Do you think you have what it takes to be the next AMERICAN IDOL?

Well, if you do, your last chance to audition for season 11 will be Thursday, Sept. 22 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The search has already sailed through St. Louis; Portland, OR; San Diego; Pittsburgh; Charleston; Denver; and Houston. This will be the last stop on a nationwide search.

New Jersey AMERICAN IDOL Audition Information

WHO: Men and women 15-28 years old as of June 26, 2011, who are eligible to work in the U.S. Some restrictions apply – please visit americanidol.com for specific information.

WHEN : Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011

WHERE: IZOD Center, 50 NJ-120 East Rutherford, NJ 07073-2131

HOW: Wristbands will be distributed from approximately 7:00 AM on Tuesday, Sept. 20, until approximately 8:00 AM on Thursday, Sept. 22.  Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out. Once auditioners obtain their wristbands, they will be asked to return to IZOD Center by 5:00 AM on Thursday, Sept. 22.

Season 11 of American Idol will premier Jan 22, 2012 from 10-11pm, immediately following the NFC Championship game on FOX.

I hope to see a few Hampton Roads hopefuls in line to audition. Good luck to all that may participate!

Okay…so I need some feedback here…. It still hasn’t settled with me completely that J-Lo is an American Judge…hmm…I LOVE her in the movies…but I just don’t know about elsewhere…and the fact that she didn’t necessarily want the gig at first, keeps me skeptical about how long she will really last.

However…I am ALL FOR giving people a chance before NOT believing in them lol…hey that’s how I got here myself!! lol! What do you guys think though? Yay or Nay?

To watch ‘Idol,’ or not to watch ‘Idol?’ That is the question.

It seems very likely that this could be the last season for the popular FOX show. I mean, it’s been hard enough to sit through this season, but if Simon jumps ship next season? Over. He pretty much carries that show.

The 4 judge thing isn’t working for me. I’d like to see them get rid of Kara and just keep Ellen. I don’t think Kara contributes much. Maybe she is more of an ‘expert’ than Ellen, but at least Ellen keeps my giggling.

And, what’s up with these theme weeks? Haven’t we had Beatles theme weeks in the past? Haven’t past contestants sang the same exact songs as we heard this week? Sheesh. There seems to be no more originality or creativity to the show. Once you start ‘playing reruns,’ your time is up!

The talent has also been so-so this season. I mean, come on, you mean to tell me, out of the thousands of people that tried out, these people are the BEST? Unlikely. Not possible.

I would love to watch a real competition on ‘American Idol.’ As in, 12 or 13 people who can actually sing their brains out! That would be a lot more exciting and worthy of my TV time. Right now, I think everyone’s just trying to get to the Top 4, which makes every week kinda blah because you know you have to sit through at least 5 horrific performances.

Ok, I’m not trying to be a hater. I know, I sound like one. I’m just really seeing a lot of ways in which the ‘Idol’ ship is sinking. Am I alone in this conclusion? Are you watching ‘Idol?’ What do YOU think of this season?

So I missed Aaron Kelly tonight, and for some reason my DVR decided to record NCIS Los Angeles which I never watch.  Unfortunately, the word on the street was that it wasn’t something to talk about, however Simon was a bit hard on him!  So moving on to what I heard…Katie Stevens had her BEST performance so far!  It was probably the best thing she could have done to keep herself out of the bottom. Andrew Garcia sang “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and put a little twist on the arrangement.  He has some “mixed” reviews about his performance….mostly that it was good but kinda corny…..for me…I thought it was good but corny….I want to see him be an artist…he should have sang more of a ballad and let some emotion come out!  So….Michael Lynch was not amazing, but he “did his thang” as Randy would say.  He continues to be commanding on that stage, he is a real artist, knows who he is and consistently brings it!  So I love Crystal Bowersox and after hearing all of the other contestants say amazing things about her I love her even more…MOMMASOX was in the house singing “Come Together.”  I loved it…and again I am calling top 2 possibly winner!!!!

