The Latino market in the U.S. is up for grabs. Some stars like Vicente Fernandez and Juan Gabriel have remained loyal to their style and language, concentrating exclusively on the Spanish-speaking population. But others like Colombian diva Shakira and Puerto Rico heartthrob Ricky Martin chose to crossover to mainstream America and made fortunes as a result.

American Idol contestant Allison Iraheta can do the same. By all measures, she is unlikely to win the 2009 contest. Nonetheless, she is potentially the next Latina diva, someone who can perhaps awaken the spirit of Selena, and revive Rock en español. Selena didn’t speak Spanish well. Yet she started out her stellar career in the Spanish world and from there she made a huge leap to mainstream America right before her unfortunate death.

Selena has set a big precedent for U.S.-Latino artists. Iraheta is uniquely positioned to conquer both mainstream America and the Latino market. She already has name recognition, possesses a unique funky style and great pipes.
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The Top Four Performance Show: Allison Iraheta Rocks!
Tuesday May 5, 2009
By Alex Abri

Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert led the pack this night with their rocking duet, Slow Ride on the Rock theme night of American Idol. Allison showed some sauce tonight when she spoke back to Simon Cowell defending her choice of songs and she did it with style. She closed of the night with the last song of the night the duet with Adam -- by far the best of the night -- and hopefully insured her spot in the top three next week.

The top four performance show opened up with Ryan announcing that there was an accident on the set today and because of it the contestants didn't get to have a proper run through. The Idols met their guest mentor, Slash, this week at the world famous Roxy on the Sunset Strip.

The first up to sing was Adam Lambert who sang Whole Lot of Love by Led
Zepplin. Slash's advice to him was - don't improvise so much in the higher
register because he sounds great in the lower register.

He rocked it with a passion, but it way too hard rock for American Idol. The real question at this point is are the judges capable of giving an honest opinion without being swayed by perceived popular opinion. The judges need to step back out of the box and look at the wide picture. Not everyone likes hard rock and that performance to those who don't like it would just be not good.

Allison Iraheta sang in the second position. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest
Allison revealed she went with Adam Lambert to get her hair done at his hair
dresser. She also said was unsure about the songs she wanted to sing. The choice was between Cry Baby or Somebody to love. She chose Cry Baby. The only criticism Slash had for her was to get past the fear part.

Sporting her new hair style she came out and rocked out her version of the song. A couple of the judges later compared her to Janis Joplin. Randy said he didn't like it, Kara gave her props for letting her personality show, Paula liked it
comparing her to Janis Joplin. Simon as usual had way to many negative things too say even telling Allison she should have picked the other song.

Allison was a little unnerved from his comments and her spunky side came out when she defended her choice of songs saying that the other song had been used too much on idol and didn't make her stand out.

After Allison, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen sang the first duet -- Renegade. It got mild reviews from the judges and Simon played favorites and said that Danny was better than Kris.

Kris had to sing back to back songs tonight. He was the third solo of the night.
He chose the Beatles song Come Together. It was a good choice for him. He played the guitar while he sang. Randy said he enjoyed it; coming from a guy that's really not rock. Kara said for her it wasn't a great performance. Paula said it was risky to do a Beatles song but his signature was all over it, he is an artist on stage and deserving. Simon didn't like it much. He said it was like eating ice for lunch which will leave you nothing to remember afterward. Simon also shamelessly pimped Adam saying he knew no one would beat him (Adam) tonight. It seemed rather an odd thing to say before Danny had performed his song. Even if Danny is the worst at this point, which depends on who you talk to, he deserves his chance to sing and be judged on his performance before being written off.

Danny Gokey sang the next solo. He chose to sing Dream On by Aerosmith (a song that Micheal Johns excelled on last season). Randy gave him an A+, Kara said he took it a little too far but she commended him for taking chances, Paula said she didn't know if it was the right song for him -- it wasn't her favorite choice of songs but she gave him an A+ for it. Simon said the last note was a horror note scream, it kind of worked but didn't but he still thought Danny would be safe tonight. Danny said he didn't want to do a song in his safety zone. Ryan pointed out that he is the only contestant on the show that hasn't been in the bottom three.

The last song of the day was a Duet from Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert. They sang Slow Ride. It was by far the best song of the night and got rave reviews from the judges. Simon told Adam that he probably saved that one (Allison). A nice comment but why couldn't he refer to Allison by her name? It makes you wonder if Simon is playing favorites.

