Portland drag performer Conor Tubbs has been telling anyone who will listen this week that he’s on the new season of the Fox show “American Idol,” but he couldn’t prove it Thursday night.

Tubbs, a singer who performs under the name Cherry Lemonade, hosted a viewing party at the Styxx nightclub in Portland Thursday, with a hundred or so friends and fans crammed into the nightclub’s dimly lit bar to see him on TV.

But when the two-hour episode ended at 10 p.m., Tubbs had not appeared. Not even once.

“What the (expletive) just happened here?” said Tubbs, 27, over a microphone when the show ended. “I had no idea, really. I wouldn’t have made you come out to Styxx for nothing.”

Tubbs, wearing a braided brown wig and a multi-colored leotard reminiscent of the “Partridge Family” bus, said he was told by the show’s producers his audition would likely be on Thursday. But while talking to the crowd and standing in a deejay booth, he checked his emails and saw that more auditions from Kansas City, Missouri, would air next Wednesday. Kansas City is where Tubbs said he auditioned for the show’s celebrity judges.

The crowd didn’t seem to mind coming to a party for Tubbs that he failed to appear at, on TV anyway. When he asked the crowd if they’d come back Wednesday to watch with him again, the answer was cheering and applause.

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“They didn’t tell me this was going to happen,” said Tubbs, apologizing again for not being on the show.

Tubbs did audition for the show. There’s an “American Idol” video on his Facebook page showing Tubbs auditioning for the show’s celebrity judges – Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. – and singing the song “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse.

He performed without a wig and wearing a modest top and slacks instead of a full-length gown. But he did wear some eye-catching make-up.

While Styxx patrons watched “American Idol” they cheered loudly at times, and grew quiet at the times when Tubbs announced he was going to dish some inside information on some of the singers. He pointed out one contestant with two stripes painted on his face and said that when he came in, the singer only had a small triangle on his face but producers asked him to enhance it.

Tubbs also said the skyline backgrounds seen behind the judges are fake, that they are just video images. He also pointed out a conversation between contestants he said was staged.

People who came out to support Tubbs Thursday ranged from his former co-workers at Renys department store in Portland and a former teacher, to family, other singers, and Styxx patrons.

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“I always liked having him in class, he’s just a very upbeat, entertaining kid,” said Sandy Whitmore, who was Tubbs’ art teacher at South Portland High School.

“I think it’s wonderful that he’s on the show, representing Portland, especially as diverse and unique as he is,” said Lauren Kennedy, 21, a Portland photographer.

Tubbs was among 1,000 people who auditioned in Portland in July, and among about a dozen who advanced to further auditions in larger cities. So any of those people could show up on episodes this season, though Fox won’t reveal who they are.

Besides Tubbs, one other southern Maine contestant to step forward has been Kristin Korda, 22, of Saco, who was Miss Maine 2013. She advanced to an audition in New York City, and doesn’t know when her audition might air.

This season of “American Idol” began Wednesday on the Fox network and will last into May. During January the episodes will feature audition highlights, showing people either being sent home or advancing to the next round of auditions in Hollywood. In February the Hollywood round will likely air, and later episodes will show the field being pared to 48 and then 24 singers. The weekly elimination episodes featuring people singing entire songs will likely beginning airing in March.

The timing is not certain since Fox has not released a schedule of episodes.

But if Tubbs does advance, it’s certain he’ll let people know.


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