Season 9 Preview: Katelyn Epperly, Tori Kelly, Rose Flack

By On 01/10/2010 · 15 Comments · In AI Season 9

Hollywood week begins in earnest today. The Idol Wannabes arrived in town yesterday and word is that the first day of Hollywood week begins today. Hopefully, we’ll soon be getting spoilers (if you have them and don’t want to post them, please send them to MJ). They say that this year a woman will win and we are certainly seeing some very talented women.

Let’s check out a few (well, three).

Usual Disclaimer: Remember, that the Hollywood round doesn’t occur until this week this year. We don’t know how far any of these contestants might go. And since we never see some of the competition round contestants until the competition starts, we might never see some of these people. We might have even found the wrong person with the same name.

Number 26: Katelyn Epperly
Hometown: Des Moines, IA
Style: Indie/Folk/Experimental
Instrument: Piano

Number 27: Tori Kelly
Hometown: Los Angeles
Age: 17
Style: Pop/Electronic
Instrument: Guitar

Number 28: Rose Flack
Home State: Idaho
Age: 18
Style: Jazzy/Carol King

Pictures/Myspace/Links after the jump

Katelyn Epperly
Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3
Myspace
Almost Lover (youtube)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (youtube)

Katelyn has a beautiful clear voice and kind of a Brooke White vibe. She’s kind of the female equivalent of a WBWG. She’s a WGWP (White Girl With Piano). Brooke White did well in S7 perhaps indicating that this is a demo that AI might have success with. Often it seems that AI floats a type of performer a few seasons before to test the water before they decide that is the type of winner they’d like to have. So, perhaps this is the Year of the WGWP. From the contestants we have looked through so far, I think that this is a crowded field. It definitely looks like they selected a lot of blonde contestants who can play instruments and give off the singer-song writer vibe. Can Katelyn stand out from the crowd? Last year, she would have.

Tori Kelly
Picture
Tori Kelly
Fansite
RU Ready (youtube)
Hurry Up (youtube)
The Only Exception (youtube)
It’s Love (youtube from when she was 12)
Youtube Channel

Another girl with an instrument. Seriously, if you don’t have one this year, you might as well stay home. Clearly, there has been a major sea change in the Idol world. Remember when contestants who could play an instrument were a novelty? Anyway.

Tori comes to this show a seasoned-pro. When she was 11, she went on Star Search and went on to win “America’s Most Talented Kids” when she was 12. Even back then, she had a serious set of pipes on her. So, she’s not going to get rattled by the television cameras or the judges or the pressure or the voting. Also, based on her youtube videos, she seems to be able to mix it up. She can do acoustic, R&B, pop, electronic, you name it. So, theme weeks should be a snap for her. Add in the fact that she’s a very good looking girl and she looks to be a contender. Bonus: She’s not blond which will help her stand out. Her only negatives is that too many years spent singing over the crowd on the state fair circuit seems to lead her to being a bit shouty and some people will resent her for having had too much experience with talent shows.

Rose Flack
Picture (new Rose)
Picture (old Rose)
Myspace
Season 8 Audition (youtube)
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay (youtube)
Introducing Rose Flack (youtube)

Simon said it last year, “There is something about you which I absolutely love. You’ve got something special about you. And I don’t know what it is, but you are one of the few I’m going to remember”

Rose auditioned last year for AI. She was the “hippy chick” whose parents had both died. She fell apart in Hollywood largely due to the machinations of Bikini Girl whose drama completely de-railed their mutual group number. Rose left the competition in tears and many Idol fans were also sad to see her go.

She didn’t make the initial spoiler list, but her name is being bandied about now as having made it to Hollywood. If she’s back, she’s sporting a new look and I’m sure she will be much wiser this year. It’s nice to be nice, but you have to look out for yourself during Hollywood week. She may not have the best voice, but she does have a certain X-Factor that makes her memorable. If she’d kept it together, she might have gotten Megan’s casting spot last year, but her field is more crowded this year. If she does make it through the show, she’ll probably come with an existing fan base which may be enough to get her into the top 12 regardless of how she actually performs. If she performs well, she could go far. I’m not sure if her new look will help or hurt, though.

So, what do you think. Do any of these three have a chance?

If you’ve missed some of the Idol Hopefuls for Season 9, checkout the Season 9 Preview Roundup.

 
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Reddit Facebook Twitter Delicious Mixx StumbleUpon Digg
  • auntieaimee

    Now, this is more like it. I love Katelyn. LOVE her. I like Tori a lot, too, I think Simon will say that she’s very “current”. Rose is so sweet. I remember feeling terrible when she was cut. She’s very green, though. I don’t know if she has the chops to beat some of the others I’ve heard.

  • itsalleternal

    Katelyn: I agree she is definitely excellent. But I don’t know if she can break out of the pack ahead of Alex, Ashley and others, which will be very important for her to make the top 24. She just might fall short.

    Tori: Likewise, her challenge is breaking out of the pack. But I agree that she has many things going for her and could quite easily make it.

