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 African-American, had won the season before. Unfortunately, as is the case with most racial discussions, the two groups involved are usually Caucasians and African-Americans.

Do Other Groups Get Forgotten?

In the uproars and conspiracy theories that have been bestowed upon Idol in these past 6 seasons, one question remains – why have there been no Asian contestants in the top 12? While I definitely had not tapped him to win, I thought Paul Kim was good enough for the top 12. He certainly sang better than Alaina Alexander, Antonella Barba, Leslie Hunt, Nick Pedro and AJ Tabaldo. I guess America didn’t see it that way. Maybe that’s why Sanjaya sticks around. Aside from the fact that he is South Asian, his presence brings diversity to the predictable.

Since writing this post originally, one reader pointed out Jasmine Trias, who I remember being very proud of being Hawaiian (which can consist of any number of cultural backgrounds since Hawaii is known for it’s diverse population) but to the less discerning and vigilant viewer may not have recognized her as being Asian.  If there’s someone else, let me know!

Here are some sites I found this morning after searching the net for others who raised the same question (most were Asian themselves):

• Asian Guy’s American Idol (I’m not even kidding about the name!)
• Yahoo Discussion (wow, was that interesting reading…)
• 8 Asians
• Where Are All the Asians on American Idol (discussion thread)

If anyone finds anything interesting of the subject, send it over!

Source

Post from: Idol Stalker

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.

Post from: Idol Stalker

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.

Post from: Idol Stalker

Post from: Idol Stalker

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 automatically win a copy of Fantasia’s new album along with the winner of your proposed contest.

Here’s another option for winning. You could of course try to score some bonus points by writing your own review of the samples of Fantasia’s song on your own blog and link back to the IdolStalker.com website. You don’t have to, just giving you another way to win an album. If you follow the link on the video above you can see additional videos as well. I’m enjoying “Truth Is” right now.

So there’s three ways you can win Fantasia’s new album for your collection for free:

1. Give me a great contest idea and I’ll pick your idea above the others
2. Be the winner of the chosen contest idea
3. Write a review of a song on Fantasia’s newest album and link back to IdolStalker.com

So, get to thinking and writing and let me know. Either in the comments, or by emailing me directly.

Post from: Idol Stalker

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”.

Post from: Idol Stalker

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 check it out.

You could of course try to score some bonus points by writing your own review of the samples of Fantasia’s song on your post. You don’t have to, just giving you a topic idea. If you follow the link on the video above you can see additional videos as well. I’m enjoying “Truth Is” right now.

Here’s a second option. If you think of another great contest idea and I end up using your contest too, I’ll send you a copy of the CD and the eventual winner of your contest too. How’s that? Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments.

Post from: Idol Stalker

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 though is that Fantasia will be joining Jamie Foxx on tour for a couple of dates. So far, the ones confirmed are:

• December 29, 2006 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
• December 31, 2006 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
• January 6, 2007 Chicago, IL AllState Arena
• January 22, 2007 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
• February 16, 2007 Las Vegas, NV Aladdin Theater

Visit Fantasia’s official website for all the juicy details, wallpapers, buddy icons and more teaser tracks.

Post from: Idol Stalker

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

Post from: Idol Stalker

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 Barrino as being hostile to the music industry, a part where he asks his daughter for money, and the suggestion that his children’s music careers were more important to him than their education. (Fantasia has three brothers and their parents, Joe and Diane, are still married.)

You can read all the details here from the story from E!Online available on Yahoo!

Source: Fantasia’s Dad Sues over “Fairy Tale”

Post from: Idol Stalker