Imani Handy says she worked hard for her golden ticket, through no fault of the judges. She actually forgot the words to her audition song, then pleaded for a second chance to impress them. Well, they granted her that second chance, and Imani, of McKinney, Texas, got her golden ticket. By that point, Imani had…
Finale — You’ll Never Walk Alone (with Jordan Sparks) Top 4 — I Can’t Make You Love Me Top 4 — Faithfully Top 4 — Eternal Flame (with Jessica Sanchez) Top 5 — River Deep Mountain High Top 5 — Bleeding Love Top 5 — Your Love Takes Me Higher (with Jessica Sanchez and Skylar…
Hannah Anderson auditioned for American Idol as part of a deal. Her brother is in Afghanistan with the U.S. military. He made her agree to try out for American Idol. So there she was in Galveston, earning a golden ticket to Hollywood. OK, she admits, it wasn’t a very fair deal. Hannah says she’s different…
Gabrielle Greene says there wasn’t one thing that prompted her to try out for American Idol in Galveston, but that she was “really excited” to do so. But not as excited as she was after getting her golden ticket. She says that immediately became her favorite American Idol moment. Like many of the Idol contestants…
Gabi Mercaldo says she’s been singing since she was just 2 years old “for dinner guests and small things like that.” Those small things developed into enough experience that she got a golden ticket at the Idol audiitons in Galveston. Gabi says she’d like to use her music to help people from broken homes and…
Erica Young started singing in her father’s church when she was young. And that’s all it took to hook her. “I really knew that’s what I wanted to do.” Erica, of Alamogordo, N.M., was 28 when she tried out and admits that her friends threatened her to do it, in part because it’s her last year…
Eric Burton recalls how his grandmother made him join the choir in church. “I’m like, ‘OK, grandma.” What surprised him is, it wasn’t that bad. “I remember it being very, very liberating,” he says in his golden ticket interview. “I was really taken by just performing.” So years later, there he was, in Galveston, Texas,…
Here’s a different sort of American Idol contestant — a male singer who looked forward to meeting Steven Tyler. Dylan Loza says that’s because Steven has “been one of my favorite artists for a long time.” Of course, he didn’t mind meeting Jennifer Lopez either because he’s “had a crush on her forever.” Dylan hails…
Crystal Omondi says her first musical performance “scarred me for life,” but she says it with a laugh. She was 5 and getting down to the Spice girls, not knowing that her brother and his friends were playing video games just outside. “So I come out full force, coreography and everything from this music video,…
Cosette Fife admits she was suprised to get to audition in front of the Idol judges after traveling to Galveston. The fact that she wound up with a golden ticket “is insane,” she says. Her parents have always encouraged her love of music, says the teen from Gilbert, Ariz. She first started performing in front…
