Idol Chatter & Voice Views

You have to wonder what happened to American Idol in Chicago.

Were the judges in a bad mood? Was the talent really that sparse?

Only five females earned golden tickets. But, hey, it’s a talented quintet.

And the Chicago auditions produced one of my favorite contestants from season nine — singer/songwriter Crystal Bowersox.

Here are American Idol’s gals from Chicago.

Angela Martin

Ready to play the ol’ Idol name game? Angela Martin is Angela Martin on Idol, has been for three years now. Professionally, she performs as A’wun, a singer, dancer and actress. This year marks Angela’s third straight trip to Hollywood. Back in season seven, her dad was killed shortly before the Hollywood round. A year ago, she was apparently doing very well before having to leave Hollywood to deal with a traffic warrant. She’s now 28, from Chicago, and received rave reviews from the judges for her rendition of Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine” in her season nine audition. She has a daughter with Rett syndrome. Links: Go here to watch her season nine audition; go here to watch her season seven audition.

Charity Vance

This junior at Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock, Ark., is another of those teens who watched Idol growing up and couldn’t wait to try out. She’s now 17 and she’s still around on the show, having completed an impressive group number with Team Faith, which also included Ashley Rodriguez (Boston) and Michelle Delamor (Orlando). She grew up singing in her parents’ hair salon (Vance Salon in West Little Rock) and recently returned home to perform in a benefit concert, Arkansas for Haiti Relief, according to FOX16 in Little Rock. According to her school’s Web site, she’s a member of the senior high choir and has performed on stage and in musicals throughout Central Arkansas. Links: Go here for Charity’s group number, here for Charity’s audition and here to hear her sing “If I Could.”

Crystal Bowersox

If talent was so sparse in Chicago, I have no idea how Idol passed on showing the audition of this fine 24-year-old singer-songwriter from Ellison, Ohio. I was smitten the minute I heard “Farmer’s Daughter,” one of her songs. She indeed grew up on a farm in northwest Ohio and later moved to Chicago. She’s a single mom and has a sunflower tattoo on her back in her son’s honor; she says he was her motivation for trying out for Idol. Last summer, she was one of the winners of the Toledo Blade Battle of the Bands competition, and she’d been performing and recording her original music with a 27-year-old bass guitarist named Frank May. On MySpace, she classifies her music as acoustic, folk rock, blues. You won’t find any of it there, which might be a sign that Crystal has done well in Hollywood. I know she’s still in the running for a spot in the semifinals. Links: Go here for Crystal’s performance of “Natural Woman” in round one of Hollywood, here to watch her perform “Piece of My Heart.”

Katelyn Epperly

We did meet this 19-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa, during the Chicago auditions. She’s the gal who said she was always “stand-offish” about the idea of trying out for Idol, until the divorce of her parents. She wants to start a new chapter in her life, and she wanted to cheer up her mom, a big fan of Idol. So far, so good. Of course, Katelyn has been singing for a while, in the jazz choir, chamber choir and a cappella choir at Valley High School in West Des Moines and as lead singer and songwriter for Katelyn and the Bruises, with former boyfriend Nick Frampton. In her Idol video, she says she’s also learning the business side of the music industry, from engineering and production to booking agent duties. Links: Go here to watch Katelyn’s audition again; go here to hear Katelyn and the Bruises.

Paige DeChausse

This 22-year-old from Morris, Ill., showed up for the Idol auditions in a limo rented by her grandmom. You might better remember that she’s the gal who nearly died from an asthma attack at age 15. According to her mom, she was given a 30 percent chance of survival and would probably have brain damage is she did. Paige pulled through and rocked the judges with “A Change Is Gonna Come” during her audition. She classifies her music as blues/country/soul on MySpace, where she writes: “I grew up listening to my mother’s voice singing sweet country music and began to mimic her sounds at the age of 4 and so, I sing.” She also performs with the Chicago Blues Angels. Links: Go here to watch Paige’s audition again; go here to hear a song on her MySpace and watch videos of her performing with the blues group.