Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Remember all those ousted semifinalists?

They continue to resurface on MySpace.

Von Smith is the latest to address his Idol experience in a blog, assuring fans that there’s a smile on his face and he’s holding his head high over how far he got on the show.

“Though it’s a little bittersweet, I know everything happens for a reason and, honestly, they never got to see who I really am or what I can really do on the show, so things can only get better,” Von writes.

He says the pressure to fit a certain mold “was a little heavier than I anticipated” but leaves no doubt that he plans to continue to make music.

He’s also completely redone the look of his MySpace page. No music yet, but I’m sure that’s coming. Here’s a link to the blog.

Other pages worth checking out …

Ann Marie Boskovich: The country gal from Nashville — the one the judges forced to leave the audition room and return with a new look — has posted five demos on her MySpace page. All are full-length country tunes. Make sure to check out “Enough.” Great vocal, great song. Wish she would have been allowed to sing that in the semis; she might still be on Idol.

Taylor Vaifanua: The teen from Salt Lake has two full-length songs on her MySpace page and a 1-minute, 15-second clip of a third. We’re talking dance-worthy pop tunes. Taylor’s one of the singers who got shortchanged by the new semifinal format. She sang very well the only time she got to perform. Remember? But Kara wanted to know what it would be like to go shopping with her. Ugh.

Ju’Not Joyner: The guy from Baltimore, who didn’t hesitate to take a swipe at Idol in a post-semifinal blog, has posted a 2-minute version of “Hey There Delilah” on his MySpace page. Still love the tone of this guy’s voice. And I agree, Ju’Not, you deserved a spot in the wild card show.

Casey Carlson: She’s completely redone her MySpace page too, has posted a version of the Kelly Clarkson song “Breakaway,” talks about the Idol experience as “a dream come true” in a short blog and promises to keep us all posted on what’s next for her. Shame we didn’t get to hear more from Carly on Idol … virtually nothing between audition and semifinal performance.

Kai Kalama: The best place to keep up with Kai and his band Off White is the band Web site. Go there and you can hear the rousing live version of “Couldn’t Do It” and four other songs. The group played a welcome back gig in San Clemente, Calif., over the weekend.

And don’t forget the music I pointed out last week on the MySpace pages of Kristen McNamara, Mishavonna Henson, Brent Keith and, yes, Tatiana Del Toro.

I’ll try to keep folks posted as more surfaces, including whether any of their pre-Idol music becomes available for download or purchase. So keep checking back.