Season 4 Finalist Surprised by Daughter’s Audition

The night opened with a huge surprise for one “Idol” hopeful’s mom, who thought she was getting a spa day. Instead, she was brought to her daughter’s “Idol” audition. On top of that, it was a reunion for her with Ryan Seacrest.

That’s because Mom is Nadia Turner, who sang her way all the way to the Top 8 back in Season 4. Now, her daughter is 21 years old and ready to take her shot at fame. It couldn’t have been a sweeter surprise for Nadia, and for Ryan and the show, too.

In this season of nostalgia, we got a contestant inspired by Phillip Phillips to follow in his footsteps, and another shocking inspired by William Hung, who hoped to go much further than William did.

As a fun bonus, which had us really hoping tonight’s hopefuls were going to rock out — this is the Sunset Strip, after all, birthplace of many a rock star — Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe was on hand to shock and surprise a few hopefuls and usher in the judges with a rocking guitar solo.

Unfortunately, no one rocked our socks off, which is a huge disappointment. We know rock isn’t the dominant genre it used to be, but surely there are still aficionados out there? Where’s Casey Bishop when we need her? “Idol” has seen some great rock talent through its doors, and we need that energy and diversity of sound!

Even without rock, though, we had a night of absolutely incredible vocal performances. One hit us with a voice so effortlessly beautiful, we couldn’t help but remember Willie Spence and Fantasia and Adam Lambert and Jennifer Hudson all those incredible talents for whom it came so easy and they didn’t even know what they had.

There’s only one night of auditions left, coming sooner than later as “American Idol” expands to include Monday nights starting this week. But with the talent on this night alone, we’re already excited about the next stage and beyond!

Fair warning, since I’m safe at home, I’m probably going to be a little harsher than my colleagues Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. But I might be nicer, too. Maybe.

And just for fun, I’m going to rank the performances from worst to first in each round to see who my favorites are, and then see how they fare as the season progresses.

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(“Vincent,” Don McLean – 27, Dunwoody, GA) She has a great look, came in with a lot of confidence and a fun personality. But then, when she took over singing Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” all of the air went out of our lungs. We’d been holding our breath hoping she would leave us that way, but instead, we were deflated. It was just not good at all. We only got a few seconds, but that was plenty.

Results: N, N, N

(“I’m With You,” Avril Lavigne – 20, Roseville, CA) Honestly, we’re not sure if this was terrible or great — or maybe a bit of both at the same time. It was definitely over-the-top to a terrifying degree. She was able to hit notes through most of it, though we’re not sure what’s happening when she goes Disney Princess. It was definitely a Broadway-style vocal, performing to the back of the room and way, way too much emotion. It reminded us of the way kids who can’t really act try really hard to show angst and fear and anger. It’s all very cute but also very DIsney Channel and Nickelodeon. If she’s able to rein all that in, she might be a good singer, but we can’t tell from all of that.

Results: N, N, N

(“Chain of Fools,” Aretha Franklin – 24, Denver, CO) Thomas must have had about a dozen energy drinks before coming into the audition room … and before sitting down for an interview … and probably from the moment he woke up. He was two tons of energy in a man-sized body and it was a lot! If he’d have been able to back it up with killer vocals, it might have been worth all the time he wastes just being all over the place all the time. It was impossible to get him to focus for one second on anything at any point … and that clearly included creating a good vocal performance.

But then, he slipped into Leon Bridges’ “River” and after being urged by the judges to take this seriously, it’s as if a switch was flipped and a whole other personality emerged. This one had an actual singing voice, knew the notes, held a sweet vibrato and actually had a nice quality to his intonation. Seriously, we heard none of that on his lounge singer disaster of a performance on Aretha. Was that some weird bizarre character piece he was doing? There was even a gentleness and subtlety to this performance we’d have never thought him capable of. Katy connected with his “a lot”-ness, and it worked on Lionel, who switched his perception to give him a chance.

Results: Y, Y, N

(“Before You Go,” Lewis Capaldi – 21, Tyler, TX) Ten years later, everything about Phillip Phillips inspired Fritz into his path of music. He plays guitar like him and even rocked a very similar style to his audition. To make the experience even better, we love that they got him a shout-out from the Season 11 winner. And yet, he had a totally different sound.

There is a pureness and smoothness to Fritz’s voice that was perfect for this Lewis Capaldi song. It’s a hard song to cover because of the way it starts low with a rapid syncopated rhythm that can be overwhelming if you don’t nail it just precisely. Fritz was all over it, and you could hear hints of his talent, but those broke free when he did and really went for it. He even added a little more run, but his money is that natural cry in his voice that was very compelling.

Results: Y, Y, N

(“The Climb,” Miley Cyrus – 23, Cedar Rapids, IA) There were a lot of nerves in this audition, and you could hear them creeping in when her voice trembled a bit on the first few bars. As she started to climb — natch — toward the chorus, though, and got more into her full chest voice, she was far more confident. She hit notes with such conviction she didn’t even need a vibrato to make sure she landed on it. You could hear that country accent shining through, but it was actually sweet. She’s got a lot of raw talent, but she’s definitely raw. If she’s coachable and can manage through a pregnancy (five months along at this point), then she might be able to really find herself as a singer on this journey

