S10

[john]

So weird that casey was playing it in his audition tape, and it ended up being a huge moment for both of them.

Yep. Even more strange is that they both knew that song (you could tell) and turned it into "their own" - their call and response was great.

That was such a buff, professional performance it still blows me away.

Ray Chew Retweeted
Music Biz ‏@MusicBizAssoc 3h3 hours ago
.@AmericanIdol Season 10's @HaleyReinhart at #MusicBiz2012. Her new single "Better" is out today! #IdolFinale

[Miguel]

Tim HalperinLike Page
April 6 at 5:06pm ·
My American Idol Experience Unfiltered: Part 2, Hollywood Week

Excerpts:

...When we flew into LAX Airport, a film crew was waiting for us at the gate. They made us wait until the rest of the plane exited the gate, and then had us walk out separately to film us. Then they made us go back into the gate and repeat our exit to get more footage. People in the airport started to realize that this was for American Idol, and a crowd began to form with cell phones out, taking pictures and videos of us. I’m not gonna lie, I felt like a big deal. When we walked out to load our luggage in the white 15-passenger vans to take us to our hotel, I noticed a cute girl next to me, so I loaded her luggage first. Turns out it was my soon-to-be friend Haley Reinhart, who ended up finishing 3rd that season.

We arrived at our hotel for check-in, and we were all interviewed on camera and given room assignments. For the majority of Idol, you have the same roommate, as long as you both remain in the competition. My roommate was Jacob Lusk. If you watched that season, you’d know that Jacob and I are nothing alike. He’s a Gospel-singing boy from Compton, with a tendency for dramatic expressions of emotion. It was like Luther Vandross rooming with Chris Martin. But Jacob quickly became one of my favorite people in the world…I even went to his church in Compton with him and loved it (I was the only white person for miles).

]In the middle of the second day of round 1, a group of us were told that we were moving hotels…Jacob and me included. TMZ had found out where we were staying and had staked it out with cameras. As a side note, everytime the name TMZ is dropped near an Idol production crew, you can expect curse words and eyes rolling. They HATED TMZ. So Jacob and I hopped on a van and moved from the Sheraton to none other than the Langham Cunningham Hotel (formerly the Ritz Carlton). It was like going from being cattle to kings. We had a cottage by the tennis courts. But here’s the interesting thing: also on that van, moving hotels, were Scotty McCreary, Lauren Alaina and Thia Megia. Magically all of the people who were moved away from the prying eyes of TMZ and into the arms of luxury ended up in the Live Show as Top 24 contestants.

It was during the group round that I began to notice Executive Producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick approach the judges in between every performance. I don’t know what was said, but it reminded me of a producer approaching an actor before a scene, reminding them of an emotion or a line before the cameras were rolling.

...Two of my group members were twins…the Gutierrez brothers. So of course, they cut one of the twins to add some drama, and one more group member was cut, leaving me and one of the twins as the only ones to move on. Then in the lobby they made us say goodbye to the ones who were cut. What’s worse is that they literally made Aaron, the twin who was cut, go get his suitcase from his room and pretend to say goodbye to his twin brother and walk away with his suitcase. I mean…what the heck?! Welcome to ‘reality TV’.

This is when Idol got fun. We finally had some free time when we got to Vegas, and friendships started to form. I was close with a lot of people, but I definitely laughed a lot with Casey Abrams. We had a couple of days before our performances, which were filled with rehearsals and several outings around town to see the sites. I even won $100 on the slot machines.

Tomorrow, I’ll recount what it was like to be on the Live Show of American Idol. If you enjoyed this post, please share it!

PS: When they aired Hollywood Week, I was devastated because they didn’t show any of my performances from the week…not even my strong solo performance of The Fray. They only showed my Vegas performance. That was also when they showed an interview with Scotty McCreery feeling sorry for kicking someone out of their group…he was in tears and that’s the first time I thought that Scotty might win Idol…he was so dang likeable. It was also when I realized that you fall victim to the editors of American Idol. They tell the story they want to tell.

