Felicia Barton’s Unseen Audition

Thank you, mj! I completely missed this. Man, I wish she and Jesse were in this contest.

Absolutely retarded that she did not make the Top 13…

Cute boy I agree!!! After seeing the audition, it is easy to see why she was kept hidden. They knew that if the word got out about her to the casual viewers (i.e. not the core fans like us), then they would start pinning her down and she would become a big favorite. Shame, shame on you producers (and I am sure Simon is primarily responsible).

Why didn’t they pimp her kids like they pimp Michael’s, Megan’s and Lil’s? Oh, right- no sob story to go along with it.

That audition was better than anything I’ve heard from Megan or Jasmine. Oh, I guess she’s just wasn’t “current” enough for idol. Whatever.

I don’t know why I’m so angry about this season. I’m just really upset about all the choices that TPTB has made.

I thought she was good but not so much so that they had to “hide” her. I prefer Jesse’s and Mishovanna’s voices and am sad that Jesse wasn’t kept in favor of Jasmine. I do think what hurt Felicia was that her performance in the top 36 didn’t make her stand out which is what she needed. They certainly could have put her in the wildcard show over Tatiana.

I think she’s one, among many, who deserved to be in the top 13 before others. Maybe she’s not blind or doesn’t have the 8th most dangerous job in the world, but for me she has an amazing voice…something sorely lacking this season I think.

Another not-selected contestant (who shockingly is female) who should have made it over:

Michael
Scott
Anoop
Jorge
Jasmine

(and possibly more than that)

noctem seizure Mar 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pm

Another not-selected contestant (who shockingly is female)

This is the way you justify the “guys year” stuff from the judges. Toss the wheat and keep the chaff.

Yeah, it’s kind of funny that last August Randy was talking about how fantastic the singer-songwriter-type girls that were auditioning were, then by the time the season started it had become a “guy’s year”. Guess they decided they want another boy to win, so all the female singer-songwriters had to be downplayed and gotten rid of.

Wait, so did she sing two songs during her auditon? Here she’s singing Soulmate and the one they showed on t.v. was a different one.

I’m still amazed that they didn’t pick her for the wildcard show. She has a ton of potential in my opinion.

Yeah, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s kind of funny that last August Randy was talking about how fantastic the singer-songwriter-type girls that were auditioning were, then by the time the season started it had become a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“guyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ . Guess they decided they want another boy to win, so all the female singer-songwriters had to be downplayed and gotten rid of.

From what I observed, the top thirteen should have had more girls than guys. Besides Felicia, Kristin McNamara should have DEFINITELY been in. Also deserving were Jessie Langseth, Mishovonna, and– if she was still in, even though people a lot of people hated her– Joanna Pacitti.

The only girl that did make it that should not have was Jasmine. And the only guy who didn’t make it that should have was Jamar Rodgers. But, there are about four guys who made it who I’d say were very questionable choices.

The audition clip they showed was probably a final production staff audition before the one with the judges, you know how they piece together different clips.

This unseen audition w/backstory just confirms my first thoughts when I heard she was replacing Joanna, girl you should have said see you next season and hung up.

From what I observed, the top thirteen should have had more girls than guys. Besides Felicia, Kristin McNamara should have DEFINITELY been in. Also deserving were Jessie Langseth, Mishovonna, andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ if she was still in, even though people a lot of people hated herà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Joanna Pacitti.

I would also add Jackie. I know many kinda of hated her, but love or hate, she was way more interesting that some of the guys that made the top 13.
It’s funny, cause a couple of weeks ago someone posted here that Randy named his favorite contestants and 3 of the 4 were girls. The girls are really underrated this year.

Good audition, I think she could have won some fans with that.

uh- just when i had forgotten about that travesty, you have to go and bring it back up. She was good. I ll never understand why they bashed her like they did. Just wish she would have hit the first high note in No One, then her not making it would have been an Omen from the devil. Shell be fine.

Of the girls we have left, Felicia and I’m throwing Jesse in there as well would have made this such a fantastic season!

Gosh, why didn’t her and Jesse make it?

And yet we have SCOTT who can’t sing. Michael Sarver who CANT SING. Jasmine who never should have been there in the first place. Megan who is good and bad all at the same time.

I hope her and Jesse both just make it big somewhere and rub it in to all the other people who shouldn’t have been on the show.

Fat chance I know, but somehow I just wish anyway

So what happened during that top 36 that turned a viewer from voting for some of the girls that have been listed as ” should haves” on this site. Are the viewers too swayed by Simon and his reviews, did the girls pick bad songs, were they boring and showed a lack of charisma, were they so much the same that it was hard to distinguish between them? I’m really trying to understand what sways the AI voter early on. I know that a very small percentage of viewers research the final (36 or 24) online like so many of “us” do so that they really have no idea what someone can or can’t do.

I know (deep in my heart) that AI is totally unfair in the early rounds. I just wonder how the decisions are made as to who to focus on and for what reasons, considering so much flak is directed at TPTB the rest of the season. I wonder if they have “market researchers” who watch these early edited audition tapes and give their input? Someday, it will be nice when Simon Fuller writes his memoirs and we will get to see what really went on…but I’ll be dead by then, so I guess I will never know.

