Meet the competition - Part 1

We've seen them sing. We've seen them cry. We've even heard a few of their sad stories. But who exactly are your Top 36? Over the next week, we will introduce you (translate: we'll tell you what we love and what annoys us) to Michael's competition, starting with the 17 others he will meet on Tuesday's stage. These include a swimsuit model, former Nashville Star, an actress from TV's "The Nanny", and lots and lots of controversy.

Alexis Grace
This 21-year old from Memphis auditioned in Louisville, KY with Aretha Franklin's (her self-proclaimed largest musical influence) "Dr. Feelgood." This is her third audition for American Idol, but only her first time to advance to Hollywood. We don't know much about her personal life, except that she has a 2-year old daughter, Ryan Elizabeth. She also does a pretty good Celine Dion impersonation that's worth a Google or two. We're unsure about her pink streaks, but several of the Hollywood week contestants seemed to have them, so we're more-so stuck wondering who snuck the Manic Panic into the Kodak Theatre.


Anne Marie Boskovitch
We love Anne Marie's voice, and apparently we aren't the only ones. Like former Top 36er Joanna Pacitti, this one is a Carly Smithson Version 2.0 - She's been singing professionally for quite some time. The first time you may have heard her was singing "Part of your world" over the closing credits of The Little Mermaid II. Then again, it wasn't a blockbuster, so you probably remember her more for her Jacksonville audition where she had a bit of an identity crisis. She came in singing Kara's song and was sent out to work on getting herself together and asked to come back 15 minutes later. She added the "E" to her name as a career move. We're sort of left blinking about that one, too.

Check out Part 2 here.
And Part 3 here.