'American Idol' Season 11, Episode 6 Best and Worst of Portland Recap

The gang is in Portland this week, and presumably because of the hipsters, the song playing over the opening is from Florence + The Machine. You wouldn't guess it, though, because they don't even get to the chorus before blasting the "Idol" theme song.

Seacrest moves through the crowd and calls them an "eclectic" group. I think he's trying to imply that the hipster constituency in Portland would ever, in a million years, audition for "Idol." No, Seacrest, these are just regular pop-lovin girls wearing funny glasses. Seriously, did they give these contestants neon shirts to wear?

Seacrest is doing his classic "cardigan stuck on the door" trick. Classic.

Best:

Brittany Zika had a dream about singing with Sara Bareilles, and then apparently that actually happened. She's wearing big fake glasses and a fedora. She's a hipster you guys. That annoying detail aside, she sings a very pretty version of "The Story," and gets her yeses. Randy tells her to take off her stupid hat and glasses. Okay he didn't say stupid, but he was thinking it.

Jermaine Jones is another church singer, and he's also 6'8" (and a half). He has a nice baritone that's refreshing in this wasteland of tenors, and he sings nicely. He also sweats bullets. Or a waterfall. I like him, but he might not make it too far with that style and those nerves.

Britnee, mother of two, has her whole family with her, who all have "I <3 Britnee" t-shirts on, so we know how to spell her name, presumably. She has a story about her husband, a basketball player, cheating on her and whatnot. She sings fine.

Romeo Dihan shows up all the assholes who come on here acting like they have a tough like because, oh I dunno, their husband cheated on them or something. He was born in Liberia and then lived in a refugee camp. So there, everyone. He sings in a sort of rasta style, which might not hold up in this very white competition, but he's good.

Naomi Gillies sings Aerosmith's own "Cryin,'" which wins Steven over. She has a powerful voice with some really impressive control. She's through.

Jessica tells us a story about how her boyfriend had a stroke and didn't remember her afterward, and how she has to take care of him now, do speech therapy with him, etc. Thank god she sings really well, or this episode would have ended on a real down note.

Worst:

Hey "Idol," want to know why your ratings are slipping for audition week? Because of this boring, predictable "a storm is brewing" thing you do every episode. If you're going to craft a story off of the auditions, you can't just have it be "people are good, and then they suck, and then they're good again."

Ben Purdom is a complete goof and a terrible singer, but blames it on his cold. He's genunely upset at being turned down. Really? I might not make it through this episode.

Sam Gershman is tremendously obnoxious, and sings very "Broadway" and doesn't get through. Thank goodness.

David Weed has a delightfully dry sense of humor, but sings "Tom Sawyer" pretty badly. Randy is unnecessarily cruel. Then when David says he also likes stand-up comedy, Randy says "tell us a joke" like some kind of asshole.

Ben Harrison is excessively perky, and takes way too long getting through "Somebody to Love." Not the best song choice, buddy.