Ayla was on the show back in the days when I did a lot of "American Idol" blogging, so let's see what I said about her. It was 2006, the year Taylor Hicks won and Katherine McPhee was the top female.
February 7, 2006:
There was the beautiful basketballer Ayla Brown, who belted robotically but made it on athletic attitude. Simon said the brilliant words that could stand as a critique of the whole show: "There's something empty about it all."February 21, 2006:
Ayla Brown, the beautiful basketballer. She motivates herself by thinking about how Simon called her "robotic" and "empty." She's singing some cheesy song in a horribly cheesy style. Oh, it's something like "Reflection." It's harsh and abominable. She puts that pop-groan into it, but I'm not embarrassed for her, because she's so pretty and so tall. When she's done, she says, "I just feel so complete," as if she'd just had sex with herself. Appalling! But will the judges complain? Again with the praise. Is there no relenting? Simon calls her a "hard worker" with "a limit." But he credits her with "some emotion." Disgusting overpraise!March 7, 2006:
Ayla Brown is just atrocious but the judges are very kind to her, perhaps because she looks fabulous -- really tall! -- and was adorable in the film clip talking about how when she was a kid she believed her dad was Elvis Presley. They don't want her to go.March 9, 2006:
[M]y two picks to leave -- in the female category -- are in fact leaving. Ayla fights not to completely burst out crying. Oh, don't feel sorry for her. She's beautiful, tall, a basketball player, and a straight-A student. She'll be fine.Ha ha. Well, they are a lovely family, and they seem to know how to leverage their loveliness. Does Scott Brown deserve to be Senator? I don't know enough about him to say, but I certainly suspect that his extreme handsomeness is a good part of the reason why people are responding to him so enthusiastically.
