Meet Your Top 12, Tri-State...UPDATED

The 12 finalists for “Tri-State Idol” have been announced and are now waiting for your votes…

Here they are in the reverse order that they appeared on the Paramount stage, along with my comments at the time:

Lisa Castle, 36, who did “Because of You”
She does a nice job of milking all the drama out of it.

Ashley Chapman, 24, who did “More Like Her”
Her fan club likes it. Again, another one I don’t know, but again another great choice. And she’s dressed perfectly for the occasion.

Rachel Coleman, 23, who did “Gimme One Reason.”
She turns it into a slow ballad. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it like that before. It was pretty and I don’t think I’ve ever used that word to describe that song before.

Bobby Blanton, 29, who did “Barbed Wire and Roses”
He gets the audience into it immediately. I think he’s the first one to really do that tonight. And they really liked it. He’s going to get major points for entertainment. The ladies really liked him too.

Seth Sammons, 30, who did “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”
He’s doing the ballad version. And I love how he’s combining the preppy sweater vest with the ripped jeans. It’s so Blake Lewis. Pretty falsetto too.

Isaac Adams, 32, who did “Bless My Soul.”
And he just took us to church with that one. That was VERY pretty. And that was the first wow from Cindy.

Cory Helmick, 22, who did “Who I’d Be”
Get this guy a part in some musical. He’s got the look, the sound, the works. Randy says he’s wondering where the other two Irish tenors were.

By the way, I found out after the show that Cory is a veteran of the stage and will be participating in some productions this summer…

Raeanna Grizzle who did “I Will Always Love You”
I was wondering where the Whitney was tonight. For the record, she hit every one of the notes and was rewarded for it by the crowd. Randy says a “healthy Whitney Houston would have been proud.”

Rayanne Lynn Bond who sang “Stay”
That is not an easy song to do, but she does it beautifully and gets a big ovation.

Morgan Ra’Shel McGlone who did “So Small”
Her cheering section is in the front row just behind me. She has got a power country voice. And she gets the biggest ovation so far. Randy says, “Wow.”

Maddison Taylor, 12, who did “Beat It”
Okay, I’m trying to stay impartial here. But that was pretty cool. She actually turned into a song with actual singing. But her woos were right on too.

I’m just glad she made the final cut just so you can hear this. I didn’t really do a very good job of explaining it…

Gracie Thompson, 8, who did “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
You can tell she’s a pro because she takes the microphone out of the stand and pounds on it to make sure it’s on. If I was judging, I would give her a solid score in song choice, because this is a good one for her voice.

And there they are, Tri-State. Your Top 12. As I said earlier, I think the judges did a good job of choosing among some extremely talented competitors. One of my favorites didn’t make the cut (If you go back and read my blog, you’ll know who.), but since most of them did, I’m happy. I’m just glad I wasn’t one of the judges, because it would have been hard to narrow this one down.

Now, it’s up to you. You can view the videos of the Top 12 here. Then vote for your favorite by sending an e-mail to paramountvotes@gmail.com. You can vote until midnight Saturday, but only one vote per e-mail address. Those votes will be combined with the judges’ scores to determine the winner, who will be notified on Sunday. I’ll be posting the winner’s name just as soon as I get Sunday night.

Good luck and congratulations to the Top 12…

UPDATE: So to keep the age categories evenly numbered, the Paramount has decided to add three more finalists to the “Tri-State Idol” competition, making it a Top 15, instead of a Top 12.

The three new additions are all under the age of 12 and adorable. Here they are, with my original comments from last night…

Selina Foe, 4, who did “Bleeding Love.”
It’s adorable. I hope her parents will forgive me for saying she’s going to be a heartbreaker—and Dinah just agreed with me. Randy tells her that she has a great future. Cindy tells her she’s brave as she just looks at the audience. She really does have a great future.

Sophia Foe, 7, who did “Even If I Say.”
Wow, that’s a mature song for a seven-year-old and she looks cute in her “This is now” t-shirt. Randy tells her to move around a little more.

Emily Grace Murphy, 11, who did “The Way I Loved You.” She is also cutely blinged out. Did I sing mature love songs when I was that age? Dinah says she could tell she was really feeling the song.

Remember that the winner will sing at intermission of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” Tuesday night…