American Idol (season 5) Video
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| Female semi-finalists : |
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Ayla Marie Brown (born July 28, 1988) is from Wrentham, Massachusetts and is six feet tall. She attended high school at Noble and Greenough School and was a star basketball player. In 11th grade, she was the 4th woman to have ever scored 1000 points at Noble and Greenough School. During her junior year, she became only the 20th female to have ever scored 2000 points in a career at the high school stage. Her father, Scott Brown, was then-State Senator from Massachusetts, and her mother, Gail Huff, is a local television personality at WCVB-TV. She also has a sister, Arianna Brown. She had a college basketball scholarship at Boston College. She originally auditioned in Boston, singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." After being voted off American Idol on March 9, 2006, she has continued to tour throughout the New England area, and released with singles "Know You Better" and "I Quit" in September followed the album "Forward" in October. She performed the National Anthem at the 2006 Boston Pops July 4 concert. |
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Shontai Kinnik Sky Marshall (born May 13, 1977) is from Duluth, Georgia. She auditioned in Greensboro. She was grouped with Nicole Turk, Celeste Scalone and Tyra Schwartz during the group rounds. |
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Heather Richelle Cox (born November 16, 1983) is from Jonesville, North Carolina. She auditioned in Denver. Grouped with Halicia Thompson and Kellie Pickler during Hollywood group performances. |
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Brenna Mema Gethers (born October 7, 1980) is from Mount Vernon, New York. She auditioned in Boston, and was known for her "catty" attitude. She's now the lead singer for Bomb Squad, a funk-rock band that won an American Music Award for Best New Music in 2003. |
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Stephanie "Stevie" Marie Scott (born May 22, 1986 in Fair Oaks, California). She auditioned in Denver. She sang "Emotions" with Hannah Freeman and Paris Bennett during their group performance in Hollywood. She was eliminated on February 23, 2006 along with Becky O'Donohue, Bobby Bennett, and Patrick Hall. She made a cameo appearance on the Top 6 performance show of American Idol on April 25, 2006. |
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Rebecca "Becky" Clarise O'Donohue is from Dobbs Ferry, New York. Her original audition was in Boston with her twin sister (who didn't sing due to recent throat surgery). Simon Cowell praised her looks, but said no to her voice. She was let through to Hollywood by Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. |
| Male semi-finalists : |
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Gedeon Luke McKinney (born October 1, 1988) was from Memphis, Tennessee. He intended to audition in Memphis, but the auditions there were canceled due to the city's role in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. He raised funds to travel to the Chicago auditions by putting on a benefit concert. His elimination was a surprise to many, including Simon Cowell, who had criticized him previously. McKinney's father, Tony McKinney, also a performing artist, died in December 2005 before the show aired. |
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William John "Will" Makar (born March 2, 1989 in The Woodlands, Texas) is of Ukrainian/English descent. Will attended high school at The Woodlands College Park High School. In high school, Will starred in several musical productions, including The Woodlands College Park High School Musical in January 2006, the performance of which began the day after the airing of the his American Idol audition and was covered by local media. He has also performed for Presidents Clinton and Bush and with singer Celine Dion as part of the Houston Children's Chorus. He has performed the National Anthem at many sporting events and was also a member of the band Last Born. During the Hollywood rounds, he performed Fly Me to the Moon with David Radford and Kevin Covais. Will was signed to Double Deal Brand Records, which also signed fellow top 16 semi-finalist Ayla Brown, and released his debut single titled "I Won't Make It Out" on iTunes on Friday, April 27, 2007. Will began attending Berklee College of Music in 2009. His band is Will Makar and The Red Line. In February 2010, he joined the a cappella group at the college called Pitch Slapped and won an award for his performance of "Got to Get You into My Life" International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. |
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José "Sway" Penala (born January 23, 1978) is from South San Francisco, where he also had his audition for the show. He was the only Asian-American who made it to the semi-finals that season. He's performed with such groups as DnH and 6th Day. When he competed, on stage, Penala often wore a Fedora hat and coat and military dog tags. He developed friendships with Elliott Yamin, Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry during the season. Elliott was also his Hollywood Week group mate and later his roommate. Penala now sings back-up vocals in Yamin's band, and has toured with them on several occasions. |
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David William Radford (born March 22, 1988 in Crystal Lake, Illinois) is a high school senior at Crystal Lake Central High School. In addition to singing, David plays the trumpet. He originally auditioned in Chicago. |
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Patrick Aaron Hall (born September 24, 1977 is from Gravette, Arkansas and was seen for the first time in Hollywood. During the Hollywood rounds, Simon Cowell called him 'very likeable', and compared him to Clay Aiken. He received many positive comments during these rounds. To separate himself from the Clay Aiken comparison, however, he chose to perform Come to My Window on the first week of the Top 24. He was eliminated that week. |
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Bobby Bennett, Jr. born (June 4, 1986) is from Denver and also auditioned there. He is most known for his rousing rendition of the Manilow classic "Copacabana" and was named the "showman" of the semifinalists. He also made an appearance in the March 21 episode on which Barry Manilow performed. He has gone on to perform in night clubs and most notably at "lannies Clock Tower Cabaret" in Denver and has sold out four consecutive times. He also does charity work for the organization "Denver Kids Inc" and mentors young children and adults. He was the headlining performer at the Denver Rotary Club Branch Rickey Awards in 2007. He now resides in Hollywood California and plans to perform his successful night club act in the area. |
| Male semi-finalists : |
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| Paris Ana'is Bennett is the granddaughter of Grammy Award winner Ann Nesby, and sang "Cowboy Take Me Away" by The Dixie Chicks at her original audition in Greensboro. She is from Fayetteville, Georgia. Her mother and grandmother are apart of the Grammy-winning group, Sounds of Blackness. |
| Kellie Dawn Pickler is from Albemarle, North Carolina. She was profiled as a roller-skating waitress. Her mother left when she was two and her father has had numerous legal problems; he is now free. Pickler lived with her grandfather and originally auditioned in Greensboro. She was never in the bottom three until she was eliminated. |
| Brett Asa "Ace" Young (who goes by his middle name) is from Denver, and he auditioned there as well. At that time, Randy Jackson called him one of the best he'd seen so far this season. After he sang "Father Figure", Simon Cowell said that Young had the 'X-Factor' (a reference to another RTL talent show, in the UK). Young had been singing since age nine and had voice lessons. |
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| Mandisa (born Mandisa Lynn Hundley) is from Antioch, Tennessee. She had a successful original audition in Chicago, after which Simon Cowell made jokes about her size. He later apologized after being confronted by Miss Hundley. Like Pickler, she was never in the bottom 3 until her elimination. |
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