The Idol Pool: 2007-02-11

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Videos from the Season 5 contestants

Wondering what the Season 5 contestants are up to nowadays?

We commissioned the American Idol Pool Media Committe to hop onto YouTube and find videos of your favorite contestants from season 5. So, here they are, in order of how they finished last year.

12. Melissa McGhee
Melissa actually averaged as the 13th most popular contestant in our pool last year, but she made it to the top 12, where she only lasted one week. Here she is singing for TV32.

11. Kevin Covais
Well, we all picked Kevin to do even worse than Melissa last year (he was the 14th most popular choice), but Paula took him under her wing, and he made it to the top 12 where he lasted just two weeks.

We found a couple good videos of Kevin.

Here he is singing "When I Fall in Love" to twin sisters on their 21st birthday after they request him to sing a song for them.

And here he is singing one of our favorite Christmas carols at the Hempstead, NY tree lighting ceremony.

10. Lisa Tucker
One person chose Lisa to win the whole thing, and overall, she was ranked 9th by the pool. Lisa finished close to that mark at 10th last season. Here she is performing at the Rose Parade on New Year's Day.

9. Mandisa
Mandisa finished 9th in what was one of the most hurtful cuts from last season's Idol for our pool. She ranked as the 2nd best contestant in our cumulative pool, and 5 of you had her winning the whole thing. Here's a little blurb from the TV Guide Network about what she's up to now....

8. Bucky Covington
Our pool picked Bucky to go out in Week 2, but somehow he made it to Week 5 before he was eliminated. Bucky now has a blossoming country career. Here's his video for "A Different World", a song where he tells us in the two verses that his Mom smoke and drank, his bedroom had lead-based paint in it, his car didn't have a seatbelt, there was no child proof lids on anything, his Dad beat him with a belt, and growing up he didn't have cable or a remote or video games. Sounds like the great makings of a country star.

7. Ace Young
4 of you chose Ace to win the whole thing, and overall, he ranked as the 5th best finalist in our pool last year, so I guess he disappointed a bit finishing 7th. Seems like he is not currently signed to a label, but he has a single, "Scattered", that's been out for a while now. Here's a video of him descending from the ceiling of a Colorado Crush game to do their halftime show!

6. Kellie Pickler
Oh, Kellie - the hours of enjoyment you brought us ridiculing you. Good times. Pick Pickler finished 6th last year, which is right where the average of our pool said she'd be.....one person had Kellie going all the way. Here's a clip of Kellie performing "I Wonder" on The View.

5. Paris Bennett
2 people picked Paris to go all the way last year, but overall, she averaged out as just the 8th most popular performer in our pool. So, I guess she beat our pool's expectations by finishing 5th. Here's the video for her single "Ordinary Love"....the audio isn't that great...Apologies.

4. Chris Daughtry
29 people picked Chris to win last year! He was, far and away, the #1 choice for the pool, so it came as a disappointment for many when he finished 4th. Not sure if you know his new album was released recently. Here's the video for "It's Not Over". How many people out there know what that location is where the band is performing?!?!?!

3. Elliott Yamin
Although not picked by anyone to win American Idol last year, Elliott was still the 4th most popular contestant in our pool. He finished 3rd, just one notch above expectations. Here's the video a fan of his made with still shots of the new Elliott with the music to his single "Movin On"

2. Katharine McPhee
Loved by some and hated by others, Katharine was a lightning rod for comments last year. 8 people picked her to win the whole thing last season, and overall, the pool rated her #3, so we all weren't too far off. Here she is singing her single "Love Story" for AOL Sessions.

And here she is singing "Over It" on the Ellen show.

1. Taylor Hicks
He averaged out as only #7 in the pool last year. Only 1 person picked him to win it all. But, Taylor surprised all of us and ran the table....Here he is singing "Gin & Juice" with Snoop Dogg. Natch.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Getting to know the top 24

Trying to remember who, exactly, made it to the top 24? Check it out here.One of these people is your next American Idol!!! Follow the link and click on each picture to learn a bit more about their personal interests.

For example:
- Did you know that Antonella only has lucky charms with milk? She's also a pun master.
- Did you know that Haley names her American Idol as Celine Dion (this has to be a joke - Celine's not even American.)
- Did you know Paul Kim is Asian?

Haley's American Idol answer intrigued us, so we commissioned the American Idol Pool Research Committee to check who all 24 finalists named as their personal American Idols. Here are their answers in order of popularity:

Not surprisingly, family was named a lot:
My Mom - 5 people named their Mom. Touching.
My Mom and Dad - 4
My Grandma - 2
My Dad - 2
My hot wife

Then those 3 jokester guys who were in the same small group all named themselves:
Chris Sligh - 2
Blake Lewis - 2
Rudy Cardenas - whoops! one of the guys forgot to name Rudy

Then past American Idol finalists and participants were named:
Kelly Clarkson
Fantasia
Bo Bice
Jennifer "Freakin'" Hudson

Then finalists who think they're funny (or so I assume) named some artists:
Michael Bolton
Celine Dion

Then a couple respectable artists were named:
Stevie Wonder
Nina Simone

Then Jersey girls are named (by guess who):
Amanda

What survey would be complete without Super Bowl winning NFL coaches:
Tony Dungy

And finally, someone couldn't name just one or two people:
"My family, boyfriend, teachers and close friends"

This is the same contestant, who for her "personal goals" listed "marry my boyfriend JP, have kids". Look out JP, we've got a crazy person out there...

Know these people inside and out. The fate of your American Idol order from 1 to 12 depends on it.
Want to know a little bit more about the contestants? Check out the exclusive video interviews
here.

Paula has never been drunk

From the Associated Press:

"Paula Abdul's spacy behavior on "American Idol" has prompted many to ponder if there's a tumbler or two of booze in that red cup on the table in front of her on the Fox talent contest.

That's nonsense, the 44-year-old "Idol" judge tells Us Weekly magazine in its Feb. 16 issue. "I've never been drunk. I have never done recreational drugs," she says. "Just look at my 20-year career. Tell me someone who is into partying or doing drugs that could have done that."

"There have been 100 million lies about me," says Abdul, who has said she's taken prescription medication for health problems, including inflammatory arthritis. "I'm squeaky clean. I've worked my ass off my entire life. (But) being involved in the show causes people to question everything."

"I have never missed a live show," Abdul notes. "Even when I had surgery on my hand (for an infection caused by a botched manicure in 2004), I left my hospital bed to go to the show.""

Paula went on to insist to the Associated Press that the Pope wasn't Catholic and that bears don't sh*t in the woods.