Carly Smithson, Michael Johns Likely to Open As American Idol Favorites in Home Country

With American Idol naming its 24 finalist Wednesday night, two contestants in particular really stand out in the whole betting realm of things: Carly Smithson and Micahel Johns.  The reason is simple: Smithson comes to us from Ireland while Johns comes from the land down under, Australia.  Both are likely to be made the national favorites at their respective country online bookmakers.

For Ireland, we look at Paddy Power, which is almost certain to be offering betting odds on American Idol come Thursday.  If they don't open Smithson as a favorite, punters are surely going to push the number down that way.  And this push is likely to become more powerful as the weeks progress (assuming Smithson can stay in the competition).

Johns Australian followers will be able to watch his performance and it is assumed that in both countries, fans of the two Idol wannabes will be able to vote each week. 

Carly Smithson is also known as Carly Hennessy.  She signed with MCA Records in June 1999 and recorded eight songs for her début album with producer Steve Dorff, with whom she had already recorded the demo that got her the attention of MCA president Jay Boberg in the first place. However, both Hennessy and MCA were unsatisfied with the songs, finding they sounded too much like Barbra Streisand for the album's target teen audience. Thus, MCA hired producer Gregg Alexander in early 2000, who had been the lead singer of the New Radicals and since written and produced several hit singles in Europe for, among others, Ronan Keating. Alexander produced four songs for the album, which he had co-written with former child actress Danielle Brisebois, with whom he had also previously worked on several other projects, including Brisebois' two solo albums. Brisebois, who had never worked as a producer before, also produced several more tracks for the album, including songs from her unreleased second album Portable Life.

In late 2007, as "Carly Smithson," as she got married, becoming a naturalized citizen, tried out for Idol again. After the audition, Simon Cowell said to her "That wasn't as good as two years ago." but she still passed the audition and is "on her way to Hollywood" as of January 2008. Carly offically made it to the top 12 girls therefore she is going to be preforming live. She has a 1 in 24 chance of being the American Idol.

Michael Johns is already becoming a hit in Australia.  The Perth-born singer fronts a band called The Rising.  He moved to the US and married a Texas girl. 

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