American Idol

The Hollywood Rounds begin tonight.  It’s a short round this year.  Tonight will feature group and individual auditions.  Tomorrow night is the “Green Mile” episode–40 contestants will be cut down to the Top 24.  There is a spoiler list put together by the kids at Idol Forums. Check it out here.  I posted a rumored blow-by-blow of Hollywood week back in December. We’ll find out soon enough (tomorrow!) if the kids are alright…

Rumor has it that a couple of contestants may have been disqualified. Tommy Daniels, who was revealed by TMZ to have a record, was supposedly disqualified for releasing information to the media.  According to the spoilers, another potential Top 40/24 contestant may have been disqualified and/or quit.  And, there is a pervasive rumor around the net that Sean Michel was eliminated because he refused to cut his hair.

My fellow blogger, Dave McGurgan from Phillyburbs.com says that “an Idol insider high up in the food chain, who goes by the name AJ, contacted phillyBurbs.com last week, claiming that the next American Idol has already been chosen: Brandon Rogers.”  Hmmm.

More from Nigel Lythgoe’s recent teleconference:

• Nigel would like to extend the upper age limit next year from 28 to 30. He raises this issue every year. Raising the age limit Season 4 from 24 to 28 resulted in more seasoned, therefore more entertaining contestants. While the producers are at it, they should also raise the bottom limit from 16 to 18. Just think how awesome Paris Bennett would have been with a few more years experience under her belt.
• According to Nigel, “There is one young lady in Hollywood who I would have said would have been in the top five this year [but] got cut purely and simply because she couldn’t remember her lyrics in a group…It’s sad, but that’s what a competition is. You’ve got to work every single day.”  Hmmm, I heard about people making it through to the Top 40/44 who forgot lyrics or completely lost their voices during the Hollywood Rounds…

Here’s more on some of your Season 6 contestants:

A UK reader, Telespy uploaded this audition to You Tube. Vanessa Herrick’s audition was featured after Gina Glockson in the UK version of the “Best Of The Rest” episode.  According to Telespy, “she got a golden ticket, and some interesting comments from Simon.”

Remember Wandera Hitchye who was told during the Memphis Auditions by Simon that “there are so many singers like you trying to get deals right now,” before all three judges rejected her?  Wandera claims that she never auditioned in front of the judges.  That, in the final edit, it was only made to look that way:

The contestant stated that she didn’t perform in front of Simon, Paula or Randy which everyone saw on their television screen. The tape was instead edited to make it look like she did according to the contestant. In fact, Hitchye actually performed in front of the producer of the show Nigel Lythgoe who told her that he loved her singing, but didn’t like her performance.

There were reports of this sort of “creative editing” going on last year too.  Speaking of which, Eonline.com has more on the Akron Watson Hollywood dis-invitation flapdoodle. Golden ticket holders are dis-invited every year in what are called pre-Hollywood phone cuts.  In between the auditions and the Hollywood rounds, if background checks run on the contestants turn up something unfavorable that contestant is cut–sometimes just a few days before the round starts.

There are questions about what criteria is used to determine whether a contestant is cut or not.  A contestant who isn’t upfront about their past will probably get cut later on if the problem pops up in a routine check.  However, Akron claims that the producers knew about the drug bust that could be the reason for his dismissal.  Also, there are other contestants, Bo Bice for instance, who were able to compete despite a past drug bust.  In fact, as you will see this week, there is a contestant who is rumored to go very far who actually did time in prison, so…

It’s all very mysterious, isn’t it?

Lastly, learn more about contestants Chris Richardson and JL Cotter from these articles in their home town papers.  Both are rumored to have done very well in Hollywood…

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It looks like the enterprising kids at Idol Forums may have spoiled the entire Top 24.  You can find a comprehensive list of the Top 40/24 here, complete with links to music samples and background information on each contestant.

Kudos to both Idol Maniac (who did some awesome and thorough research on all the contestants) and RickyHoeGuardian for managing to infiltrate the SuperSekrit Idol cabal. Kids, watch out. You might find a horse’s head in your bed some morning.  I keed, I keed. Sidenote: I’m linking to information on a message board. I’m not revealing trade secrets. I also don’t negotiate with high-priced lawyers over the phone. I am not an idiot. thnxokbye.

Ahem.  I have no idea if the list is accurate, so peruse at your own risk.  However the list does reflect one I posted back in December here and here.  At the time, I had no idea whether the list was correct or not, but now I see I may have been right on the money. Yay me.

On with the Season 6 Contestant update:

Entertainment Weekly ranks the Idol auditioners.  You can check out their Top 20 list here, and then vote for your favorite.  EW lists Sundance Head, Chris Sligh and Porcelana Patino in their Top 3.  Currently, the popular vote has Chris Sligh out in front at 35%, Sundance Head 2nd with 14% and Sanjaya Malakar 3rd with 11%.

Here’s a short article about Chris Sligh’s university days at North Greenville University in SC. Until recently, Chis kept up a really interesting blog.  It’s worth a read.  And, his band, Half Past Forever has posted a music video on You Tube.  Click the video link! You will not be sorry.  The song, “Know” has a GREAT guitar hook and a fine melody.  All in all, a nifty little power pop gem.  Me likey. I’m very glad Chris is in this competition.

