‘Idol’ likes Temple student who had a Vatican gig

A young Philadelphia woman who sang regularly at the Vatican and a Nazareth, Pa. band member who broke both wrists falling from a tree were among the those given golden tickets to Hollywood on the season premiere of American Idol last night.

The two hours of Boston auditions, though, showed only snippets of Claire Fuller singing "To Be With You" by rock band Mr. Big, then celebrating making the next round.

But the 2004 Germantown Friends grad has already had an interesting singing career.

As a Temple student in Rome, she performed as a soprano soloist at the Vatican for two years, according to a 2005-2006 university newsletter. "She has sung in front of thousands in St. Peter's Square and has also performed at Pope John Paul's morning benedictions and in the Sistine Chapel for the initiation celebration of new cardinals," the newsletter said.

She's now a senior undergrad at Temple's School of Communications and Theater, where she's been especially active in musical theater, said a university spokesman.

Getting far more face time was Tyler Grady, who got approval from judges for his casual retro look with shaggy hair and jeans.

More narrative to do was made of the casts he wore on both wrists, injured from a fall out of a tree he didn't really explain.

After singing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On," he got the invite to Hollywood, as did more than a dozen other hopefuls.

Grady's band, Wailing Waters, bills itself on MySpace as "a dynamic rock pentasome steeped in old timey rock n' roll."

At the other end of the spectrum - part of the season's warmup misfit parade - was Norberto Guerrero of Reading, Pa., sporting long black hair and a fuzzy chin. The judges liked his singing of "Every Time We Touch" even less than his look. And not just because he kept forgetting the lyrics.

"You sing like a 3-year-old girl, you look like LaToya Jackson ... the whole thing was too weird," said judge Simon Cowell.

Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham was the first of a series of guest judges to join regulars Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. Ellen DeGeneres will join the panel further into the season.