Massachusetts #Idol: Are you voting for Cape Cod's Siobhan Magnus or Chelsea's Ashley Rodriguez?
So those Boston auditions paid off -- AMERICAN IDOL's Season 9 not only brought us one of the year's most memorable audition fails, we've now got two hometown girls in the Top 12. In terms of cross-town rivalries, this might be better than Mets-Yankees.
SIOBHAN MAGNUS: a lilywhite glass-blowing apprentice from Cape Cod with an EDWARD GOREY tattoo (Cape goth pride!), the recent Barnstable High grad came out and sang the misfits national anthem, "Wicked Game" -- yep, the Chris Isaac song that everyone remembers from its starring role in David Lynch's twisted Wild at Heart. This is pretty much the biggest thing to happen to the entire island since Ted Kennedy died. Just ask the Cape Cod Times, who are covering this like the Olympics.
ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ: raised in Chelsea and recently graduated from Berklee College of Music, where she'd been awarded a full scholarship, Ashley's filling the Jordin Sparks memorial slot, awarded each year to a deservingly perky woman of color. After making it through Hollywood week on the strength of a closing-day version of Jordin's "Battlefield," tonight she went toe-to-toe with Leona Lewis's "Happy," with not entirely joyful results.
Translation: city versus burbs. Commercial pop versus old-New-England "authenticity." Mainland versus island. Happy versus sad, for chrissakes! Which are you choosing? Show us your Twitter!