American Idol Season 6

The first four conestants eliminated from American Idol season six, based on America’s vote, are

* Paul Kim
* Amy Krebs
* Rudy Cardenas
* Nicole Tranquillo

February 21st/2007

For tonight’s show, I was hoping that the girls would be a bit more entertaining than the guys last night. It wasn’t like last night was terrible, but it just wasn’t anything special. Just as the night before, they did another video montage of the top 12 girls.

Stephanie Edwards
From her video, you can see that she is a very sweet and modest girl, with a very big talent. I think she will do well with the viewers because she is relatable. She was definitely a good way to start off the show. Just from her performance, I could tell that the night was destined to be better than the guys. I really like her, and I’m excited to see what she does in the future. The judges loved her.

Amy Krebs
She was another girl I hadn’t really seen through-out the competition. She sang a ballad this show, which I thought was a bit risky. In my opinion, the only way you should sing a ballad on the first show is if you can more than pull it off. She wasn’t too bad. Her voice was decent, but again, the performance was a bit boring, and I think the song seemed big for her. I can’t see her getting a lot of votes with a performance like that.

Leslie Hunt
Natural Woman-Aretha Franklin
As soon as I found out she was singing this song, I thought it was a big mistake. Natural Woman is such a classic, and I don’t think it should be tackled by anyone less than perfect. I actually found the whole performance a bit weird. I think she tried to make it more entertaining, but it came off as wierd. Randy said that the song was a bit too big for her, which I completely agree with. She, like Amy Krebs, probably won’t get many votes because they were unforgettable. It was actually weird because Simon then stated my exact point…that she looked a bit uncomfortable on stage.

Sabrina Sloan
I had never seen her before actually, but seeing her original audition tape, she sounded very good. Her performance was sassy and entertaining, which I thought was really good. She is one of them that would grab the viewer’s attention, although she could show a bit more personality when she isn’t on stage. Overall, I was happily surprised with her performance. She has a lot of potential.

Antonella Barba
I Don’t Wanna Miss a thing- Aerosmith
She had originally auditioned with her best friend, and they both had made it all the way to Hollywood. Unfortunately her friend was cut, and she made it through. They have showed her a lot through-out the competition, and from what I have seen, she isn’t quite ready for this competition. She showed everyone that today when her performance was pretty rough. She is a very pretty girl, which I think will keep her in the competition for a bit longer, but her singing was just not good. The judges all agreed that it wasn’t up to par. Paula even had trouble finding something good to say about it.

Update: Antonella Barba’s hot pictures on the net should not affect voting outcome

Jordin Sparks
She is only 17 years old which I find hard to believe. I have been a big fan of hers for the past while. I think she is outstanding for her age, and will go very far in the competition. She is a contestant that you don’t really have to worry about, because she doesn’t goo off key; You can just sit and enjoy her performance. She did a good job tonight, and she picked a suitable song.

Nicole Tranquillo
I don’t know a lot about Nicole, but I wasn’t expecting too much out of her performance. As soon as she started, I thought the whole thing was weird. Her voice was very different, and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t a voice that is soothing, but it was instead the exact opposite. I don’t think she will go too far in the competition. This isn’t to say she doesn’t have a voice, but it just wasn’t my type I guess. Needless to say, the judges really didn’t like it.

Haley Scarnato
All Coming Back to Me- Celine Dion
Simon had previously called Haley cabaret which I thought was pretty accurate. She seems like a very kind and hardworking person. I wasn’t happy with her song choice at all. I thought it was a bit cheesy and predictable. Like some of the others, the song was too big for her. I just don’t see Celine Dion getting her a lot of votes.

Melinda Doolittle
Coming into this performance, I wasn’t completely sold on her. I find that she has a bit of a lisp, and I wasn’t impressed with her yet. However, her performance was above average. I loved her after seeing her performance. What makes her so appealing is her modesty. She loves to sing, and that’s what makes the show exciting. I predict that she will do very will in the competition. The judges loved her.

Alaina Alexander
From the few times that I’ve seen Alaina sing, I wasn’t crazy about her voice. She has a good personality, and is very passionate about singing, but she isn’t ready for the competition. She definitely chose the wrong song, and started out poorly. From there, it just didn’t get any better, and it made me question why the judges put her there in the fist place. I think she would be a good person to eliminate this week. I don’t say this a lot, but it was almost excruciating.

