Kayla Thornton has a more unusual story than most on how she wound up at the American Idol Season 11 auditions. She couldn’t afford to make it to one of the audition sites, so she wasn’t going to try out. But her dad kept encouraging her, then sold some cattle to pay for her trip…
Haley Johnson’s rationale for auditioning for American Idol Season 11 was pretty simple. The show came to her. Well, to Portland, Oregon, more specifically. But as a resident of Beaverton, a graduate of the high school there and a student at Oregon State University, that made it mighty convenient. “They’re always telling me, ‘Haley, you can…
One of the talented teens we didn’t get to meet in the Portland audition episode of American Idol was Aubrey Cleland of Westfield, Oregon, 18 at the time of the Idol tryouts. Aubrey also made Hollywood in Season 10 and said that’s what inspired her to come back — to prove to herself and the…
Romeo Diahn certainly has a background different than any other Idol contestants. He was born in Liberia, where civil war broke out in 1990. His dad, an immigration commander, managed to get the family to a refugee camp in Ghana. From there, they hoped to make their way to the United States. They did, but not until…
If Jessica Phillips’ story on the Portland audition episode of American Idol reminded you of Chris Medina, you’re not alone. Watching Chris’ story on Season 10, about how his fiance had been severely injured in a tragic car crash, spoke to Jessica in a way most Idol viewers can’t imagine. That’s because she found herself in…
Look at that. A musician showed up for the American Idol auditions in St. Louis, and the show didn’t try to pass him off as a paint store worker or a bartender or a sanitation worker. There was Ethan Jones, 22, of Pontoon Beach, Fla., with an Idol blue bar identifying him as “musician.” Despite…
Over the years, not too many Idol contestants have auditioned in front of the judges with their daughter standing by their side. But that was the scenario in the St. Louis episode Thursday night, when Rachelle Lamb and daughter Maddy appeared before Steven, Jennifer and Randy. From the moment Maddy adorably told her mom, “No,…
So, they’ve posted the video for Melanie Amaro’s Pepsi commercial, one of the grand prizes for winning the first season of X Factor USA. As you’ve probably heard, the commercial also features Elton John. And you know what, it’s a really cute commercial. Melanie looks and sounds great. But I’m still hoping it doesn’t displace…
I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought one of the purest male voices we’ve heard during the Season 11 Idol auditions came from Reis Kloeckener. We met Reis midway through the St. Louis audition episode. He’s the guy who described a difficult transition from a 152-student Lutheran school to a much larger high…
For weeks we’d be seeing the Idol promos, with Jennifer Lopez telling a good-looking young guy that he was going to be a star. Thursday night, on Idols final audition episode, from St. Louis, we met Johnny Keyser. And sometime Thursday, I think Johnny launched a website. I had visited his Facebook page earlier today…
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