Siobhan Magnus

Siobhan Magnus is a top 24 semi-finalist in the ninth season of American Idol. http://www.votefortheworst.com/20091228/siobhan_magnus_american_idol_9_hollywood_contestantThe high school graduate shaved her head shortly before her audition in Boston. Her audition was not featured during audition week, but was shown in the final clip of the Boston audition show as one of the many contestants to earn a golden ticket. She auditioned with the encouragement of her friends and family, who also accompanied her to the call back auditions. She stated in her interview, "I auditioned for American Idol this season obviously because I love to sing, but I also figured, why not take the chance? I have nothing to lose."http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/home2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20039&Itemid=152

Background

Siobhan Magnus began singing while in the fourth grade when she auditioned for the lead in the school play, Annie. She earned the part, and sang "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" for her first public performance. She was a member of the jazz ensemble choir while attending Barnstable High School in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Magnus is the lead singer of the band Lunar Valve.http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/home2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20039&Itemid=152

American Idol

For her first live performance on American Idol, Siobhan Magnus sang "I Don't Want To Fall in Love," originally by Chris Isaak. Kara DioGuardi admitted that she wouldn't have picked that song, but it turned out ok. Kara said it got a little nasally at times, but loved her connection with the song. Randy Jackson wanted more of the same girl he saw during auditions, and wants her to reach for larger songs and not smaller songs. Ellen Degeneres "really liked it a lot." Simon Cowell called her a "funny little thing" but said that it wasn't near as good as her Stevie Wonder song during Hollywood week.

During Siobhan's second performance, she took the judges advice choosing a larger song, "Think" by Aretha Franklin. Randy Jackson thought she was so bold and fearless totally slayed the song, "I love it dude!" Ellen Degeneres loved it too, "oh man that was good!" Kara Dioguardi loved the high note. Simon Cowell called her "such a strange person, take that as a compliment." He thought there were parts of the song that were terrible, but that high note was incredible. "You are interesting and very very talented."

Her third performance was a tribute to her father, "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. Randy Jackson likes that she comes out every week and surprises everyone. He adds that they have tried to guide her a bit, then asks her to keep ignoring them, as "what you are doing is hot!" Ellen Degeneres said "you are why I love music, it's supposed to do what you just did to me!" Kara Dioguardi loves that she is so unique and different, "I really liked it tonight." Simon Cowell disagreed, calling it "all a bit weird." He commented that she didn't do anything in the song different, there was no moment in the song like she had last week.

Her top 12 performance was "Paint It, Black" during Rolling Stones week. Randy Jackson hollered "it's hot!" Ellen agreed, and loved everything about her performance, from her clothes and the performance. Kara had flashbacks from Adam Lambert due to the "drama" she presented. Simon called it the performance of the night.

Miley Cyrus mentored Siobhan through her practice run of "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder. Of her live performance as the last contestant, Randy Jackson said he's always excited to see her, and never thought she would have performed that song, but is happy she did. "You should inspire all of these kids. Ellen called her "so good!" Kara loves how she expresses herself, and feels she's more comfortable on the stage than she is anywhere else in her life. Simon feels some people will like it, but is afraid a lot of people won't. He asked Siobhan and all the contestants to pick better songs and to make themselves more relevant, as it was a disappointing night.