The last auditioner in Baton Rouge is Burnell Taylor from New Orleans, who tells us that he learned to sing after Katrina, which destroyed his family's home and forced them to move to Baton Rouge. Burnell tells the judges that he comes from a musical family, starting with his bandleader grandfather (not that Burnell plays anything... yet). He's singing "I'm Here" from The Color Purple and blows them away, causing Keith to make one of his best listening-faces yet as he gets lost in the performance. When he's done, Randy, Keith and Mariah all give him a standing ovation. Mariah says he made her cry, Nicki says this is what they came for and calls it entertainment rather than an audition. Randy is amazed and Keith says there's a spotlight waiting for him to walk into it. Burnell is going to Hollywood, but not without Keith advising him to "please dress for the occasion." Good advice. By the way, how many buttons you got done up there, Keith Urban? Ryan wraps it up for the night, saying there were 34 other folks from Baton Rouge who will proceed to Hollywood. There's a montage of winners we'll never see again and Randy, of course, is happy to take credit for his hometown. And the last moment is Keith accidentally calling Nicki by Mariah's name and backing away from his mistake as though from a pair of bombs. As he should. And that's it for tonight -- only one hour, because of Glee. So tonight, I'm a Glee fan.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis- based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.
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