Well, that makes my stomach hurt, especially now that I have to listen to Megan “sing” Motown tunes next week. Oh the agony….

((((Felicia)))) ((((Jesse))))

…and yet the audition we were shown had her singing, “Put Your Records On,” which compared to this one, made her seem a little more “average.”

Yeah, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s kind of funny that last August Randy was talking about how fantastic the singer-songwriter-type girls that were auditioning were, then by the time the season started it had become a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“guyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ . Guess they decided they want another boy to win, so all the female singer-songwriters had to be downplayed and gotten rid of.

Hopefully once the AI contract is up, some label will figure it out and sign them and show what mistakes they made!

she seemed so real. such a pretty girl and a nice voice……..this venue was just not meant to be–a blessing in disguise maybe.

Tess Mar 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm

So what happened during that top 36 that turned a viewer from voting for some of the girls that have been listed as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  should havesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  on this site. Are the viewers too swayed by Simon and his reviews, did the girls pick bad songs, were they boring and showed a lack of charisma, were they so much the same that it was hard to distinguish between them? Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m really trying to understand what sways the AI voter early on. I know that a very small percentage of viewers research the final (36 or 24) online like so many of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  do so that they really have no idea what someone can or canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t do.

As a person who is a staunch believer that the public vote does not count, as least in the sense of being a direct determinate of deciding the cast (For the record, I think the judges recite memorized scripted comments that jibe with the predetermined outcome the producers have planned, hence why Simon always “knows what America is thinking”…even when he doesn’t.) I’ll play the devil’s advocate and pretend that voting does matter here and analyze this from that perspective.

The way this show was cast three groups of twelve from thirty six really gave contestants almost no chance to “bond”, cheesy word but what ta hey, with the cast. So contestants that were given positive emotionally touching back story material have a huge advantage and even ones like Tatiana, Kristen MacNamara, et al who were shown in a largely unfavorable light might be seen as starting “in a hole”, but from an “any publicity is good publicity” perspective, that is still better than nothing.

One would think that contestants like Allison, who won a Telemundo reality karaoke show, and Kristen, who place sixth on Nashville Star, would have a large voting contingent relative to some others but that doesn’t seem to be the case or enough of the case to make a decisive difference, given Kristen got one shot and Allison was in “the bottom three” last week.

As an example, using Dial Idol’s data Jesse Langseth’s Bette Davis Eyes was not forgettable (as Simon had said) in that her Dial Idol number was fully half of Allison’s and eight times greater than some other female contestants, but still not close to making the cut.

In conclusion, from a votes-count perspective, and in light of who advanced from the groups ( Group 1: Alexis, Gokey, Sarver Group 2: Allison, Adam, Kris Group 3: Lil’, Scott, Jorge) you would have to say that both the judges opinions and the producer dictated performance position within a given group had a lot to do with who advanced. A “votes count” person could also believe that there exists total freedom with respect to song choice for these contestants and accepts that at face value too.

Tess Mar 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm

I know (deep in my heart) that AI is totally unfair in the early rounds. I just wonder how the decisions are made as to who to focus on and for what reasons, considering so much flak is directed at TPTB the rest of the season. I wonder if they have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“market researchersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  who watch these early edited audition tapes and give their input? Someday, it will be nice when Simon Fuller writes his memoirs and we will get to see what really went onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦but Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be dead by then, so I guess I will never know.

I think American Idol is “totally unfair” from start to finish but as a long time viewer it is in some ways that very “unfairness” of the entire production that makes it such good entertainment. For example, last season when Carly sang Here You Come Again and Simon ignored the singing and blasted her for “whomever is dressing you at the moment” and her subsequent reaction, that is good television and the vast majority of Idol viewers are entertained and never think twice about fairness.

I was so pissed off that they let her go, I really like her.
I have decided that both Felicia and Ricky Braddy are just way too good for American Idol, that’s how i’m looking at it anyway.
They had their “cast” and all the good parts were taken.
Felicia will be o.k, she’s talented and now thanks to Idol I and a few others know who she is and i’ll be keeping an eye out for anything she releases.

So what happened during that top 36 that turned a viewer from voting for some of the girls that have been listed as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  should havesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  on this site. Are the viewers too swayed by Simon and his reviews, did the girls pick bad songs, were they boring and showed a lack of charisma, were they so much the same that it was hard to distinguish between them? Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m really trying to understand what sways the AI voter early on.

Felicia Barton had zero to little exposure in the run up to her performance night. Only people who follow Idol closely knew who she was and even those who knew her prior to Idol thought she was out, that’s a pretty big disadvantage and to me explains why she got less votes than say Jasmine who was pimped the whole way. People need to feel a connection to be motivated to pick up the phone and vote. I think that Simon’s word has much to do with it too and he clearly wasn’t doing her any favors the night she sang. So for me it’s all about the PIMPING and Simon when it comes to those early average voters.

She was my top female pick, but I do think it’s too optimistic to say she will be fine just cause she was on Idol for 2 minutes. I liked Melissa McGhee also, but she sang one word wrong and got booted at #12 in S5. Never heard anything from her again.