Gina Glocksen
All By Myself- Celine Dion
I’m not sure if it is just me, but I don’t get a good vibe from Gina. She hasn’t really ever done anything to make me think that she is amazing. It seems to me like she fakes her sincerity. Her performance was decent, but I have a feeling that the viewers won’t take a great liking to her. It was an okay performance, as Simon said.

Lakisha Jones
She is by far one of my favorite female contestants. Her personality is so vivacious when she sings, that you can’t help but like her. She is another girl who is modest for such a big talent. The best thing is that it isn’t just her singing that is captivating, it’s her whole general aura that is exciting. If people don’t vote for her, they are insane. It’s safe to say that all three judges agreed she was in a completely different league than all of the other competitors.

My prediction for this week is that Leslie Hunt and Nicole Tranquillo will be eliminated this week. Now, this is based on what I think America will do. If it was solely based on talent, Antonella and Alaina should go.

February 20th/2007

The top 12 boys sang tonight. Two girls and boys will be cut every Thursday night, so tune in for the elimination show as well!

At first, they showed a video montage of the top 12 guy’s prelim auditions, just so that the viewers could get a closer look at the idol hopefuls.

Rudy Cardenas
Simon really didn’t like Rudy in his first audition, saying that he was too typical. Tonight, he is singing more of an upbeat song. I find that he doesn’t really pronounce his words, which was a big distraction for me. Aside from his slurring quality, he did have a decent voice. I didn’t notice him go off tune a lot. He hasn’t really been my favorite throughout the competition, and tonight didn’t change my perspective of him. The judges weren’t too impressed, with Randy saying that the performance was a bit too corny for him. Also, Simon said that he doesn’t have a unique voice, and that his performance was forgettable.

Brandon Rogers
Rock the Night Away- Michael Jackson
Brandon was a back-up singer for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. I didn’t really have too much to say about his performance. It wasn’t amazing, and it wasn’t bad…It was just okay. Randy made a good suggestion that he should stick more to the melody of the song, and eliminate some of his runs. Simon said that he believed he was better than that.

Sundance Head
He did amazing in his very first audition with the judges, but had a lot of trouble with the Hollywood auditions. I had a lot of hope for Sundance because of his first audition, but tonight I just don’t think he cut it. I think the whole American Idol process made him abandon the type of music he really loves, which Randy stated. The judges suggested that he go back to his “blues” roots.

Paul Kim
I thought that Paul’s song choice was really poor. It didn’t suit him at all, and I think it was in too low of a register for him. He went into a falsetto part, and was completely off key the whole time. I really liked him in his first audition, but I thought that this performance was just a wreck. I found it interesting to discover that he always wears bare feet when he sings. To me, that seems like a desperate (and weird) attempt to get attention.

Chris Robinson
Next up was Chris Robinson (aka the Justin Timberlake sound-alike). I think his amazing voice definitely shined through tonight. He changed the melody up a bit, but it actually worked so much better than you would expect. He got the audience standing up, and it was a very high energy performance. He received both praise and constructive criticism from the judges.

Nick Pedro
Nick has a much softer tone than the other male contestants. He had made it all the way to Hollywood last year, but voluntarily dropped out due to the extreme pressure. Personally, I don’t really like his tone, but I was hoping tonight that maybe he would impress me. He was the first guy tonight who chose to sing a ballad, and I think he did quite well. He wasn’t in tune for every note, but he was decent. However, I don’t think the audience will take much appreciation to it, because it was quite boring. Simon actually gave him some encouragement, saying that he believed he had a good voice.

Blake Lewis
Blake Lewis, who I call the beat boxer of the competition, was next, and I was really interested to see him tonight because I’ve never really him sing. As soon as he started to sing, I knew I liked him. He has a voice unlike any of the other competitors, and I think he chose a song that suited his voice really well. However, just like most of the other contestants, I noticed him go off key once or twice. His tone reminds me of a Maroon 5 sound. Overall, I thought he did a very good job. Simon said it was the best performance of the night so far.

Sinjaya Malakar
He is seventeen year old who just finished high school. I think that Sinjaya still has a bit more maturing to do before he can be a professional singer. He does have a really nice voice to listen to, but once again, his performance was quite boring. The judges cut him down a lot. You can’t help but feel bad for him.

