Lufkin's Kendall Beard was eliminated tonight after failing to advance from Group 3 and not getting a wildcard spot. Guess Michael will just have to win the whole thing and vindicate East Texas.
Read coverage by the Lufkin paper here.
Showing posts with label Kendall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kendall. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Kendall Beard eliminated
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
LIVE BLOG - Group 3 performs!
At the end of the night, here's the order we think they fall in:
Lil, Ju'Not, Scott, Kristen, Felicia, Von, Jorge, Kendall, Nathaniel, Alex, Taylor, Ariana.
Read on to see what we thought in detail, otherwise we'll be back tomorrow for more Idol Chatter!
6:55 - It's about to start folks! Are you ready group 3??
7:06 - Simon looks like a Jarhead. Meanhwile, Von Smith is first. He's singing Marvin Gaye and...OK...not bad actually. And he hipped himself up so now he doesn't resemble the Mathlete nerd who sat next to you in Calculus.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Randy and Kara dug it. Paula was positive and crazy. And Simon said he reminded him of...Clay Aiken? (But it was a complement.)
7:17 - Taylor Vaifanua is going to pull off Alicia Keyes? We'll see...She bombs the low notes in the opening, but is decent during the chorus. Still...it's probably not enough.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Kara starts it off with some positives. Simon thought she was generic. Paula is perplexed. (Shocker)
7:25 - (Blatant Coca-Cola Product Placement) Then a quick interview with Alex Wagner-Trugman who's up next...he makes Von Smith look like the starting quarterback. He belts out - and growls - Elton John and isn't bad. But he cannot escape comparison to the skinny nerd from Can't Hardly Wait.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Paula positively starts it off and doesn't make sense. Simon compared him to a hamster. Randy didn't dig it. Kara was an encouraging camp counselor.
7:36 - Ariana Afsar is up next...singing ABBA! Ummm...not so much. Her range is weird and warbley. She's adorable and has a couple good moments, but seriously...how do you mess up Swedish pop?
JUDGES COMMENTS - Simon says it's terrible and a bad song choice. (We agree.) Randy advises to embrace her youth. Kara reminded her she needed to be cuter and touch people. Paula thought she was old fashioned.
7:46 - Ju'Not Joyner follows...with The Plain White T's. Let's see if he can pull of a lullaby...and he does! Perfect example of a great song choice. Not what you would expect from him, but enough familiar elements that he can nail it.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Randy agrees with us. Kara agrees with us. Paula agrees with us (even though we're sober). And Simon agrees with us. Obviously, we should be a judge.
7:56 - Kristen McNamara recalls the drama from Hollywood week and takes the stage with...Tracy Chapman. She kind of looks like a "Cougar-in-training," but she's working the soul outta this song. Think it'll work in her favor.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Kara says she should rock out some more. Paula thought she showed range. Simon is puzzled and thinks she looks uncomfortable. Randy agrees.
ONE HOUR WRAP UP - We think they fall in this order s far...Ju'Not, Kristen, Von, Alex, Taylor, Ariana.
8:03 - Nathaniel Marshall is condensing a 13 minute Meat Loaf song and...it sounds like a rejected number from a little theater's production of Xanadu. Still...he's weird and can sing, so maybe America will vote his way.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Simon agrees with us. Randy agrees with us. Kara agrees with us. Paula is hammered and nonsensical. (Meanwhile Ryan Seacrest exploits Nathaniel's Grandmother and Nathanial gives Paula a lap dance...what is happening?)
8:10 - Ryan Seacrest is a tool.
8:16 - Felicia Barton will sing Alicia Keyes...let's see if she can do it better...and...DAMN! She nails it. And looks g-o-o-o-d in the process. Good to have her back.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Paula has a crush on her. Simon was...meh. Randy liked it. Kara thought she did good enough to move on.
8:21 - Scott MacIntyre (no relation to Joey) is gonna try to pull off Bruce Hornsby...and he does. Brilliantly. He totally captures the sweetness of this song and we got chills.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Randy generally likes it. Kara agrees. Paula is giddy. Simon wasn't crazy about the song choice, but admires him. (Scott makes a joke about high fiving that makes Seacrest look like a tool WHICH WE LOVE!)
8:31 - Kendall Beard from Lufkin is up next...singing Martina McBride. She's gotta have pipes for this and...it starts off great, but she can't work the high notes. She's adorable and is a great performer, though. Not bad, but not great.
JUDGES COMMETS - Kara pointed out the errors but digs her personality. Paula loves her outfit. Simon likes her, but not this performance. Randy didn't think her performance was bad...but not great.
8:42 - Jorge Nunez is coming up next...with Elton John. He sings well enough - no real pitch problems - but it's just a weird song for him to sing. Maybe it's his accent working against him? Overall, the whole thing is a bit boring. But solid. But boring. But solid.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Paula is really drunk. Simon is cool with the accent. Randy is cool with it. Kara thinks he's born to sing.
8:52 - Lil Rounds (no relation to Wayne or Jeezy) is coming up next. She's singing Mary J...and it seems like Idol saved the best for last. While Mary J is a safe choice for her, she works it, looks great, and sounds perfect.
JUDGES COMMENTS - Simon says, "Brilliant." Randy loves her swagga'...dawg. Kara thinks she's a power house. Paula says she's first class.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Meet Group 3 - Part 1
Kendall Beard
Kendall is a Lufkin, Texas native who attends school in Austin, has lived in Los Angeles, may currently live in Nashville (that's a rumor we've yet to confirm), auditioned in Puerto Rico and has parents from Louisiana. (Whew!) With her Carrie Underwood-esque voice, first impressions of her led us to believe she was a shy, quiet Southern belle with a good voice. But apparently Kendall is a little more popular than we thought. She's previously released a self-produced album, and her hometown newspaper says her dad is good friends with Britney Spears' dad.
Alex Wagner-Trugman
This one intrigues us. Much like Nick/Norman, we can't help but watch him and argue with ourselves over whether or not we really like him. He's the 19-year old student from California who, during his audition, admitted he taught himself to sing in his closet, which turned out to be full of mold and made him sick. He's a brainiac with eyes that take up half of his head and we l-o-v-e to watch the strange facial expressions he makes when he sings. While he has a pretty good voice, we don't expect him to make it past next week. But we'll miss him. Seriously, take this one to YouTube. You won't be disappointed.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Lufkin girl also in Top 36
We've spent so much time rooting for Michael that we've forgotten another local(ish) contestant ... so for all you country music and Longhorn fans ...
From Kendall's MySpace page
Kendall Beard, 23, grew up in Lufkin and now resides in Austin. Kendall grew up singing across Texas, like in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Johnny High Country Music Review. “My parents would pick me up from school and we would travel all weekend to different county fairs and country oprys and we would return just in time to be back at school Monday morning.” Kendall attended UT in Austin (go Longhorns!) where she graduated with a B.A in Communication Studies. “I never lost my passion for music; I always said that if singing was the path I was meant to walk, the opportunity would present itself when the time was right.” Last year, Kendall released a self-title album.
Kendall, sometimes referred to in previous blogs as the girl who Kara tore apart for wearing all black (she showed up in all yellow last night), began her American Idol journey in San Juan and advanced to the Top 36 last night.
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