[john]

Lauren_Alaina @Lauren_Alaina
I can't believe this was the first time we were all (almost) in the same room in five years. #americanidol #season10reunion

[Miguel]

Tim Halperin
My American Idol Experience Unfiltered: Pt. 3, The Live Show

...After making it past Hollywood Week and Vegas, I was in the Top 40. Something I learned during Hollywood Week is that there’s an entire world of American Idol blogs, news sources, gossip sites and underground Idol betting rings. In fact, a couple of them have been posting these very Facebook posts. I tend to be somewhat of a people pleaser, and so the thought of these sites analyzing my singing, my character, my past, etc. scared the crap out of me. For several weeks, none of them knew I was in the Top 40 because I hadn’t encountered any TMZ folks during my time in LA. And then one of the other Top 40 contestants who had been identified posted some pictures on Facebook of me with other contestants hanging out in LA. And so began the media storm.

We were told not to respond to any media requests…no exceptions. I started getting emails from TMZ, phone calls from the Fort Worth and Omaha newspapers, even my friends were getting TMZ calls and emails. Everyone wanted to dig up whatever they could on Idol contestants. And I did the one thing we were encouraged not to do: I Googled myself. There were fans, and there were people making up all kinds of nasty rumors and posting my Facebook pictures on Forums. It was crazy. And still, I couldn’t even talk about Idol!

Two weeks passed before I flew back out to LA for the final round before the Live Show contestants were picked. They called the round ‘Sing For Your Life’ (scary thought, right?). I got to sing a song I wrote called ‘The Last Song’, and Interscope picked another song for me to sing…’Break Even’ by The Script. Idol producers decided each round whether or not we’d be allowed to play an instrument while we sing, and fortunately this was a round that granted us that opportunity. During that trip to LA, we met with 19 Entertainment, the Management Agency that oversees contestants while on the show and manages careers of some contestants after the show. When I met with the President for 19, I asked him if I’d be able to write my own songs if I was signed after Idol. He basically told me that they’d listen to my original material, but they’d definitely make me write with others and possibly record songs I hadn’t written.

As a side note, since all of us contestants were spending every waking hour together, this is when we got to be much closer friends. Truthfully there was never a feeling of rivalry. We were all in the same boat, and trash talking wasn’t going to put anybody ahead. For the most part, everybody hung out together and got along. There were certainly times when people disagreed or didn’t get along, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were a couple people that I didn’t hang around much…only because I felt they were a bit arrogant, but we got along fine.

It was also during the time leading up to the live show that we had to sign the final American Idol contract, and it was a beast. It was all of 120 pages. Basically this final Idol contract gave Idol rights to every aspect of our careers: management, recording, merchandise, booking, PR. It gave them the option to execute any or all of those elements for 8 months. Here’s the thing that was hard to swallow: Idol hired two lawyers on behalf of the contestants to review the contract. I had just graduated with a Business Degree and that screamed conflict of interest. The lawyers had 48 hours to review the contract and seek any changes before Idol herded us into a room and gave us pens to sign. If we left the room and refused to sign the contract, they told us that we would be removed from the competition. So we all signed.

The Live Show was upon us. Prior to the filming, there was a dress rehearsal. We ran the show top to bottom, except in between each performance, Executive Producers Nigel and Ken approached the judges and talked to them for a few minutes. Again, I don’t know what was said, but context clues would point to talking through how the judges would critique each performance.

https://www.facebook.com/TimHalperinOffi...035225012/

Here's the email he received once he made "the green mile."

https://www.facebook.com/TimHalperinOffi...=3&theater

[Miguel]

Posted yesterday:

[Himm2]

^^^ Ah, a delightful walk down memory lane. Idol was all downhill after that season of seasoned sensational seductive screwballs & star seeking serenaders

[Tusk]

sounds like this audio is from during Season 10, Brian Logan, Haley's Jazz Director about hearing Haley for the 1st time

[dswim2]

"House of the Rising Sun" now has three million views on YouTube and her audition now has one million! They passed these marks a while ago, but I never got around to posting about them, so I'm sure some of you are aware of this already.

[john]

"House of the Rising Sun" now has three million views on YouTube and her audition now has one million! They passed these marks a while ago, but I never got around to posting about them, so I'm sure some of you are aware of this already.

Keep in mind that she had views in the millions that were posted during Idol and forced down by Freemantle. Then the videos subsequently posted of AI performances were blocked in the U.S. for quite a while.

[john]

Lauren Alaina reveals she struggled with bulimia

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/201...limia.html