In a recent post, a visitor left me a comment that involved the racial politics of American Idol. It got me thinking about the first major accusation of racism against the show (not that I am implying that racism is present, I’m just asking an open-ended question).

When Jennifer Hudson was voted off, there was such a public uproar that the question of racism was immediately raised. Even Elton John got involved in the debate, despite the fact that, of the six remaining contestants, at the time, three were black (Fantasia Barrino, La Toya London and George Huff). Ruben Studdard, also …read more

One of the things we found out in last week’s show as Fantasia was the special guest was that she is going to stary as Celie in the Broadway production of “The Color Purple“. I think this is a great move and will hopefully expand her arena for fans and show the world that she is very talented outside of just singing hip-hop. Anyone remember “Summertime”, one of my absolute, all-time-favorite Idol moments.
 

Just a quick screen grab of Fantasia performing “Hood Boy” on The Ellen Degeneres Show today. As soon as the YouTube video finishes processing that I uploaded. I’ll add that to the post.
Update: I messed up something on the video grab. So, no video from me. You can check out this professional video of “Hood Boy” though on a previous post.

Fantasia Barrino will be making an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show today (Friday, January 5th, 2007).

It’s free from IdolStalker.com folks. Just a quick little contest you need to enter to grab your own copy of Fantasia Barrino’s sophomore release. Did I mention it’s autographed?
I’ve got a couple of autographed copies of Fantasia’s latest album to give away. I’ve only got one problem, I can’t think of a good contest to host to give them away. So, here’s a contest in search of a contest.
If you think of a great contest idea, let me know by e-mailing me or posting it in the comments section of this post. If I choose your contest idea you’ll …read more

Can’t believe I missed this one after highlighting that Fantasia’s album was available on December 12th. Taylor Hick’s full album was available on the 12th as well.
I’ve got his music playing in the background as I’m working on the computer. I think if you liked Taylor before, this album just continues the feel good music and showcases his talent as an artist.
I really like “The Runaround” and “The Right Place”.

I’ve got a couple of autographed copies of Fantasia’s latest album to give away. I’ve only got one problem, I can’t think of a good contest to host to give them away. So, here’s a contest in search of a contest. If you’ve got a blog and you’re a American Idol fan, write a post about your favorite American Idol and link back to the Idol Stalker website. I’ll pick a winner from those submitted. Be sure and let me know in the comments to this post that you’ve written a post on your site and I’ll be sure and …read more

Fantasia Barrino, American Idol Season 3 winner, releases her 2nd album today. It’s a self-titled release and you can hear a taste of her sound by clicking here and checking out this e-card.
From the clip, it sounds like this album is going to be fully of energy and movement. Overall, not my style of music, but it sounds really good. She still can’t get better than her version of “Summertime” in my opinion. I must be turning into an old geezer or something. Don’t know though, keep listening to additional tracks and really like what I’m hearing.
What’s really interesting …read more

Fantasia Barrino, American Idol winner on Season 3 has snagged a number of hip-hop stars to help her on her sophomore album release entitled, “Fantasia”.
R&B vocalist Fantasia will return Dec. 12 with her self-titled sophomore album, due via J/19. The disc boasts collaborations with producers Missy Elliott, Swizz Beatz and Babyface, as well as songwriters Diane Warren and Sean Garrett, among others.
Lead single “Hood Boy” featuring Big Boi of OutKast was produced by Tone Mason and written by singer/songwriter Johnta Austin.
Source: Billboard – Fantasia Ropes in Big Boi, Missy for Second Disc

Fantasia Barrino’s dad has sued the publisher, Simon & Schuster, of Fantasia’s memoirs “Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairytale”. He claims that the information was false and inaccurate. Seems pretty interesting that a dad would say that about his daughter, until you also realize he says the book was actually written by Fantasia’s grandmother, Addie Collins.
Joe Barrino, a truck driver and a musician himself, is claiming that, although his daughter is listed as the book’s author, it was the singer’s grandmother, pastor Addie Collins, who actually penned the story. The details that granny supposedly fudged include a description of Joe …read more