If he is it may not work, like in season 5 when he was dead set against Taylor
Hicks winning. The fans and viewers would not be deterred. I'd also like to point out that if there are 40 million votes and 24 million viewers. If each viewer was motivated to only vote once then that would account for half of the votes. No matter how much a fan base votes they may never out vote an audience that is moved in another direction. There is always hope. This competition has not been won yet.

                                                                                                                                  
Why Allison Iraheta could be the best American Idol to ever come out of the show
By Alex Abri

    At just sixteen years of age Allison Iraheta is one of the youngest contestants to make it into the finals on American Idol but this bilingual singer has an incredible amount more potential than the average American Idol finalist to appear on the show in it's eight year history.
     In many ways she reminds me of Selena Quintanilla Perez, or how I picture Selena might have been at that age; young, enthusiastic, singing both Spanish and english, working hard to achieve her goals and also a positive and likable person.
     Could winning American Idol thrust her into a similar path taken by Selena, that of a cultural Icon? No one could ever replace Selena but we can all need heroes and role models to look up to.

                                                                                                                              

    Tuesday is finally here and Allison Iraheta has made it into the top five on American Idol.
    The final top five contestants took the stage tonight on American Idol. They sang songs from the Standards from the Rat Pack Era. The mystery mentor was Jamie Foxx who warned the idols that Standards are songs that are going to live forever.
    Allison took on a classic look tonight for the Standards theme wearing a lovely black dress with white flowers. The song she chose to sing was "Someone to watch over me."
    Before the song Ryan interviewed her. He asked her what it's like being the only female left in the competition. She jokingly said that "It's scary being around those 4 guys". Yesterday she celebrated her 17th birthday. Ryan asked her about it and she said they were rehearsing yesterday when she was called up to the third floor and surprised by her family.
    A clip was shown with Allison and Jamie Foxx rehearsing. Jamie commented that "At 16 she is leaps and bounds ahead of her time. If she does it (she's successful tonight) she's going to shock the world. Allison then went on stage to sing and proved Jamie words to be right.

The Judges comments:

•      Randy Jackson told her she looked like Brittany Murphy and sang like Pink with 9000 more octaves
•      Kara DioGuardi said  "I ain't nervous for you anymore, that was gut wrenching, deep emotional rendition and way beyond your years.
•      Paula Abdul said it had an innocence sensibility both alluring and very tender
•      Simon Cowell asked her if she thought she could win. She responded saying she thinks she can win, that they all have a chance right now. Simon said he doesn't yet feel she can win and has a horrible feeling she could be in trouble tonight. When Ryan asked him why he said that, Simon said it felt the performance was mechanical and it was a 7 out of 10. Paula spoke up disagreeing and said she thought he was crazy and Randy also added he thought Allison was vocally on point and the bomb.

                                                                                                                                  
From the Edmonton Journal-
Personality, song choice key to Idol success

Monday May 4, 2009
By Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service

This season's consensus favorites are Lambert and 29-year-old church music director Danny Gokey, but Clarkson's choice is a more unlikely pick: just-turned-17 long shot Allison Iraheta.

Iraheta is the only woman left in the competition. More important, she has a preternaturally mature voice and an old-soul vibe -- more rock queen than pop princess. Clarkson has said the key to performing well on Idol is staying determined, being authentic and refusing to compromise, even when the popular winds seem to be blowing the other way. And Iraheta is by far the most unusual, uncompromising singer of the final four, even as Gokey and Lambert appear destined to go all the way to the end.      read more


                                                                                                                                  
Allison Iraheta: Your next American Idol?
Sunday May 3. 2009
by Alex Abri

There are only three more weeks left on American Idol before this year's winner is crowned, is Allison Iraheta going to be your next American Idol?


There has been a lot of talk and speculation about Adam Lambert already being crowned this year's winner on American Idol, but from past experience the most popular doesn't always win on this show. The fact is Allison Iraheta has been consistently delivering great performances from the moment she stepped on that stage and has been snow balling forward toward the finals. She just may be the winner that takes it all.  

In season one of American Idol, Tamara Grey was a heavy favorite to win and also in season five Chris Daughtry was a favorite too. Both were eliminated in the top four spot. Could this week prove to be another shocker?

