Cue the montage of rejection, which includes lots of bits with Nicki hugging people and Mariah giving people encouragement and Randy just not giving any kind of shit at all about any of it because if he were ever going to get fired it would have happened a long time ago.

A 15-year-old dressed like a Big Love character from the waist up appears, while her family hangs out in back inexplicably asking Ryan about how much tail the camera guys get. Isabelle Parrell drafts Keith into duetting on "Baby It's Cold Outside" with her. She has supplied him with not only a partial lyric sheet, but also some positive comments for him to read to her after she's done. Way to cover all the angles, Isabelle. Keith says he likes her voice, Mariah likes her (and Christmas music) in general. Nicki agrees with Mariah for once, surprisingly letting Mariah's obvious fishing for another compliment on her own Christmas song slide. Randy calls for a vote, which Keith protests because he didn't speak yet, even though he did, as the editors remind us all by flashing back to all of thirty seconds ago. Everyone but Randy votes yes, so she's in.

Keith Urban has to leave early to play a concert in Vegas, which I guess is the downside of hiring judges who are actually still working, so Randy moves in between the female judges. Cue the montage of Nicki flagrantly ogling and objectifying some male auditioners, which is just a warm-up for her reaction to cornfed Wisconsinite Griffin Peterson. He sings "Wash By the Water," and if he had a guitar, I'd be putting money on him already. Nicki is all about him, but Randy dismissively says he didn't get it. Like there's a lot Randy gets. Mariah can see both sides, so she ends up being the swing vote and Nicki gets her way. Also, Griffin's mom crosses an item off her bucket list by getting to kiss Ryan on the cheek. That's a pretty small bucket.

We come back at 7:00 PM and meet Curtis Finch, Jr. from St. Louis, who talks more like a TV host than an American Idol contestant. There are more name jokes from the judges, because any joke you make about someone's name is bound to be one they never heard before (actually, in the case of some of Nicki's remarks, that may actually be true). Curtis reveals that his best friend, a huge Mariah fan, is here with him as well. Ryan tests her backstage with some Mariah trivia that he doesn't actually know the answer to, and in the audition room, Curtis launches into a lovely gospel tune that's so good, even throwing the judges' names into it can't mess it up for him. They give him a unanimous, simultaneous yes, and Curtis asks for permission to bring his friend in to meet Mariah. Who, as a result, ends up being more excited about the evening's events than Curtis is.