As much as I hate to admit the role American Idol has in bringing new artists into the industry, I remember the moment a couple years ago when I realized several artists I found myself liking had, in fact, been discovered on Idol. Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Elliot Yamin, Katharine McPhee. It's probably a bit obvious that I missed watching the show for several years.
Even though these individuals did not end up winning the glorious Idol title, they have each found their own kind of success in doing what they love to do. Anyone remember Jon Peter Lewis from, what season, uh, three? In 2008, his single "
Break the Silence" made it onto my own Summer Songs and the album under the same title, ended up being one of my favorites for the year. (Yea, I do have a lot of favorites.)
See what Jon Peter Lewis is up to.
Now, don't get me wrong, I do love American Idol; I'm just a little hesitant to let the widely publicized series based on the voting records of the
12-year-old masses seriously dictate some of my personal music decisions. But, despite who else might like them, I recognize that I may, in fact, end up really liking some of the future American idols.
All in all, I realize that this music blog can not get by without some mention of this years promising artists. And as I'm looking a little bit into more of the contestants, I'm gaining more of a mindset that all of these singers, whether established before or not, really could be just like any of the emerging artists I've found on my own…if that makes sense.
Wednesday night the
Top 36 for American Idol's Season 8 were announced and just a couple hours afterwards changed (I'm personally thankful; I didn't really like
Joanna Paciti despite her struggling
Hard Knock Life.) But regardless of how any of these contestants will do on the show, I'm excited to perhaps see more promising music coming from the likes of my personal favorites thus far:
Jamar Rogers: OK I know he didn't make the 36 cut, but this was my biggest disappointment of the evening. (I was grumbling to myself for the rest of the episode and with each new male accepted.) But perhaps the future remains bright and we'll be seeing more from him outside of the Idol arena. In fact, I checked out
his Myspace page where he's posted a video with him and fellow former-Idol contestant
Frankie Jordan. Looks like there will be more to come.
Kris Allen – The mass audience hasn't seen much of this contestant yet—only a brief part of his initial audition was shown—but perhaps this is my way of rooting for the underdog (and he just so happens to be pretty cute). He was, however, part of the
White Chocolate Hollywood group (see video below.) Reining from Arkansas, where he studies business at the University of Central Arkansas, he has been a small, local performing with an album of self-written songs. In 2007 he released an album entitled, "Brand New Shoes" and I really want to hear it.
Danny Gokey: Yes he's been one of the fan and judge favorites for a while and has gotten a lot of screen time. He will be performing in the first semi-final round next week so let's see what he pulls out.
Adam Lambert: Maybe it all stems back to
his connection to Wicked…
With Utah ties myself, I can't help but secretly root for locals Megan Corkrey and
Taylor Vaifanua. Perhaps Taylor can by Utah's female version of Archuleta for this season. But nothing has absolutely wowed me yet.
I’m also undecided about
Jackie Tohn. She’s a singer and actress who has appeared on shows such as The Nanny, Bad Boy and Return to Sleepaway Camp. She has a personality that is apparently good for the show cuz they keep featuring her. Her voice has not impressed me too much as of now…oh, and her run away from getting a yes from the judges was a little annoying. But, of course, nothing can compete with dear Tatiana.
RSS Feed (xml)
