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. 

This blonde Texan is not new to the making music.  Kendall Beard has been making music since she was a young teener.  As a young musician, she travelled around Texas with her band performing in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo among others places.  What is notable about her is that she had dyslexia as a student at the St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School.  Beard credits her school’s staff for helping her overcome her dyslexia.  When she went to college to get her degree in communication studies, she had to put her pursuit of a career in music for a while. 

After she graduated from the University of Texas, she attended one of the University’s internship programs in Los Angeles, Califonia.  While interning at the artist publicity department of Sony BMG, Kendall Beard rediscovered her love for making music and performing rather than dealing with the business side of music.  It was during that time when she started making her own music.  She was discovered by Jeffrey Weber, a Grammy award winning producer, and was contracted to record her very own self-titled album.  Playing with her band in Austin has not stopped Beard from dreaming about becoming the next American Idol.  She has always wanted to try out for the talent competition but she chose to wait things out until she finished college.  Now age 24, Beard has succeeded in landing a spot in American Idol Season 8’s Top 36 semi-finalists.

It was in Puerto Rico where Kendall Beard chose to audition for this season’s American Idol competition.  Oddly, this pretty young blonde Texan was the first to be put through to Hollywood in an audition held in Puerto Rico.  She earned the judges’ thumbs ups when she performed “From the Ashes” by Martina McBride.  She got her golden ticket to Hollywood where she went through the succeeding rounds where she sang “In the Arms of an Angel” by Sarah McLachlan and “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood.  Her performance, although considered to be bad song choices by the judges, were good enough for her to be put through the succeeding episodes.  Beard has shared the limelight with the other contestants in the Top 36 who hoped to make enough of an impression on the viewers to make it to the Top 12 finalists.

Kendall Beard was part of the third group of semi-finalists set to perform their solos, after which the viewers can text in their votes to determine which three contestants will make it to the Top 12.  As with the other groups of semi-finalists, the top male performer, the top female performer, and the one with the next highest number of text votes.  Three others as determined by the judges will make it through to the Top 12 in the Wild Card round where the other contestants who did not get enough viewers’ text votes will be given a second chance.  It is proving to be an exciting yet scary time for Beard. Kendall Beard hoped that her love for music will shine through and be enough to make her succeed as the next American Idol.

This Nashville native visited Jacksonville in the hopes of making it into the most prestigious singing competition at present. Ann Marie Boskovich walked into the American Idol audition room looking plain. She made a quick first impression as she sang one of the judges, Kara DioGuardi’s songs. “I want you to come back as a different person,” suggests Simon Cowell to give Ann Marie a fighting chance to get to Hollywood. The American idol aspirant obeys. She comes back at the end of the day, fully made up and ready to impress the judges. With her pleasing rendition of Bubbly, she wows the judges and makes it out the door with a golden ticket in hand.

Ann Marie Boskovich is a 22-year old Nashville resident who works as a waitress and nanny. She has a bit of a musical background and is waiting for her big break to come along. Ann Marie looks back at her first memory of singing for an audience, when she was 5 and sang “Over the Rainbow” at a family member’s funeral. She has also appeared on Disney’s direct-to-video cartoon “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea” at a young age of 13. Her rendition of the classic theme “Part of Your World” could be heard over the closing credits. Back in 2003, she also sang “God Bless America” at the NBA All Star Game. Ann Marie has a bit of a recording past, like many other idol aspirants.

As a passionate musician, Ann Marie Boskovich has been trying to make it as a singer/song writer. It has been reported that the idol contestant has been singing before she could even talk. She is also blessed with the talent to play guitar and piano. She enters Idol in the hopes that it could finally be her big break. Ann Marie has made quite an impression on both judges and viewers. She makes it through Hollywood week and advances to the season’s top 36 contestants. Excited to continue on her idol journey, she has been tasked to perform with one of the first group of contestants who gets to try to make it to the season’s Top 12 Finalists.

February 17 was the day set for group 1 to show America how much they deserve a spot in the top 12. The group came out with a mix of good and bad performances. Unfortunately, Ann Marie was part of the latter. The song she chose to perform is “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin. Although she received a standing ovation from the audience, the judges were not as impressed. Her voice did not have the power to deliver the song well, and her performance just did not do much justice to it. Much to her fans’ dismay, Ann Marie was not able to gather enough votes to get her to the Top 12.