I also thought it was so unfathomable why Felicia wasn’t in the top 12, and I’ll always wonder why Simon seemed to detest her. He was the same way with Frankie, another talented person who didn’t even make it to the top 36. It seemed personal with Simon with these two, he really should be able to separate his personal feelings from his professional judgment. Maybe he was needing a cigarette lol.

Felicia could have/should have been put in by the judges during the wild card show, at the very least. And she could have/would have been voted in by viewers if her audition had been shown and if the judges and producers had been fair to her.

I don’t see why they would want it to be a guy’s year, when last year we had two great guys in the top 2, and also Michael Johns and Jason, so why would they need/want another guy to win? It makes no sense.

They, the producers and the judges, as well as the people who screen them before they get to the 4 judges, are responsible for who they choose out of tens of thousands to get to Hollywood and so forth. I think they send a memo out each year and say “this is what we’re looking for this year” and this year I’m still trying to figure out what they were looking for.

In addition to Felicia, Jesse, and others mentioned, there was also Kendall, who I thought was a pretty good country singer and would have been a bright addition to the top 12. I really blame tptb for the appalling season we are having, in so many ways. It’s going to be another one of those tours that does not sell seats, like season 3.

Robbed much?

Megan and Jasmine should have been replaced with Felicia and Jesse.

this just even makes me angrier and even more upset that she actually didn’t make it through to wildcard and all the way to the top 13….

>:/

She was totally robbed. It was clear they were trying to stop her at all costs.

Megan and Jasmine should have been replaced with Felicia and Jesse.

No, any two of the following should have been replaced with Felicia and Jesse:

Michael/ Scott/ Jorge/ Anoop/ Kris

The guys suck overall compared to the girls this year, but they get through because their guys.

Felicia was an fine singer but I don’t really think her addition to the cast of Idol would have made much of a difference this season. We already have three okay looking, single or stay-at-home moms on the show this year and there’s nothing special that sets her apart.

Watching that audition just reminded me I really wished Felicia was still on the show. Then reading the comments reminded me of how much I wish Jesse was still on the show. Damn. For two people I really didn’t hear that much from, I’m having a really hard time forgetting about them.

It could be because every time Scott or Michael starts to sing I curse my TV and put on one of Jesse’s mp3′s. It’s the only way to deal.

Felicia is the biggest reason that I really hated Simon this season. The comment that Kara said to her during the Green Mile episode that “it isn’t about hitting those high notes” was so WTF.

I don’t get why they kept saying that it’s guys year this season when there’s Felicia Barton, Jesse Langseth and Deanna Brown, Kristen McNamarta who were so good and could give them variety. I don’t understand why the producers decided to go with the Megan route when there’s Deanna, who has also a unique tone, but I think is more versatile.

I miss Felicia

Good point about Deanna, she would have been an asset to the show as well. Same with Leneshe Young.

All Simon wants are people that he thinks can sell records afterward to fill HIS bank account.

Another not-selected contestant (who shockingly is female) who should have made it over:

Michael
Scott
Anoop
Jorge
Jasmine

This is all subjective of course, but I wish they had put through Jesse and Felicia instead of Jasmine and Megan. One thing I’ve learned this year is that I like having an even number of guys and girls in the top 12. Having said that, Michael, Scott and Jorge actually won their spots by the votes, not wildcard.

I had forgotten Deanna! She definitely would have been better than Meghan. The viewers really lost out this year, imo.

I had forgotten Deanna! She definitely would have been better than Meghan. The viewers really lost out this year, imo.

It’s easy to forget who got the ultimate shaft in the name of producer manipulation. They didn’t even get a chance to be voted on by America! Deanna was far better than many of the top 36, and that is just for starters.

Once the contracts are over, if I was a record label, I’d rush to sign quite a few people! Deanna, Leneshe, Frankie, Jamar, Ryan Johnson, Felicia, Mishavonna, Ju’Not, Ricky all come to mind. There are likely others as well.

I agree. I can easily believe the reason why she wasn’t shown is that they knew the public would grab onto her if they gave her support and they didn’t want to ruin the chances of those chosen to go far. They knew the outcry would be too great if she was not chosen (but then Joanna got the DQ)

What the crap were the producers thinking? I really believe that this girl could have been up there with the likes of Kelly, Carrie, and Jordin. She has quite a following, even though she got the shaft.

CRB – I’ve always believed what you said is true. Their critiques are scripted and designed to get a certain reaction. Then people vote the way they want and are not shocked by the results because the judges loved them/hated them. Simon DOES know what we are thinking, because he puts the thoughts in our heads.
If their comments aren’t scripted, why do they basically say the exact same thing to every contestant? (watch that, and you will see what I am saying). The judges either think it was horrible, are jumping out of their seats, or saying that it left them “cold” or it was “boring.” If their is a disagreement, it’s the predictable Simon v everyone else or boys against the girls.

Plus, when there is someone does an Idol no-no, why is there reaction the same? (you don’t touch that singer/song. . . .) except when it a favorite then the “made it their own”