Shelby Tweten auditions for American Idol

Bipolar teenager Shelby Tweten gave a wonderful audition at the Aspen tryouts for American Idol on tonight’s show. We’re not normally ones to be touched by the backstories on Idol, but to see a young girl struggling with depression and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is genuinely heartbreaking.

She says that her audition for the show has given her a reason to keep taking her medicine, and explains that without her meds she’s incoherent and “not myself”. The 17 year old from North Mankato, Minnesota says:

There’ve been times when I’ve had hyper-manic episodes. I’ll be shaking. I will stutter. I can’t control my body. And my mom will be like “Let’s sing together.” And that really helps.

I do want to show people that bipolar doesn’t define who you are.

Shelby auditions with Carrie Underwood’s Temporary Home. While she gives a sweet, tuneful vocal, it seems fairly clear that Shelby’s voice isn’t particularly outstanding. We were starting to get bored by the second half of the song, and even the judges – though they made vaguely positive noises – didn’t seem overly enthusiastic. Steven Tyler normally pulls a satisfied face when an auditionee really impresses him, and that look was absent here.

Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez lauded Shelby’s voice as beautiful and pretty, while Steven Tyler remarked “Somethin’ goin’ on up in Aspen.” Lopez added that Shelby brought tears to her eyes. Randy Jackson described her as “fearless as a singer”.

All in all, Shelby seems like a lovely kid, and her story touched us. But as a singer, we’re not sure she’s got a strong enough voice to be an American Idol winner. What did you lot think?

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