Dallas Auditions!..WHOA!

WHOO HOO DALLAS! YA'LL!!! So I am a cowboys fan, and was kinda excited auditions where in Dallas, TX but....OMG!!!!...Really people...I want to hear some TALENT...ok don't get me wrong, the funny stuff is funny, the bad stuff is irritating, and the good stuff is well...just good...my favorite for the night was Dave Pittman....I mean honestly, his tone was spot on, so smooth, but one to many runs at the end of every phrase starts to be a little overwhelming, but a great story of overcoming! On a side note...I love Neil Patrick Harris...he is the only other person that could play Mr. Shoester (spelling?) on Glee!
Ok so if at first you don't succeed (Julie Kevilighan) don't try and try again, if you can't sing!...I love how Ryan says yes I remember you when you know he only remembers her from the 30 seconds before when the producers showed him her tape from season 1...oh gosh...I love reality TV..seriously...and by the way...Ryan is super nice....ok wait moving on to the silliness! Dexter Ward...I really don't even know what to say I mean...it was bad and the over confidence is really the only thing that got him air time. So what about the girls....Kimberly Carver, the "jazzy" girl, who brought on the Neil vs. Simon feud, was really good...I kinda agree with Simon that she may not be current, but what about the modern jazzy records out right now...I think she is pretty good, but kinda understand what Simon was saying.
It looked like quite a few girls made it thru including Dawntoya Thomason, Stephanie Daulong, and Meagan Wright who had her kid brother with her! I thought that Meagan came across a little nervous but you are sitting in front of Simon and a Jonas!...she has some potential though...want to hear more!
We didn't get to see too much of my boy MICHAEL CASTRO whom I love, however we did get to see quite a bit of Lloyd "sexy" Thomas...love the family men in this season...his little girls are cute and he can SANG he just needs to open his eyes and relax a bit...good luck Lloyd!
OK WOW...really to what level have we stooped when we have "BARNEY GONE WILD" on American Idol...WTH!....I guess people will do what they feel is necessary but at what expense...Erica Rhodes, our resident "Barney Dominatrix" was a little creepy honestly...I mean she could sing good, but will we remember her for that? No.and her mom was more excited than she was! Kinda funny!
Todrick Hall..LOVE LOVE LOVE....loved his song, that is the way to stick out!...and his voice was GREAT!...hope to hear more of him!
The night ended with the good and the not so good....Vanessa Johnston left nightmares for Simon, .but the laughing at the end proved that she knows she is bad...I am sure she had fun! Then finally we have Chrisitan Spear a cancer survivor....she is a super cute girl, wasn't that blown away by her voice though, but she is 16 and can still get better!!...we shall see!

OK Denver better be good next week!!!!....I honestly can't wait to get onto Hollywood and onto the LIVE SHOW!...bring on the TALENT!

AI Auditions LA!!!!

So I haven't seen LA, since I was booted from the show, the second time....I can't wait to get back, but what an interesting city....I mean really, what other city could bring such a, how do I say this, extremely diverse group of people. Self proclaimed "big geek" Neil Goldstein started the night off with an amazing vibrato infused Meatloaf song, accompanied by hope for an album entitled "HOPE" (original) and then quotes "there is no reality but what we make for ourselves," as the security comes out of the woodwork!. WOW...what a start...but then I think all of the aspiring actors came out for their 30 seconds of fame Jim Ranger, Jayson Wilson, Jesse Chang, and Marin Perez....bad singing....BAD acting!....but I am sure we will see them on some random episode of LAW and Order!. BAHAHA!

Finally were blessed to hear the vocals of a worship pastor who could actually pull it off!...Kinda funny that they made a big deal about him being a worship leader when there were SOOO Many of us on Season 8...Avril Levign started to get annoying with him implying that he wouldn't leave the worship leading gig to travel the world and be the next American Idol!...hello...Kris Allen, Felicia Barton (wait that's me), Danny Gokey....anyways....he did an original and rocked it!!!!

On a side note....Damien Lefavor...if you have been trying to hit a note for years and still can't sing it...then don't!...maybe you should just stick to the martial arts..but then again..well, I will let a professional martial artist give you comments in that area!

