American dreamers

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Her face streaked with tears, Aleshia Rowe, 19, is having trouble accepting that she won't be the next "American Idol."

"They said my pitch was off so it was a definite no," Rowe, a South End resident said. She sang "Angel" by Amanda Perez and "they didn't aske me to sing another one...I was shocked. I've been singing since Kindergarten. I'm going to go home and cry my eyes out."

She's not sure she's up for trying out again next year.

Her supportive parents were at their crying daughter's side. "I told her she wasn't the only one who got eliminated," her dad said.

Her parents cited Aleshia's cold as the reason for her rejection.



Josh Treadwell, 23, another rejected contestant, saw Aleshia crying and offered her some empathy.

"It's going to be alright baby," he said to her. Treadwell, who came from Wilmington, North Carolina, is quiote confused as to why he wasn't chosen.

"I know I can sing," he said. "I just wonder what they're looking for."

Treadwell said the judges praised him and encouraged him to keep singing, but they also said they alrady had too many good baritone voices in the competition.

He sang "Desperado" by the Eagles and Travis Tritt's "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde." He was ambarrassed to tell his mom, who had to scrape to give her son busfare and money for a hotel, that he didn't get through. He called her on his cell, and he said she was very sweet and understanding.

Josh Treadwell's kindness seemed to have an effect on Aleshia Rowe.

"I'm not letting my dream die," she proclaimed.