If last weeks show was any indication, it seems like Adam Lambert may finally be losing his steam. His classic song ending scream may just have been over played one too many times and cracked into the annoyance factor of the non-rock fans. Which is always a concern when focusing on the extreme end of one genre. Let's face it, not every one likes hard rock. I'm sure many can tolerate it but at some point if people really don't like it they will change the channel. Adam's passion may just have brought on his own doom.

While Adam Lambert has taken a sudden spike downward, Allison Iraheta has been consistently delivering great performances week after week and gaining fans. She started the season with very little face time, a virtual unknown. Not getting the early fan base she has had to prove her self over and over each week. This past week she received the highest or second highest number of votes when she performed a stunning rendition of Someone to Watch Over Me. She may have finally turned the heads of many viewers and fans in her direction.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly Nigel Lythgoe, President of 19 Entertainment, the company that produces American Idol and the winner's Albums, picked Allison Iraheta as one of his favorites on the show. The Judges have also given Allison numerous rave reviews. This week Kara DioGaurdi said if that doesn't get you into the finals I don't know what will. During the top nine Paula Abdul also said Allison was skating to the finish line.

There are only two more elimination shows before the finals and it is now very apparent Allison is in this to win. In three weeks time she may be our new American Idol.


                                                                                                                               
Allison Iraheta sails through the top five!
Wednesday April 29, 2009
by Alex Abri

The results for the top five contestants on American Idol are in and Allison Iraheta not only made it through to another week she sailed through into the top two.

Ryan Seacrest announced there were over 47 million votes cast last night and questioned the judges on yesterday's performances. Simon Cowell said this is the most open competition yet. Any one could win.

Allison and Danny both celebrated Birthdays this week. The Idols got together to bake a cake and it ended up in a hilarious food fight between Danny and Allison. After the food-fight clip Ryan (jokingly?) handed Danny a bill for $6,000 to clean it up.

It looks like Allison and Danny got their Birthday wishes. They were the first two to be safe. A shocked audience groaned as Adam joined the bottom three this week.

Jamie Foxx was the mentor this week for the Songs from the Standards Rat Pack Era. Natalie Cole was the guest singer for the night along with Taylor Hicks who returned to the Idol stage to debut a song from his second album after winning in Season 5 of American Idol. The band was awesome tonight on all scores!

After a very tense show Matt Giraud became the first Idol to be eliminated three times on American Idol.

Allison will be back next week to sing two songs in the Rock theme which will be mentored by Slash.

One thing is plainly evident about next week, Allison will ROCK!

                                                                                                                               
Allison Iraheta's Classmates Say She Keeps Her Talent Under Wraps
'She would never want us to hear her sing,' one friend says of 'American Idol' finalist.
From MTV.com Apr 28 2009 7:49


You might guess from the way she tears into songs on "American Idol" that Allison Iraheta is not the shy type. Her prodigious talent is not surprising, given that she's been singing most of her life.

But her strong run on the show was somewhat of a surprise to her high school pals at Los Angeles' Animo Ralph Bunche Charter High School, who described her as very outgoing but not in-your-face about her talent   read more

                                                                                                                               
Allison Iraheta's Family Watch 'Idol' Hopeful 'Living Her Dream'
From MTV.com- Apr 22 2009

"LOS ANGELES — Allison Iraheta is setting the "American Idol" stage on fire all by herself. The 16-year-old dynamo has consistently wowed the judges with her powerful pipes and preternaturally mature attitude. But just in case, her family gathers every week to cheer her on and wear out their fingers voting for the singer who grew up wanting to be the next Kelly Clarkson."    read more

By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Lisa Gonzalez

                                                                                                                               
Allison Iraheta is the 'Only Hope' for the Girls on American Idol
 by Revelationz
Associated Press- April 15, 2009
 

Simon: "We Could See You All the Way to the End Now"

"Although she is only a junior in high school, you would never know it by hearing her sing. American Idol hopeful Allison Iraheta held her own against the men last night on Fox's American Idol. 16-year-old Iraheta
Allison Iraheta is the 'Only Hope' for the Girls on American Idol has wowed the judges once again with her rocking rendition of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". Even gruff, and sometime harsh judge Simon had praise for the young chanteuse. Being less than impressed with Iraheta's toughest female competitor Lil Rounds, Simon said, "I think, Allison, you are the girls' only hope in the competition." He went on to add, "We could see you all the way to the end now."
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