Then we had our resident "Rocker mom" now don't get me wrong...I am all about the mommas trying to make it! I mean hey let's give it up for the mom's in season 8 me, lil, megan joy, and Alexis grace.....Mary Powers, mommy of a Simon adoring 8 year old was pretty cool with a nice raspy sound, but I just hope she found a little more originality for Hollywood week...I agreed with Simon that she was a tad cliche'.

If you decide to audition for Idol in future...DO NOT BE A NAME DROPPER!..and DO NOT TRY TO BE ADAM LAMBERT....you see Adam is a one and only...pretty original, and now AJ Mendoza you will be forever compared if you try (but do not succeed) to sing like him.
The auditioners continued to fall with Austin Fullmer wearing a "Where's Waldo" pleather shirt and doing some sort of leg clapping but with hopes from his friend at the end "don't be surprised if Katy calls you later" Poor deceived people!

Ok so my favorite of the night and probably favorite of the season honestly....Andrew Garcia!!!!!!!!! can I just talk about how genuine he came across...AMAZING STORY!..AMAZING VOICE!...kinda in a weird way reminds me of Israel Houghton (christian singer) and Danny Gokey (I know you know who he is HA!) anyways we will be talking about him a lot this season..if not well then I need to have a conversation with these producers...oh wait I was given the boot too...that conversation didn't work...haha....Glad he is getting a chance though...really like him!

And of course fav girl of the night Tasha Lynton!!!!!...love her too!...again with the complete genuineness!..cool voice...good song choice and evidently is a friend of @sharonwilbur
Chris Golightly was good, a little over dramatic with his movements, but at the end of the day had a good natural talent...but our night would not have been complete without the scary magic believing overly sexual Jason Green...PS...have I mentioned how much I love the security!!!! Big Guy Aaron is AWESOME!

So my recap....Katy Perry should have done both days, Avril didn't have much good to say, and I have to get up 4 am to sing on WTKR channel 3 so I NEED TO GO TO BED!!!! please follow me tomorrow night! www.twitter.com/feliciabarton www.facebook.com/feliciabarton www.followingfelicia.blogspot.com and my idol blogs on www.ainow.org

SEE YA!

American Idol Ep. 3 Chicago...could have done without.

Shoulda' skipped chicago!....as they chanted "Yes We Can" at the end of the show, all I was thinking was "No You Didn't"
as my fellow tweeting commentator @thepopmatrix so eloquently stated at the end of the evening "a couple standouts, but for the most part 2nites AI was...YAWN!!! The Windy City kinda BLEW!!! :)"
Kately Epperly started the evening with some poof in her hair (cool look) a story of a broken home (making producers very happy, but unfortunate) but a cool voice (not necessary for AI HA!) She really was pretty good though!.....The evening continued with my vote for the next Glee cast member...but wait she can't sing.....but the "musical boobs" of our dear Amy Lane were, well....Boobalicious!..ha...maybe she can take up boob boxing like Kara said?!
I think my favorite voice of the evening came from Charity Vance (cool name)....I totally agreed with Simon when he said your voice would sound great recorded!...and she is only 16...she will make a cool record one day!..mark my words people!..I will buy it!
And of course the montage of acordian lady, tight shorts boy, the bride, bloody eyes man, Carlton wannabee, and the random high pitch singer, to name a few, only really wet my appetite, since I was hoping they would top Pant on the Ground!
For the third season in a row, my former roomy!, Angela Martin made it thru to Hollywood with a killer story, that unfortunately just grows every year...the girl deserves a break, I would love to see her make it through Hollywood!
I don't know about you, but as a mom, I promise to never lie to my child if he decides to go audition for something that he is NOT good at....I mean really....I think I need to start a mom group....M.T.L.T.T.K.A B.V.T. Mom's that lie to their kids about being vocally talented! There are plenty of you A.I mommas that need to join!!!
The few "not-so-funny" moments, continued with Curly Newbern who according to Simon thinks animals may show up at his door when he sings at his house and Alannah Halbert, who could be in a duet of hight pitch singing, but that sweet girl...I mean, if you can't sing the note the judges are asking you to sing, that is a really big clue you shouldn't be singing. Brian Krause was just kinda creepy, Harold Davis, just wanted to eat steak and cry fake tears!.....FINALLY, here he comes to save the show!!! John Park, redeems my evening by actually singing and with his great look (Shania? awkward..but I love her!). I mean she really said he had a beautiful bottom end, which singers understand, but continued to talk about his nice lips and head and well...poor thing she must of been a little nervous or something. Paige Dechausse was actually pretty good, but I completely agreed with the judges when they said she seemed nervous and would do better, I hope they show her in Hollywood, because I bet she will be pretty good...I guess we will see! The night ended with the "hurry up and show a few more people that made it thru in 20 seconds!" montage of Justin Ray, Keith Semple (who I kinda liked) and Marcus Jones....ok so tomorrow better be GREAT! not to mention I'm flying to Austin and will be watching with fellow season 8 contestant KENDALL BEARD!!!! her and I became good friends last season on the show and I cannot wait to see her!!!! Till tomorrow night at 8pm eastern time, and with hopes of a more thrilling Idol Audition evening...I bid you farewell!

