Strength amid tragedy

I think Asia'h Epperson from Joplin, Mo., may take home the prize for ultimate sob story. And I don't mean that to be disrespectful - her story is heart-breaking, and it touched me more than any other so far. She says she's a small-town country girl and that she doesn't come from a family that has a lot of money, so she had to work her butt off to make it to the auditions in Atlanta. Two days before her audition, she called her dad to tell him that she was on her way to the auditions and that she wished he was with her and that she loved him. About 30 minutes later, her brother called her to tell her that her dad had been in an accident and had died. She says that he's with her for the auditions and that it will be good. I cannot believe how composed she is considering her father died literally two days before she was filmed. Unbelievable. I'm actually a bit surprised she didn't go home, but my guess is her family told her to go ahead and follow her dreams.

I'm kind of torn on her voice - it's very pretty, but there doesn't seem to be much depth to it - her voice sounds very thin to me. But Simon likes her, acknowledges it was tough (she sang LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live?") and says it was very well done. Paula tells her she's very brave, that she wouldn't have been able to do it, and that she deserved to go through to Hollywood. Randy says yes, too, and she's through to the next round.


There's something about Brooke Helvie that I really like and I'm not sure what it is. I think it could be what a dork she is. And what I mean by that is she's silly and goofy and doesn't seem to care how she looks to other people and I find that really endearing. Anyway, she's also a beauty pageant winner and wants to prove to Simon that pageant girls can sing. And I think she does a good job - maybe a few too many runs, but overall, her voice is really nice. I can't imagine she won't get a ticket to Hollywood. She does, and she screams her head off and proceeds to hug all the judges, before going outside to scream with her family and friends. The funny thing is that Simon finds her annoying - calls her the most annoying person he's seen in his life, and Randy agrees. Well, I like her and I hope we see more of her.