Amy Davis Eliminated (with video)

Well, we are down to two… two contestants on American Idol from Indiana. Following up on my past posts, I’m sad to report Amy Davis was voted off the show on Thursday night. I can’t say it wasn’t expected. Up until Monday, when she performed for the voting announced on Thursday, Amy gave great performances. Monday’s was disappointing. I don’t know if it was the nerves of the first live performance of the season or what, but the performance was not on the same level as past performances. Really, I thought she had a shot. She has the look and the voice, but it was just not meant to be. Hopefully, she will still get a recording contract or become successful through some other venue.

Here is how the Northwest Indiana Times treated the story, and the Indy Star’s take on it is here.

Below is the performance from Monday.

Here is the elimination video (btw, I thought she did a much better job this time than on Monday):

Whatever life has in store for Ms. Davis, we here at IST wish her well and hope to see her sing live at some point.

3 Indiana Natives Make Idol Cut

The night of super Tuesday I was competing for television time with the rest of my family.  They wanted to watch American Idol, and I wanted to watch the primary results.  Since I was a little miffed, I posted this tongue-n-cheek missive about Amanda Overmeyer on the blog the next day.  She is an Indiana native who got through the first round for the show.  However, people took the post seriously, so the next night, when Amy Davis, another Indiana resident, made it through, I felt obligate to post on that.

Well, not only did the two make it through the “Hollywood Round”, but I find out there is a third person from Indiana, Luke Menard.  So, to be fair, I wanted to put up his Idol audition.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it.  So Luke, sorry dude, I tried, but you can see an interview with him here.

So now we have three Indiana natives in the top 24 of American Idol.  I wish them all the best.  Oh, by the way,  WTHR has this story about the top 24.

Rep. Hoy will not seek Re-election: Riecken Files

From WTHR:

Rep. Phil Hoy, a Democrat from Evansville, said he wants to spend more time with his wife and grandchildren. Hoy plans to serve out his current term but will not seek re-election in House District 77, which covers downtown Evansville and other areas in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.

Then, shortly after the announcement, The Evansville Courier Press reported:

Gail Riecken, former city councilwoman, announced she would seek the position.

…

Riecken, first took office when she was appointed to fill the remaining city council term of Frank McDonald II when he became Mayor, will enter the race by filing at 4:30 on Wednesday.

American Idol: Amy Davis

Here is the video of Amy Davis, another Hoosier to make it on American Idol:

According to the Northwest Indiana Times,

Davis, a 2000 graduate of Lowell High School and one of the six children of Barry and Jeanette Davis of Cedar Lake, captured the attention of hard-to-please judging panel Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, with her audition performance of “Blue Bayou.” The ballad was written by the late Roy Orbinson and made famous by singer Linda Ronstadt.
…

But along with the international positive recognition, Davis must also wade through the other side of fame: criticism and speculation, especially from the watercooler buzz of the Internet community.

They range from unkind comments about her talent to banter about her choice of a low-cut shirt for her taped audition and references on the FOX “American Idol” blogs about her Hoosier “roots from a lower class upbringing” and scantily clad modeling portfolio photos featured on her MySpace homepage.

American Idol: Amanda Overmyer

If you were watching the Super Tuesday results last night and missed Amanda Overmyer’s American Idol audition, here it is:

Ms. Overmyer is from Mulberry, IN.  According to WTHR;

Overmyer will join fellow Greater Lafayette native Luke Menard, who got his ticket to Hollywood during the Jan. 29 episode of American Idol. The 1997 Crawfordsville High School graduate won the judges over at the Omaha, Neb., audition.

According to Internet rumors and leaks, Overmyer and Menard may not be the only Hoosiers in the top-24. Amy J. Davis, a 2004 Purdue University graduate in horticulture, has appeared on lists alongside Menard, Overmyer and 21 other would-be American idols as the top finishers. Davis was raised in Lowell and lives in Cedar Lake, according to several Internet posts and blogs.

More on Spears’ Situation

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette carried an AP story reporting the singer’s involutary psychiatric stay will be extended by two weeks.  This is the next step after an involuntary 72 hour evaluation that occurs when someone needs treatment but is unwilling or unable to give their consent.