Could this be the end of the idol road for Ann Marie Boskovich? Petitions of her to be wildcard pick on idol are becoming more and more popular. If enough people want her back on the show, Ann Marie might just make it back on the road.

If you adore nerds, witty personality and nice good boys, this American Idol aspirant may just be the pick for you. Alexander Thugman wins the heart of many American Idol viewers, not just because geeks are in, but because there is something very endearing about this 19-year college old student. There might just be a place for him in this season’s top runners.

From Studio City, California, Alex went to Phoenix, Arizona to get to the American Idol audition. Dropping responsibilities in school, even just for a day, is a big deal for someone as grade-conscious as Alex. “I missed a Spanish test for this. If I don’t do it, I’ll probably get a B.”, he narrated. It seems that Alex has musical dreams that he could fulfill outside university.

Upon entering the audition room for Idol, Simon makes a remark “You just came out of the closet.” An average male teenager would have not been able to respond to such words, but Alex comes back with to Simon with a witty remark saying that he used to practice singing in the closet. Alex Thugman is truly no average teenager.

Alex, seemingly timid and shy, sang “Baby come to me” by James Ingram. Although Paula mentioned that she found the audition surprising. Randy has attested that Alex’s voice has a weird tone, yet he congratulates the contestant for singing in pitch. Alex managed to impress all three judges except Simon who did not find anything extraordinary with his audition. Nonetheless, three yeses had gotten Alex through to Hollywood.

“It actually worked,” Randy Jackson defends as Alexander Thugman leaves the room with a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Hollywood week became tougher for Alex. The judges remained undecided until the last minute. To help the judges make the decision, Alex was called to render a song of his choice to convince the judges to choose him to stay. The catch is that he had to sing against one of the other contestants. The sing off was an emotional challenge for Alex since he had to sing against Cody Sheldon, who has come to be very close to him throughout the competition. Cody failed to impress the judges, thus making the judges lean towards Alex’s favor.

Alexander Thugman may not boast of the best voice in the competition, but his endearing personality helps him advance in the competition. At age 19, he is now part of American Idol Season 8’s top 36. From a regular responsible student, he is on the race towards becoming the next American Idol. He just needs a little more work for him to stand out in this competition. As we all know, wanting to get to the top may not be enough to take him there.

Simon did make a strong remark on Alex’s audition day, “You cannot do well in this competition”.

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.

Nick Mitchell, also known by the name of “Norman Gentle” is one of the lucky 36 finalists who were chosen out of the millions who tried out to become the next American Idol. And the place where his future was decided is in East Rutherford at New Jersey. He was also known as “Norman Gentle” because on the day that he auditioned, he guised himself as someone by alternative name mentioned above. After he sang “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” of the Dreamgirls and “Amazing Grace”, it was amazing that the judges voted Nick Mitchell to go to Hollywood considering the way he fixed himself, red headband, huge glasses, and a glittering shirt. Everyone was given the impression that he was not really serious in pursuing a career in singing. This is probably the reason why all of the judges except Simon Cowell, agreed to send Nick Mitchell to Hollywood.

He is 27 years old and attended and finished his studies in Manhattan College and Western Connecticut State University but basically, he just grew up in Brookfield in Connecticut. Before he joined this competition, American Idol, he worked as a comedian who often performs in Connecticut and/or Manhattan.
Because of the impression that he gave people when he auditioned, many people feel that he is different from all the other contestants that were chosen. This is probably due to the way he carries himself and the way he acts towards other people. But even though he was perceived as such, he just keeps on fighting along with all the other contestants.

A friend and former classmate of Nick Mitchell, Bob Appleby, tried to make other people understand the personality of the childhood friend. He said that even then, Nick is really naturally friendly; someone who easily made friends with everyone. What he loves to do back then is sing a song and make the people around him laugh that’s why he got famous for playing pranks on other people just for fun. Bob said that all those years, Nick grew up developing that personality in school – elementary, junior high, and even high school. The funny thing about it, Bob said, is that until now he is still like that. Appleby even said that he is really glad that Nick is now given the chance to make the whole world happy as well like he used to.
This is not actually the first time that Nick has appeared on national television because he played the character in “The Wendy Williams Show” a year ago, after he sent his video tape dancing around his own living room while singing the theme song of the said talk show. The executive producer even said that when he saw the tape, he knew that Nick deserved a chance to shine.