    Rose: While the circumstances last year were just terrible (cut because of the insane Bikini Girl), it doesn’t good this year since she is not nearly as good of a singer as many of the new faces. I don’t see her making it.

  • Tess

    Out of the 28 “contenders” posted so far only Katelyn stands out for me. Not my chosen type of performer but there is something “magical” about her voice and it does resonate with me. Interesting, that.

  • Miss Chaos

    So many pretty girls,,, SWEET!!!!

  • jack5791

    I hope that Rose doesn’t make it. I thought she was incredibly overrated last year and her was voice was beyond average. She had a nice personality but her voice was just not there.

  • ilovekrisallen39

    I remember Rose from last season I loved her,and was kind of sad that she didn’t make it in. She kind of reminds me of Alexis Grace from last year with her hair like that. She’s alot prettier then she was last year too. Haven’t look at the other girls yet.

  • chessguy99

    That new picture for Rose is interesting. If that’s her new look, very mainstream, she will blow off a good chunk of her fanbase as they were in it for the uniqueness of Rose. They will latch onto a new unique type contestant, though I haven’t seen any extreme ones spoiled yet.

  • sonyab

    Katelyn Epperly: No. And a side note she looks like Britney Spears. :)

    Tori Kelly: What is with all the bells and whistles? Just sit down and sing! :) And she did in one of them which is good, but no not interested.

    Rose Flack: I remember her!!! I loved her last year!!!! :) I say YES! :)

  • rayato

    I liked Rose from last year but I am NOT feeling the new look. She looks like an Alexis Grace impersonator. NOT A GOOD LOOK. Hope she changes it.

  • sylvanaire

    I really liked Rose last year, but I wasn’t blown away by her vocals, (although she had an interesting take on her audition song) she just seemed like a cool hippy dippy kinda chick, and I loved her look, even if the barefeet thing was a bit icky. She’s smoothed all the quirky out of her look now, and yes, looks too much like Alexis. I don’t think the new look will help her at all. I also find it rather disappointing that the only YT videos out there are circa AI last year. What has she been doing this last year to prepare? She should have been practicing and at least making her own videos for YT, even if she couldn’t get an actual gig up in Idaho Falls, or where ever she’s from. Idk, I suppose it’s possible she couldn’t afford a camera to take video with… but, unless she’s improved a lot since last year, I don’t see her making it very far.

    Of the other two, Katelyn stands out the most, and funnily enough, has that kind of hippy/flower child look Rose had last year. Beautiful clear voice too. Definitely feel the Brooke White vibe, with the curly blond hair and the piano, but it sounds like she has nerves of steel, and will survive the compitition much better. We’ll just have to wait and see.

    The YTs of Tori were too electronic for me, and in the one acoustic performance vid I thought her voice was fairly weak, and showed why the other songs had auto tune all over them. Meh.

    Thank you MJ for all the previews. I haven’t checked them all out, just too many of them, I guess, but was intrigued when I saw Rose’s name pop back up.

  • Sassycatz

    I like this guy. He supposedly made Hollywood too. This rendition of “Fly Me to Moon” is a very good update and shows skills that are absolutely vital on Idol — updating the classics:

    Justin Williams
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SlLwhj5Oo&feature=player_embedded

  • Duke

    I called Tori Kelly 2 years ago!

    I knew as soon as she got of age shed try out. Id be floored she didnt make the semi-finals, and even more shocked if she didnt make the top 12.

  • justjude

    Rose Flak, I liked her sooo much last year, and yes I’m a sucker for the quirky people with interesting, but not necessarily good. vocals. As we know, you don’t need to have the best vocals to win AI. I preferred her look last year and I agree she looks too much like Alexis Grace!

    Katelyn….May I venture to say….total package if the personality is there!!
    Beautiful girl with stellar vocals.

    Tori??? Big voice, sounds current. IDK something not defineable is missing for me. It is similar as when I listened to Selena Gomez …. Tori has a better voice but something too generic or young. I think she needs to show
    some interesting personality. Our current rocker gurl Alli has the goods and the personality!
    There are some really great girls this year for sure!! Heres hoping for a
    girl to win it all!!

  • cacity87

    Katelyn – She has IT. I really think she’s going to do well this season. Something about her just stands out to me. I can’t wait to see her audition! They previewed her last night at the end of Idol…so that should be a good sign. :)

    Tori – She definitely can sing! Girl is a seasoned performer. I just don’t know how unique she is. She’ll have to bring it on the Idol stage.

    Rose – I actually think Katelyn (above) reminds me of Rose…but can actually sing! Sorry Rose, I loved her personality. But she didn’t have the chops last year and unless she improved drastically, I don’t think she’ll go very far this year either. :/

  • abnormal

    yes they’re all very pretty and have nice voices but unfortunately for them, they’re all females and will likely end up getting cut because they aren’t “like totally super cute guys tee hee hee” which is the reason most viewers vote.

    Why do you think Adam Lambert lost last year? I’ll tell you why, you can’t fantasize about getting married and having lots of babies with a gay guy. So he lost that entire demographic as his fans when his sexual orientation came out.