You had to see it... it moved many, even on this board if you look at the posts above you.

FYI, for anyone interested, this forum as a spoiler list of the top 40/24:

hxxp://idolforums.com/index.php?showtopic=450039&st=0

From MJ's blog about the attempted murder/suicide discussed above:



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.

Just wanted to say thanks for handling this this way. I dont' want to be spoiled and this is the best way to get the info to people to those that want it without any risk of spoilage for the rest of us.

Yeah, something like that I wouldn't direct post. The additional backstory info isn't really "spoiler" material so I'm less careful about that.

Yup, I also like the back-story stuff.

This will only be my second season (counting last season) watching more than just the goofy stuff before Hollywood. I'm curious to see the claims about Camera Time and the overall impact. I definitely recognize already, with Taylor winning, that the end results are not about who you are most likely to buy music from.

Apparently, a bunch of Taylor Hicks' fans are ticked about the way his new album has been handled. As opposed to Daughtry and McPhee, his album's release was preceded by a single. It's been out for a few weeks, and the first single is just now being released. Some feel that he is being purposely railroaded for some reason. It could be that they realize how much of a niche audience he has and they're not willing to put a full media blitz behind him.

The other thing I read was that it appears Bo Bice has been dropped by RCA. What a strange turn hie took - everyone knew he couldn't do pop, and that's exactly what he did. To the extent his career has any legs, he definitely needs to get back to southern rock and forget everything they tried to teach him.

Maybe his sales are bad because he's not what the country wants? I mean, give me a break, the timing of the single is the reason? No, the fact that he sings music that the mainstream won't buy is why he's not succeeding.

Side note - I'm highly dissapointed in the McPhee album from what I've heard on the iTunes previews, but I did admittedly by the Daughtry album.

I just wanted to second that thanks and agree that the back story stuff is interesting and not spoilerish.

For those of you who watched last night's show, don't expect to see Akron, the dude who was there with his cousin and bored Simon, in Hollywood even though he got a golden ticket.

There was a piece on him on the Dallas news last week. Apparently AI flew a crew out to his house after the audition and they stayed there for a week so that they could do a feature segment on him, but two days before he was supposed to fly to Hollywood he got a call from the AI producers telling him that he wasn't welcome anymore. AI says they don't discuss reasons why invitations are revoked, but Akron apparently has a misdemenor marijuana charge on his record, and he's convinced that has something to do with it despite the fact he told the producers about it at his audition.

He even has a MySpace set up to try and get himself back on the show (little good it's going to do)...

http://www.myspace.com/bringakback

So it looks like they're going to milk the auditions for one more show tonight, featuring a bunch of losers and a select few Golden Ticket recipients that we didn't see during the city-specific auditions. Yay. I'm starting to wish that they'd shorten the audition coverage and spend an extra week of coverage on the Hollywood Week auditions and 40/24 cut-downs.

That sucks if true. It'd be pretty hard to prove that you told producers about the marijuana charge.

Randy needed to button his shirt up last night too. He does not have the goods to leave his shirt 3/4 unbuttoned.

He's not the only one with an issue. Remember the chick who got the second chance (Ashlyn Carr)? She won't be getting a third - according to one of the AI websites, she didn't get to go to Hollywood because of this incident:


Sugar in gas tank leads to jail stay

$2,500 in damage lands ex-girlfriend felony charge

Christi Laney

Issue date: 11/14/06 Section: Campus News

Two Sam Houston State University students learned a hard lesson about breaking up two weeks ago as an ex-girlfriend seeking revenge instead landed a stay in jail.

On Nov. 1, a student reported that his car had sustained engine damage on campus as a result of sugar that had been placed in the gas tank.

"The student found out that he had sugar in his tank after taking the car to a mechanic for car trouble," UPD investigative officer Mark Saha said.

After discovering the source of the problem, the student contacted UPD and gave them several people he believed could have been responsible.

One of those suspects, Ashlyn Carr, 19, was called in by UPD and confessed to the crime. She was arrested on Criminal Mischief charges, a state jail felony and booked into the Walker County Jail. According to Saha, the offense was cited as a felony because of the large estimated damages value of $2500.

According to Saha, incidents such as this have happened on campus before but aren't a common occurrence.

"It happens, but not very often," Saha said. "But it definitely messed up the car."

The idea of getting revenge by pouring sugar into an adversary's gas tank is a well-known theory that has captured the attention of police blotters for years and has even made many appearances in American pop culture. In 1996, the act was featured in a Less Than Jake song titled "Sugar in Your Gas Tank." That same year, the act of crime was cited again in the film "Kingpin."

