My Favorite American Idol Season

Since I watched season 7 of American Idol premiered last February 2008 I never blink an eye and turn myself away from TV. On the first few nights I watch these gorgeous potentials perform like a pro and justify entertainment on stage, doing their thing and watch their self become an instant hit in front of giggling crowds and ear drum breaking shouts of fans. Before they hit the stage and an opportunity of a lifetime to take a shot at fame, I watched their hardships and they triumph in their dramatic auditions and compete with hundreds of thousands of other hopefuls for a limited slot. If I missed to watch the episodes, I get updates to what is happening on the show through YouTube.
Who can forget this batch who heightened us with their drama, dumbfounded us with their surprises, raises our eyebrows with their controversies, sobs us in tears for leaving the show and made us jump , shout and act like crazy in their triumphs. This is all about the show is – reality drama at its finest – hardships, difficulty, struggle, fun, humor, drama, suspense, surprises, controversies, annoyance, disgust and victory. I want to recall how these individuals came to be, share their stories, and fulfilling their dreams. Here it is:

1.Garrett Haley (born August 1, 1990 and native of Elida,Ohio)– I can vividly picture his image as a curly blonde hair young lass with deep blue eyes mesmerizing judges with his charm and youthful looks. Moreover he astounded the judges with his toddler voice and when he sang “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” in the top 24, he was the first to say goodbye to the audience. His youthful look justify his cute voice but his irresistible charm could not move the judges. He auditioned in San Diego.
2.Amy Davis (born June 19, 1982 and native of Lowell, Indiana) – though her soulful rendition of “Where The Boys Are” by Connie Francis were felt by the audience, her voice does not resonate the judges and it isn’t registering in their score cards. Unfortunately, it is also her last time to show her prowess and she said goodbye to the audience. One unforgettable scene about her is that she jumped on the pool together with Kristy Lee Cook on one of their bondings. She auditioned in Dallas.
3.Joanne Borgella(born May 29, 1982 and native of Hoboken, New Jersey) – When Joanne graces the limelight, I know she can hit the notes and capture hearts. Her moving performance of “I Say A Little Prayer” convinced me that she can be a solemn singer exalting inspirational songs that most religious and the kind hearted can follow to. Her calm, reserve voice and complacency ended her stint in a competition dominated by a much powerful diva. She auditioned in Philadelphia.
4.Colton Berry(born October 11, 1989 and native of Staunton, Virginia) – once I saw this albino-skinned young crooner, it reminds me of Rupert Grint (remember Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Wesley). His unassuming aura and lighter profile won him an audience and quite a number of fans much more when he swooned them over with his version of Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”. He is lucky enough to survive and reach this far with unforgiving and discriminating judges to tap with and votes have a big role in this competition. He made Ramiele Malubay cry because she is his roommate and closely bonded with other Idols. He auditioned in Charleston.
5.Jason Yeager(born August 26, 1979 and native of Grand Prairie, Texas) – the single dad, a hunky figure that rocks the season with his heavy and deep voice enough to form a rock band along with Robbie Carrico, Luke Menard, Chikezie, Michael Johns and David Cook. He auditioned in Dallas.
6.Alexandria Lushington(born February 13, 1991 and native of Douglasville, Georgia) – Aside from her twin bun on both side of her head as a signature hairstyle, one distinctive feature I can remember about this young aspirant is her mild manners and refreshing aura and her sullen face combined with her suave moves and rousing performance helped infuse the Idol with lively entertainment. I can’t forget the episode when she was eliminated because as she sang “If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago, she made David Archuleta cry due to her friendly nature and after she’s through, she went immediately to Archie and embraced him. She auditioned in Atlanta.
7.Alaina Whitaker(born February 21, 1991 and native of Tulsa, Oklahoma) – She is one of the bottom performer of the season due to her lukewarm stage presence and voice quality and her projection a little bit awkward but still manage to be heartwarming and sincere in her performance. When she was booted out of the competition in the fourth week, she is stunned and frozen on stage as she can’t believe about her fate, shaking and leaning, nearly collapsing over Kady Malloy, who also belongs to the bottom group. Due to her sadness and helplessness, host Ryan Seacrest ask her if she can still sing and surprised the audience when she bravely continue to perform her last piece. Her singing of her last song “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” though shaky and stammering, is one of the admirable acts of the season. She auditioned in Dallas.
