Jan

31

Katie Bernard American IdolIt looks like Katie Bernard and her squeaky voice have been around for some time and she may have even tried out for Canadian Idol back in 2004. I found this article written on 6-2-2004 where a Katie Bernard was described as “a rock chick extraordinaire.” With all that Katie has done according to her MySpace page and her web site, I’ll assume it was her auditioning for Canadian Idol.

Katie’s web site also says she has been singing for more than 12 years and has entertained thousands in this country and internationally. She has also sung at Walt Disney World and Sea World. None of this disqualifies her for American Idol though. As long as she doesn’t have a contract for talent representation, recording, modeling or merchandising she’s in the clear.

I wonder if her voice is really squeaky, or if its just an act. It seems kind of weird for a semi-professional like her.

Alan

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Jan

30

We are down in Sweet Home Alabama this evening and a nice looking Erica Skye opens the auditions for Birmingham with Unchained Melody that wasn’t melodious enough for the judges. But then she kept going with a Dixie Chicks song and then after the judges said no again she made like the Eveready Bunny and you guessed it, kept going. Finally she got the point and left.

Then we had another voice and singer combination like Paris Bennett. Katie Bernard looked like just a wannabe (see post below), Randy liked her, Simon didn’t and it was up to Paula and she said yes. So she’s off to Hollywood.

Tatiana McConnica then sang her way to Hollywood in a unanimous decision by the judges although I thought she was a bit of a screamer and was just okay, but all three judges let her through so what do I know? We were then graced by a visit from aptly named Margaret Fowler imitating Big Bird in a yellow costume. Margaret claimed to be 23 but later confessed to being 53.

Paula seemed to be having a hard time holding it together during the first day of the Birmingham auditions and didn’t show up on day two. In a rare occurrence she decided against Bernard Williams II singing Michael Jackson when Simon actually voted yes. Randy made it two and off to Hollywood he went.

The sad story of the evening, if not the whole competition thus far, went to Jamie Lynn Ward with a paralyzed father who had shot himself. She sang fairly well and earned a trip to Hollywood, but needs a little work. American Idol has a comedian this year in Chris Sligh who was funny and likeable enough to charm Paula to vote for him to go to Hollywood.

We then had the long haired, I mean really long haired Victoria Watson who was a really nice girl, but just didn’t have enough to be an Idol. She had been growing her hair all her life and it reached to the floor even when she wore high heels. She sang a decent version of You Raise Me Up made famous by Josh Groban.

There weren’t any really strange auditions this evening and even when the judges were a bit rude, the citizens of Birmingham showed polite southern hospitality. Brandy Patterson rounded out the evening with a bad rendition of Madonna’s Like A Virgin. She had a bit of an attitude, but what do you expect when Simon says such terrible things. Brandy thought the wooden floor was a problem and tried to sing on the carpet hoping to make things better, but it didn’t work.

Twenty contestants made it through from Birmingham and we are on to Los Angeles tomorrow evening for the final round of auditions.

Alan

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Jan

30

Katie BernardTonight we saw sweet Katie Bernard audition in Birmingham Alabama as a girl with a strange speaking voice but a nice singing voice and while I was checking online to see if I spelled her name right, I found these two videos of her on Youtube.com looking like a very professional and polished singer. Was the Idol audition just an act?

The first is from Dimples, a karaoke club, in Burbank California and the second is from the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando Florida about an hour away from where I live.


She is looking pretty professional from these two clips and her pictures at her website www.katiebernard.com Check out her pic above the two videos. Her bio at her web site states:

“With hip-hop and jazz training as well as performance classes to compliment a strong foundation in pop vocal technique, Katie has been a favorite since the year 2000 at Walt Disney World and Sea World Florida as both an ensemble member as well as a featured soloist. She has also appeared as a special guest at Universal Studio’s Nightclub “Groove” one of CityWalk’s most notable attractions.”

Is American Idol auditioning professional singers or is this just a fluke?

Alan

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Jan

30

Chris Daughtry continues to be the number one album seller from the 2006 season of American Idol. His self titled cd Daughtry has reached the number one spot on Billboard’s top 200 list.

Chris’ album is also making Idol history because it is the first recording from an Idol that didn’t finish in the top 2 spots to achieve the number one Billboard status. It kind of makes you wonder about how the voting process works when you see results like this.

