It is indeed true that the United States of America has become the melting pot of the world and this is manifested by one of its most popular reality TV shows, American Idol. Over the years, the singing competition show has accumulated contestants from different backgrounds and heritage.

Another American Idol trend is that its contestants, as well as its winners, have been getting younger and younger. 2007 winner Jordin Sparks was only 17 when she won and last year’s finalist, David Archuleta, was the same age as well. Both trends are seen in a current American Idol contestant, Arianna Afsar, a teenager of Bangladesh heritage who has just turned 17 years old. She is part of the Top 36 and is set to perform with the rest of Group 3 next week.

Arianna Afsar first wowed the judges when she auditioned in Phoenix Arizona (although she is from San Diego), singing “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae. The judges were won over by her sweet personality and her clear, jazzy voice. She received four yeses and got the yellow ticket to Hollywood. While Hollywood week was tough for a lot of the contestants, what with the group fights, cracked voices, and stage fright – Arianna survived Hollywood week and moved on to the next round as part of Top 36. Fans of Arianna Afsar will have to wait until next week to find out if Arianna will get into the Top 12 of American Idol season 8.

Arianna Afsar is no stranger to the stage. She began singing when she was 6 years old and has joined a number of teen beauty competitions such as the Miss California’s Outstanding Teen Competition and went on to be the runner up for the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Competition in 2005. Arianna first began singing musical theater with roles such as Cindy Lou in the “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” and Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” Just recently, Arianna starred as Gabriella Montes in the “Disney’s High School Musical” production of J* Company. She also uses her singing talents for the good and has founded the “Adopt a Grandfriend” group and often entertaining the elderly with her voice.

Arianna also sings pop songs and has a repertoire of more than a hundred. She has also sung the national anthem in a number of games of the San Diego Padres. However unlikely it may sound, Arianna Afsar is also a very studious girl. She has mentioned that her favorite subject is Math and she once took advanced classes for the subject. Arianna goes to Westview High School in San Diego, California.

While Arianna may not have an off-the-charts personality that might keep American Idol fans fascinated, her smooth voice, pleasant charm, and attractive looks have the potential to bring her far in the competition. As the judges always say, it’s not just how good your voice is, but it’s also about the song choice. We will see next week whether Arianna Afsar chooses the right song that can carry her over to be a Top 12 finalist. 

Ricky Braddy is one of the luckiest people who got into the Top 36 contestants who will move on to the next round in Hollywood out of all the millions who tried their luck and auditioned. This 25-year old guy auditioned in Louisville at Kentucky. Ricky Braddy was one of the first 12 contestants who performed and unfortunately, he did not garner a lot of votes that will make it enough for him to move on to the next round and become one of the 12 finalists.

He earned his Commercial Vocal Performance degree from the Belmont University in Nashville at Tennessee. His love for music really rooted from childhood because Ricky Braddy started to learn how to sing when he was just 4 years of age because of his participation in the church choir. Right now, Ricky Braddy is currently living in Nashville in Tennessee, but he really grew up in North Carolina in Elizabeth City.
When his batch performed, he sang the song “A Song for You” by Leon Russell and the judges felt that there was something missing about his performance. Maybe the song was not right for him since the judges gave him a different comment when he was still auditioning. As a matter of fact, Paula Abdul even gave him a standing ovation when he auditioned in Louisville.

Who would have thought that this guy actually as a fan site called “The Braddy Bunch” and was technically started by his parents because every single time that he joined a contest, his parents always make it a point to wear shirts with the text “The Braddy Bunch” printed on it; and of course, this eventually where the name of Ricky’s fan club came from. Recently though, this specific fan site of Ricky Braddy has been threatened to be shut down because it accused the site of giving Ricky unnecessary and unfair exposure. This was after her parents mentioned the name of this fan site on national television. But word has it that The Braddy Bunch Online is already backed up and running again for all the supporters of Ricky!

Although many people are really supporting the talents and capabilities of Ricky, it still was not enough to put him and let him enter the next round and be part of those who will be included in the slots of the 12 finalists. Of course, others are agreeing with this outcome of the competition while others are not happy with it because they feel that Ricky deserves more time to show other people and the world what he’s got. There are also other people who are hoping that Ricky can have another chance in the competition through the wild card process. But even if Ricky does not get another chance in the competition everyone knows, not only his supporters, that this is not the end of his singing career; rather, it is just the start because for sure, many doors will open up for him in the future.

So it is just right for everyone, most especially his supporters, to continue watching out for the things that he has to offer for everyone.