The judges were on the fence, hearing those same amateur singer tendencies, so they urged her to really fight on Adele’s “One and Only.” She came through in a whole different way, with a lot of character and power in her voice that we didn’t hear the first time around. This song is a far better fit for who she could be. We loved that she could belt it and then pull it back, perfectly accentuating the emotional tone of the song and the line. She’s got a natural gift for interpretation on top of a lot of raw talent.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“The Dance,” Garth Brooks – 24, Chesapeake, VA) Fan first broke out on TikTok, which gave him the confidence to start performing live — just five or six months before this audition! You could hear and see Dan’s nerves, as he hurried up ahead of the beat a few times, and looked to the left and right of the judges while he performed. This is someone who’s still coming to grips with his talent, and he definitely has plenty of that. It was almost a mimic of the way Garth performs the song at times, but there were enough lines that sounded like Dan that we heard him through it. He has a very sweet tone and plenty of raw talent in there. If he can find his own identity as a country artist, the talent is there to back it up.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“Give You Blue,” Allen Stone – 19, Nashville, TN) Elli didn’t really have to do all that much to win the judges over. She practically had them when she walked in with a vibe that was just cool and chill. She was almost jazzy in how she took on this song, with various riffs and a free-flowing sense of fun, without losing the track at all. Elli is just a natural. There wasn’t a lot of power, but there was effortless, note-perfect control of her instrument, which allowed for that joyous playfulness that got everyone’s attention. Sometimes you don’t need all those tricks, but strategically deployed, they can be so magical. We agree that it would be nice to see her push herself to see what more she has in there.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“Bust the Windows,” Jazmine Sullivan  – 21, Los Angeles, CA) If you didn’t feel old enough already, those of us who’ve been with the show since the beginning, this is 2005 contestant Nadia Turner’s daughter, who was just four years old when her mom competed. Nadia made it to Top 8 on Season 4, but Nadia has no idea her daughter is auditioning for “Idol.” Za even got Ryan looped into tricking this former contestant, with Za even wearing her mom’s audition top for luck. It’s just so sweet we almost can’t stand it.

Nadia and Ryan stayed in the room for the audition, and it was clear mom was powerfully moved and so proud of her daughter for taking this chance on herself. And Za delivered, after all that hype and those incredible genes, offering up a great vocal performance with hints of sass and nuance. She not only has a nice voice, she knows how to sell you attitude, which means she can handle more complex emotions in her singing — no easy feat.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“[Untitled],” Sam Moss – 25, Winterset, IA) We’ve seen it play out this season, and again tonight, where Katy had more hope and belief in the contestants than her fellow judges — including Aretha Franklin’s granddaughter Grace. She felt so strongly about Sam Moss, along with Grace and Lydia Samuel, that she got their names on a t-shirt to torment her compatriots for letting her go. So it was a big surprise for her when Sam returned a month after her original Austin audition for her “redemption story.”

Sam felt that she didn’t fully show herself in that first audition, but was surprised by her own nerves. This time around, she went with an original, and immediately you could feel every lyric as she presented it. There was so much ache and pain and suffering in those words it had us thinking of Adele when she breaks our heart and we come back for more. Sam is still a little raw, but her natural range is so rich with texture that we can forgive when she strains a bit to reach higher because that authenticity is so beautiful. We’re glade she came back — but does that mean people can just come back over and over when they get told no? That seems a recipe for disaster!

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“Rise,” Katy Perry – 27, Dansville, MI) Jacob made it to Hollywood a couple of years ago, but after getting eliminated, he dropped 60 pounds and was ready to try again. And yet, despite the fact he had some success his first time, his nerves were still climbing as he waited to go out there and take his shot. To make it even harder on himself, he took on Katy’s song in front of Katy.

But then he opened his mouth and proved why he dared have the nerve to do that. He was transcendent, his voice soaring from his naturally high register effortlessly into and out of a falsetto and his head voice, down to a full-throated vibrato. It was amazing just listening to all of those effortless transitions. It’s hard to sing that high as a man, even with his higher speaking voice, and yet he was there as if he’d never left. On top of that, we could feel a lot of heart in that performance, and how much this all means to him. It was beautifully confident, despite his nerves.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“That’s How Strong My Love Is,” Otis Redding – 23, New Orleans, LA) We kind of love that Kevin said William Hung (“She Bangs!”) is his “Idol” inspiration because he had the nerve to come out and just take his chance. But then, to drop an Otis track with that kind of passion and conviction. That was a masterfully seasoned vocal performance; the kind you expect to get from someone who’s been in the business a decade or more. His power, his softer notes, his conversational tone at time. There was so much compelling character in his voice, it was like he was reading a storybook to us and we wanted it to never end. It was one of the most commanding auditions so far this season.

Results: Y, Y, Y

(“Strange Fruit,” Billie Holiday – 18, Houston, TX) Bullying is often borne of jealousy, and that appears to have been the case with anyone who could have heard Douglas sing and told him he wasn’t good enough. He definitely had his supporters, having picked up a ticket from the Houston ABC affiliate based just on people hearing him sing in school. But he’d been picked on for his appearance for years, with incredibly racist and cruel comparisons being thrown at a child!

How on earth does someone stand there so at ease in their posture and drop that kind of a vocal performance on us? It knocked us back in our seats. There is so much strength in his voice, and yet he has perfect control of it. We’ve seen dramatic interpretations before, but people usually go camp with it. Not so, Douglas, who had us holding our breath through every syllable and even his moments of silence. He had total control of the room with just his instrument and could have taken us anywhere. It was incredible at 18, it was incredible at any age. It was just damned incredible!

Results: Y, Y, Y

“American Idol” expands to Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET, with a special episode after next Sunday’s Oscars telecast on ABC.