Chris Sligh
When I saw that his age was 28, I couldn’t even believe it. He looks so much younger than that, and also, I think he seems younger because of his personality. He is very witty, and has a great personality, which I think will get him a lot of votes. I think he chose a really good song for his voice, and did a solid job.

Jared Cotter
The viewers haven’t really had a chance to see Jared yet, so this is his one chance to wow the audience. As soon as he started singing, I was upset with his song choice. It is just so typical, and it lead to a boring performance. It would be really hard to make this song amazing. I don’t think he will get too many votes, and for the ones he does, it will be based more on looks than singing talent. He was ok.

A.J. Tabaldo
A.J. was another competitor we haven’t really seen too much of. He had auditioned the year before also, and had made it to the first round of Hollywood week. He seems like a very nice guy, but once again, I think it was another wrong song choice. However, I thought he managed to pull it off. As Randy said, vocally it was quite good, but it just wasn’t anything too special.

Phil Stacey
The last singer of the night is Phil Stacey. He is one of my favorite guy contestants, and I think he will go pretty far in the competition. I think he has really improved through-out the competition, and that’s important. I must admit, he started off a bit rough, but I thought that he had an overall good performance. He can defiantly sing, and his voice is one of those tones that is just really good to listen to.

This is a hard prediction, as none of them blew me way. Based on America’s votes though, I think that Sinjaya and A.J. will go, but it’s really too close to call.

Hollywood Week show #2, February 14th

The contestants are brought up one by one to talk to the judges individually. Previously, the judges have reviewed the tapes and have made their final decisions. I can’t imagine how nerve racking this would be for the contestants as it is a constant waiting process. They wait downstairs, wait in the elevator ride up, and wait for the judge’s comments.  I know I would just prefer for them to rip off the band aid.

The first contestant, Sanjaya, had made it through the previous round without his sister, as she had just been cut. He was overjoyed to discover that he had made it through to the top 24. Some people took rejection well, but others didn’t. One girl even argued with the judge’s decision, and believed they should have put her through because she was tall.

I have to say, Paula’s hairstyle was not working well today. It kind of looked like a wig.

It was good to see that two singers, Melinda Doolittle and Brandon Rogers, made it through because they had both previously been back-up singers. Another contestant, Gina, had made it all the way through to group competitions in Hollywood last year but had been cut. However, it was finally her turn to make it through.

One guy I was really rooting for was a guy who had missed his baby’s birth for his prelim audition. I really liked his voice, and noticed he sounded very good in the Hollywood week. Fortunately, he made it through

They showed some clips of events during Hollywood week that we didn’t know had happened. It turns out, it wasn’t all hard times for the guys, as they were taken to a special screening of the new Simpson’s movie, coming out on July 27th. They then got a special tour of the studio where the Simpson’s episodes are created.

One of my favorite contestants, based not on singing talent, but on personality is Chris Sligh. I remember him making me laugh in his prelim audition, and he did it again today. He is just a fun guy, with a decent voice, and for that reason, I couldn’t see them cutting him, and they didn’t.

One thing I found very interesting was when they put through Blake Lewis, the beat boxer of the competition. They had never given us a chance to hear his actual singing voice, so I figured he was only there because he was such a good beat boxer. However, it was surprising and exciting to see that apparently he does have a very good voice, and he made it through.

Nick Pedro, and A.J. Tabaldo had both previously made it through to Hollywood week, but never made it passed there. Luckily for them, it was their year and they both made it through. One guy I hadn’t ever seen before really blew me away. He was one of my favorite guys so far, and his name was Jared Cotter.

There is one contestant who completely reminds me of Justin Timberlake, and his name is Chris Richardson. It’s a good thing he made it through, because there can never be too many Justin Timberlakes.

Look out for your top 24:

Sanjay Malakar
Melinda Doolittle
Brandon Rogers
Gina Glocksen
Haley Scarnato
Philip Stacy
Chris Sligh
Blake Lewis
Rudy Cardenas
Paul Kim
Jordin Sparks
A.J. Tabaldo
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Nick Pedro
Alaina Alexander
Chris Richardson
Sabrina Sloan
Lakisha Jones
Nicole Tranquillo
Jared Cotter
Amy Krebs
Antonella Barba
Sundance Head

1st day of Hollywood Auditions, February 13th

The first day of Hollywood week is used for the girl’s auditions, with the boys following the next day. Ryan Seacrest explains to viewers that six girls will be taken back stage at a time. They will each perform for about 30 seconds, and based on that performance, they will be sent home, or sent through. The day began extremely rough as the first six singers were immediately sent home. This came with a warning from Simon saying that the girls had to be original and creative. This made the girls extra nervous, as they waited for their turn to sing.