The specific criteria, according to the story and consistent with Indiana law is:

To extend her stay, hospital staff members cited a section in the state law that allows patients to be retained for medical treatment if they are found to be gravely disabled or a danger to themselves or others…

Picking up from my post here, these laws are relatively rarely used and are invoked only in the most extreme cases.  Therefore, her condition must be relatively severe.

Britney Spears: Father Knows Best

Alright, I wasnt going to blog on this, but I’ve been a little hard on Spears.  Besides, its that or mop the kitchen!

WTHR is reporting that following her involutary committement to a Los Angeles hospital for an unknown condition, Britney’s father was awarded temporary “conservatorship” of Britney.  The father, James Spears, and an attorney were awarded co-conservators of Britney’s estate.  The court also proptly issued a restraining order against Britney’s “manager” and friend, Sam Lufti.

From the story:

A court creates conservatorships when a person cannot care for themselves or handle their affairs. Commissioner Reva Goetz said Spears would be under conservatorship until Feb. 4, at which time another hearing will be held.

“It is in the best interests of the conservatee to have conservatorship over her person,” Goetz told a packed courtroom.

      The conservator will have the power to “restrict visitors,” have around-the-clock security for Spears, and have access to all medical records, Goetz said.

      Goetz said conservatorship over the estate was “necessary and appropriate.” She gave approval for the conservator to “take all actions to secure all liquid assets including credit cards.”

The reason I wanted to blog on this was to point out how serious her condition must be.  In all the years I’ve practiced I’ve only run into two or three cases where the person’s conditon was so serious they could not make decisions for themselves or their estate.  So, while I originally thought much of this was for publicity, her condition must be very serious indeed.  Goes to prove the point no-one should evaluate another from afar, or through media reports.

Wednesday Key Date for Legislature

Wednesday is the last day for legislation to be considered in it’s house of origin for the Indiana legislature.  That means bills originating in the House or Senate must be approved by that body by Wednesday to still be viable.  They will then travel to the other body for consideration.  This is generally a good measure of the “death” of a particular bill.  If it isn’t out of it’s originating body by Wednesday, it is generally considered “dead”.  However, the language in a “dead” bill can be amended into a “live” one by the non-originating body.  This is generally a long shot, but it does happen.  Just thought those playing along at home with the legislature might find that information helpful 🙂

Bill Clinton: I Have a Dream…Literally

Who says there isn’t anything good on MTV anymore?  Over the weekend I just happened to catch one of those shows that present funny videos of what happened over the week.  This was one of them.

Apparently former President Clinton was very tired from all the badmouthing of Obama and decided to attend a Martin Luther King event at a church in New York City.  Maybe he should have gotten a little more sleep.

The funniest part for me is when he suddenly wakes up and starts nodding his head like he was deep in thought.  Of course the obvious watch checking at the end is pretty good as well.  I don’t know where the video came from, but the above is from the New York Post, via YouTube.

Miss Indiana First Runner Up In Miss America

Congrats to Miss Indiana,  Nicole Elizabeth Rash.  From the South Bend Tribune:

Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund, a 19-year-old aspiring Broadway star, was crowned Miss America 2008 on Saturday in a live show billed as the unveiling of the 87-year-old pageant’s new, hipper look.

Haglund, of Farmington Hills, Mich., sang “Over the Rainbow” and walked a crowd-pleasing strut in a black and gold bikini to clinch the title. She beat Miss Indiana Nicole Elizabeth Rash, the first runner up, and Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, the second runner up for the $50,000 scholarship and year of travel that comes with the crown.

From the Miss America site on Indiana’s representative:  Miss Nicole Elizabeth Rash hails from Plymouth, Indiana.  She is a student at Ball State University where she is studying Fashion Merchandising.  She eventually wants “To own a Women’s Formalwear Boutique where I would sell my original designs”.  Miss Rash also carries a G.P.A. of 4.0.  Note: the picture is of Miss Rash, not Miss Haglund.