Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Shania “Shi” Scott was among the featured singers in American Idol’s New York audition episode. (FOX Photo)

A unique look. A unique sound. And a unique name.

She prefers not to go by Shania, because it means beautiful and she told the Idol judges she doesn’t like strangers calling her beautiful.

So she’s shortened her stage name to Shi, which is pronounced “she,” which has prompted her to launch a Twitter handle and website under the clever “whoisshi.”

Who is Shi?

Well, to date, the 18-year-old from the Maryland suburbs of D.C. appears to have done more modeling than singing. For instance, she stars as the leading lady in a music video by fellow D.C. area singer Chris Bivins.

But though she says she’s been singing mostly to herself, this isn’t her first attempt at a TV singing show.

She auditioned for Season 4 of The Voice, but failed to turn a chair with her performance of “Dude Looks Like a Lady.” Apparently, by the time she got to audition, the teams were nearly full.

She recounts the experience in a funny video on her YouTube channel. In fact, judging from the videos you’ll find there, she also has quite the sense of humor.

For Idol, she auditioned with Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.” All the judges agreed she had the look and the talent to be successful.

They disagreed on whether she’s ready for the Idol stage.

But, in something of a twist, it was Adam Lambert who voted against sending her to Hollywood. She advanced with yes votes from Jennifer Lopez and the difficult to impress Harry Connick Jr., though he expressed concern that Shi’s performance sounded a bit too much like an Amy Winehouse impersonation.

In an interview with the FOX station in D.C. after her audition aired, Shi said gaining confidence and developing her own voice as a singer are two of the key things she needs to work on.

But she added that she’d definitely like to make a career out of music.

As for watching back her New York audition, “I instantly started crying,” she said.

Here are some Shi links, followed by a couple samples of her music.

Website
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @whoisshi