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*