So little time, so many contestants…
Sundance Head - Check out Sundance’s dad, Roy Head, singing his fabulous hit “Treat Her Right” back in 1965. Here he is swinging with some groovy go-go dancers on Shindig and check out his dance moves here. Roy was a blue-eyed James Brown. This Houston Chronicle story hints that Sundance may have gone deep into the competition…
On Feb. 3 Roy will headline the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame ceremony, but right now he’s mostly fielding questions about his son.
“I got 6,850 phone calls last night,” he said Wednesday, chuckling. “I spent two hours just answering them. Then they started again at 6 o’clock this morning. I said, God, don’t you know I’m a musician, too? That’s early.”
Idol typically keeps things under wraps, but Roy said his son feels good about his prospects.
“He called from California last night, crying through the telephone. He said to my wife, ‘Mama I might’ve made it.’ “
The Brits are getting a slightly different version of Idol than we are here in the States. Tom Lowe, a Brit who is living in Boston, auditioned in Seattle, but his audition was featured only in the British version of Idol. You can check Tom out here. He was part of a British Boy band called North and South. Tom attended Harvard and has done some film work, rather controversially, for Tourism Massachusetts
Here’s an interesting story on the “Amish” guy Troy Benaham who auditioned in Minneapolis. According to this story, Troy is actually Mennonite. There is a big difference between the Amish and the Mennonites. Mennonites have electricity, watch TV and drive cars. Ok? In fact, Troy has a cell phone. So, there you go.
One of my favorite contestants so far is Melissa Doolittle, the shy backup singer with the incredible voice. Melissa auditioned in Memphis TN. Check out this article. An administrator at Belmont college, where Melissa studied had this to say about her:
“She just has an amazing voice and, beyond that, she is an incredible person,” he said. “What you saw on the show with her seeming to not be a pushy person, that is exactly her. She is a very service-oriented person. What they don’t see is when she gets on stage, she commands the audience.”
When I reviewed Sean Michel’s audition in my Memphis recap, I said there was probably a backstory we haven’t heard yet. Sean is the contestant with the long beard and even longer hair who sang Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” Sean does have a story, and you can read it on his MySpace. He’s a devout Christian singer/songwriter who has already released an indie album. You can also listen to snippets of his music there.
Ottawa, Canada native Jory Steinberg lives in Santa Monica now, where she’s been pursing a musical career. Jory sang “Chains” at her New York audition with incredible range and pitch. You can read about her here. In Canada, she was considered the “Next Alanis” and had a 7 record deal with Canadian producer and Idol regular, David Foster. Her deal fell through before her first record was released.
“Best Friends” Amanda Coluccio and Antonella Barba who auditioned in New York are featured in this article. The judges favored Antonella over Amanda although both were advanced to Hollywood.
“You couldn’t ask for better students or best friends,” Coppola said. “They were joined at the hip . . . best friends to the end.”
Expect some tears between these two during the Hollywood rounds…
Here’s what Jenry Bejarano had to say about auditioning in front of Paula:
“For Paula, obviously, I dressed nice. Dress as comfortably as I can, try to look sexy for the girl. You know what I’m saying?” Bejarano said.
Jenry is the handsome 16 year old singer from New Jersey who swept Paula off her feet at the New York auditions with his rendition of “I’d Give Anything to Fall in Love”. Paula and the boys…watch out.
Finally, Kia Thorton wowed the judges in New York with her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way”. Like Jory Steinberg and Tom Lowe, she is no newcomer to showbuisiness:
She was still in her teens when “Lately,” a single she cut while a member of the R&B trio Divine, peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1998. A second single, a cover of George Michael’s “One More Try” made it to No. 29 a year later. The group toured internationally, supporting ‘N Sync and Britney Spears, Thornton said.
Kia spills the beans in this article. She did not advance past the Hollywood Rounds.
Related Posts
Historical Charts
Weekly Billboard Updates 2007
Check out the Comments
Season 6 SPOILER Update - Tuesday Edition
Latest Comments