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.
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Wow! Is this guy the father of break dancing? How did he do that with his legs?
Wow, that’s a LOT information.
Based on those very short audition clips, I’m only impressed by Sundance. All the others, not so much.
Melissa Doolittle did little for me. I don’t understand all the praises from the judges. Her voice was OK, not spectacular. She got an image problem: she practically has NO neck! Once you noticed it, it’s hard to let it out of your mind. Can they do a make-over on it?
Actually, her name is Melinda Doolittle, not Melissa.
I don’t think she has much of an image problem. You could have said worse about Fantasia, who is even less attractive, and she won.
Oh I think that Fantasia is beautiful! Even during Idol she was gorgeous. I didn’t like that Melinda Doolittle that much, but maybe that’ll change. I’m over the best friends thing already, seems like they have some stupid over-used stint like that every year. I guess its to reel in the younger viewers with the potential drama/dream of becoming famous. I liked Sundance, he was good. I hope he wins just for the fact that I want to see how TPTB will tame this one. …Shove him in country music…they are more accepting there(sometimes its a good thing, sometimes its a bad thing). And okay, when I heard him sing I did NOT think of Taylor. Oh what Simon, he chooses a soul song and automatically that’s what you think of? Funny, he didn’t make any remarks to anyone else who sang a soulful number who wasn’t that good. And I think they have two entirely different sounds. I like them both and am looking forward to see the next rounds with him in it.
Oh, and btw, I just checked the Idol appearances chart. Is Kat going to have time to BREATHE in the coming weeks? Good heavens, with that publicity her cd will go straight to the top.
Am I the only one not impressed by Sundance? His voice reminds me too much of Taylor’s…and I didn’t even care for Taylor all that much. I prefer Tom Lowe to Sundance Head. Tom seems like a very talented and likeable guy.
You are entitled to your opinion about Sundance, but he sounded nothing like Taylor. He sounded far more like Elliott than Taylor.
No, you are not the only one not impressed with him, but the rest of us who have good hearing are.
I am very impressed with Sundance Head. When did American Idol move from being a joke among true, but struggling, musicians, to a real and viable way to reach a wider audience…despite having to “pay the devil his dues” along the way. Was it last year with Taylor Hicks or earlier? I never really watched before last year (except for trying to catch Constantine).
Sundance didn’t really impress me and Melinda really didn’t either. But her neck shouldn’t be any impediment to a singing career. Take a look at Natalie Main of the Dixie chicks. Her neck didn’t get her in any trouble but her big mouth sure did.
Unless they are hiding a whole lot of talent under a bush, there is no way that Season 6 is going to compete with Season 5. Every one of the Top Ten are releasing albums, some with a name label and some independently.
My favorite by far is Melinda Doolittle. I think her voice, control and look is great. There is not much out there about her considering she’s a professional background singer.
Sundance really needs to clean up. Shave the beard and what’s with the Don Johnson shirt? There already seems to be really high expectations for him. I personally though he WAY oversang the song.
A contestant that looks really promising that wasn’t shown in the auditions (except for a face) is Michael Lawson. Here’s some videos of him on the local news. He’s better than Ruben, but I don’t like Ruben at all, so we’ll see.
http://www.idol6.com/2007/01/29/michael-lawson-on-newscast/
Marc
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Sundance is very good, but I’m not blown away by him. And both my hearing and ability to judge talent for myself are perfectly fine, thank you.
I feel the same about Melinda - good but I’m not blown away.
Tom Lowe actually has a pretty good voice. I was kind of surprised. It will be interesting to see how America votes (cause I’m betting he gets to the top 24) for a British guy. The whole “heartthrob” thing won’t hurt either.
I LOVE Chris Sligh’s personality, and he doesn’t have a bad voice either. I hate the song he sang for his audition, so of course that worked against him for me, but he does have a good voice.
I cannot wait to see Brandon Rogers tomorrow!!!
Your ability to judge talent is perfectly okay if you are just deciding for yourself, but you are otherwise way off. Sundance and Melinda will sail to the Top 24, and Tom will be cut.
How are you for sure that Tom will be cut? I hear Simon really liked him…Simon might help pull him through to the semi finals. And I also think Tom is talented enough for the semi finals and even the top 10 and above. Will he win? Probably not, but I do think he’ll make it at least to the top 10. I also don’t think Sundance or Melinda will win this year. I can see them going far…but I doubt neither will win. Say what you will, but everyone is qualified to determine who is talented and who is not, especially if it is America who votes. Not EVERYONE has to think the same people are the most talented and will go on to win the competition.
I thought I made this clear. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but that doesn’t mean it will jive with the popular vote. Anyone who suggests those two are not talented is just not in sync with either the judges or popular opinion. As far as winning, I didn’t make such a prediction yet.
As far as Tom, let’s just say there are ways of getting information. We ARE on the Internet.
Um…since when did anyone here say that Sudance and Melinda weren’t talented? Some of us said that we weren’t IMPRESSED with them, sure. But nobody said anything about them NOT being talented. Being unimpressed by someone is a lot different than saying they are not talented, you know.
And who knows who will do well during the competition? There is no way of knowing that Sundance, Melinda, or Tom will “sail through the competition”. There is no way that any of those three will become the “popular vote”.
And from reliable sources I’ve heard, Tom actually DOES make the top 24. If you’re source is the top 24 thread on idolforums, you’ll notice that not all of the spots are filled up. There’s still a chance that Tom can make it even if he’s not up there on the list yet.
The spots are now filled and there’s no Tom on the list. However, there is a Melinda and a Sundance. Sorry about that.
Yeah, word’s out that Tom did not make it to the Top 24.
Venom,
What happened to your “reliable” sources?
And how can one think someone is talented and not be impressed? You have to at least be impressed enough to arrive at the opinion that someone is talented. Nice way to try to play word games, though. Your English is as good as your “reliable” sources.
Okay, so I was wrong that Tom made it. Nevertheless, you CAN admit someone is talented but not be IN FAVOR of them. That’s what I mean. I can admit that Sundance and Melinda are talented, but they are simply not my cup of tea. Got it now?