RAY MICKSHAW/FOX
"The fact that they showed me messing up and almost breaking down and crying in front of the cameras kept me humble. But there's no shame in that. It was a rough competition." --Jonah Moananu
Moananu’s the man
Hawaii's king of rhyme
puts his talent on the line
tonight on "American Idol"
Jonah Moananu was taking the chance of a lifetime, and all he could think about was the perspiration forming on his brow. The burly 21-year-old "American Idol" hopeful, with his booming voice and broad smile, charmed celebrity judge Paula Abdul during last fall's Honolulu auditions at the Sheraton Waikiki but fell short of earning a nod from judge Randy Jackson. With his fate in the hands of Simon Cowell, the show's notoriously merciless arbiter, Moananu told himself to put on a good face for the cameras, should he fail to gain the second of three endorsements needed to move on to the competition's finals in Los Angeles.
"American Idol":
Airs 7 p.m. today on KHON/Fox
"Unfortunately, the decision is up to me," deadpanned Cowell.
"My heart sank," recalls Moananu. "I figured I was done and I was going home. I tried my best to gather myself right there, at that moment."
Cowell then dropped the bomb on Moananu. "Congratulations," he said. "You're going to Hollywood."
"I lost it, man," recalls Moananu, who was caught by the television cameras racing from the judges' chamber, seizing host Ryan Seacrest in a bear hug and hoisting him off his feet. "Yeah, I was ecstatic."
It was easily the most thrilling moment in Moananu's life.
"Just doing a contest on this level nationally is crazy," he says, expelling a sigh of relief. "I'm still trying to take it all in."
Of the 80,000 competitors who attended "American Idol's" regional bouts across the country last year, a scant 140 advanced to Hollywood, where judges further pared down the contestants to 32, or four elite groups of eight. Following a nationwide call-in vote each Tuesday evening, the two biggest crowd-pleasers in each group move on. Moananu's performance will be put to vote tonight.
THOUGH NO STRANGER to performing before audiences -- Moananu teaches drama at the Farrington High-based Alliance for Drama Education -- the process, he says, is rather unnerving.
RAY MICKSHAW/FOX
The next group of eight contestants perform on "American Idol" tonight on Fox. Clockwise from top are Eric Yoder, Amy Adams, Charly Lowry, Elizabeth LeTendre, LaToya London, Jon Peter Lewis, Leah LaBelle and Jonah Moananu.
"You got the top singers from all across America. Different attitudes, different styles, different types of voices. You try to figure out where you fit in and try not to compare yourself with the other contestants, but seeing all this talent all in one place with everybody vying for one spot is probably the most nerve-racking thing."
Catching himself on television for the first time was quite an experience as well.
"I just joke around and tell people I actually weigh 150 pounds, but the camera adds a good 600, 700," he chuckles. "It was a trip because you don't even know if they're going to show you at all. So you just kinda kick back and hope they show a few clips of you.
"The fact that they showed me messing up and almost breaking down and crying in front of the cameras kept me humble. But there's no shame in that. It was a rough competition."
HAVING BEEN CROWNED Hawaii's king of rhyme by earning top honors in the Island Freestyle Championships, 808 State MC Battle and various car show rap-offs, Moananu, undefeated over the past year, is certainly an old pro when it comes to talent contests.
A less-than-stellar impromptu rhyming exhibition at the behest of "AI" producers immediately following his go-ahead has been his only regret in an otherwise worthy performance.
"I still get knocked on that, 'cause that was a pretty wack freestyle," admits Moananu with a giggle. "But I was just so excited that it didn't even matter. Stuff just started falling out of my mouth, so it was all good."
As Hawaii's lone representative this week, Moananu feels the pressure to perform well but knows that his destiny ultimately rests with the American viewing audience.
"If it makes the people of Hawaii proud, then I'm glad. If it makes my family proud, I'm glad," he states. "But I'm just going to try to do my thing. People can love it or not. We just have to see how it goes."
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Voting puts pressure on
nation’s phone system
We can't vouch that all Hawaii phone calls made to the switchboard of "American Idol" last Tuesday were for Camile Velasco, but Verizon Hawaii counted 1.5 million calls made to the nation's largest talent competition, marking an 11.5 percent increase over normal land-line phone traffic, and the biggest increase in the company's call volume nationwide.
As a result, many callers were greeted with a mix of busy signals, no dial tones or the maddening "all circuits are busy" message.
The phone giant doesn't want to disappoint tonight as another Hawaii contender, Jonah Moananu, goes before the music-loving public.
Ann Nishida, a spokeswoman for Verizon, said, "Our system is designed to handle normal busy traffic, but something like 'American Idol' is an anomaly."
Even on Mother's Day, typically the busiest day of the year for phone traffic, Nishida said, "The phone calls are spread out over the day or weekend, and most people only talk to their mom once; but with 'American Idol,' the calls are concentrated in one period of time, and people can keep calling in.
"It's like having a freeway that's built to handle a certain amount of cars, but if everyone were to leave their house at the same time, you'd have gridlock. When the volume of calls is 400 times the traffic of our busiest days, some people will not get through."
For those trying to get through tonight, Nishida advised that those who get no dial tone should stay on the line until they get one.
"That means the system is searching for a vacant line, which takes less than a minute. Don't hang up, because what that does is send you to the back of the line when you call again."
In tracking the nationwide calls to "Idol," California had the second-largest increase in Verizon call volume, an increase of 3 percent.
"It speaks to the way Hawaii's people are so supportive of one another," Nishida said. "We're continuing to make adjustments to handle more calls."
For those planning to vote for Moananu, each "Idol" contestant tonight will be assigned his or her own toll-free number and text message short number during the show. Voting will open at the end of the show, at 8 p.m., and the lines will remain open for two hours.
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