American Idol Auditions: Best and Worst of 2008
Hollywood Week: The Stars Shine
The golden ticket holders came to Hollywood by the droves. Their tongues mysteriously turned blue, they played instruments (if they knew how) and sang their little hearts out . But the judges didn't waste any time, cutting hopefuls left and right. And only the cream of the crop, the top 50, were left standing ...
Fox
Josiah Leming
Age: 18 | Hometown: Morristown, Tenn. | Audition Site: Atlanta
Song: 'Grace Kelly' and 'Stand By Me'
Claim to fame: Lives in his car since dropping out of school and leaving home; in Hollywood, asked the band to leave the stage so he could perform solo
Simon said: "You're being a teensy, weensy bit annoying."
Links: Josiah's MySpace
Status: Made the top 50
Fox
Brooke White
Age: 24 | Hometown: Van Nuys, Calif. | Audition Site: Philadelphia
Song: 'Beautiful'
Claim to fame: This nanny has never seen an R-rated movie
Simon said: "I like this kind of Carly Simon, actually Carole King thing you've got going."
Links: Brooke's MySpace
Status: Made the top 50
Fox
Kyle Ensley
Age: 21 | Hometown: Valiant, Okla. | Audition Site: Dallas
Song: 'Love Grows' and 'You Raise Me Up'
Simon said: "I can't listen to this rubbish any more."
Claim to fame: A disgusted Simon walked out during Kyle's first Hollywood tryout, but the acerbic judge apologized after a second, "good little audition."
Status: Made the top 50
Fox
David Archuleta
Age: 16 | Hometown: Murray, Utah | Audition Site: San Diego
Song: 'Heaven'
Claim to fame: Overcame vocal paralysis
Simon said: "You have so many things going for you. You're young, you're good looking, you're likable and you've got a great voice."
Links: David's MySpace
Status: Made the top 50
Fox
The Best of the Rest
'Idol' saved the absolute best and worst from all the audition cities for the final pre-Hollywood episode. While Jay Smoove proved all that glitters isn't gold, others made us swoon (Danny Noriega, we're talking to you). Check out the last batch of good, bad and ugly wanna-bes before we grab our golden tickets and head to Hollywood!
Fox
Joshua Moreland
Age: 25 | Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Song: 'Beautiful Lady' (original)
Fun fact: Goes by the name Jay Smoove and brought glitter and rose petals for the ladies
Simon said: "A horrible, over-the-top, corny, revolting audition."
Links: Joshua's MySpace
Status: Staying home
Fox
Alesha Stelzl
Age: 18 | Hometown: Ontario, CA
Song: 'Surrender' and 'Islands in the Stream'
Simon said: "It was an absolutely dreadful audition. The notes were all over the place, it was painful and I couldn't even recognize the song."
Fun fact: Paula thought she had a pretty voice and Randy asked her to learn a Dolly Parton song. After her second tune, Simon changed his opinion.
Status: Going to Hollywood
Fox
Chikezie Eze
Age: 22 | Hometown: Inglewood, CA
Song: 'All the Woman I Need'
Fun fact: Auditioned last season and the judges weren't "feeling" him
Simon said: "I think you are interesting. I'm not sure your voice is that interesting."
Status: Going to Hollywood
Fox
Cory & Chris Lane
Age: 22 | Hometown: Kernersville, NC
Song: An original rap
Fun fact: Twins that do pretty much everything together and even date the same girls
Links: Chris' MySpace Page
Status: Staying home
Fox
Add Your Comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.