Throughout this week, they always follow-up on some of the people they showed in the prelims. I was surprised to see that a lot of people I liked were cut in the first round of Hollywood week. The day ended on an annoying note as a contestant, Nicole Turner, was cut from the competition. Before she took the stage, she had been telling the camera about her debate on song choice. She wanted to sing a song she liked, but her mother and aunt wanted her to sing another one. To make this short, she chose the wrong song, and blamed the whole thing on her mother, causing her mother to then go on stage and beg the judges to let her daughter through. Needless to say, her plea did not work, and Nicole was sent home. 56 out of 114 girls were sent home just on the very first day.

On the second day Randy said that “The boys are starting way ahead of the girls.” There was one guy from the prelims who had parents that didn’t support him. However, after he made it through the first round, he cried because his mother was finally proud of him. I was happy to see him make it through the first day of Hollywood so that he could make another happy phone call to his mother. 34 guys made it through to the next round out of 54, a significantly smaller amount than the girls

Immediately after the guys finished, the group collaborations began. This year, the groups were given a lot of freedom, in that anyone could go with anyone. For the most part, genders stayed with their same genders, but occasionally there were some co-ed groups. For the remainder of the night, the contestants dedicated their time to making their group performances impeccable. Some groups didn’t get off to the best start and were up late into the night practicing for what seemed like a hopeless cause. Other groups were in bed at a reasonable hour, confident with tomorrow’s performance.

Once again, Simon makes the contestants more nervous by reminding them how important it is for them not to forget their words. I felt so bad when the boy, who made his parents proud, got cut, because he called his mom who then hung up on him. That is completely terrible. Some groups shined more than others such as a group of four guys who harmonized with a beat boxer.

The final stage of this show was the separation of contestants into rooms. The judges take some time to themselves, and using Polaroid’s of the contestants, decide who will be cut, and who won’t. From there, they separate the winners from the losers into separate rooms, and visit each room. In all, 40 people made it through to the next round, with another 16 being cut the next day.

The pretty Texan teenager, Robyn Troup, celebrated her 19th birthday singing with Justin Timberlake at 2007 Grammy awards night. In an interview before the announcement was made, Troup told The Houston Chronicle that she actually tried out for American Idol this year. Here’s the excerpt.”I actually did American Idol. I can’t really talk about it. You just have to watch this season.”

Here is the video of her singing performance at Grammy’s:

While great at Grammy’s, she did not pass the American Idol audition and did not make to final 24. It seems that American Idol is getting bigger than Grammy…

Is it possible?

Seated L-R : Blake Lewis, Alaina Alexander, AJ Tabaldo, Haley Scarnato, Stephanie Edwards and Sabrina Sloan. 2nd row L-R: Gina Glocksen, Melinda Doolittle, Leslie Hunt, Lakisha Jones, Nick Pedro, Amy Krebs and Sundance Head. 3rd row L-R: Sanjaya Malakar, Brandon Rogers, Nicole Tranquillo, Antonella Barba, Chris Richardson and Chris Sligh. Top row - L-R: Rudy Cardenas, Phil Stacey, Paul Kim, Jared Cotter and Jordin Sparks.

February 7th. Show #7

This show included good singers, bad singers, terrible dressers, and excruciating dancers.

The first girl they showed wore black and white checkered pants, some sort of veil, a pink shawl of some sort, and one black and one white glove. Plus her singing was extremely weird.

One woman I really liked was Tami Gosnell. She had a very bold and defined voice. She was definitely very good, and I think she will go very far in the competition. Also with a unique and “smokey” voice, was Paul Kim. He reminded me of a celebrity, but I couldn’t quite pin point it. However, he was almost too boy band-ish, but was still amazing.

This time, the video montage was of the judge’s fans…or non-fans. There was a very cute one named Edward who loved Paula. He wasn’t a good singer, but was so happy that he got to meet Paula, he didn’t even care.

There were three girls that auditioned together, which I thought was a very bad idea. They worked together as roller skating waitresses. One of them accidentally referred to Paula as “motherly.” It was really funny, and lightened the mood. I felt bad for the one girl because two of them made it. But they all seemed happy so it was okay. Ebony Jointer, who’s modeling picture is shown here, is one of the three roller-girls that made to Hollywood.