Brandon Rogers, the talented backup singer who auditioned in Los Angeles, like so many hopeful auditioners, has a My Space page. More and more Idols are using MySpace to network with fans, and get their music out to the public.  Interestingly, with some research, and a few names, one can find a wealth of information about a contestant and the ongoing competition even before the details hit the airwaves.

For instance, the chatter between contestants mid to late January left many tantalizing clues about how the Top 24 selection was going. Marlea Stroman, for example–remember her from Season 4?  Marlea was the contestant who cracked under pressure-claimed she missed her young child-and was shown leaving town.  According to her MySpace, she auditioned again this year and made it to Hollywood. If you are interested in knowing what happens to Marlea, read the comments on her page…

Birmingham auditioner Jamie Lynn Ward made the shocking revelation on Tuesday’s show–with a scary lack of emotional affect–that her daddy shot her step-mother and then “hisself”.  Afterward, she moved in with her grandmother to help take care of her dad, who was left paralyzed from the neck down. Of course, almost immediately, the press filled in the blanks.  Here is a news account from February 2006, when the crime occurred:

 A Reidsville man shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself early Saturday morning, according to police.

…The release states that North Carolina Highway Patrolman R.W. Hamilton, who was the first to arrive on scene, observed a muzzle flash from several shots fired inside the home as he pulled into the driveway.

Shortly thereafter, several Reidsville officers arrived on the scene and Beverly Emory Ward, of the residence, told them her husband had shot her.

After hearing Jamie Lynn’s story, I wondered what happened to the step-mom.  After the show aired Tuesday, the press caught up with her here:

“I remember seeing blue lights,” she said Thursday from her home in Alamance County. “I remember looking back at my husband, and I remember him looking at me like I was somebody he didn’t know. I remember him saying, ‘God forgive me for what I’m about to do.’ I remember him pointing the gun at me, and I remember him shooting me three times.” 

Beverly Ward, the stepmother, said she had told relatives to watch the show, unaware of what was going to be said. When Jamie’s audition aired, her phone started ringing. Relatives called to ask if she knew of Jamie’s comments beforehand.

“Emotionally, it just about destroyed me,” Beverly said. “She was on ‘American Idol.’ She should have been talking about herself and not dragging this back up.”

Jamie Lynn’s step-mom refused to press charges against her husband.  She claims that he had mixed alcohol with a Valium and, “That was just not my husband. That was just something I would have never expected him to do. If he hadn’t been drinking, and hadn’t taken that Valium, it wouldn’t have happened.” Jamie Lynn, incidently, was crowned high school homecoming queen later that year. 

While Porcelana Patino, the New York auditioner who lost 20 lbs through a militaristic training regime, was featured on last Wednesday’s Idol, she was at her dad’s bedside in a New York City hospital ICU. Porcelana’s father was struck by a hit and run driver on January 22 at 5 am while he was walking to work.  He suffered a broken shoulder, leg and ribs.  Porcelana says, “My dad just woke up. My father’s response was ‘I’m going to miss the show, the show, I’m going to miss the show.’ All he is interested in is watching his daughter on the freaking show. Can you believe that?”

When Nichole Gatzman performed what I thought was a pretty good rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” Simon inexplicably told her “You’re very old fashioned, and you sing through your nose. And it’s a shame.”  Both Randy and Simon turned her down flat. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought Nichole should have been given a shot in Hollywood, as she explains here:

“Having America thinking I was good and wondering why I didn’t make it . . . I’m thankful people are calling and getting on the boards,” Gatzman said.

Nichole was a guest on an Idol-themed Larry King Live Thursday night. 

Also featured on Larry King Thursday–Sherman Pore who I think may be everyone’s favorite Idol at the moment.  Sherman is the 64 year old contestant who petitioned the show to audition-despite his age–by collecting signatures.  He started the project as a way to keep up the spirits of his seriously ill girlfriend. She died two days before his audition.  Here are some excerpts from his Larry King Live interview:

She helped me cook it up. About three weeks before I lost her, I found a little blurb in the newspaper that said “American Idol” was getting ready to audition. And she had been pushing me for years to do something with my singing. I would come home every night singing love songs to her.

I promised her I would [go through with the audition]. She asked me no matter what happened to her, she asked me to promise that I would go ahead with my singing and share it with as many people as possible, because I had done it for her so often.

She had ovarian cancer that metastasized everywhere. It moved pretty fast, and, you know, I used to call her at work and sing a love song to her every now and then. And one day I called her and I forgot to ask the — ask for her extension number before I started singing. About halfway through the song, the operator says, “who is this? Who is this?” And I finished the song and said, “you have just been serenaded by the phantom crooner.” Just got around the office and she laughed about it, but she didn’t tell anybody. She came home and told me that night.

Few days later, she called me and says, Karen is having a rough day today. This is her extension number. Would you call her and give her a — and she told me that night that this turned Karen’s day around. So every now and then, she would call me and I would fix somebody’s day.

Idol fans have started an online petition to get Sherman back on the show for the finale.  Something tells me the petition isn’t necessary.  I have no doubt Sherman will be back for the finale.

thanks lisab, as always, you rawk

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