8.Robbie Carrico(born November 13, 1981 in Beckley, West Virginia and native of Melbourne, Florida) – He sports a hanky covering his head as his rock signature on the show. I find him very lucky enough to reach this point despite his below average voice quality or maybe due on two factors: most probably, largely on votes texted and phoned in by his loyal supporters or his handsome previous work experience as a pop boy band member named “Boyz N Girlz United” or just maybe because he briefly dated Britney Spears before he auditioned for the Idols. He auditioned in Miami.
9.Kady Malloy(born May 9, 1989 and native of Houston, Texas) – No one can forget Kady Malloy’s funny but cute impersonation of Britney Spears hit songs and if she can substitute Britney on the radio performance who will notice that she isn’t Britney but Kady Malloy? Simon's comment after her audition was: "Out of all of the people we have seen during this season you are the best."Her previous stint in a record label company helped her shoo-in the popular reality-based talent search. Her sincere, heart piercing version of The Mindbenders’ “Groovy Kind of Love” make my hair raised and my heart beat faster. She auditioned in Dallas.
10.Luke Menard(born December 1, 1978 in Crawfordsville, Indiana) – His Orlando Bloom resemblance and country ballad reception earned him a slot at the Idol season 7 batch. Though his mediocre performance of “Everybody’s Talkin” by Fred Neil and “Killer Queen” by Queen made him stay this long, he is able to charm the crowd with his serenading chants and melody enough to get decent votes. He is eliminated from the show March 6, 2008 with his last song of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. After his elimination from AI, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a disease on lymph system causing the enlargement of lymph nodes, tissue and spleen. He successfully went through chemotherapy and will be undergoing a radiation therapy. He auditioned in Omaha.
11.Asia’h Epperson(born August 20, 1988 and native of Joplin, Missouri and now living in Atlanta, Georgia) – Online polls showing that most AI loyal fans favored Asia’h Epperson in winning the season due to her consistency and soulful performance so it was quite a surprise when she bowed out early in the 5th week. Two days before the auditions, her father died in a car accident. Her memorable performance includes “Piece Of My Heart” by Janis Joplin and “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen. She was eliminated March 6, 2008 with her version of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”. She auditioned in Atlanta singing “How Do I Live”.
12.Daniel “Danny” Noriega(born September 29, 1989 in Azusa, California) – a two timer Idol hopeful, he sports emo punk look during his first audition in season 6 and made it in the Hollywood week before he was sent home. On season 7, he is prepared enough to walk his way on the American Idol stage looking decent and clean this time. He perform hits such as “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley and “Superstar” by The Carpenters in laidback but flamboyant manner which made the Idol fanatics mobs for him. He even courageously shrugged off in cold shoulder and dared the acerbic Simon Cowell with his knocked off comments. Danny Noriega is a jolly fellow and made strong relationship with his Idol alums most especially with Ramiele Malubay. He auditioned in San Diego and was eliminated March 6, 2008 with his song “Tainted Love” by the Soft Cell.
13.David Hernandez(born May 31, 1983 in Glendale, Arizona)– He is also a country ballad singer who gave astounding impressive performance on the show with his warm version of the songs “In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett, “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” by The Temptations, “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” by Pandora’s Box. He belongs to the top 12 finalists and was eliminated on the show March 12, 2008 with the song “I Saw Her Standing There” by The Beatles.
14.Amanda Overmyer(born October 26, 1984 and native of Mulberry, Indiana) – Who would think a clean and pure white uniformed nurse would dress herself in Goth, riding a Harley imposing a punk rock signature? It’s true in the case of Amanda Overmyer who release her inhibition and unmask her identity in the show by paving the way for punk rock genre for women in a competition delighted by soulful divas and ballad crooners and soured the idea of rock music. She showed the heavy prowess of women who pluck guitars and with coarse voice. Her screechy, raucous performance of Van Morrison’s “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” “Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas, “I Hate Myself For Loving You” by Joan Jett, and “You Can’t Do That” by The Beatles won her accolades, gather enough followers and was failed to dampen by the judges. She was eliminated March 19, 2008 for her last song “Back In The U.S.S.R.”
