Ramiele says goodbye to American Idol

It’s the end of the road for Filipino-American singer Ramiele Malubay’s American Idol (AI) journey. She is the recent AI hopeful to be voted out from the competition. Only eight contestants remain: David Archuleta, Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, David Cook, Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado, Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook.

It was Dolly Parton night and all nine finalists sang their own versions of hits from the country legend’s songbook, as seen on Q-11. Malubay, the petite former sushi bar waitress from Miramar, Florida, sang the Parton-penned song Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?

Judge Paula Abdul praised Ramiele and said, “You really had a great minute-and-thirty-seconds and you connected with the audience and you were having fun.” However, Randy Jackson, wasn’t as positive. “I wasn’t jumpin’ up and down but I wasn’t mad at you either, man. It was kinda alright,” he said as he rated the performance a six and a half out of 10.

The most biting comments directed towards the 20-year-old’s performance that night came from, of course, Simon Cowell. “Overall I thought it was forgettable, and I think it was very reminiscent of something you would see and hear on a cruise ship.” Actually, although Parton herself was all praises, it wasn’t quite a good night for most of the contestants as far as the judges were concerned. Most of the contestants received lukewarm to bad reviews from the judges. Cowell seemed to be in a particularly cranky mood. When Jackson finally complimented one of the contestants (Smithson) by dubbing her number “one of the better performances of the night,” Cowell dissed, not her vocals, but her wardrobe choices.

Ramiele is the seventh Fil-Am on American Idol’s seven seasons to make it to the Top 24. The others are Brad Estrin from Season 1, Jordan Segundo from Season 2, Jasmine Trias and Camile Velasco from Season 3, Jose “Sway” Peñala from Season 5 and AJ Tablado from Season 6. Trias went as far as third place, the highest ever for a Fil-Am.

Auditioning in Miami for Season 7, Ramiele hoped to at least match Trias’ record. She sang Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman and wowed the judges. Abdul thought that she was a fine singer and a fine performer and added, “I think you’re phenomenal.” “I was impressed,” Jackson told Ramiele. “You definitely have a big voice for a very cute, smaller girl.” Cowell wasn’t as impressed. He told her, “I think you’re a good singer. I don’t think you’re a contemporary singer. I think you’re more like a hotel singer.” But Ramiele got her golden ticket to Hollywood anyway, thanks to two yes votes coming from Jackson and Abdul.

Ramiele, who started singing at  12, has been surprising people with her big voice, despite the diminutive appearance. On the official American Idol website, she mentions Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Lani Misalucha and Regine Velasquez as her musical influences.

She is grateful that her parents and her family are supportive of her. “If I ever have a singing gig or whatever in Orlando, in Tampa, or whatever, they’ll take the day off from work or the weekend off,” Ramiele said in the introduction video posted at the official AI website. “Then, they’ll drive me there. It’s a lot of money, you know, gas isn’t cheap anymore. They’ll just drive me anywhere and take me shopping for clothes.”

Over the course of the AI competition, Ramiele slowly gained popularity. When she sang Dusty Springfield’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, she received raves across the board. Jackson dubbed the performance “classy, almost like a pro.” Abdul told Malubay that she was “a force to be reckoned with,” and Cowell told her, “Tonight, you out-sang every single person.”

“It’s not like I wanna be famous,” Ramiele, who took a break from her nursing course, mused on the AI intro video. “But I wanna represent Asian people and I wanna just live my dream.”

She added, “If I don’t become the next American Idol, I really don’t think I’m gonna get discouraged or anything, and be like, ‘I’m never gonna sing again.’ I mean of course it’s a big experience. You learn from all these... You just take what you learned and grow from it.”

Parton said it best when she said this of Ramiele, “The fact that she’s little ain’t gonna stop her from doing big things,” Parton said.

Catch American Idol’s earliest regional feed Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6 p.m. on Q-11. Same day replays are at 8:30 p.m.