Posted on 03/21/2007 2:18:26 PM PDT by rface
The LAT's crack American Idol Showtracker investigative team was backstage at last night's taping, which introduced Fox's latest breakout star to nearly 30 million television viewers: young Ashley Ferl, the girl so memorably paralyzed by the spasms of tears elicited by Idol's resident Destroyer of Popular Music Sanjaya Malakar's eardrum-perforating performance. Reports the Times on how the show's producers came to identify the undeniable talent in their midst:
" First things first: Who was the crying girl? After the show, I chatted with Idol's newest superstar, the crying girl, Ashley Ferl, aged 13, from Riverside. For some long minutes after the show, Ashley remained in a state of inconsolable sobbing, unable to choke out a single word. However, through an interpreter (her mother) we were eventually able to learn some facts about the young superstar.
" The family, I was told, obtained tickets on a website to attend a taping of "Smarter Than a 5th Grader" a day passage that included not just the taping of the show itself, but also the dress rehearsal of either "Grader" or "Idol." The fates were kind, and the mother and daughter found their way to the "Idol" rehearsal, where Ashley's waterworks began. Her prowess was quickly brought to the attention of "Idol" producers who summoned the clan to a ringside seat of honor at the final taping.
" Her powers of speech slowly returning, Ashley revealed that while she was on stage she had been thinking that "this was the coolest thing ever." Asked whom she was supporting in the competition she named "Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin" as her picks, refusing to narrow her vote down to a single choice. All my journalistic powers of persuasion, cajoling, bullying and insistence that on her vote might turn the entire competition, that "Listen to reason, young Ferl, there can't be four American Idols," would not convince her to name a single favorite. To my every argument, she would only repeat her mantra, "All Four: Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin." And so the race begins in earnest, with tears at every step of the way.
Their reporting makes no mention of whether or not Fox, never a network to leave any opportunity for exploitation unexplored, has invited Ferl back for tonight's result show, knowing that the superfan's unflagging support of four of the remaining eleven hopefuls leaves them with (at worst) a thirty-seven percent chance of capturing on camera the utter ruination of her childhood should one of her favorites be dismissed. The resulting paroxysm of sorrow will immediately become part of the "farewell montage" that plays each contestant off the stage and into the professional purgatory of the Idol Tour, where the girl's flood of uncontrollable tears will remind viewers about the lives they destroy each and every week with their phone calls and text messages.
Good... I have company!
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I think it's some kind
of videogame that runs
on consoles even
older than the first
XBox. And you can't use that
Wii controller thing . . .
I feel sorry for people who always have such a negative think process.
Have a nice life.
:O)
P
i went to a Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken a couple years ago. There were quite a few young kids with their parents there. I'm in my 40s and I do enjoy the show, mainly, because of the music that's chosen. Music I grew up to, which imo, is a lot better than the crap out there today, i.e., rap music.
It's good to see kids getting exposed to other music besides rap, and here's something that both kids and parents can enjoy.
I really wish that Melinda had a neck because she already has the voice of a superstar.
ping
Cause some others sucked worse than he did?
she got my vote
and Amateur Hour with Ted Mack..from which came Wayne Newton and (ugh..)Barbara Streisand
I'm familiar with the show but am totally clueless as to what is going on here....
Yeah, 12 year old girls and Michael Jackson texting in multiple votes.
My favorites are Melinda, Lakisha and Chris Sly
"how come the judges selected him out of all those thousands?"
That's how bad the guys were this year. As bad as he is, most of the other guys were worse.
I'm with you CC. I would've wondered too.
My big crushes:
Paul McCartney (I should put THE in front of his name - I still love Paul!)
Bobby Sherman
David Cassidy - Partridge Family
Davy Jones - Monkees
Ricky Nelson
Oh, I also loved the dad - Guy somebody - on Lost in Space (he used to be the old Zorro show).
My favourites are Jardin and Lakisha. I sure wish Lakisha had chosen to sing "You're My World" last night. I wasn't impressed with the Diamonds song, but I guess she didn't want to pass up on the opportunity to wear all those diamonds :-).
I know. I really like her but she looks like the hunchback of AI. I must not complain about my flaws anymore.
Ditto. Those are my three faves too. However, last night the one guy who does all the beat box stuff was pretty good.
Thing is, most of that no-neck thing is psychological...in the middle of one song, one time, a neck appeared, and then just as quickly disappeared. If she would just practice standing with some confidence and throw her shoulders back, I really don't think she would have a problem.
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