Last night’s episode of BET’s Sunday Best was filled with singers who definitely were a breath of fresh air for gospel. Filmed in New Orleans, the last round of auditions took place for some of America’s most compelling new voices, but you know it didn’t all come easy for those from The Big Easy.
Quite a few contestants were victims of the devastation still lingering around after Hurricane Katrina swept through the city back in August 2005, but they didn’t allow that to keep them from raising their voices. Take the first contestant Chelsea Phillips for example. Having to take residence at the New Orleans Convention Center after the hurricane a few years ago, Phillips and show host Kirk Franklin shared an emotional moment while thanking God for bring her experience full circle back to the very place she’d never thought would’ve occurred. Now if only her voice had been as strong as her testimony. Phillips’ nerves caught up with her and eliminated her potential slot as a finalist early in the process.
Moving on. As expected, there were many singing survivors and folks with even more moving testimonies to come through the audition room. One of our favorites was LeAndria Johnson, a young woman whom you probably caught a glimpse of during the preview commercials before the show aired last night. She came in and shut it down so bad on “This Is The Day That The Lord Has Made.” Folks are already expecting her to lay us all out prostrate in our living rooms during the show’s finalists rounds. All I have to say is that lady is anointed for such a time as this! She is by far one of the best vocalists in the competition right now because there’s so much emotion, conviction and persistence in her voice. Tune in below and you’ll find out what I mean.
She came in and told her story of how she had been through so much to get there and didn’t look like she was going to slay the judges (or the viewing audiences) the way she did. Johnson was wearing jeans and those flip-flops with socks which immediately caught the attention of everybody’s favorite judge to hate MaryMary’s Tina Campbell. We know by now that she’s the Sunday Best version of American Idol’s Simon Cowell. Interjecting her raw (and potentially rude) comments makes for great television, but if you listen closely, it sounds like she might have had to renege on whatever hilarious comment was about to come out of her mouth after she heard Johnson’s voice and testimony. (Take this as a brief lesson in not speaking or judging people too soon. That might be what you get for putting your mouth on God’s people.)
Nonetheless, Johnson wasn’t the only singer to advance to the next level where each of the finalists will begin competing on the main stage next week. A few really strong contestants came through the audition room including the sweet voiced Tawana and Dathan Thigpen. They each effortlessly killed their renditions of classics like “Jesus Loves Me” and “The Lord’s Prayer.” It was also great to see more male contestants who could really sing make it through to the next round. It spices up the vocals and the direction of the competition since there are so many awesome female singers in the game right now. Let’s hope the fellas make us proud and don’t drop the ball along the way.
There were about a million other audition clips that had us all on the floor in tears. Check out the lady who sang her version of “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus” to the melody of Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody.” Just wrong!
But it seems like the most interesting (and side-splitting) audition of the night came from Troy Lee. I won’t go into detail for those of you who didn’t tune in, but I was very shocked at his presentation. He looked nothing like how he sounded, but it obviously wasn’t good enough because he didn’t make it to the next round. I know for Tina and the judges that blonde bump and curl Troy rocked didn’t do his big, operatic voice much justice. It was so funny for all the wrong (or right) reasons, but isn’t that what we’ve come to expect from some church folks? I mean, come on, we all know the church is the one place on Earth where everything you’re not supposed to laugh at happens. You just can’t help it sometimes.
Also, congratulations to Funmi from Nigeria for making it into the Sunday Best top 20. Remember she and Kim Burrell engaged in a raw vocal challenge on this season’s premiere episode? I’m curious to see how she holds up with the rest of the contestants.
Check out the video below if you missed any of the musical moments between judges and the contestants from yesterday’s episode.
BET’s Sunday Best season three continues with more high praise, comedy and competition. We’ve got the inside scoop, but of course we want to hear from you, too. If you caught yesterday’s auditions, chime in and post your comments below.
