American Idol Mania in Birmingham  1/31/07

By Marcus

We are in the Deep South frying fritters and gnawing on wet barbeque as the thousands of hopefuls tried their best to impress Paula, Randy and Simon. First up was a southern college student named Erica who plans a career in the dental field. And with her voice, she would cause a healthy tooth to decay in seconds. No ticket for her.

Then a young woman named Katie whose normal everyday talking voice is pubescent. But when she sang, she became powerful and confident. The judges were concerned that as a newlywed, she needed to stay focused on her marriage. But when her husband joined her in front of the judges and give her his full loving support, she won a gold ticket.

Performing arts student, Titiana warmed our hearts with the blues. This 17 year old girl can sing and sing she will in Hollywood.

But child care worker and former high school cheerlead Diana choked on the high notes and her finale thankfully brought us relief.

Then a wide girth of a chicken egg yolk tried to tell us she was in her 20s. Her voice was no good for her then admitted 50 years but she still strutted her stuff for the older crowd.

Bernard the Second has a common voice, but won a ticket. He won't make it past the first Hollywood challenge.

After catching his cheating wife in the act, Jamie Lee's father shot her stepmother and then himself. But he botched that suicide and is now paralyzed. Jamie with her ailing granny care for daddy. What is Jamie's dream? To buy her granny a better home. And she might just do that because her voice won a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Mop-haired Chris has a sense of humor and a voice to match. He is going to the land of dreams. But does he have the look of an idol?

Even her cascading 6 foot long train of dark red hair did not help win a Hollywood ticket for the gentle singing Victoria.

Lakia promised us that she was the total Idol package. No way. Her voice would peel the paint off a battleship.

The last singer, ah, I mean try out, was Brandy. She believed the wooden floor impeded her singing. Well, she sang even worse on the carpet. Perhaps she will try singing on the sand next?

The judges selected only 20 for Hollywood. It should have been 21. They made a big error when they denied adorable 17 year old Nichole a golden ticket. They claimed that she was singing through her nose, but these judges had their ears full of wax. Nichole had a lovely voice and she should have been heading west.

Hang on to your dreams because American Idol returns tomorrow night.

Gee, I wish there was something we could do for Nichole.

see also:

1/25/07 American Idol Mania in New York City

1/24/07 American Idol Mania in Memphis

1/18/07 American Idol Mania in Seattle

1/17/07 American Idol Mania Returns