Happy Sunday everybody! I’ve got some odds and ends for you today
Remember Jessica Nelson from Chicago? She’s the contestant who sang a bleep-filled song, after which Simon commented that her performance was a “right mess.” Swearing, she burst out of the audition room. According to Jessica, she NEVER auditioned in front of the celebrity judges! A poster from Survivor Sucks found her My Space page, and if what she says here is true, it’s a pretty interesting example of how the producers edit the show “creatively” for maximum effect. Her blog, which has been recently edited (probably at AI’s request) said she got through the first round with positive feedback, then a ton of waiting, and finally to the second round in front of Nigel Lythgoe. He got angry when the song she sang contained some swear words. After, he asked her to sing “Lady Marmalade” (they asked all the auditioners to learn 6 lines). He chewed her out for not learning more of the song, and told her she wasn’t “strong” enough. What we saw on TV were the celebrity judges reactions to God-knows-what edited into Jessica’s audition in front of Nigel, after which she stormed out swearing. Reality TV you say?
Speaking of contestants with a story to tell–remember Crystal Parizanski? The too-tan girl from Chicago who showed up with her mom? She’s got a MySpace page too, and boy is it colorful! Anyway, she also had a post on her page describing her audition which she has since edited (producers again, I’m sure). She also appeared on some newscasts. She claims the producers told her to “ham it up” and that she was followed into the bathroom by a camera crew who wanted to film her putting on makeup. She’s upset by her portrayal on the show and swears by her talent. Honestly, I thought she was a fake. It amazes me to find so many contestants (and their parents) who are really totally clueless. You’d think, by the 5th season they’d know.
Gina Glocksen was the rocker from Chicago who inexplicably sang a Celine Dion song for her audition. She also confessed to having a crush on Simon–funniest part of the clip is Mandisa Hundley sitting next to her looking like she’s going to throw up. By the way, Gina–great hook! In her piece she mentioned her all-girl band, Catfight. The band has a MySpace page with pictures and song samples. Gina has been pretty much excised out, but they do congratulate her on the site’s news page. They currently have gigs in and around the Chicago area if you’re interested in checking them out.
Rochelle Elaine Dye, the Denver contestant who claimed during her audition that she was about to get evicted from her home, is now living in an apartment with her cousin in Kansas City according to this article. Apparently, she was really surprised the producers chose to feature her story so prominently in the episode. Heh, I’m not. The producers LOVE the sob stories. I think Rochelle can count street life out of her near future.
Here’s Tora, potential Top 24 contestant auditioning in Las Vegas. I’ve had this cap sitting on my computer for days. It was part of the rocker montage featured in the Denver episode. Well, thanks to spoilerai who posted his own cap over at Survivor Sucks, I can now identify this funky rocker. For the newbies–there is a list going around the net of contestants whose domain names were registered by Idol on December 9th, right after the Hollywood rounds. Last year this list was a pretty accurate gauge of who made it to the top 44/24. Recently it was revealed that David Radford and the Brittenum twins were also registered. Heh, the Brittenum twins will more than likely be disqualified due to these antics, but I suppose any scandal is just good publicity, so not to worry.
Contestant, Jennifer Sieminski, contacted me to identify her cap I posted from the Chicago episode. Thanks for the note, Jennifer. We caught a glimpse of her in a Hollywood-bound montage. Hopefully we’ll get to hear her sing in Hollywood. She has a MySpace page (I found this on a message board, not from Jennifer) if you want to know more.
Thanks to reader, Debbie, who identified this Denver contestant. His name is Bobby Bennett. I’ll be posting caps of the Hollywood-bound all through the auditions. If you see somebody you recognize, give a holla… Thanks.
A friend of Patrick Hall, mysterious potential Top 24 contestant, contacted me to say she went to high school with him. He’s from a tiny town called Gravette in Arkansas and is 28 years old. Paula sez he’s a hottie. More information about Patrick can be found on this blog. Wow, is everybody in this town related? :). Patrick’s Dad is the town doctor, he plays piano and sings at his small church, and apparently is a heck of a swimmer. Still, no picture. We’ll have one soon enough. He auditioned in Greensboro NC, which is the city featured in this Tuesday’s audition episode.
Lastly, I’d like to thank JD from the blog Musical Ramblings, for linking to me. :). One good turn deserves another…
More Hollywood-bound from Denver:
