Albany Singer Makes ‘Idol’ 100 Round: Spa Employee Melissa Sgambelluri Gets Nod From Abdul and Jackson
By Mark McGuire, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Jan. 24–It took all of two minutes and 30 seconds into last week’s sixth season premiere of “American Idol” to realize that Albany singer Melissa Sgambelluri was moving on to the round of 100.
Although we have yet to see Sgambelluri sing on the hit Fox reality show (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, WXXA Ch. 23), we have already seen her: She was the woman in the red T-shirt who jubilantly jumped into the fountain in Memphis Tenn., clutching a coveted “golden ticket” given to those moving on in the competition. The scene was re-aired at the end of Tuesday night’s episode.
“WAAAAH! I’m going to Hollywood!” the 23-year-old screamed, kicking the water. (For those who still can’t place her, her shirt read “I’M READY TO BE UR IDOL,” with her first name on the back. Her audition number: 57675.)
Regulations surrounding the Fox reality show prevent her from speaking about her appearance before judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul prior to Tuesday’s episode.
Sgambelluri’s audition did not make the air on Tuesday, but could be part of the Feb. 7 “Rest of the Best” auditions episode (9 p.m.).
Sgambelluri said she sang Christina Aguillera’s “Ain’t No Other Man,” and was asked by Abdul to sing another song. She launched into the George Gershwin song “Someone to Watch Over Me” — the same song that got her knocked out of a previous “Idol” audition.
She knew she did well, but added “You never know with that show.” Jackson and Abdul gave their “approval,” but Sgambelluri added that “Simon didn’t say yes or no” — the notoriously rough judge’s vote was moot.
The pre-recorded audition portion of the reality show will continue through the month. The 100 finalists moved on to the Hollywood Round, pre-recorded in November. That round will be broadcast on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and Wednesday, Feb. 14. At the end of the second show, the final 24 — 12 men and 12 women — will be announced. Then the public voting component enters into the competition.
Does Sgambelluri make the cut? Again, according to show rules she can’t say, even to her co-workers and customers at the Jean Paul Day Spa & Hair Salon in Stuyvesant Plaza. They held a fundraiser to pay for Sgambelluri’s trip to Memphis.
“Everything will be revealed by then,” Sgambelluri said. Mark McGuire can be reached at 454-5467 or by e-mail at mmcguire@timesunion.com. Visit his blog at http://blogs.timesunion.com/
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