Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Here are profiles of the 15 gals who received golden tickets when American Idol visited Atlanta.

Where possible, I’ve provided links to their videos and their music, even for those contestants who have been eliminated at this point.

Amber Caparas

I love the message on this 19-year-old Charleston, S.C., resident’s MySpace page. “I have a mind of my own,” she writes, “and a God who keeps me from losing it.” I had high hopes for Amber based on some of the acoustic numbers I’d seen her do on YouTube. But, alas, I believe she’s been eliminated from the competition. At least for this year. In her Idol video, Amber says she has wanted to try out for Idol since the show began. But she made a pact with her dad: She wouldn’t audition until she graduated from high school and finished her first year of college, with straight A’s. She’s also a second-degree black belt. Link: You can check out those YouTube videos, including a cover of the Counting Crows’ “Round Here” here.

Ashley Hobbs

Ashley had a very logical reason for auditioning for American Idol. She says she passed the Georgia Dome every day on her way to work at the Georgia Aquarium. She saw Idol was holding auditions there and figured, “why not just go?” she says in her Idol video. At 21, she has a son, but vows that “I still have a lot of child in me.” In fact, she classifies herself as very goofy. In addition to her voice, she classifies dance as her special talent and thinks her determination could set her apart from the crowd on Idol because she wants to provide a better life for her son. Link: Go here to watch Ashley’s Idol interview. If anyone knows of any of Ashley’s music that’s available on the Web, please let me know.

Carmen Turner

She’s the gal who advanced to Hollywood while her BFF, Lauren Sanders, was left behind. In her Idol video, she says her most memorable musical performance came during her senior year of high school. She was dance captain for a show choir that finished first in a competition in Mississippi. In her freshman year, the same show choir finished 15th, out of 15 groups. Turner, of Baxley, Ga., is a sophomore at Brewton-Parker College in south Georgia, where she has participated in show choir and a jazz ensemble and scored a lead in last year’s theatrical production of “Phantom,” according to the college’s Web site. She has also been eliminated from Idol. Link: Go here to watch Carmen and Lauren’s auditions.

Genesis Moore

Viewers caught a glimpse of this 16-year-old from McDonough, Ga., singing “I Told You So” in a “Road To Hollywood” episode. She was part of a montage featuring teens auditioning for the first time. But her first experience on stage was no picnic, Genesis told Idol. She was 7 or 8 years old, at some sort of expo in Indianapolis when she took the stage and forgot all the words. “They took me down because I didn’t want to sing anymore.” Later, they gave her another shot, “and I started wailing” — in a good way — Genesis recalls. She’s now a junior at Union Grove High School, where she was homecoming princess in her freshman and sophomore years. She says she was encouraged to try out for Idol by her parents. Links: Go here to watch a brief audition snippet of Genesis singing. Go here to watch her sing “Summertime.”

Holly Hardin

Is this gal still around on Idol? Honestly, I’ve lost track. Which is surprising, because she made a splash at this year’s Atlanta auditions, showing up dressed like a guitar and sounding for all the world like the reincarnation of Kellie Pickler. Country music is certainly her specialty, and she has a 10-track CD titled “Heart” available on iTunes. She’s also an old hand at auditioning for reality shows, according to her MySpace and made it past the first round of America’s Got Talent in 2008. By the way, Holly’s 21 and from Rockmart, Ga. Links: Go to Holly’s MySpace to hear three of her songs. Go here to relive her wacky audition. And here is a video of Holly on America’s Got Talent at age 19, singing “These Boots Are Made for Walking.”

Jesse Barry

This 17-year-old from Asheville, N.C., sings lead vocals for a teen band called “Skinny Legs and All.” According to their MySpace page, they have a CD called “Get the Skinny” that they sell at shows while performing all over western North Carolina. The band specializes in “youthful renditions of classic blues, funk and soul.” Jesse told Idol she’s been planning to audition since season one, when she was watching from home at age 8. Among her most memorable performances was singing at an international blues festival. Jesse says she is also a straight-A student. Links: You can watch Skinny Legs and All perform here, and you can check out five of their songs here.

Keia Johnson

Keia was one of the featured contestants in the Atlanta audition episode. We learned she won Miss Congeniality at some stage of the Miss America competition. Then Keia impressed Mary J. Blige with a rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” (the Titanic theme song). According to her MySpace, the 27-year-old from the Memphis, Tenn., area has performed with two “distinguished mid-south bands,” performing everything from county to R&B to jazz, but hopes to make it as a solo performer. The site says she’s also an accomplished songwriter and dancer. Links: Keia has three songs available on MySpace. Go here to watch her audition again.

