Oklahoma Christian alum — and her puppet — raise eyebrows on ‘American Idol’

Halie Hilburn, Auditions Oklahoma ~ American… by HumanSlinky
The good news: Halie Hilburn earned a coveted “golden ticket” to Hollywood on the Jan. 31 episode of “American Idol.”
The bad news: Her puppet, Oscar, didn’t.
Hilburn, a 2008 graduate of Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City and a ventriloquist since age 9, raised the eyebrows of the show’s judges — Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban — during the show’s Oklahoma City auditions. She performed a song alongside her hand-puppet dog Oscar.
But Hilburn earned her invitation to Hollywood when she set aside Oscar and sang a few lines from Gavin DeGraw’s “More Than Anyone.”
Here’s more information from Oklahoma Christian:

Halie Hilburn (Photo provided by Oklahoma Christian University)

Hilburn, who hails from Vernon, Texas, graduated with honors from Oklahoma Christian in 2008 with a degree in liberal studies.
She was a member of OC’s touring cover band, Summer Singers, and performed in Spring Sing, OC’s annual student-produced variety show. Like her older sister Corlie (Swan) Agnew, she was voted Homecoming Queen at Oklahoma Christian.
All three of the Swan siblings graduated from Oklahoma Christian. Corlie earned a degree in marketing and management in 2006, and followed that up with an MBA degree in leadership and organizational management in 2007. The youngest of the sisters, Whitnie (Swan) Huser graduated from OC in 2010 with a degree in public relations.

See the full news release.

Halie Hilburn and Oscar audition for “American Idol.” (Photo via www.americanidol.com)

• Feedback
  Halie is a beautiful young lady and her personality is so sweet. She can sing as good as anyone! Her family appears to be so loving and supporting! The puppet is good and she does a great job with him. The judges need to be replaced because they are so demeaning to the participants on their show. I love her husband!!!!

  jerry wheeler

  February, 5 2013

  Congratulations from one Summer Singer to another (1984-85).

  Barrett Vanlandingham

  February, 7 2013

  I loved her performance, and I liked the puppet! She is very talented!

  Susie Tidwell

  February, 8 2013