Friends and fans gathered at the Rathskeller Tuesday night to support sophomore Alex Wagner-Trugman in his quest to be in the final 12 for “American Idol.” The Miami Hurricane and WSVN 7, the local Fox affiliate, covered the party at the Rat. Unfortunately, Alex was unable to advance and was not asked back to come back for the wild card round.
Alex performed in Group 3 Tuesday evening and was third in line to perform.
Right after the commercial break, host Ryan Seacrest opened up sitting next to Alex while the sophomore told the nation about how he read online reports about how dorky he was. Alex said he now spends a lot of time in the gym “to fill out a shirt like Simon [Cowell]” while doing very short reps of very light weights.
The show then cut to a video clip of Alex’s experience on “American Idol.” Alex continued to sarcastically mock his relationship with Simon Cowell, claiming they are very close.
Because he has been in a long distance relationship for a long time, Alex sang Elton John’s romantic “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.” Alex comically proclaimed that he could be anyone’s long distance boyfriend for the evening.
Alex went on to perform and his infectious emotion had the crowd on his side. He purposely moved away from the standing microphone to show his entertaining character and lively dance moves. Alex finally took the microphone to close out his performance and accidentally knocked down the microphone stand.
The judges railed on Alex despite his endearing personality. Paula Abdul said as an entertainer, Alex gives his money’s worth. Simon called the performance stupid and described Alex as “a little hamster trying to be a tiger.” Randy Jackson called it “crazy in a buckwild sort of way,” but admitted Alex can sing. Although Alex will not proceed, Kara DioGuardi best summed up his performance when she said, “Alex, at least you do you.”