American Idol 8 Top 36: Meet Group 2's Singers
Profiles on the Second 12 Performers to Sing for America's Votes
Feb 18, 2009
American Idol 8 held its first voting results show on February 18. After the 12 singers from group 1 performed, America voted for Alexis Grace, Michael Sarver, and Danny Gokey to be the first three competitors in the top 12. Next week, the next group of 12 will perform. On Wednesday, February 25, the top male vote-getter, the top female vote-getter, and the next highest vote-getter, either male or female, will move on and join Grace, Sarver, and Gokey in the top 12 finalists. The second group of singers who will be performing for America's votes next week are:
Top 36 - Group 2
Kris Allen: Kris is 23 years old and auditioned in Louisville, although he didn't really come to the attention of viewers until his Hollywood group performance. He's originally from Arkansas and has a Myspace, although the music has been removed while he's competing. A YouTube search will turn up a video of him performing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Matt Breitzke: The 27 year old welder is from Oklahoma and auditioned in Kansas City. He tried out for the show after his wife encouraged him to.
Megan Corkrey: Megan is from Utah and auditioned in Salt Lake City. The 23 year old is a divorced mother and was a favorite of Simon Cowell's after her audition.
Matt Giraud: Simon Cowell compared the 23 year old's voice to season 5 third place finisher Elliott Yamin. Matt, a dueling piano player, auditioned in Louisville and is originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Mishavonna Henson: Mishavonna made it to the Hollywood round in season 7. She was cut but she returned for season 8, auditioning in Phoenix. Examples of the 18 year old California native's music can be found on YouTube.
Allison Iraheta: Allison is only 16 years old but has a lot of experience in the entertainment industry already. Among other credits, in 2006 she competed on a Telemundo reality show. The Los Angeles native auditioned in San Franciso.
Kai Kalama: Kai is 27 years old and auditioned in San Francisco, where he told the judges how he cares for his ill mother. He's previously performed in a band called Off-White. Their music can be heard on MySpace.
Adam Lambert: The 27 year old musical theater veteran has performed in Wicked on Broadway, among other credits. He auditioned in San Francisco and is from Hollywood. Videos of his theater and original music performances can be found on YouTube.
Jesse Langseth: Jesse is the sister of blues singer and guitarist Jonny Lang. She hails from Minneapolis and auditioned in Kansas City. She is 25 years old.
Nick Mitchell: Nick and his alter-ego "Norman Gentle" auditioned in New York City. The 27 year old comedian is from Connecticut and made it into the top 36 over the objections of Simon. He has a MySpace for each of his personalities.
Jasmine Murray: Jasmine is a 16 year old teen beauty queen from Mississippi. She auditioned in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jeanine Vailes: Jeanine, 28, is from California and auditioned in San Francisco. She's going to have a tough battle on Tuesday night, because viewers did not get to see her audition or any footage of her in the Hollywood round.
Predictions
Early favorites going into the group 2 performances are Adam Lambert, Matt Giraud, and Jasmine Murray. Much like Tatiana Del Toro, Nick Mitchell may be too polarizing to move on, although he's likely to be the pick for the Vote For The Worst crowd. Unless they knock out amazing performances, Jeanine Vailes, Kris Allen, Jesse Langseth, and Mishavonna Henson could find it difficult to move on because of their lack of screentime.
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