Asia'H Epperson: The complete American Idol Season Seven journey.

For one contestant this season (Season Seven), the American Idol competition has been an incredible, soul searching journey. Contestant Asia'H Epperson, a bubbly 19-year old from Missouri who auditioned for American Idol in Atlanta, faced more of achallenge than most other applicants: the death of her Father only days before her audition.



Asia'H was successful in singing her way into the Top 8 Girls segment of the competition, however, to the surprise of many, her final performance, Whitney Houston's " I Wanna Dance With Somebody", failed to advance her any farther. Asia'H decided to ignore several warnings from some of the judges to avoid covering any Whitney Houston or Maria Carey songs, A decision that may have hurt her audience vote totals in the end.

Asia'H seems to have found a way to keep her elimination in perspective however: "You know, I'm a strong believer in everything happens for a reason, and I believe that God has a bigger and better plan for me, and Dad's just getting me through all of this, keeping that in my head."

When asked what plans she has for the foreseeable future, Asia'H definitely has some answers, "For me, I really believe the sky's the limit for me. I'm going to take every opportunity that I can. I've been in drama and things like that through middle school and high school, so maybe some acting, some commercials, maybe a little bit of modeling here and there, but definitely music, music, and music. Music is going to definitely stay in that. It's my heart and soul."

Asia'H Epperson is definitely one bright, young talent to keep an eye on.

Now on a more subjective note, it seems that recently there has been a steady increase in the amount of internet speculation on the idea that Asia'H could possibly be due for some kind of comeback on American Idol. The speculation runs that following a similar process used in past seasons of American Idol, that one or more of the more popular of the previously eliminated contestants could be brought back to give the remaining contestants a run for their money, so to speak. Asia'H Epperson wold definitely be one of the more popular of the already eliminated contestants on AI, and her ' happy go lucky ' personality would of course still be a welcome sight on the show ( not to mention the heart-wrenching story of the loss of her Father shortly before the Americasn Idol contest began).

You have to wonder, just what are the producers of American Idol planning to do next, and will it involve the talented miss Epperson..?

Asia'H Epperson: End of the American Idol journey.

Many American Idol viewers were surprised to see Asia'H Epperson eliminated from the popular television show on Thursday, March 6th. Epperson, a bubbly 19-year old from Missouri, said that she actually saw it coming: "I definitely think I deserve to be in the Top 12, but at the same time, when they told me that I was first, I actually called my mom at that moment, and was like I think this is going to be my last time performing on this stage."


Asia'H performed Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" at the start of the Wednesday night March 5th performance episode, and one night later she was heading home, short of the Top 12.

"I feel that, because I had such an upbeat song, that it wasn't proper for me to be the very first person," Epperson explains. "I had to look at it as if I was in the audience, and I just sat down, if I would want someone right up in my face, right there in the beginning saying "I want to dance with somebody." I'd be 'Whoa, hold on, I just got here. Let me get warmed up first.'"

Asia'H says that she is keeping her elimination - as well as her whole AI experience in perspective, considering the fact that her original audition for the Show came only days after learning of the death of her Father, who had been a strong suporter of her efforts to make it onto the show.

"You know, I'm a strong believer in everything happens for a reason, and I believe that God has a bigger and better plan for me, and Dad's just getting me through all of this, keeping that in my head."

Asia'h Epperson -- "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" - American Idol Season Seven

For the Top 8 Girls segment of the American Idol Season Seven competition, Asia'H Epperson chose the song, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". She received strong positive reviews from two of the three judges for her cover of the Whitney Houston classic, but not so positive feedback from a third:

Randy: "You proved tonight that you deserve to be here. That was hot!"

Paula: "You nailed it. You really nailed it."

Simon: "At best, it was 2nd rate Whitney Houston... and you couldn't hit the big notes at the end ... but it was good enough to make the Top 12."

Asia'h Epperson - "Piece Of My Heart" - American Idol Season Seven

In the Top 12 Girls round of Season Seven of American Idol, Asia'H Epperson decided upon "Piece Of My Heart" as the piece that she would perform. With this song, Asia'H showed a lot of soulful energy, appearing to feed off of the accompanying back up singers. All three of the judges appeared to feed off of her enthusiasm as well:

Randy: "I loved that you brought YOU to it ... you did your thing with it, I was impressed."

Paula: "You had some fun up there. You had some really good moments."

Simon: "For me, it was my favorite of the night. You let go ... you are not taking yourself too seriously: it's what its all about, you know?"

Asia'h Epperson - "I'm Going Down" American Idol Season Seven

The feedback and comments for Asia'H Epperson and her performance from the American Idol Judges was quite positive from all three this time around.

Simon: "Asia, your best audition by a mile. I loved it: I think you're terrific."

Randy: "Yes, yes, yes. I think you're brilliant."

Paula: * Nothing audible was said to Asia'H by her, but she stamped her feet while sitting at the table in a sign of agreement with Simon and Randy.

Asia'h Epperson - "All By Myself" - American Idol Season Seven

With this song, Asia'H Epperson was taking on a really big challenge: "All By Myself" is a song that, when covered by Celine Dionne, has once again in recent times become a huge commercial hit.

Asia'H met with nixed results; while the judges all gave her credit for making the effort (especially since she had recently been battling a severe cold), they were not all sold on her overall performance that night.

Randy: "You did a really good job with it, I thought. Nice."

Paula: "It was great ... you had problems with the low notes but the ending is what counts ... and you brought it home."

Simon: "You have got to be one heck of a singer to pull that off, and... unfortunately you're not."

Asia'h Epperson: the audition for American Idol Season Seven

American Idol viewers could not help but be moved early on, after witnessing the audition of Asia'H Epperson. Many must have also been fighting back a tear as Asia'H recounted for the camera the circumstances surrounding the tragic loss of her Father in a motor vehicle accident only days before the American Idol auditions in Atlanta. Her subsequent audition performance was so moving that even American Idol judge, Paula Abdul found herself fighting back tears afterwards, as seen in the above video clip.