The last stop on the Idol audition tour is Denver, Colorado, the city that brought us first auditions from Chris Daughtry and Ace Young from Season 5, although the number trying out has doubled this year from back then. Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham comes back for another round of what I assumed would be listless non-judging but surprisingly, this time she talks and has an opinion.

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Mark Labriola is the first person featured in Denver. Mark says people mistake him for Jack Black; outside of his general build, I'm not seeing it. He seems a happy guy with lots of personality but when asked to tell them something interesting about himself, he says, "I like cheese". Sure, because that's so unusual. What is unusual about him is that he was a victim of noncustodial abduction. At 4 yrs old, his mother took him from his father and they were on the run until he was 10 when he was finally reunited with his dad. Simon finds all of this interesting indeed as he keeps asking odd questions about it. While some people might be taken aback by this, Mark just laughs along and keeps his very good humor. I'm prepared for a disaster as he sings "Tempted" by Squeeze but boy, am I wrong. He was pretty good and the judges agree. Golden Ticket #1 goes to Mark.

Mario Galvin has (an annoying) giggle that the judges decide to mimic throughout this audition. Unfortunately, the giggle is entertaining compared to this rendition of Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock". While he hit the notes, it seemed more a caricature than an expression of himself. The judges vote no and they all have a silly laugh together as Mario leaves.

Apparently a lot of people get rude and mouthy when they don't get through so we see a segment featuring people who have responded poorly (or angrily would be more accurate) to the news that they aren't getting through.

Kimberly Kerbow arrives with her 5 yr old daughter who is very precocious. Kimberly sings Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am". Kimberly is a very pretty girl and her voice is very soft. She sings accurately enough but it may be questionable that she can get through many rounds with that quiet singing of hers. She is very personable though and the judges decide that although she is "wimpy", she should get a shot. Golden ticket #2 today.

Idol shows a string of people who also got through but we didn't get to hear any of them sing. This is the same pattern as in the other cities.

Karaoke host Danelle Hayes gets her chance to shine. (Wouldn't you just hate to audition for Idol and have to tell them that you host karaoke?) Danelle has been trying to get a break for a long time and the enormity of this particular opportunity is really getting to her; she is visibly emotional. But her rendition of Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One" flows naturally from her. I loved the raspy tone of her voice. Simon thinks she got here just in time to save her from mediocrity - corporate hell he calls it. This is ticket #3 that we have seen tonight.

Denver seems to have brought out the wildest outfits. A video montage shows us some of the best (worst?).

A prior motorcycle accident put guitar playing out of the picture for Casey James. He is hoping for the opportunities this audition could bring. The pony-tailed Casey sings John Mayer's "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room". I don't think his audition was one that really impresses, partly because the song he chose didn't show much vocal range, but I think he has "something". He's cute, he sings pleasantly, and he seems a nice person. If he can learn to project his personality more, and if his singing turns out to be somewhat better than what we saw here, he could do well. So my recommendation for Casey is based on possibility more than ability. The 2 female judges ask Casey to take his shirt off, citing that last year the guys got to ogle Bikini Girl, but I was slightly offended by that. It put this young man in an uncomfortable position and the judges in one of undue influence. It wasn't appropriate. In any case, he gets golden ticket #4.

Pretty Tori Kelly is the last shown in Day 1. Tori sings "Gravity" by John Mayer. She changed up the song a bit and did a nice job. She's young and pretty and could do well. All but Simon say yes (he thought she was ‘annoying'). So this was golden ticket #5 of those they chose to show us. In all, 15 got through to Hollywood on Day 1.

To start off Day 2, we see a feature on Austin Paul. He's a student at the University of Colorado where he is the long snapper on the football team. He also has a very high opinion of himself. That's generally not a good precursor of what we will hear. John Mayer seems to be popular in Denver; Austin is singing his "Bigger Than My Body". I would call Austin an average singer but his presentation put me off. It appeared to be completely contrived and he lacked charisma. The judges deemed him cocky and arrogant and sent him packing.

Kenny Everett also thinks he is a great singer, the world's best in fact. But I, and the judges, disagree with him. He mumbles so bad you can't make out words but he does sing loud. He also turns out to be another of the contestants who can't take no for an answer and just keeps on singing. There have been several like that this year. He is finally convinced as he is singing "go, go, go, go, ----". Yes, please.

The next video montage is of some of the booted contestants. We are "treated' to a few seconds of their auditions before we cut away to Nicci Nix. Nicci flew in from Italy for her audition. She has a very high, squeaky speaking voice but her singing is a bit less so. She sings OK but I think her appeal is her vivacity. The judges decide to give her a shot so she walks out with golden ticket #6 from the televised auditions.

Haeley Vaughan says she is a miracle baby, born weighing only 2 pounds. Her wish is to become the first black pop-country-mainstream singer. Her audition song is Carrie Underwood's "Last Name". I wasn't overly impressed, mainly because too much of the part she sang had little change in the notes so it was too monotonal. She deserves a chance though and the judges give it to her. Golden ticket #7 in Denver.

So a total of 11 people got golden tickets on Day 2 added to the 15 from Day 1 for a total of 26 from Denver.

But we are not quite done apparently - one more contestant appears before the judges: Bikini Boy. And yes - he is dressed just like that sounds. He tells them he is singing "Achy-Breaky Heart" but he doesn't get far before all 4 judges leave the room. Poor Bikini Boy is left standing all alone. Funny - he didn't get nearly the positive reaction that last year's bikini wearer got.

Wednesday night is billed as the "Road To Hollywood". From what Ryan said, it's to be the best auditions from all 7 cities. Not sure what his definition of "best" is though so they may be the really good singers or the most awful. I'm hoping for really good ones because I haven't been too impressed so far.

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