Yet according to CarTalk.com, putting sugar in the gas tank of a car is a widespread belief that carries more weight than it is worth. Many people believe that the sugar dissolves into the gasoline after being poured into the tank, only to caramelize upon reaching the engine and in effect forcing the engine to be completely replaced.

In reality, the sugar does not dissolve and is usually caught in the fuel filters on the way to the engine, the site says.

According to Snopes.com, the sugar has a very slim chance of ever reaching the engine. But when enough sugar enters the gas tank, the site says the car is stopped and serious damages do occur.

Damn quick Hollywood week this year... normally they drag it out a good 3 days.

True. Glad to see the Colombian girl go, she got annoying quick. Disappointed to see Bailey (Brown?) go. She was really cute and the way they played her up I thought she'd make several cuts at least. Some good stuff in this episode. The guy's group with the beatbox guy was probably the best performance I've seen in the group stages in any season. I wanted to hear more. The brother/sister thing at the end was cool to see, too.

The taller girl in Bailey's group has some feeeee-nominal legs.

Agreed on the beatbox group.

the beatbox group should stay together every week....

they were great..

yes. yes she does.

I felt bad for the brother/sister

Felt bad for the one guy.. (Sato I think.. 16 year old that said his mother never hugged him or said I love you). Thought he was being dramatic until he told his Mom he was cut on the phone and you hear 'click'

Niiiiiiiiice...

Oh.. and going into the 6th season, you think some of these idiots would learn the 1st rule.

Learn the freakin' lyrics.

I'm shocked to see Bailey go, particularly after Simon was talking about how commercial she was. I was also disappointed to see the first girl of the night go as I really liked her. Agreed that the beat box group was phenomenal. The brother/sister response was touching. Looking forward to the top 24 tomorrow night.

No kidding. And it's not like these songs are these epic songs that are written like a short story.

It's amazing how they freeze

Lies!!!

Anyone who really enjoyed the beatbox group loses all ability to make fun of me for liking college acapella - that type of performance is what makes me like it.

Only real disappointing loss to me was the vagrant looking guy with the ZZ Top beard.

Are you talking about the Christian Fidel Castro? I believe he made it.

Agreed with above comments on Bailey Brown being let go (although she's only 16, I believe, so I have it in mind that they are actually using her as a drawn-out cliffhanger for an upcoming season, 2008 or 2009 - this is a TV show, after all :) ) and the beat box group. Not that I find that kind of music appealing for an entire album, but to put something like that together in one night and sound that good and have that developed a performance was impressive.

I was in the bathroom during the beatboxing, so I missed it. :(

Fidel is definitely gone....

Fair point on the beat-boxing... that kind of thing doesn't generally translate to an album and should be seen live imo...

Sorry.. I get mocked often (not here cause I don't bother opening myself up generally), but while in college I went to tons of acapella stuff, and still like to now and then... and i liked the groups that performed like those 4 did.

So.. on the beat box guy - am I the only one REALLY intrigued to see where he goes with this? If he's able to incorporate it conistently and if so how it will play?

The three girls - Bailey, and the two best friends. I was so disappointed to see the best friends make it, especially when the one girl said, "God likes nice people." I'm so incredulous when people are so out of touch.

Fortunately, the "God likes nice people" chick got bumped during the 3-room phase.

Personality only gets you so far with God...

Just saw this...


Did American Idol Cut the "Fidel Castro" Look-alike?

FEBRUARY 12, 2007 - 09:37 PM

If you watched the American Idol auditions in Memphis, you probably remember Sean Michel. He looked a bit like Fidel Castro, but actually sang surprisingly well and was sent on to Hollywood.

The trip may have been short-lived. From TVSquad.com: "He looks like Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro, and Jesus all rolled into one. And when Sean Michel first appeared at the Memphis auditions, I thought he was one of those bizarre bombs the producers were going to drop on us. Instead, Michel surprised us all when he sang an amazing version of Johnny Cash's 'God's Gonna Cut You Down.

"But now it seems that Michel's 15 minutes in the spotlight may already be up. According to Internet buzz, despite Michel's singing talent, he was disqualified from the competition during the Hollywood round because of his refusal to cut his long locks and shave his scruffy beard.

Reality TV Magazine contacted Sean Michel to discuss the rumor, but Michel was mum due to an Idol confidentiality agreement. However, Michel did confirm that he hasn't shaved his beard or cut his long hair.