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what to do about death

So on New Year's Eve an old friend of mine who had some drug issues partied a little too hard and went into cardiac arrest, after an emotional ride of almost 2 weeks, for her family, thinking she would make it then knowing she wouldn't....she passed. What do you do when someone that is your age, has a kid the same age as yours, went to the same schools as you, performed in the same musicals as you, competed in the same pageants as you, goes away, leaving only a memory and a beautiful 3 year old little girl, that looks just like her and that she LOVED and cared for dearly! Well, after the anger subsides, and the God questions arise...you ask yourself what could I have done. So my point to this blog is this....today is her funeral, I have been given the honor of singing, but more than that I feel like I need to do something in her honor...something to help make a difference so that this little angel of hers knows that her mommies journey saved the lives of many others, I think this is a part of my grieving...what can I do....so here it is..if you or someone you know is dealing with real addictions then GET HELP!...In the last year of my life, I have seen drugs mess with one to many families, and the death of my friend was the straw that broke the camels back, for me. Last summer a good friend of mine relapsed and ended up sweating it out on my couch only to disappear for another month and then when she was ready she came back and has now been clean for quite some time, a family member of mine decided he wanted to try it out and experimented with way too much and ended up stinky and homeless, then finally after a few butt kickings I am hoping (you know who you are) he will get his life back on track....ya know at the bottom of it I think those of you that get stuck in these positions feel like you are stuck in life, like you got a crappy hand dealt to you and so now you are covering it up with the one thing that makes you forget about it for a moment....the thing is...you can get help, you can be successful, and you can stop being selfish and remember that with humility you can realize that there is a better life, YOU CAN BE AND DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU WANT TO DO....you may think that sounds cheesy, but you obviously forgot that anything is possible for you....it may be a rough road to recovery, but once you are there....IT IS SO MUCH BETTER!...I have never done drugs, but I have seen it hurt one to many people...If this is you please tell someone that you need help...go to a local church, hospital, neighbor, family member, or even just comment on this post and I will get information to you about how you can find Freedom!!!....thanks for listening.

American Idol Ep. 2 ATLANTA AUDITIONS....good times.