15.Chikezie(born Chikezie Eze on September 11, 1985 in Inglewood, California) – What a cute sounding name for such a stout and bulky figure. Though he is the only black male contestant of the season, he was so well-loved not just by his fellow Idols contestants but by the Idol followers because of his super cool as ice manner and never fail to make a good laugh and a hearty punch line on the show. He is well remembered for this thought provoking performance of the songs “More Today Than Yesterday” by The Spiral Starecase, ”I Believe To My Soul” by Donny Hathaway, “All The Woman That I Need” by Luther Vandross, “She’s A Woman” by The Beatles, “I’ve Just Seen A Face” by The Beatles. He was eliminated for his song “If Only For One Night” by Luther Vandross last March 26, 2008.
16.Ramiele Malubay(born September 6, 1987 in Saudi Arabia and is native of Miramar, Florida) – She is cute in size but big in heart, a midget but with a strong powerful voice, that is why, Ramiele Malubay was never undermined but instead respected and adored by her fellow Idols and her legion of fans most especially her Filipino fans. Her most memorable rendition of Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” is her most powerful performance on the show that gave her astounding praises and comments from all the three judges. Her other songs performed on the show such as Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way", Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds”, The Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better” and “Alone” by Heart were highly criticized by the judges as weak and poor song choice based on her vocal range and style that she must have capitalized and profit from. Her song choice of “In My Life” by The Beatles was a tribute to her dear best friend, Danny Noriega who left the show earlier than her in week six. Among her musical influence includes Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, and Regine Velasquez. She taught Ryan Seacrest a few Filipino words while being interviewed. She was eliminated during the Dolly Parton Week last April 2, 2008 with the song “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”.
17.Michael Johns(born as Michael Lee on October 20, 1978 in Perth, Western Australia and lives in Buckhead, Georgia) – Handsome Australian blood from Buckhead, Georgia. His boyish looks and versatility gave him a decent place in the season 7. His remarkable performance includes “Light My Fire” by The Doors, “Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”, Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)", Queen’s “We Will Rock You”/”We Are The Champions”, “ and “It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right” by Dolly Parton. He was eliminated on the week whose theme is inspirational songs with his piece “Dream On” by Aerosmith last April 10, 2008.
18.Kristy Lee Cook(born January 18, 1984 and is native of Selma, Oregon) – On the first week of the AI competition, she was ranked on top of the female contenders by one of the online pols. No wonder, she justified that ranking with her impressive performance of “Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass, Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good,””Faithfully” by Journey, The Beatles’ “Eight Days A Week,” Dolly Parton’s “Coat Of Many Colors” and “Anyway” by Martina McBride. The most astounding performance of Kristy Lee Cook, for me, however, is when she belted out the patriotic song “God Bless The USA”. She is a horse trainer who sold her prized horse in order to afford the trip to audition in Philadelphia. She was eliminated last April 16, 2008 during the Mariah Carey week with the song “Forever”.
19.Carly Smithson(born September 12, 1983 in Dublin, Ireland but now living in San Diego, California) – A beautiful blue-eyed Irish in the person of Carly Smithson is a compatriot of Amanda Overmyer who sports the gloomy goth and punk. Known for her tattoo inspired by her boyfriend, she impressed the judges and the audience with her arousing heavy performance and a high quality of vocal chords. Her notable performance includes “The Shadow Of Your Smile” by Tony Bennett, “Crazy On You” by Heart, “Come Together” by The Beatles, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, and “Without You” by Mariah Carey. She was eliminated last April 23, 2008 during the Andrew Lloyd Webber performing her last song, “Superstar” soundtrack of the popular musical made into a movie, Jesus Christ Superstar.
20.Brooke White(born June 2, 1983 in Mesa, Arizona) – A nanny from Van Nuys, California, she prefers country over her hit performances of “Happy Together" by The Turtles, “You’re So Vain" by Carly Simon, “Love Is A Battlefield” by Pat Benatar, The Beatles’ “Let It Be” and “Here Comes The Sun" by The Police, “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, “Hero” by Mariah Carey and “You Must Love Me” taken from the soundtrack of the movie Evita. I admired her rendition of “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. She was eliminated during the Neil Diamond week last April 30, 2008 with the song “I Am…I Said”. One interesting trivia about her is that she once made a commercial ad for a dishwashing liquid – aptly because of her shiny character.