If they cut him for that, then they screwed up. Bo, Daughtry, Rueben, Hicks and Justin sure didn't have a typical Idol look and they all did fine...

I thought for sure he was going to do one of those makeover deals and be an instant hit early on. I guess not...

I swear they played it last night like he was just cut..

Now, they didn't say why, didn't show him sing, or anything... but I didn't think it was some big mystery as to whether he was cut or not.

No, I must have missed that, but I thought he was going to be a much bigger factor in the show overall, and his makeover would serve as a perfect story line. Same with the Texas girl that Simon loved. I can only assume that means she'll be back another year. But I was really hoping she, and not the "my daddy shot hisself" Pickle Clone would be the blonde southern girl on the show this year. I can't recall whether they showed if she made it or not.

I swear, there are so many interesting side issues berfore the top 12 are decided, that it's no wonder I slowly lose interest in the show once the actual competition occurs (well that, and the typical songs I have to listen to them sing). These types of things, moreso than the entertainment of the bad auditions, is why this part of the show is so interesting...



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.

She was in the "don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out" room so, you're safe.

My favorite part of last night's show was the group of girls who were told they were going home, but 2 of them thought Simon had said they made it and started celebrating.

This would be a REALLY interesting development if true...



Umm.. i'm 99% sure they showed her specifically, jumping around, saying she moved on. Was that earlier in the show?

Just re-watched the summary video on Americanidol.com and it was after the first girl day that they had that shot of the "daddy shot himself" girl.

Actually, this is pretty common. Every single clip they show where multiple people - most of whom we've seen in their actual audition - are shown singing a particular "theme song" for the city they're in, interspersed with clips of the three judges' various facial expressions, were not performed in front of the judges, but in front of one of the Nigel's.

Also, after last year's Austin auditions, it came out that none of the auditions they showed were actually filmed in Austin. One of the Nigel's admitted it and basically said their first obligation is to create an entertaining show, facts be damned.

I knew they showed the extra footage, but to my knowledge we've never known about the judges talking about someone they never saw... very different imo...

Did anyone else notice that one of the last girls to be sent home was Robyn Troup, who apparently recovered by performing with Justin Timberlake at the Grammys?

They made it look like his entire group was cut. They didn't show the performance, just the group leaving and Fidel saying something like, "Well, that's that."

Some interesting info/rumors re the Hollywood round:

Rumor Has It:

• The contestants arrived Monday November 13.
• The girls sang acapella on Tuesday November 14th while the boys toured.
• There were 117 girls. They cut so many the first day, that they had to wake up 10 girls in the middle of the night to ask them to come back.
• There were only 56 guys.
• The guys sang acapella on Wednesday, November 15th.
• Group day was Thursday November 16th.
• On Friday November 17th, the remaining contestants--approximately 31 girls and 25 guys--sang solo with piano and 3 bgvs. They were split up into rooms that night.
• On Saturday November 18th and Sunday November 19th, contestants were interviewed, etc.
• Contestants were sent home on Sunday November 19th and Monday November 20th once the interview process was completed.

Not really. Apparently their way of dealing with most of these people this time around is to let them compete but just cut them, instead of making a big deal about cutting them for reasons unrelated to the show. Tommy Daniels, one of the last 2 left last night, was rumored to have been cut because of his arrest record and for disclosing information. If that's true, theystill let him compete and just cut him as if he was still being considered. Who knows...

But Akron was told to not both even showing up in Hollywood...

*shrug*

For whatever reason, the papers picked up on his story and more of it than normal. Every year, there are contestants cut between the auditions and Hollywood week for a variety of reasons, after they do interviews, etc. That story made it seem like his treatment was unusual and there was some mystery to it. I guess we don't know exactly why they cut him, but it isn't unusual.

The way this played out was that she had already been cut by AI before she ever attempted to win whatever reality contest the Grammys staged. Otherwise, there's no way she would have been able to be a contestant on the Grammys. Did anyone even know about this thing with the Grammys?

Plus, I don't really see how the two compare. The Grammys thing was a 5 minute, one time performance, right? With AI, they've got to think about a 5 month long show, and even if she could sing well enough, maybe there wasn't enough personality and backstory to sustain her as a "character" on AI. That's largely irrelevant for the Grammys spot.

Read in the Chicago Tribune today that she has already signed a record deal with JT's record company. Not bad. Prolly means at least one guest spot from him plus not having to go through the whole competition.

Reason quoted for her being cut was her voice "needed to mature". Something like that would be exposed on AI with the live performances but can easily be fixed in the studio. Given her hotness also, I could easily see her being successful.

