Joelle James

Murrieta 'American Idol' contestant cut from pool
The Californian-North County Times, February 14, 2007
By John Hall

For Murrieta's Joelle James, the road to become an "American Idol" has come to an end.

At least for now.

On Wednesday night's episode of the nation's No. 1-rated television show, the 16-year-old Murrieta Valley High junior didn't make it into the Top 24 performers.

After making it into the final 40 from tens of thousands who auditioned across the country, Joelle learned her fate on the Fox television show when the cuts were made at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Nearly 45 minutes into the episode, viewers finally learned Joelle's fate while she sat in a chair in the middle of the room and faced judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

"Joelle, you are a wonderfully talented girl, however, you did not make it through," Abdul told her.

A disappointed Joelle was then shown hugging her mother after returning to the waiting room with the news.

Neither on Wednesday's episode nor one broadcast earlier this week from "Hollywood Week" were viewers given the chance to hear Joelle sing.

That was disappointing to both Joelle's mother, Julie, and Jon Laskin, the founder of Musicians Workshop in Temecula, who began working with Joelle when she was just 8 years old.

"That was heart-wrenching," Laskin said after Wednesday's episode. "Joelle is such a great talent."

The day of the cut to the Top 24 actually happened a couple of weeks ago, Julie Jones said Wednesday, and life goes on for her talented teen daughter.

Joelle was out on a Valentine's Day date while others watched and waited to see if she made the cut.

In some thoughts she wrote down about not continuing on with "American Idol" read by her mother, Joelle said: "Please don't feel sorry for me. I'm still standing tall and stronger than ever.

"The outcome of 'American Idol' is just one more stepping stone in my journey," Joelle said. "I still have a lot of songs in my heart and I'm going to keep singing them."

Her mother said it's Joelle's call whether she will again compete on "American Idol."

After the Top 24 decision was made, the two spoke about that very thing, Julie James said, and Joelle told her, "It just wasn't my time.

"She told me that, even knowing the outcome, she'd do it again," her mother said, adding that it was a great learning experience for Joelle.

"We're all very proud of her," Julie James said. "We know this is a decision we have to live with and we put the rest in God's hands."

Laskin says he believes "American Idol" has an image in mind of whom they want to win and Joelle didn't fit the one for this season.

"I think they're grooming her to come back," he said. "You can't keep having the same type of person winning time after time. I believe that if she did the show again, she'd go further.

"This is just another feather in her cap. I know she'll have, she does have, a career in this business."

He added with a laugh, "It's a TV show, it's not real."

Joelle's talents have been well-known in Southwest County for years. She has been seen and heard at local venues and has performed the national anthem before sporting events for the Padres, Chargers, Angels and Ducks.

Joelle made it into the intense competition of "American Idol" after being one of 20 performers selected from a pool of about 15,000 who also auditioned in September.

Starting next week, "American Idol" judges will begin whittling down the two dozen remaining contestants through several weeks of competitions broadcast on the Fox network.

Then, it will be up to America to vote for their favorite performer to be the next winner. The chosen one will earn a recording contract and a ready-made audience from weeks of national television exposure.

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