!
I'm staying. I am
I am staying
And you and you and you and please you
Please won't you love me

Randy started with, "So listen, this is the funny thing about you, man. You are hilarious, dude. You are like banoodles kind of a guy but you know what? You actually can sing. You've got some skills in there, dawg!"

Simon, of course, chimed in by saying that "without the glasses and the silly haircut, [he's] just a boring person" and that when he puts on the costume he's a "joke".

Paula said it would be interesting to hear Nick sing a song "all stripped down". With a guy like Nick, you know you can't get away with a comment like that without a stripping joke. So as Nick started unbuttoning his shirt, Paula quickly said, "No, I don't mean you strip. That's OK. Nick, Norman, Nick, Norman." She also noted that she would like to hear him sing without all the silliness.

We're not sure what Kara had to say about Nick, but it seems that at least Randy and Paula agreed to pass Nick onto the next round because he was accepted!

Offstage, Nick told Ryan that he was going to retire the costume on American Idol, so we'll see what happens.

Nick Mitchell, you've got the combination that Idle Idols has been waiting years for: A quality singing voice with a great, comical act!

Read about Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell's original audition.

Nick Mitchell, a.k.a. Norman Gentle, was dressed in a pretty crazy fashion: A bright red headband and matching wristbands, big glasses, a gaudy shirt, and khaki shorts. He ran into the audition room, jumped onto the stage, struck a pose, and shouted, "American Idol!"

Simon said that he didn't want Norman to be funny, but he just wanted Norman to be serious. Norman said, "OK then, it's done" and quickly transformed into Nick by removing the headband, wristbands, and glasses.

Nick sang Jennifer Hudson's And I Am Telling You in a serious manner, but certainly not up to Idol standards. Simon cracked a joke, thereby forcing Nick to revert back into Norman, and consequently kicking off the following banter:

Simon: Norman, you told me you weren't going to make this funny.
Norman: Oh! You hurt me where you get kicked sometimes. That was very hard!
Simon: I'd have thought you'd quite like that.
Norman: You mean the way you like it when Seacrest does it?
[All the judges yell "Whoa!"]
Norman: Whatcha say now, Simon?!?
Simon: That was funny! That was actually funny.

Simon said that Norman was becoming more likable, but that they weren't looking for "a ghastly cabaret comedy singer". Norman got a chair and did his best to belt out Amazing Grace. While he sang, Simon kept warning him not to pull faces, but Norman eventually slipped one in and Simon started yapping about his faces. Norman yelled in a shrill voice, "It's addictive!" and the judges started cracking up.

Paula said she loved him and Kara said it was the first time she had been entertained all day. Norman promised he wouldn't beg and then immediately screamed "[BLEEP] PLEASE!", and fell on the floor, prostrate. Paula gave Norman a "Yes" and Simon immediately retorted with "a categorical 'No'". Kara convinced Randy to give Norman a "Yes", so we'll be seeing him again in Hollywood!

Read about the rest of Norman Gentle's American Idol run.