Vancouver's Britnee Kellogg plays a live show at Duke's in Portland, Thursday, as a taped American Idol show in which she appears airs.
The journey to become the next “American Idol” ended for Vancouver’s Britnee Kellogg on Thursday night’s broadcast.
Kellogg, the divorced mother of two young sons, had survived Wednesday night’s Hollywood round and was among the 70 semifinalists invited to Las Vegas, where the hopefuls were divided into groups and asked to choose a song to perform from a menu of 1950s-1960s tunes.
Kellogg, paired with Jessica Phillips and Courtney Williams in a group they called The Neapolitans, performed “You Just Keep Me Hangin’ On” in matching bright pink dresses.
The group was apparently the only one not to choose to practice with the band beforehand. Immediately after the performance, Phillips was cut from the competition, and Kellogg knelt and cried when she found out she had impressed judges Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez enough to advance.
But her luck was not to last. As the second day of Las Vegas taping closed, the contestants were brought back to be re-evaluated, and more cuts were made until only 42 contestants were left. Kellogg was one of those eliminated from the competition.
She walked off the stage, face in her hands.”I worked my butt off,” she said. “My every performance was perfect. I don’t get it. I don’t get it. This is my life; this is what I do. It’s crazy.”
Unlike the live shows yet to come, the Las Vegas preliminaries were taped some time ago. As the show aired Thursday night, Kellogg was on stage at Dukes Country Bar in Southeast Portland, where she was one of the featured acts in a concert that raised money for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
In an interview with Portland Fox affiliate KPTV, Kellogg said she left the competition more determined than ever to pursue a music career.
“I feel like I can do it,” said Kellogg. “I’ve heard ‘no’ so many times before in my life. Whatever happens, you move forward and try harder.”
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