Lauren Daigle

This Lafayette, Louisiana, teen got her start as a camel in a church play at age 3, or so she tells us in her Idol video. And that video is about the only evidence I can find that this 18-year-old graduate of Lafayette Charter High School ever received a golden ticket. I’m pretty certain we didn’t see her audition. Lauren says she has “always watched the show” and always thought “I could be on that stage.” And she headed to Hollywood hoping, she said, to become the first finalist from Louisiana. (Actually, I think Lindsey Cardinale, from season four, was from Louisiana). Link: Here’s a link to Lauren’s Idol video interview. If anyone knows of links to a vocal performance, let me know. I’ll be glad to add it.

Liz Rooney

Somehow, Idol opted not to show Liz’s audition. Surprising, given her backstory. She’s a 911 dispatcher and a former member of the U.S. Army who “has been all over the world,” she tells us in her Idol video. She also has blond hair with bright pink streaks. We really didn’t see her until group night, when she was part of Team Neopolitan, with Thaddeus Johnson, Jessica Cunningham and Paige Miles. All four advanced after their performance of “Bad Romance,” despite their feud with Team Destiny’s Wild. In her Idol video, Liz says: “Singing is my life support. It saved my life, and here I am,” though she doesn’t elaborate on what that means. Link: Go here to watch her Idol interview; here to watch the group performance again.

Mallorie Haley

All I can say is I’m extremely disappointed Mallorie was eliminated on the first day of Hollywood. Given the Taylor Swift effect, I figured Idol might be kinder to country singers this year. And having listened to Mallorie’s MySpace music, I was pretty convinced she was the best female contestant from Atlanta and a potential finalist in season nine. She has a distinctive sound. Not to mention an Idol-like look. Not to mention a good deal of experience, having been performing since age 5. A native of Winner, S.D., this 20-year-old now resides in Nashville, where she’s pursuing a career in country music. All I can say is: Best of luck, Mallorie. I’ll be waiting for some music I can buy. Link: Check out “Young at Heart,” “Pretty Smile” and “Beat Up Town” on her MySpace. Sounds like she at least co-writes her own music, which puts her one step ahead of where Carrie Underwood was at this stage of the game.

Miriam Lemnouni

This 26-year-old is a horse trainer and says folks who know her might be surprised to find out she sings because she hasn’t done much of it since moving to Atlanta a couple of years ago. She sang Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” for her audition. I’ll try not to hold that against her. An advertisement on gahorse.com touts her availability to train horses in that area. It also references her appearance on Idol and says she has ridden dressage for the world-famous Lipizzaner Stallion Show. She says her most memorable performance was at Disney World when she was 16. Links: Go here to catch a brief snippet of Miriam’s audition. Go here for her Idol video interview.

Noel Reese

Noel, 16, of Sophia, Ga., was featured in the same montage with Miriam Lemnouni, singing Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” She tells us in her Idol video that she’s been waiting to audition since the show began and is “finally old enough to try out.” She plays piano, guitar a little and figures being “an All-American girl” will set her apart. Her first performance came at age 7, in a Rodgers and Hammerstein plays. Links: Here’s the link to Noel’s audition; here’s the link to her Idol video interview.

Theiry Harden

She’s still alive in Hollywood, having been part of the quartet named Destiny’s Wild that did such an impressive rendition of “Bad Romance” on group night, even if another team allegedly stole their idea. Theiry says it was encouragement from her mom that convinced her to try out for Idol in season nine. On her MySpace, Theiry writes that she “recently transferred from Armstrong Atlantic University in Savannah, where I spent my freshman year as a music major and I am now back home in the Atlanta, where I will soon be attending cosmetology school while also pursuing my singing/modeling career.” Links: Go here to hear two of Theiry’s MySpace tunes. Go here to watch Destiny’s Wild group performance.

Tisha Holland

Idol’s blue bar identified this 19-year-old from Riverdale, Ga., as a hostess. Maybe, but she got rave reviews for her rendition of “Impossible.” Viewers got to see only a few seconds of it, but Kara called it the best audition of the day. Tish had apparently auditioned in past years and failed to make it to Hollywood. She says in her Idol video interview that her friends kept urging her to try out again. Her most memorable performance, she said, came when she got to be part of a televised competition at the Apollo Theater in New York. Links: Go here to watch a snippet of Tisha’s audition; go here for her video interview.

Vanessa Wolfe

She was the feel-good story of the Atlanta auditions, the poor gal who feels “trapped” in a small Tennessee town of Vonore, but who has a decent voice. Her special skill: talking her way out of police tickets, or so she says during her Idol video. The Idol judges gave her the coveted golden ticket to Hollywood, but what happened next was pretty predictable. Vanessa, 20, seemingly overcome by nerves, did not fare well on the stage at the Kodak Theater. This time, what she got was a ticket home. Prior to trying out for Idol, Vanessa said her most memorable performance came in an 8th-grade talent show, when she sang “Respect” and won the show-stopper award. Link: Go here to watch Vanessa’s audition again.