ALTANTA AUDITIONS!!!...A.T.L where ya at!!!...so last night, Boston, wasn’t exactly the most “exciting evening of entertainment,” but tonight changed my life BAHAHAHAHA!!!....no seriously, the craziness continued with Diwone Robinson and his original song “Lady we’re not together anymore.” Note to all aspiring songwriters....never title a song this, if a song comes out sounding like this, then maybe singing it on national television isn’t the best idea ever....in fact for all of you gearing up to audition for season 10...just don’t do an original...not the best idea. On a side note..I miss Paula, but the drama and silly comments have continued thanks to the the little elves...and Mary J did a great job...I loved her facial expressions the crying laughter and the honesty. Keia, the former Miss America contestant that won “Miss Congealiality” in Mary J’s words has a good voice, but needs a little more control...her “runs” where full of nerves. A few other “Hollywood ticket winners” were Miriam Lemnouni who had a cool raspy sound, Noel Reese, Tisha Holland, who I personally thought was better then Keia, and Jermaine Sellers. Can we just stop for a second and talk about that rendition of “What if God was one of us”...reminded me of “Hey There Delilah” last year by Jamar Rogers and Ju’Not...different, but he has a GREAT VOICE with KILLER runs...so much control!
Ok, so we all know that these early auditions are mostly for entertainment, so let’s get back to the interesting auditions we will remember for the rest of the night, ha, but forget tomorrow....Cristina (I don’t know your last name) sang “ Love is a Battlefield”...she was the TV host and producer of an Atlanta show...hmmm...she kinda seemed like she was a TV host for a Disney or nick show...way to peppy...but loved that she said “I am going to do me, and this is me”......so do you girl...just unfortunately not going to work out for Idol.
Then there was the tear jerker of the evening with Vanessa Wolfe...I have no idea what she sang, but country was her thing...but beyond the sound, I loved her for her...that heart spilled out and I love when a “girl next door,” kinda girl gets a chance....wait kinda like me!...hehe anybody wanna go bridge jumping!!! Kudos to the producers for the “Cheap Dramatization” during Jason Hamilton’s audition...LOL....he is the cat with 9 lives, but didn’t get the Simon quote of the night “you sound like a Cat Barking” like poor Lathan Davenport did! Holly Harden.....lesson on things not to say when in front of 30 million viewers....you can strum my guitar or tune my guitar, while wearing a guitar costume!
Favorite girl of the night (singing that is) was Mallorie Haley. She sang “A piece of my heart”...LOVE HER...best country singer of the night! And to cap off the night with a few moments to remember....sour peaches are the worst...Skii bo ski should not have made it to Hollywood....so enjoy your free trip!....don’t go in to an audition with your BFF....(crossing fingers) hope your friendship makes it thru this!....Do Not reject the criticism of the judges it makes you look foolish, but for our sake, go right ahead, it is good entertainment!
Now in closing my 2 favorite men of the evening...Brian Walker the police officer...shocking voice...so controlled...he will make it to the top 24 or 36 or 489 whatever they decide to do...and I will never forget General Larry Platt and his song, that he should have copyrighted before singing on nat’l television...it was obviously my son Malachi’s favorite audition of the night and the one he immediately began singing!!! Click here for proof http://bbltwt.com/smp43 Thanks again for following me tonight and be sure to keep in touch at www.twitter.com/feliciabarton www.facebook.com/feliciabarton and on my NEW BLOG followingfelicia.blogspot.com

Felicia Barton

America Idol Ep. 1 Boston Auditions! WHOA!

Can you believe Season 9 just started...it feels like it was only a few months ago, when I was having Idol viewing parties at my house, getting ready to get the news that I was back on the show ...and in the TOP 36 of season 8...Watching tonight’s show is kinda weird and nostalgic all at the same time...I mean, the lines, the waiting, the nerves. What we saw tonight, I know all to well! So, enough about me and season 8 let's talk about the craziness that we just experienced!!!!
So....here are my highlights the good the bad and the absolutely crazy from the Boston auditions!!!
First of all, can we just talk about the opening "Pocket Full of Sunshine" it was crazy, scary, exciting not very sunshiney...well maybe?...moving on to the absolutely amazing side of things...Jess Wolfe's version of Ding Dong the Witch is dead was AMAZING...favorite girl of the night honestly!....that audition was original and I loved her voice. I love how the producers always put together random montages of crying people, terrible singers, and missing lyrics....the crying is so unfortunate...I mean I remember seeing poor little young girls and boys think they are the stuff, followed by a rude awakening that they can't sing worth pooo.....THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: WARNING TO ALL PARENTS...DO NOT LEAD YOUR CHILDREN TO BELIEVE THEY ARE GREAT SINGERS WHEN THEY ARE NOT...this will only lead to a false sense of talent (anime girl) thus causing you years of insecurity and heartache.
Amadeo the Italian guy needs to send me an invite to dinner because that food looked amazing!...ok on to the singing...it was ok...not the best ever, but it will be interesting to hear him try a ballad since he just pushed out so much sound! Luke Shaffer...super cute and current, Benjamin Bright ....gonna have the girls swooning!
Andrew Fenlon needs a blog all to himself because WHOA!!...the arrogance was a hilarious turn off and Kara's responses were a little personal but funny---"I am now angry with you who I don't like." But can he sing?...we couldn't tell because the size of your head clouded the sound!...lesson learned....pride comes before the fall!
Tyler's let's get it on...loved it....I hope he really pulls his look together because he could be fun for TV, and actually had a good voice! My favorite Simon quote of the evening was "absolute unequivocal no" I need to say that more often....I am learning to be more direct! So I totally agreed with Simon regarding the "kinda-country guy"...Joshua Blaylock he did sound a little on the "14 side" and needs more confidence...so let's get back to the craziness...the kid that sang "All By Myself" I don't think I need say more that was just silliness...I could not understand a word he said! I knew I recognized Justin Williams from last year, he was in Hollywood with myself and the other season 8ers he has a GREAT story and a GREAT voice...for a split second I questioned why he didn't make it thru further in season 8 and then I quickly remembered that I was watching American Idol! HA!...how could I forget! He was however, my favorite guy of the evening! and maybe even my favorite overall for Boston! The evening capped off pretty good with a nice version of "Blue Skies" by Leah, it was good, but I would have rather ended the evening with Norberto Guerrero the "Halloween Michael Jackson costume gone bad" his hair will forever remain engrained in my memory!...Thanks to everyone who followed me on Twitter, FB and www.followingfelicia.blogspot.com See ya tomorrow night!

