Randy Jackson was right. The Atlanta auditions were something special.
Especially when it came to promising country voices.
I’m a fan of all sorts of music, country included. What I really appreciate is an American Idol finals that features a wide variety of artists.
That was sorely missing last year when we were served up way too many guys who wanted to sing pop with a touch of soul. And Michael Sarver as the only guy who really wanted to sing country. (Sorry, Danny Gokey fans. He doesn’t count.)
Tonight raised my hopes because the show featured not one, not two, but three contestants with promising country vocals. Now, I’ve searched and haven’t been able to come up with much info on two of my favorite country singers from tonight’s show — Vanessa Wolfe, the “trapped” gal from Tennessee, and Bryan Walker, the police officer who didn’t look the part, but sure can sing.
Mallorie Haley. That’s another issue. She has a MySpace page where you can find six songs, including two I love, “Pretty Smile” and “Young At Heart.”
Dare I say, she has the potential to be the best female country singer on Idol since Carrie Underwood. There’s a distinctive tone to her voice. And it sounds as though she is at least a co-writer of many of her songs, another major plus in my book.
Down to specifics, Mallorie’s career started at age 5 when she sang the national anthem at a rodeo. Now how country is that?
The Winner, S.D., gal has opened shows for Kenny Rogers, George Jones, Crystal Gayle, Chris Ledoux, Linda Davis, Kenny Chesney, Montgomery Gentry, Pam Tillis, Trace Adkins and Dierks Bentley, according to her MySpace. She moved to Nashville in 2007 to pursue a recording career.
Best of luck in Hollywood, Mallorie. Hope to see you in the semifinals. Hey, that “Beat Up Town” song is pretty darn good too. Just listened to it as I’m writing this.
Now, the country voices weren’t the only ones to impress Tuesday night. Keia Johnson and Jermaine Sellers earned well-deserved praise from the judges.
First, Keia Johnson, the gal who competed in a pageant and came away with the award for Miss Congeniality.
According to her MySpace, she’s “professional singer, entertainer, songwriter, and dancer” who has performed everything “from country to soul, rock to R&B, and jazz to contemporary along with two destinguished mid-south bands.”
Writes Keia on that page: “I feel that I am on the edge of something really great and all that’s left is for me to prepare for it. I will go into more detail in the months to come but all I can say is get ready!”
You can check out three of Keia’s songs on her MySpace page.
Now, Jermaine Sellers was introduced to us as a young man who has been taking care of his mom since age 17 because she has spina bifida.
He’s also been involved in music for a long, long time, according to his MySpace profile. Sounds like he had at least two R&B music deals that went sour as a teen, spent time performing on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (Please, no one tell Simon. I can hear the critique right now.) and now considers himself a gospel singer.
Jermaine’s MySpace indicates he competed on BET’s Sunday’s Best and finished third and that he was looking forward to recording a contemporary gospel album sometime in 2009. The site says the 25-year-old was also working with BET on a show called 106 & Park Generation Gospel.
Not sure if the album was completed, but you can head to Jermaine’s MySpace and hear seven of his songs. The vocal on “Why Can’t We” is particularly good.
That’s it for now. Keep checking back. I’ll try to provide more info on golden ticket recipients from Boston and Atlanta over the next couple of days. And, of course, I’ll be blogging live again next week during the audition shows from Chicago and Orlando.
The Orlando auditions were particularly strange, according to Randy Jackson. So stay tuned.
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