'American Idol' judges agree: Dallas has charm

dallasnews.com

They find stereotypes, talent and nice folks

09:12 AM CST on Thursday, January 17, 2008
By DARLA ATLAS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
darlajatlas@yahoo.com

By now we know the rules: When a TV show films in Dallas, it must show scenes of Southfork.

That, and longhorn cattle, the state flag and more cattle, all of which should be set to banjo picking. The bases were covered on Wednesday night's American Idol, which highlighted last August's auditions at Texas Stadium. But for fun, the producers also gave us shots of freeway and the Alamo.

But none of that is as important as the real issue: How did we come across as a people? The overwhelming verdict: Nice. Very nice.

Even the disastrous singers were so polite that the temperamental judges were left saying, many times over, "I like you." (The only disturbing person in the bunch was 27-year-old Douglas Davidson of Austin, who peppered his singing with much panting, pacing and sweating. Hey, just doing his part to keep Austin weird.)

Niceness was so much the rage that one contestant seemed to win a golden ticket solely on personality alone. Kayla Hatfield, 24, of Campbell, Texas, survived a car accident that left her without one eye and with a disfigured face.

A week later I woke up, and I looked at the other part and said, 'Wow, I can still see!' " she exclaimed in her montage. "I've got one good eye. I don't have patches over both eyes!"

After her tryout, in which she attempted a wobbly version of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," judge Simon Cowell said he wanted to be her for an hour a day. "You're so happy, aren't you?"

Yes, she said, jumping. So he gave her a yes vote, "under the assumption that most rock 'n' roll singers should be slightly mad, in a good way."

Among the others receiving the judges' love were Jessica Brown, a stay-at-home mom from Longview who kicked a meth habit; 16-year-old Alaina Whitaker of Tulsa, Okla., a dead ringer for Carrie Underwood; 18-year-old Kady Malloy of Houston, a vocal dead ringer for Britney Spears (but with such a powerful style of her own that Mr. Cowell proclaimed her "the best so far"); adorable farm boy Drew Poppelreiter of Saltillo, Miss.; and Nina Shaw, who had the luck to hail from Burleson, hometown of season one winner Kelly Clarkson.

That surely helped her cause, as much was made in the episode of finding the Texas successor to the original Idol. We even got to see a vintage clip of Ms. Clarkson's first tryout, as she emerged, makeup-free and beaming, from the audition room (which appeared to be in an antique schoolhouse).

That's changed – this year the judges hung out at the posh W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences – but is our region still growing Idol-worthy talent? You be the judge: 24 out of the approximately 13,000 contestants braving the August heat and humiliation made it through to the next round.

Most, alas, were more like Paul Stafford, 25, of Crosby, Texas. A park attendant and roller coaster enthusiast, he tried singing "Wait for You," by Idol alum Elliot Yamin. Sure, the judges giggled at the effort, but one thing was certain.

"You're a very nice guy, Paul," Mr. Cowell said. "What a nice guy."

"Nice guy, man. Good dude," Randy Jackson said.

Paula Abdul then summed up the night's theme with a simple, "Aww."