Felicia Barton

HEY!...so I have had internet Hell at my house for the last few days and within 15 min. I just learned how to unplug and plug some sort of router thingy behind my tv and I AM ALIVE!!!!! SO, please tell everyone that this is a HUGE WEEK for Following Felicia....there will be immediate blog posts about Idol, beginning tonight, also follow me on Twitter for live tweets throughout the show!...see ya there!

Everyone needs a Wii

So, in my opinion.....everyone needs a wii....instead of family counseling...just play sword play on "sports resort"......instead of the gym...you have wii fit....during the winter Tiger Woods Golf gives the golf guru an outlet for his obsession, and Pixar Cars teaches a 2 year old to drive early!...I mean really...could we ask for much more in a little white box....best Christmas gift of 2009!

The People's Choice Awards...

so I was shockingly surprised that there was no "Drama" at the awards show last night...hehe..you really never know what you are going to get when you watch an awards show these days!...Here are a few of my shocking moments....1. Carrie Underwood beating Taylor Swift....this was a pleasantly surprised moment for me...Taylor's fans usually win awards like this for her, so it was nice to see another country artist win out!...2. when Mariah Carey said "God Bless You" my little boy Malachi turned around and said to me "Mommy, she said God Bless You like Michael Jackson" HA!...House is just one of those shows that I absolutely LOVE!...Hugh Laurie is so flipping hilarious and his acceptance speech proved it....ok, well now I just heard George Lopez and I could have done without his little talk...but whatever!....his Speed 2 comment was funny!....on a side note...Sandra Bullock is my FAV actress.....Nicole Scherzinger sounded unfortunately pitchy...it wasn't her best...and then of course my cable stopped recording with 25 min left...so somebody fill me in as to what happened during the last part of the show!

Here is my recap...I need a FLIP CAM!!!!!

THE BIGGEST LOSER! ep. 1

OK....so for the first time ever I didn't eat ice cream during last nights episode!!...instead I chose almonds...kinda funny, but I did while I watched my husband down a bowl of ice cream covered in magic shell and cherries(my fav)....anyways on to the show!....Like every season I cannot watch the show without the occasional drip from the eyeball!...I mean really people are changing their lives...however, after being on reality TV, I know there are so many created moments...I kinda wish I could turn that off sometimes and just enjoy it....I am waiting for a crazy Tracy like last season...I mean we need a little bit of drama in out TV lives!...Anybody have a pick for the top yet?...I am personally lovin the Italian!

What this is all about!

Hey everybody...so here is my new blog!...I am really excited about sharing my journey with you all.....If you are new to Following Felicia, let me tell you a little bit about myself....I was a part of the top 36 of Season 8 on American Idol...it was a dream to be on the show...it became reality, and my continued obsession of reality tv is not over!...hehe...I'm really exctied to post on all things reality....not just my life, American Idol, and few other fun things, but I really love watching reality TV like so many of you....so I figured I would start this blog to share my opinions hear your opinions and see what happens!....Please tell everyone you know to come and subscribe to my new blog I am SOOOO excited about this!...PS...I like to say that I am a mom, chasing a dream, hoping to win a grammy one day!...Anybody want to come along for the ride?