I ranked all the males that Idol aired during the audition rounds. Next to each contestant I took a shot at describing who they sound like, for reference. If you think you have better comps, let me know in the comments section on the blog site, by messaging me, or here on my Facebook wall.
Lineouts
26- Papa Peachez, 19: A redneck Boy George; we could call him “George Boy”, but he already has a cool nickname.
25- Brian Rittenberry, 27: Sounds a little like Earl Thomas Conley with a lung missing.
24- Gabe Brown, 21: Cookie Monster on meth.
23- Dr. Calvin Peters, 27: “Hey, who does he think he is, Albert Schweitzer?” “Naw, man, he IS Albert Schweitzer. He thinks he’s Leo Sayer.”
22- Charlie Askew, 17: Brett Loewenstern
21- Vincent Powell, 29: Dig up Ray Charles, step on his testicles, record him until he stops screaming at 33 rpm, then play it back at 45 rpm.
20- Rodney Barber, 27: Ricky Van Shelton.
19- Josh Holiday, 24: Charmin soft, Western Family thick.
Sleepers
18- Clifton Duffin, 22: Got a little Donny Hathaway in there…
17- Nate Tao, 24: Neil Sedaka, with a little helium in his cappuccino.
16- Curtis Finch, 24– Luther Vandross crossed with somebody who isn’t as good as Luther Vandross.
15- Lazaro Arbos, 21: I think he kinda sounds like Heejun from last year.
14- Frankie Ford, 24: It’s driving me crazy… he sounds exactly like somebody I know, but I can’t think of who it is. His speaking voice is the same, too. Oh man, who IS it?
13- Andrew Jones, 28: He doesn’t really sound like Billy Ocean, but that’s who he reminds me of.
Contenders
12- Dustin Watts, 27: He was trying for Garth Brooks, but to me he sounds more like Billy Dean.
11- Jimmy Smith, 25: They (logically) compared him to Gary Levox of Rascall Flatts, but to me he sounds more like Marty Raybon of Shenandoah.
10- Micah Johnson, 24: Speaks like Mike Tyson, sings like Peabo Bryson.
9- Gurpreet Singh Sarin, 22– He reminds me of Johnny Depp in “Lawrence of Arabia” or something. Vocally he’s another Adam Levine or Bruno Mars type.
8- Karl Skinner, 26: Casey Abrams.
7- Burnell Taylor, 19: I can’t get the idea that he’s one of Tracy Morgan’s alter egos out of my head.
6- Kayden Stephenson, 16: Little Stevie Wonder.
5- Paul Jolley, 22: Larry Gatlin, though nowhere near as polished.
4- Griffin Peterson, 22– Adam Levine type singer who looks like Justin Beiber grew up and joined “Baywatch”.
Standouts
3- Matheus Fernandes, 21: Prince.
2- Sanni M’Mairura, 16: Ten years from now, we are all going to be saying that somebody sounds like Sanni.
1- Adam Sanders, 19: Adam Lambert
Not listed: Crying guy, bandanna guy, Johnny Keyser and that Farmer guy with the cute kid who lied about being in combat. If they are worth listing, they’ll get listed later. I’ll try to get the girls up on the wall by Monday night. I’d get to it sooner, but there’s this game tomorrow….
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