I haven't watched it this year... I'm still recovering from my McPheever.

imo, there's no one that can even begin to approach McPhee's hotness this year. There's a couple of pretty girls that other people will think are a lot hotter than I do, but on the hotness factor I think there were like 4 or 5 girls in last years top 12 girls better than the top girl this year.

I saw Justin Guarini (#2 in first season) on Hollywood Squares. Not sure how he qualified to sit in a square.

There are a couple of chicks who are, um, not so pretty. Specifically, there's one chick with some weird looking jaw thing going on. I couldn't believe they put her through...she reminded me of Stan's sister from SP, without the headgear.

Interesting bit of info I found out yesterday...I went to the dentist for the first time since we moved and found out that my new dentist is Josh Gracin's aunt. Now I'll never let another dentist touch my teeth again! :rolleyes: :)

What is this... Top Model? ;)

Pop quiz: Which one do I like?


She also sang horribly. The last chick they cut should definitely have gone through over weird-jaw-chick.

Haley Scarnato or Alaina Alexander...

If I were to have to bet, I'd say probably Haley Scarnato.

While I agree that none of them approach McPhee at this point, sometimes, there is quite a bit of a makeover during the season. A few of the girls are pretty enough that they have potential. However, I'm not sure if any of those girls are good enough singers to make it far.

The girls with potential are "not my type", so there's little hope for them in my eyes to get much better.

That being said, agreed, the best singers seem to be the less attractive one.

Of course, the females suffer for me anyways because I tend to prefer male singers.

Man. First, I'd put Alaina above Haley, second it would be Antonella Barba.

I'm kind of a fan of Gina. The picture on the site isn't all that flattering, but what I've seen of her on the show I've liked...

She certainly isn't the classical beauty. But I think she has potential, I like her personality, and I think she is the best singer of the potentially hot girls.

Antonella is my favorite as far as pure looks, but I don't like her personality (from what little they have shown) and I don't think she is that good of a singer.

I thing Gina is my favorite female, but I don't see her with the potential to be hot.

Antonella's personality probably turns me off a bit too much, but I would certainly say she's the most attractive.

yy, Antonella's the one with the legs.

I like Antonella as well, she's my second favorite female...

I'm also rooting for Melinda. I think it's because of how withdrawn she seems, very introverted (kind of like I can be), yet she can belt it out. The only thing that bothers her about me is her lack of a neck...

Gina is definitely my favorite as far as singing goes, thus far (for the females).

I like Gina, too. In the immortal words of Martin Lawrence...

DAMN, GINA!

"I'll tell you who's the hottest. You're gonna think I'm crazy...let me tell you. Gina!!"

Antonella's the bitch from the group where she and her best friend screwed over Bailee Brown (although I realize she forgot the words by herself, but still, the rehearsals didn't appear to go well at all). And anyone who's best friend says, after getting voted through, "I guess God just likes nice people," and doesn't automatically recoil and give her a "what the hell kind of statement is that?" look, drops to the bottom of my list...legs be damned.

Plus, she's from NY, so she's automatically not my type of woman.

Never said she was my type of woman (or that she was nice, or that she could sing)...just that I liked looking at her legs. :)

I was so upset to see Baylee Brown knocked off, She could have won the whole thing if she knew how to remember the words. And I was shocked to see Sunshine get in over that last tall guy. Sunshine sucked in all the clips we saw of him at Hollywood week. But in my opinion Melinda Doolittle is the best singer of the group, but she wont win because America wont like her as much as they do Lakisha (the mom) Chris (the comedian) or any of the hot girls

I thought from the beginning that Sunshine was going to be in the top 24 regardless. And then he had a bad Hollywood week and really test that theory. Not sure how far he'll go, though. Brandon Rogers is still my pick at this point.

I suspect he did well in the piano + backup singers audition. They didn't show a single second of it, but harped on his bad group and first solo hollywood performance. I think they are trying to paint him as an underdog. If you saw his audition he can definitely sing, he just had one or two bad performances in hollywood. They know he has talent, and maybe even saw more than we did (definitely one of the flaws, as we've beat to death in this thread, with the way they cover the auditions).

True, and with Bailee Brown, one of the things that stuck in my mind from before the performance was when she said the other girls kept messing up so often that she never really got to sing her part while they were practicing. At first I though that might be a valid reason why she forgot her lyrics - and it still might be - but it also dawned on me that they could have taken those comments from after she got kicked off and placed them before the performance on the show. Obviously, if those comments came after the fact, she had a reason to be making excuses.