Basically this show was just a look back at some of the greatest and worst moments of the season so far. At the end, they showed some clips for next week, which begins “Hollywood week.” In all, 172 people have made it through to Hollywood. Next week looks extremely tough, and I just hope that some of the people I liked will make it through.

 San Antonio, Texas

February 6th. Show #7

This is American Idol’s last stop on the tour for the year. The line to audition seemed much longer this show as it was the last chance for contestants to audition. Unfortunately for the judges, the first contestant didn’t have a voice which you would wish to hear early in the morning. He claimed that he had won a “mock” American Idol competition, but he basically yelled the entire time. It hurt my ears.

 Another contestant, Jasmine Holland, kept Simon laughing through out her whole audition. Her mother said that she had been in the gospel choir since she was 7, but she was just terrible. After the audition her mother pointed out that Simon should go back to “French or British or wherever he was from.” She actually called the countries by French and British. I thought that was hilarious.

 One girl who did make it through was sixteen year old Baylie Brown. She was interesting because she came from a very small town, but wasn’t a typical country girl. I didn’t think she was that amazing. She could have had better control, but she definitely had a voice. Although, I think her song choice, “Stronger” by Faith Hill, was not a very good one. Simon said that she was a complete pop star, but didn’t have a perfect voice right yet. Needless to say, they let it through.

 They did a video montage of people attempting to exit the audition room. There were two doors leading out of the audition room, and they were making fun of how many people chose the wrong one. Some of them even took running starts towards it. It was really funny.

 My favorite contestant of the show was Akron Watson. At first he sang Sam Cooke “A Change is Gunna come,” but Simon said that his personality was lacking. Paula challenged him to prove to Simon that he was wrong, so he sang again. I was so happy because it was like he was a completely different person. I’m looking forward to seeing him in Hollywood…he just seemed very sweet.

 One girl completely ruined the song “Black Velvet.” As Simon said it was “literally like some language I’ve never heard in my life.” Then he made her cry by asking her if it was serious. She literally was the worst singer I have ever heard. It was just so weird.

 Overall, there were a few good contestants who made it through to Hollywood from this show.

Olivia Newton John, lead actress of the movie “Grease,” was a special judge on today’s panel.

Hollywood Audition

January 31, 2007. Audition day #6

The first contestant set high goals for himself as he planned o be an athlete, singer, dancer, composer, author, actor, model, songwriter and rapper (and probably more I just didn’t have time to type.) Apparently he was capable of doing anything, which he proved by showing his embarrassing imitation of a panther. To top it off, he gave himself the nickname of ECCENTRIC, claiming that he had the fire of three men. He seemed quite proud of himself on the whole, even saying that he was the most exciting entertainer on earth. I found him quite humorous.

As Ryan Seacrest said, Hollywood was turning “Hollywierd,” complete with a girl riding a blown up horse, and a guy dressed up as a banana. There was also a girl who got down on her knees and cried to the judges to let her through. She was terrible, and made weird faces while she was singing. I thought it was over, but then it got worse when she came back into the room with her mom to beg some more. I felt like I should feel sorry for her, but she was just annoying.

I got excited when Brandon Rogers came on the TV. I was sure he would be good because he had been a backup singer for the last 4 years and even sang back up for Christina Aguilera. I don’t think he picked the best song possible, but he did an extremely good job. He was honest, and very likable, and every one of the judges loved him.

A 64 year old man came to audition with a petition holding 330 signatures of people who were against the age limit of American Idol. He began the petition with his wife, and continued it for his wife after she passed away. He said it would light her up to see him come home with more signatures, and that he did it all for her. It was a very emotional story. She had passed away from cancer just two days before the audition. Even though he wasn’t the best singer, it didn’t matter, because he sang the song “You Belong To Me” for his wife, and it was the most touching moment on American Idol this season. He was a very kind and warm spirited person

One contestant got all of the judges laughing with his high-pitched interpretation of Hilary Duff. The situation became funnier when Simon discovered he had trained with Paula and Randy’s “Learn to Sing like the Stars” video. Simon thought this was hilarious and chased after to find him.

The judges made it sound like there were many hopefuls coming from L.A, with Simon saying that the winner could quite possibly come from Hollywood.