American Idol

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Erica Nowak

Contestant #42497

Buffalo native Erica is obsessed with Steven Tyler. Like…really obsessed.

Once she got into the audition room, Erica said that Steven was her future ex-husband. Randy suggested that Steven give her a hug and Erica promised to keep her hands at her sides the entire time. Once Steven gave her a nice hug, Erica reached around and gave Steven a few firm squeezes right on his butt.

Erica sang Joss Stone's Super Duper Love but not well enough for a singing career…or singing in the shower, for that matter. Once she finished, Steven commented, "The best note you hit was when you grabbed my ###, you know that…'cause that was 'Whoo-ee!'" When it came time for Randy to give his opinion, Jennifer commented that he was jealous about the attention Steven got, so Erica came to him and, of course, gave him a nice firm squeeze on the butt too.

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Mawuena Kodjo

Contestant #40516

Mawuena Kodjo is from West Africa (though his official card lists Nashville, TN as his residence) and speaks English with a distinctive African accent. He watched Idol Season 10 and said that Scotty McCreery should win…and he did. So right there is basically all the credentials you need to win American Idol, right?

As Mawuena sang Rascal Flatts' I Won't Let Go, his accent got heavier and any sense of tone or pitch left the room. Steven made another basketball reference and Randy was almost left speechless, but eventually was able to tell Mawuena that he was terrible.

Mawuena told the judges that he could prove them wrong, so Randy challenged him to find some people to argue with Randy. Ryan took Mawuena out on the street to sing and find some people who would argue with Randy about him being terrible and finally found some young girls (probably around 7 years old) and an older man in a plaid shirt who were willing to take up the cause. They returned and told the judges but Randy wouldn't hear it and stood his ground.

Don't worry — Mawuena still wasn't dejected. He left determined to become the world's first African country music superstar. I'm not sure if he's aware that he has to go up against other African country music superstars such as Gazi 'Dusty' Simelane or even these three random people singing Lady Antebellum's Need You Now who, even though they are amateurs, may still edge our Mawuena. Sorry!

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Shaun Kraisman

Contestant #49183

Shaun dressed as a host for his audition and he had the skills to back that look up, or at least an impersonation of the skills to back that look up. People tell Shaun that he looks a lot like Ryan Seacrest…and when he's trying, he can sound a lot like Ryan, too. Shaun did some impressive impersonations of Ryan's common lines such as "THIS…is American Idol", "I'm Ryan Seacrest", and "The results are in — dim the lights".

Shaun sang Oh Girl by the Chi-Lites and while they liked the personality he brought to the stage, they didn't care for the singing.

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Jessica Whitely

Contestant #840

Jessica has been singing since she was ten and had a very positive attitude coming into the audition room. At 19, she had sang the national anthem and participated in talent shows for many years.

For her audition, Jessica sang Charice's In This Song. Unfortunately, she shouted out the words as loudly as she could, almost in a Muppet-like manner.

When Jessica finished her song, Randy gave her a slightly disgusted look, Jennifer shook her head, and Steven was in a world of his own, possibly humming the actual tune to himself. Finally, Randy broke the silence with one word: "Awful." Steven came up with a confusing basketball analogy about Jessica having the ball and going in to shoot but not making the basket…?

After getting her official "No" vote from the judges, Jessica kept a positive attitude and happily said, "I'll see you in Texas, then," before walking out. Once she was gone the judges realized what she had said and wondered if they could keep her from wasting her time at yet another Season 11 audition. Outside the audition room, Jessica said, "You guys are gonna see me in Texas, so get ready. I'm coming back!"

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David Leathers, Jr

Contestant #45585

Seventeen-year-old David Leathers, Jr. is a self-proclaimed ladies man. In fact, he says his nickname is "Mr. Steal Your Girl". We see David talking to an older girl (Fatia) and he hands his phone over to her so she can punch in her phone number in his contacts list.

David also revealed that in 2009 he was in a local competition with Scotty McCreery and claims to have won. Seacrest tries to clarify whether he beat Scotty or not and David has a big grin and replies with a vague, "You could say that," leading us to wonder if he's lying about winning and whether he has any singing talent at all.

In his audition David sang Remember the Rain? by Century 21. The judges enjoy his singing and he reminds them so much of a young Michael Jackson that they ask him to sing a Jackson song. David obliges by singing Never Can Say Goodbye.

The judges passed David on to Hollywood by simultaneously yelling "YES!"

Want to see more of David Leathers, Jr.? Well, you won't have to wait for the Hollywood episode — you can check out David's YouTube channel for seven videos!

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Chelsee Oaks and Rob Bolin

Contestants #246 & #2247

The day they met, Rob asked Chelsee onto the stage to sing with him. From there, they continued their career together and moved in together, but since then the couple has split. Rob mentioned that they had continued to live together after they had broke up. Ryan asked Chelsee if she dated people while the two were still living together and she admitted she had. Ryan's response was to give Rob a hug and tell Chelsee: "That's so uncool!" Ryan later asked them, "Are you friends?" to which Rob replied, "Uhh, at this point, not really but it'll . . . in time it'll work out."

After they went into the audition room, Ryan asked Chelsee's current boyfriend, Josh McClintock, if he was the reason for the breakup. Josh clarified that he didn't cause the breakup and that he didn't know Rob before and didn't really know him now.

In the audition room, Jennifer quickly jumped on the topic, calling herself a hopeless romantic and trying to find out if there was any way they might get back together. She even tried to enlist Steven's help. Together, the pair sang The Bee Gees' To Love Somebody and the judges couldn't stand how well they sang that romantic song together. Steven started talking about how the deepest passion comes from friction and that he could see how in love they were.

The two then sang separately for their own auditions: Rob sang Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Chelsee came up and sang Brandi Carlile's The Story. The judges commented that they sang beautifully both separately and together. They were both passed through to Hollywood. After they left, Jennifer whispered that they were going to get back together.

The two came out and Chelsee was greeted by her throng of relatives (and boyfriend) while Rob had Ryan's hand to shake. After a moment, Ryan goaded Josh into congratulating his girlfriend's ex on his success as well. Yes, I can imagine how thrilled he was to know that his GF was heading to Hollywood with her ex without him.

Once the group left, Ryan heaved a sigh of relief and sent the show to break.

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Christine McCaffrey

Contestant #1167

From the moment we first heard Christine's voice on her pre-audition interview, it was clear that we would probably be in for a treat on this audition. One way to describe it to those who haven't heard is to imagine a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Mickey Mouse.

Christine started "singing" as soon as she entered the audition room . . . except she wasn't singing words. Instead, she started making sounds that were apparently supposed to sound like the "So, oh oh oh oh" portions from the middle of Mariah Carey's Obsessed. After a bit, she switched to a high-pitched, shrill sounds.

After that introduction, Christine started talking, prompting Randy to ask her if she did cartoon voice overs. She said she didn't know (?) and Jennifer suggested that she should do that.

Christine sang Lee Ann Womack's I Hope You Dance (though she said "I Hope You Can Dance"). Steven started "I'm going to say 'No'." and Christine responded confusingly with, "Awesome!" Her response was more clear when she went out and told her mom, "I did my best and I got one 'Yes' and two 'No's." Ryan looked more perplexed than we have ever seen him on the show and asked, "You did? A 'Yes' to what?" Christine said, "He said I had a good voice for American Idol." Ryan could only respond with, "OK . . . I missed that scene."

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