I also like Sundance, so I'm biased in my wild speculation. :)

Fixed that for you! :D

Sorry, that was just too easy, couldn't let it go.

I'm not sure they're painting him as the underdog, but rather a villain. He's connected to the music biz, he performed poorly during Hollywood week (and that's all they keep showing), and he made that horribly insensitive remark to Tommy as they left - something along the lines of, "If I win you can be my bodyguard." Um...nice! :eek:

Oh, and here's some more backstory stuff we never got to hear about. Some good reading on MJ's Blog about how it sucks for the 5-10 people who made the top 40 but not the top 24 and were barely or never seen on the show. Apparently, once you've made the top 40 (or 44 in some years), and you don't make the top 24, you can't come back to compete.

I wonder if that was part of the strategy of that guy who quit last year after he screwed up, but came back this year and made it. Maybe he was afraid he'd get just far enough to be precluded from competing again, but not get chosen for the top 24. If so, good move on his part.



Eric Davis - Eliminated. Eric has a giant backstory. For reasons, we’ll never know, TPTB decided not to reveal his story on the show. Eric had spent 7 years in prison where he found God. He eventually became a youth minister. You can hear him sing “His Eye is on The Sparrow” and his testimony here.

I don't really see the villain angle. I also didn't hear that remark -- I was too busy paying attention to him cussing at and flipping off the camera, showing how classy he is.

Agreed, Tommy was being an ass.

Nicely played ;).

dammit, why didn't the picture show up... oh well

I believe this is why Tommy was cut before Sundance. Tommy had zero likability factor. Sundance knew he f'd up baaaaaad at the group song and he was shocked he wasn't cut so, gotta respect him at least for that since he blamed himself.

The top 24...plus 1:



Cowboy Matthew Buckstein, who was eliminated Wednesday from the Top 40, has come up with an idea to stretch his time in the spotlight. He plans to continue competing in the competition–from a karaoke bar in his hometown. Matthew explains on his My Space page:

I’ve decided to compete… as the lost contestant. “The lost Idol” is what I’m calling it.
Here’s how it’s gonna break down: Every week, I’m going to film myself singing down at the same Karaoke bar I’ve been going to for the past seven years; Denver’s Old Hole down on Leetsdale and Oneida. I’ll choose a song in accordance with the rules for that week and I’ll have one shot at it just like my once fellow contestants. No second takes, no fancy editing and even though it’s Karaoke, no words on the screen. If I screw it up, you get to see… just like it was live.
You’ll be able to see the video on YouTube and myspace video, and with your help, you can plaster is all over the web. But the voting… the voting will take place on my myspace music page at www.myspace.com/mattbuckstein. Every Tuesday after the live performance show of American Idol airs, I will put up my performance for that week up, along with a vote counter. All you have to do is click on the link to vote. Now just like the show, you can vote as many times as you like. And just like the show, I’ll leave the counter up for two hours after the show airs in each city. Vote as many times as you want until the counter comes down.
Now, I won’t have any judges to critique me so I’m going to rely on all of you for your feedback. I want you to leave comments on my myspace page about that week’s performance. HONEST OPINONS; good and bad. I wanna here them all (just please keep it clean, this is a family show). If the voting results and the feedback are good in comparison with the show, I’ll perform the next week. The first week the results aren’t sufficient… then I’m out. Simple.

So tonight begins a 5 hours over 3 nights marathon of AI. Are there 2 hour episodes next week, too?

Dola

It's the guys tonight, btw.

I'm excited for the "real" AI.

It's funny how up until last season I only watched the goofy stuff and lost interest.. and now that I've watched a real season, I really don't like the goofy stuff.

"

NSFW

hxxp://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/2007/02/american-idol-wannabes-are-potty.html

OMG, Antonella on the pot, drinking while underage, and topless (kinda-sorta)!!11!1!

I heart Jersey Shore girls.

edit: also, more pics at hxxp://www.votefortheworst.com


In all fairness, damn near every girl I know could have a potential career ruined because of pictures that were taken in the past.

Ugh, through the first four songs and the guys are pretty rough.

Yeah, none of them have impressed to this point.

The first dude was alright.

I thought the Chris Richardson guy looked like he had Tourette's (no offense).

Ironically enough, the guy who I thought was the worst singer (Nick) has sang the best so far.

As an aside, what's up with the AM Gold lineup? Richard Marx, George Michael/Wham, Moody Blues... I'm a big 80s guy and all, but, jeez, is this "AM" Idol now?

I think Blake was the first to have a decent audition..

I thought the chicks sing tomorrow?