Skyline Grad Advances on 'American Idol'

Bay City News Service—Two Bay Area singers are advancing to the next round in the televised singing competition American Idol.

During Wednesday night's episode of the show's 12th season, contestants were given "golden tickets" to go to Hollywood for the chance to become finalists, including an Oakland native and a Concord high school teenager.

Kamaria Ousley, who graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland in 2001, will continue competing for a chance to be a musical star, something she discussed in an American Idol interview posted on YouTube Wednesday. She said she was "excited" and "elated" to receive the ticket.

"I thought this is another step toward my goal," she said in the interview. The Oakland native asserted, "There's no one like me," while exuding confidence that she will continue to move forward in the competition. According to her Facebook page, she graduated from the Berklee School of Music in Boston in 2005.

A younger contestant, 16-year-old Briana Oakley, also made it to the next round after performing in Long Beach, Calif., during Wednesday's episode.

She sang "Up to the Mountain" by Patty Griffin and talked about being bullied when she was younger and growing up in Antioch.

She now attends Carondelet High School in Concord, where a staff member from the dean's office said this morning that Oakley's success on the show is "very exciting for us." Carondelet is all-girls Catholic school.

The show's latest audition episode was continuing Thursday night on Fox.

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