Local 'Idol' Ricky Braddy brings it

Rally the "Braddy Bunch" - Ricky's ready to rock it to the next round of "American Idol."

Ricky Braddy, 26, was the first of our two contestants from the greater Hampton Roads area to perform in Hollywood as part of group 1.

The Elizabeth City native was one of twelve contestants who performed Tuesday night, and I think it was good enough to get him to the next round. I was pretty impressed with his performance and his style was right on - maroon velvet blazer, t-shirt and dark fitted jeans. Hot. Love the preppy glasses!

Braddy fans can get the Braddy look at his fan site where they are selling t-shirts stating "I'm in the Braddy Bunch." (Which his parents were sporting backstage after his performance.)

The Judges had mixed reviews:

Simon said he didn't have any "star quality and that he was a nice, shy boy with a really good voice."

Randy said, "that was the way to kick off season 8!" and complimented him on picking a really hard song.

New judge Kara and Paula also gave him rave reviews. Kara said he "killed it" and Paula said, "Make no mistake - You deserve to go very far in this competition."

Ricky said "Song For You" was his favorite song to sing. And we enjoyed hearing it. It was smooth, tone was good and he sounded great and looked confident. Not a bad start for our local "Idol's!"

Ricky told Ryan Seacrest he went from selling chicken fingers to quitting his job and following what makes him happy. (Did he work at Chick-Fil-A?)

Oh and dude - Doogie Houser (Neil Patrick Harris!) was even smiling in the audience after his performance.

Have a listen to Ricky's performance:

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