21.Jason Castro(born March 25, 1987 and is native of Rockwall, Texas) – He is popular in AI season 7 for having a dreadlock and a charming blue eyes that speak for itself. He is an A-lister performer always wearing a smile , has positive outlook on life and projects an excitable personality that makes AI all the more entertaining. He is the male counterpart of Brooke White in country obviously heard in his performance. His bewitching eyes attract admirers and followers who gave him bulk amount of votes for him to stay longer in the competition. Among his memorable performance includes The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”, Andy Gibbs’ “I Just Want To Be Your Everything”, Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”, “Fragile” by Sting, “Travelin’ Thru” by Dolly Parton, and “September Morn” by Neil Diamond. He was eliminated last May 7, 2008 during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week with his songs “I Shot The Sheriffs” by Bob Marley and The Wailers and “Mr. Tambourine Man” by The Byrds.
22.Syesha Mercado(born January 2, 1987 in Bridgeport, Connecticut but lives in Sarasota, Florida) – She is prominent all throughout the show as showcased by video clips prominently focused and features positive notes on her. She proven her prowess and strong showing when she hit the high notes for her noteworthy performance of “Tobacco Road” by The Nashville Teens, Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You,” The Beatles’ “Yesterday,””If I Were Your Woman” by Stephanie Mills, “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, “I Believe” by Fantasia, “Vanishing” by Mariah Carey, and “Hello Again” by Neil Diamond among others. Her singing of Billy Paul’s “Me and Mr. Jones” popped an imagination in my head of her singing in a lounge bar and me sitting on a corner drinking beer while listening to her and jazz musicians. She made some commercial ads prior to her audition in Miami. She was top three and was eliminated last May 14, 2008 with the songs “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys, “Fever” by Peggy Lee, and “Hit Me Up” by Gia Farrell.
23.David Archuleta(born December 28, 1990 in Miami, Florida but lives in Murray, Utah) – Like Jason Castro, he is an amiable teenager with youthful looks, cheerful personality and has a positive character that brings out the best in him. Armed with his boyish looks and irresistible charm, he is able to attract a swarm of screaming teens and young adults. He is the favorite Idol to win the season not only because of his handsome looks but also a voice that serenades every young girl’s hearts. He takes risk to give a unique signature music to some of the classic timeless hits where no one dared to revise and retouch. He even astounded all the judges and never failed their expectations that is why he is also their bet to win it all, week after week of impressive performance. Although he ended up as the runner up to the surprised winner David Cook, he never loses head but instead take inspiration and opportunity to build his image and catapult his stardom when he debuted with his first single “Crush” that launch his career, hit the airwaves and top the charts. Among his memorable performance on AI includes “Shop Around” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “Imagine” by John Lennon, Phil Collins’ “Another Day In Paradise," ”The Long and Winding Road” by The Beatles, John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice”, “Think Of Me”, “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel, “With You” by Chris Brown, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” by Elton John and “In This Moment” an original composition of Ryan Gillmor for the AI Songwriting Competition.
24.David Cook(born December 20, 1982 in Houston, Texas but lives in Blue Springs, Missouri) – He was considered as the dark horse and underdog to David A. whose vocal range is much preferred by the mean judges over a hoarse heavy vocal chords of the goateed David C. Although he was never been in the bottom group, he was never seen as a threat and in serious contention. His versatility and original scoring and arrangements of songs was noticed by the judges who scored him high and given remarkable comments for such an innovation. He made such twist and drama highlighting his performances that he offered his songs to his then sick lawyer brother (recently succumbed to brain cancer). His winning of American Idol season 7 is one of the most dramatic victory in the history of AI, winning the title despite the fact that he just accompanied his brother who originally auditioned for the competition. His notable performance includes “Happy Together” by The Turtles, Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby,” “All I Really Need Is You,” by Neil Diamond, “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran, and “Dream Big” original composition of Emily Shackelton, an AI songwriting competition contestant. The song he performed on the finals night “Time Of My Life” is the winning song of AI songwriting competition and is his first carrier single that top the chart for several weeks and launched his career as a rock icon.