Tim Urban sang “Send All my Lovin” and did an average job…it wasn’t bad, and as Randy said “it was a good Tim performance.”  I think he should have been alive in the 60′s and 70′s he just fits in that era….I will agree with Kara when she said “Your best performances are with your guitar.”  OH CASEY JAMES!…the feeling really came out tonight! He sang “Jealous Guy,” and really did an amazing job…do I really need to say anything else about this performance other than “IT WAS GREAT!”  So Siobhan Magnus’ performance, left me a little tired, and confused…it was a different side of her, but like Randy said “love the artistry in her.”  One of my favorite lines of the night was from Crystal Bowersox, when she said that Andrew and Lee were gonna get married and have little Danny Gokey babies…LOL!  so about his performance…he sang “Hey Jude” and did a pretty good job minus the random bag-pipe player that “got separated from his parade.”  Honestly it was distracting but hilarious and got us all chatting about it!  So my bottom 3 for tonight would have to be Aaron Kelly, Tim Urban, and either Katie Stevens or possibly Andrew Garcia?..let me know what you think and be sure to watch me on The Hampton Roads Show Wed. morning at 8am and watch online at www.fox43tv.com

Starting off the night tonight was Lee Dewyze who really performed better than any other week…overall, he wasn’t as pitchy, but I completely agreed with Simon, out of all of the #1 hits on Billboard that is the one he picked!…should have picked a HUGE Rock hit, showing who he is as an artist, I just can’t imagine him putting that song on his record!  Next, Paige Miles proves that she should not be in the top 10…and Randy said it right “it was honestly terrible.”  It was really unfortunate, but I would have to agree worse performance of the season.  Tim Urban took us way back with his performance of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”  The problem was it came across a little karaoke and “high school musical” like.  Where are the CURRENT ARTISTS TONIGHT!!!  Aaron Kelly was next up singing an Aerosmith Classic….but this is the thing…although he struggled with his vocals because he was under the weather, he has nothing to worry about because the 3 people before him were not as good as he was!…so we will see you on the tour Aaron!  Saving the  show, Crystal Bowersox sang “Bobby McGhee.”  It wasn’t my favorite performance for her but it was GREAT!…and the best yet!…Again, I am feeling this may be the year for Crystal Bowersox to be the next AMERICAN IDOL!  Of course I do think joining Crystal Bowersox in the TOP 3 will be MICHAEL LYNCH!  He is THE BEST GUY in this competition!…I love that he is consistent every week and he absolutely rocked it tonight!  Next up was Andrew Garcia singing “I heard it thru the grapevine.”  It was not a great song choice for him at all!  It was so weird, I feel like tonight is #1 hits from the 50′s.  I am so shocked that the contestants this week aren’t picking current #1 hits!  Picking a more current #1 Katie Stevens, sang “Big girls don’t cry.”  It was nice to see her take on a younger vibe and look, but it was SO PITCHY! and made me wish I had the footage from me singing the same song during Hollywood Week of Season 8.  CASEY JAMES, CASEY JAMES, CASEY JAMES, CASEY JAMES, CASEY JAMES….can you hear me chanting his name! this was the perfect song choice for him tonight in my opinion, although the judges weren’t….I do agree with Kara, when she said, “you are ready to make an album.”  LOVE HIM!  Didi Benami was another FAVORITE of the night for me…unfortunately, the judges weren’t agreeing, but just for the record, DIDI You did great!  Closing the night Siobhan Magnus sang “Superstition.”  Honestly, it wasn’t my favorite of all of her performances, and she better be careful not to get an Adam Lambert syndrome and think she can throw a Big Note in every song, and think she is going to get by with it.  So, my pick to go home would be Paige Miles, however, be prepared for a shock!