American Idol is redefining the way we decide what is popular in music today. Many bands and artists work and struggle for years to get known and become popular. Now with Idol, the public gets to decide in one season who it is that they would rather listen to, making instant stars out of people who were virtually unknown just 3 months before the show started.

American Idol has been responsible for 108 chart topping #1 singles and albums and is redefining music for us all. Congratulations to Chris!

Alan

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Jan

30

This one was from the Seattle auditions of American Idol and I realized I had only mentioned Darwin Reedy briefly in one of my posts. Darwin sings Don’t Cha by the Pussycat Dolls and it is one of the strangest auditions I’ve ever seen. How anyone could watch American Idol from the beginning, as Darwin claims, and think that this is what the judges want in a singer, is beyond me. Darwin’s mom was with her and really believed in her singing talent. I just don’t get it!

After Don’t Cha Darwin starts to sing Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd and her rendition of the song had no life at all. There wasn’t even any life in her voice when she was talking, how did this girl and her mom think she had even the slightest chance to be an American Idol. Watch the video.


Alan

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Jan

29

American Idol attracts all sorts of people with unique talents and even though one of those talents is supposed to be singing,many times it isn’t. Take Trista Giese for instance. She does have quite a unique thing that she does, but it isn’t singing, it’s roaring like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard Of Oz. Poor Trista, I think the producers just put some of these people through so America can see how weird they are. Enjoy the video while it lasts. I guess some of these clips aren’t supposed to be on Youtube.com so they’re being removed.

Alan

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Jan

29

Here is Katharine McPhee’s American Idol Audition video. I had forgotten that Katharine’s mom was a voice coach so that was a trememdous benefit to Kat. I also had forgotten how much Katharine looks like her mom.

Of course we do see Idol contestants who’s mom supports them, but doesn’t have a clue about music or just how bad of singer they really are. Take Darwin Reedy for instance, her mom supported her and was sure of her talent, but Darwin was really bad. But wait, this post isn’t about her, it’s about Katharine McPhee. So check out Kathrine’s Idol audition below.

Randy, Paula and Simon loved Katharine and Randy said that Kat was the best voice he had heard at the auditions all season. She obviously did quite well.

Alan

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Jan

28

I continue to be amazed at the loyal fans Elliott Yamin has. On the post when I announced the date of Elliott’s Album release, I have received 47 comments so far. Elliott fans are finding information about him and keeping him in the forefront it seems more than any other former Idol. It makes me wonder what’s going to happen when his album is released on March 20th. I predict his album sales will pass up Taylor Hicks in probably a few weeks. So far Taylor has sold 587,000 albums.

Anyway, for Elliott Yamin’s loyal fans I’ve posted pictures of Elliott here. The photos are from Flickr.com and will update automatically as new pics are added.

Get ready for a new week of American Idol as the show moves to Birmingham Alabama on Tuesday night and the Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Alan

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Jan

27

Rachel Zevita had an interesting repertoire of songs for the American Idol judges in New York on Wednesday night. Rachel went from Eternal Life by Jeff Buckley, to a mellower Get Here to opera. Simon seemed confused as to who Rachel really was, but guest judge Carol Bayer Sager and Paula were enthusiastic about Rachel’s audition and with an unenthusiastic yes from Randy Jackson, she was off to Hollywood. Yes, Rachel can sing anything as you can see from her audition video below, but America wants someone who owns a style all their own, not a Rich Little impersonator who can be anybody.

I think Rachel is a little too confident and America tends to not like the attitude that comes along with that, but there is something very likeable about her, so we will see what happens.

Alan

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Jan

26

I put up her brother Sanjaya’s audition video so here’s Shyamali Malakar’s Idol audition. It’s pretty rare that two members of the same family make the cut. We had Jessie and Becky O’Donohue that both made it to Hollywood last year, but only Becky went on to the top 24. I have to agree with Simon that Sanjaya was better than Shyamali, but we only heard a small portion of the jazz standard, Summertime. You never know what’s going to happen until each contestant gets to Hollywood and has a chance to be coached. I think that Shyamali and Sanjaya will both do well because they have a natural talent without the attitude. Check out Shyamali Malakar’s American Idol Audition below.

Alan

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Jan

25