I blogged live during tonight’s premiere of Season 9 of American Idol, but if you don’t want to read the play-by-play, here’s a quick recap of some of the Boston auditions standouts and some extra info I dug up on a few of the contestants who made it through the Boston auditions (I’ll add more as I get information):


Maddy Curtis – a 16 year old with a great voice; 9th of 12 kids; has on brother with Downs Syndrome and her family adopted three more.

Ashley Makailah Rodrieguez – 21 year old student from Boston, MA; full scholarship to Berklee College of Music; toured with the gospel group Overjoyed; Ashley Rodriguez’s MySpace page
Tyler Grady – 19 year old college student and drummer for the Nazareth, PA based pop/synth rock band Wailing Waters; Grady shattered both wrists when he fell from a tree. . Become a fan at Facebook or listen to some of their music on the band’s MySpace page.
Jess Wolfe Brooklyn, NY singer who auditioned with “People Get Ready”; in the band Lucius; link to Jess Wolfe’s MySpace page or the site for her band, Lucius.
Katie Stevens – 16 year old from Middlebury CT singing for her grandmother, who has Alzheimers. Katie, who is 16, says, “I want her to see me succeed before she forgets who I am.”; Katie was named the Westbury CT’s 2009 Outstanding Teen
Justin Williams – 27 year old singer from Sandy, UT; diagnosed with cancer seven years ago while on mission in Spain; won the John Lennon Songwriting Competition; performed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as the winner of the national talent competition; Justin Williams at ReverbNation.com.
Bosa Mora – 22 year old from Columbus, OH; his parents are natives of Nigeria who met while attending school in the US; on Bosa Mora’s MySpace page is this quote: “I was once told that emotion is the currency of music, and if I cannot make music that can inspire you to smile, sympathize with you when your hurting, or calm you when you worried; my work is of no value.”
Leah Laurenti – 24 year old from Medford, NY; says she grew up in church and didn’t listen to mainstream music; you can follow Leah Laurenti on Twitter or join her “Leah Laurenti for American Idol” fan page on Facebook.
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