Well, they have made it to the big stage!  Tonight the TOP 12 compete to see who is moving closer to the TOP 10 and will hit the road to entertain IDOL FANATICS all over the country!  Kicking off the night, Michael Lynch, let us into his amazing story even more, which made me love him as a person even more!  But then as he opened up those vocals, he continued to impress American as he turned a rolling stones song into an R&B hit!  As Randy says “HE SLAYED IT.”  Up next is DiDi Benami!  Singing a stones classic “Play with Fire”  She started off fantastic!, but unfortunately had a little lyric mess up and struggled a bit after that, but I give her a 7 out of 10…it was a GREAT song choice for her!  So making everyone fall even more in love with Casey James, his mom opened up tonight about his reaction to a vaccination as a child, and how they have been incredibly close ever since, but beyond the story, he really sang!…Compared to one of my favs Johnny Lang, I believe, that he could have a career as a bluesy rocker!  Winning the fashion award  for IDOL, Lacey Brown, not only brought a very cool look, but in my opinion, a very cool sound too!  I thought Simon’s constructive criticism was right on, she needs to just relax a little bit with her performance, let it be more natural and not so much like “acting.”  Singing “Give me shelter.”  Andrew Garcia was a little pitchy and the performance was a bit of a left turn from what he has done in the past.  His place in this competition is weird…I am waiting for him to just settle in his place as an artist and be that consistently every week.  Katie Stevens, sang “Wild Horses,” and sang it pretty good!….Honestly, it was much better than her past performances, however it did start kinda pitchy!  Oh Tim Urban, 10 kids!!!! WOW!…but how about the performance?  Well, singing “Under My Thumb,”  he is continuing to prove all of us “IDOL BLOGGERS” wrong and actually doing a GREAT JOB!…I mean really the song choice wasn’t my favorite, but he really sang it well.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get the best comments from the judges.  Coming from a very “artsy” family, Siobhan really showed us what being an artist is!  She looked absolutely beautiful and sang very cool!…Vocally, it wasn’t her best, but performance wise…YES!!!! She is turning out to be one of my favorite girls!  Not looking forward to the usual pitchy Lee Dewyze, his performance tonight wasn’t as pitchy, but a little boring.  Again, getting good comments about his voice (which I still don’t understand).  I haven’t figured out why they keep making it sound like he has such an “amazing” voice.  He hasn’t had his “moment” for me yet.  Paige Miles was up next and went a little “country,” all of the sudden….she is definitely comfortable on the stage, but sounded pitchy, and honestly, forgettable.  Aaron Kelly did a pretty good job tonight, better than he has done in the past few weeks, it was a little boring for me personally, but overall, he got great comments from all of the judges!  Closing out the night, Crystal Bowersox was amazing as always…not the best performance to date, but overall amazing!…I WILL BUY HER RECORD!….I do agree with Ellen….”started to see a little bit of personality”  and we want to see more!!!   Who do you think is going home tomorrow?

Tonight’s TOP 12 RESULTS started as a SUPER SHOCKER!….Didi Benami took the first place, which is great, but then out of nowhere, Paige Miles, who I thought would be going home tonight, takes the 2nd spot while Katelyn Epperly gets the boot!…WOW!…What next? Tatiana gets the WildCard spot and Felicia Barton goes home…oh wait…that was last year! HA!  In all seriousness, the elimination continued when America was shocked by Lee Dewyze making top 12 over Toddirck Hall!….and my predictions for elimination night fail again!…UGH!  The next elimination came between Andrew Garcia and Alex Lambert and the last spot for the Top 6 guys went to Andrew Garcia…..Fellow Tweeter @IDOL260 said it well “This is NOT how this episode was supposed to go! “  At this point in the show we have all but one spot filled….Girls include:  Didi Benami, Paige Miles, Lacey Brown, Crystal Bowersox and Siobhan Magnus.  Boys include:  Casey James, Lee Dewyze, Aaron Kelly, Michael Lynch, Tim Urban, and  Andrew Garcia.  To finish the night off and leave us with our FINAL addition to SEASON 9 TOP 12 Katie Stevens wins over Lilly Scott…..Needless to say I am in complete and utter shock this evening and considering hanging up my hat on IDOL SEASON 9!  well….maybe not

Is it me, or are they seriously rushing everything tonight just like last night….cramming it all into an hour!  Howerver, I am glad it is down to 1 hour not 2 hours!  Moving on to the show…Lee Dewyze started off the night singing one of my favorite songs “Fireflies.”  I honestly have not been much of a fan of Lee’s and really am not sure why the judges keep giving him positive feedback every week….he continues to come across pitchy to me!  One of my favorite boys, Alex Lambert, sang “Trouble” and the comments from the judges were all right on with my LIVE TWITTER COMMENTS….he is so good, but needs to relax and look more interested while he is singing.  Kara said, ” the only thing that is standing in the way of you winning is you.”  Tim Urban broke out the guitar tonight, and sang “Hallelujah,” and in my humble opinion, is getting so much better!!!!  I think this performance for him was his best to date!  Andrew Garcia went back to his roots on idol and played his guitar minus the band and sang another girl song…I kinda liked it, but wish that the band would have come in half way thru the song!  Casey James had a great song choice by Keith Urban…again…I heart Casey James.  He continues to do a great job, but I can understand what Kara was saying when she said, “we are missing that spark.”  I am hoping he just connects more with us as the audience.  16 year old  Aaron Kelly, did an O.K job, he has such a natural talent….I agreed 100% with Simon…it was a nice song and he did a good job, well…a kinda good job…might be going home this week.  Toddrick Hall showed up, white teeth and all, singing the “HAPPY FEET” version of “Somebody to Love.”  He is a great singer, but I am still a fan of his version of “Since you’ve been gone.”  I think it saved him for this week!  Michael Lynch closed the show singing “This Woman’s Word” and WAS AMAZING!!!!!  I am loving that he is sticking with the R&B thing.  Simon even said that not only was it the best performance of the night, but best of all of the LIVE shows!!!  So who is going home tomorrow night?…want my predictions?…ok I am guessing Aaron Kelly and I can only hope and cross my fingers that the other is Lee Dewyze…only because I don’t know how he has made it this far with continued pitchiness!

