Nothing special

Amy Davis, of Lowell, Ind., seems to be a judge favorite even before she sings a note. First, she talks about how she was raised below the lower middle class level and her mom worked two jobs to raise six kids and she hopes to be able to pay her back for all her hard work. She walks into the audition room and the judges tell her she's in a great place right now - not quite sure what they mean, but Randy compliments her shoes, which really are very nice - I'd lve to know where she got them. Paula tells her she's very pretty and asks what her ethnc backround is. It turns out her mother's grandmother was Japanese. She starts singing and it's nice, but in my opinion, she would have no shot of competing against some of the voices we've heard already. Simon says yes, which surprises me, but then Randy says that he likes the possibility of her vocals, to which Simon says, "That's what I was thinking." I suppose they're banking on her growing on the show, but I wonder, do they get vocal training during Hollywood? Because she'd have to make it through one more round still before making the show. Randy says yes, as long she plans to work hard and improve. Paula says yes too and she's through to Hollywood.

I'm wondering why they waited until tonight to showcase Amy. Her audition was really nothing special - I thought tonight was supposed to be the best auditions mixed in with the craziest - this was neither.

I almost feel bad for Tiffany McCambell, from Anderson, Ind., who believes her voice is a agift from God. They show her preparing her voice and it doesn't sound good, but then again, she says her pastor told her her voice is maturing, so perhaps that's why it came out all funky. She sings a gospel song, supposedly, but the truth is, you really couldn't make out a melody at all. It was just kind of yelling about. And when she's done, Simon asks her if God has a returns policy, because if he'd been given that voice, he'd give it back. I thought that was hilarious, but a little mean.

I'm so glad Simon hasn't dropped his signature statement, "I'm not being rude, but you can't sing." It's always nice to preface a rude statement by letting someone know you're not being rude. Oh, and it gets worse for Tiffany, because after the judges say no, they show a clip of her singing in the holding room, and someone actually shooshes her. Talk about kicking a dog when it's down.