So look out for Nick Mitchell because he may be the person who will change the views of people who are stereotyping those people who they feel is right in being given the title of American Idol.

Nate Marshall is an 18-year old guy who was included in the top 36 contestants of the eighth season of American Idol. He tried his luck in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Nate Marshall spent his childhood and eventually matured in New York. He started honing his singing talent when he was just 2 years old and even shared it with other people through the choir he belonged to when he was still in high school. Maybe because he was exposed to music early in his life, he eventually discovered his passion for it. That is why in his teen years, he explored and widened his horizons by playing some instruments like the guitar. As a matter of fact, he really got inspired with his music that he eventually found other people sharing the same passion as his and created their own music. One concrete example of this is the fact that 4 years ago (2005), he joined a group which eventually went with the name “Nate and Kate”; he toured and recorded one album with them.

Would you believe that at just the age of 18, one of Nate Marshall’s achievements is already releasing his first and full-length album where his original compositions and music are all contained; his album carried the name “Generation Why?” Though the truth is this is not a surprising thing for someone as talented and well-rounded person as Nate because he can play several instruments like piano, harmonica, cello, kazoo, tambourine, ukulele and even banjo. It was even reported that his music and tunes can be found and enjoyed in his MySpace profile online. Most of the time, he is compared to a famous musician, Bob Dylan.

The surprising thing is that even though he has achieved many things in his life already, many people still doubt his real capabilities and his right to be included in American Idol. Many are actually trying to figure out his real personality – whether he is annoying or entertaining. Maybe this is because of the fact that even though he has already achieved a lot of things in the music industry, many people still perceive him as someone with a really different personality. Most people actually try to classify him as ‘theatrical.’ Whether this means good or bad, we honestly do not know. What people should always remember is that a talented person like Nate Marshall should not let other people tear him down and influence the way he sees music in his life. The most important thing for him to do is just continue doing his thing and be true to himself, and hope that other people will eventually understand his personality. After all, it is not every single day that people find a musician and a person in general, that is as talented and exquisite as Nate Marshall.

Truly, American Idol will serve as a way for people to get to know this musician more and understand him better. After all, that is what this reality show is all about – directing people to the greatness they have within themselves.

Mishavonna Henson was born on July 25, 2000 and grew up in Texas but is now living in Irvine, California. She is a contestant in the American Idol’s latest season and was chosen to be included as one of the top 36 contestants. She first auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona. People might not be aware and might not remember that Mishavonna also auditioned during the last season of American Idol and even reached Hollywood but was not really able to show everyone her talent. This season, she is looking to overtake what she has achieved last season.

It is nice to know that Mishavonna Henson learned how to sing even before she was really able to talk and converse with other people. She first experienced singing in front of a large crowd in church. It is amazing to note that she is well rounded because aside from dancing, playing the piano and guitar, her list of hobbies also includes acting, and horseback riding. And even though she is regularly engaging herself in these hobbies, she is still able to maintain a good academic life as she is still taking several classes at one junior college. The truth is it would not be a surprise to know that most people are not aware that this young girl is also an actress and that she has appeared in a show in Nickelodeon named Unfabulous. Another one of the shows that she has appeared in is a sitcom in NBC entitled Frasier. Like mentioned above, she is a well-rounded person that she is able to involve herself in different fields and be able to juggle them all at the same time.

But out of all her hobbies, music stands out because for her, music is not just that. For her, music is one of the methods in which she expresses and communicates her feelings. As a matter of fact, even in her music she is proving that she is really well-rounded because she is living music in her life where country and modern tunes are combined. More than that, even her life is actually a mix of two opposite worlds for even if she is living her life under the limelight, she still brings with her and applies all the traditional values that she has acquired through the years.

Mishavonna Henson sang the song “Drops of Jupiter” of Train as her first song in the competition. The song actually is right for the range of her voice but throughout all the jumps of melodies in the song, her voice usually disappears. Although this was the case, it was generally a very strong performance and the problem does not really concern her voice or her manner of singing but on the way she handles the microphone.
Surely, Mishavonna Henson has a lot more to improve in her singing career but we also should not become skeptics. For all we know, this girl is just waiting for the right time to shine and let others know of her capabilities. After all, a girl with such talent and glow will eventually find her way in this industry.