Tonight you may have missed my live tweets at www.twitter.com/feliciabarton however, it was for a good reason…my little boy Malachi turned 3!!!! So unfortunately, Idol took a second place slot for me tonight….but don’t worry I DVR’d it!!!  So the night started with Katie Stevens singing a slightly “pitchy” version of Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway.”  She has such a natural talent, but I agree that the song may have been too BIG for her.  Next up to bat was Siobhan Magnus snging “House of the Rising Sun,”  she sang with such technical precision and I honestly really liked the song choice!  Not to mention, she sang with such conviction…that is how you compete in a competition like American Idol…she is a thrill to watch every week.  Continuing with Great song choices Lacy Brown sang Brandi Carlisle’s “The Story.”  I totally agreed with Ellen when she said that it sounded like the song could have been written for her!  So last week, I hung on every note that Katelyn Epperly sang, but this week I thought she picked the WRONG SONG!  not to mention I don’t think she should have stood up while playing, and the song just stayed in one place for me….agreed with Kara where it was almost like she didn’t compete this week!…Sill a fan, want to hear her do “The Scientist” again!!!  Didi Benami sang a Fleetwood Mac song, and SOUNDED AMAZING!  She was totally connected the entire time…THIS WAS HER BEST ON THE SHOW SO FAR!!!  This week her tears where happy tears!  Paige Miles came to the stage singing “Smile” but unfortunately forgot to actually SMILE…..honestly this performance is what I have been seeing from the beginning and why I have thought she should have been gone week 1….she has done much better, but it was just an unfortunate night for her.  Bringing the night back up, Crystal Bowersox  sang “Give me one Reason”  and made me believe once again that she can WIN THIS SHOW!  Closing the show out tonight Lilly Scott sang “I fall to pieces”  playing a mandolin, which is kinda cool,  and I will say it again…”I will buy her record.”  So my favorite of the night is a Crytal Bowersox, however a close second for me was Didi Benami, Lacey Brown, and Siobhan Magnus….ok so l actually enjoyed more than one!  Unfortunately, I think Katie Stevens and Paige Miles are up for elimination on Thursday…..for live commentary and to keep up to date on my journey please follow me at www.twitter.com/feliciabarton www.facebook.com/feliciabarton and myspace.com/feliciabarton

Singing the Black Eyed Peas SMASH HIT “I got a feeling,” the TOP 20 of Season 9 started off the show with a positive attitude at least hoping for the best for this week’s elimination .   The feeling must not have been too good for John Park, as he sang his farewell reprise of “Gravity” by John Mayer….on a side note…his goodbye performance was much better than Tues. night’s performance….my humble piece of advice to any “current idol” contestants that for some reason may be reading this blog….SING LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SING EVERY TIME YOU GET ON THAT STAGE!….I mean it’s almost as if they lose the nerves and actually relax and then, of course, do a much better job!  The next contestant to leave us this week was….Jermaine Sellers, who was possibly given the boot because of his mouth….it’s unfortunate, because he wasn’t a terrible singer, but I think his attitude and mouth did turn off the viewers.  Before the girls found out their fate on the Idol Stage, my fellow season 8 contestant and friend, DANNY GOKEY, sang his single, “My Best Days.”  He hits the road tomorrow with Sugarland….anybody going to hit the tour?  The first girl to go is Michelle Delamore, who Kara told during the elimination, that she didn’t do as great as they thought in the moment…I think they heard what we heard, when we were all shocked she got as great of comments as she did…she has such a nice natural talent and beauty, I am sure she will do GREAT things!  The last girl to go was our cute little Haley Vaughn…I think she got priceless advice last night from Kara, when she said she needs to take a year and develop as an artist….and work on her gift…Keep smiling Haley!!!! We all really love that you are full of joy!  Continue to follow me on twitter.com/feliciabarton facebook.com/feliciabarton and myspace.com/feliciabarton