:music: Hello all, just thought I would pop in and give you some news about some of the idols.
:birthday2: First up is best wishes to Ryan Starr from Season 1 who celebrated her 25th birthday on November 21st. Many of you may remember that she was indeed a risk taker during her season by choosing songs that showed her rock edge and also wearing her own fashions on the show. She made is to #7 and many were sad to see her go especially the judges. Since her idol days, she has done modeling, appeared on several television shows and launched her own swimsuit line known as "Chained". She still is persuing music as her single "My Religion" peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart. She is heavily involved in several charities and is now looking into doing a reality show based on her many struggles in the music business.
:birthday1: On November 30th Season 2 finalist Clay Aiken celebrated his 28th birthday. Many of you may not know this but on his season he was actually eliminated during the top 32 round and was brought back as a "wild card" contestant for his memorable performance of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John. Another memorable performance of this song was done on the finale of Season 5 when Clay surprised Michael Sandecki who had just won his "Golden Idol" of best impersonation of Clay.
Clay has had a very successful career since his idol days with 4 cds under his belt and having performed on 8 tours. His "Measure of a Man" cd debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts with 613,000 copies sold the first week making him the highest selling solo artist in the prior 10 years of the charts. He also has the honor of having the highest first week sales of any idol artist. He has also been heavily involved with several charities. Currently Clay will begin performing as Sir Robin in "Monty Python's Spamalot" beginning in January of 2008.
:bestwishes: to both of these talented people!
:angel: Three previous idol contestants will be performing in the Intiman theatre production of "Black Nativity" in Seattle. They include Sanjaya Malakar of Season 6, Karma Johnson of Season 1 and Leah LaBelle of Season 3. This annual holiday event runs from November 28th through December 28th. Each of the idol alumnus will be performing a solo during 2 of the performances. Also noteworthy is all three singers are involved in the Total Experience Gospel Choir. :thumbsup: to all of you!
:( On a sadder note I am sorry to say Jessica Sierra of Season 4 is having lots of problems which involved the law. On December 1st she was arrested for disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, felony battery and possession of cocaine. This arrest comes less than 2 weeks after she pleaded no contest to charges of battery and possession of cocaine from an April arrest. Having made the top 10 of that season she was a real hit on the tour and is best known for her rendition of "Total Eclipse of The Heart" which was featured on the Idol cd of that year. In July of 2005, Jessica entered a re-hab program which was to be documented on a the VH1 reality show "Celebrity ReHab with Dr. Drew". It is suppose to air sometime in early 2008. :pray: I am hoping and praying that this very talented young lady will be able to overcome these current problems and once again emerge into a successful future.
:bye: That's it for the current news and I hope each and everyone of you are enjoying all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season! :grouphug:
Thanks for the tidbits! Always good to catch up on previous idols. I always keep track of Clay though!
Unfortunately, it seems like Jessica is in the news only for the wrong reasons.
http://www.usmagazine.com/american_idol_fi...sierra_arrested
:omg: She looks awful in that picture. My goodness I hope she gets help soon as I think she is a wonderful talent and I hate to see anyone throw their life away like that.
:pray: I will certainly keep her in my prayers.
Omg, when the picture loaded I was shocked.
She looks so different than she did before - I remember my mom used to LOVE her outfits on the show. Poor Jessica. :C