Besides Bikini Girl, the surprise win of Kris Allen, the is-he-or-isn't-he debate regarding Adam Lambert, and the complete absence of a contestant with a surname of Archuleta, there were still plenty of things worth watching during the most recent season of "American Idol."
And all -- with the lamentable exception of Bikini Girl -- will be on display Tuesday at the E Center, when the 10 finalists of "Idol's" 2009 season will perform individually and in group numbers in a live version of America's No. 1 television show.
For the second straight year, one of those finalists hailed from Utah: The blond-tressed and sleeve-tattooed Megan Joy, a 23-year-old single mother from Sandy with the odd "corkscrew" dance and the smoky voice. She didn't reach the heights of Murray's David Archuleta, who finished second in the 2008 season, but still made the Top 10 to join her fellow finalists on the summer tour.
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune , Joy said she was most excited about the tour, because it will provide her enough money so she and her 2-year-old son can move out of her mother's house.
Despite being known as the always cheerful eye-candy who would caw like a bird at random moments, Joy said mixed messages by the judges and producers led her to her ninth-place finish.
In her Salt Lake City audition, Joy wowed the judges, especially Simon Cowell, with a rendition of the "Show Boat" song "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Once in Hollywood, she said, she was advised early on to "steer clear of girls that sounded like me" -- white soul singers such as Adele and Amy Winehouse.
On the show, though, the judges criticized her song choices -- including standards by Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder -- and told her to stick to what she did best: singing songs like Adele and Winehouse.
"It was frustrating," Joy said.
"Idol" judge Randy Jackson, speaking to The Tribune , had nothing but praise for Joy.
"She was great for the show," Jackson said. "[She] has a shot at a career."
Joy wasn't too upset about being voted off "Idol," she said, because it allowed her to spend more time with her son. He won't travel with her on tour, she said, but he will visit her periodically.
Joy sings two songs during the tour, including one she didn't perform on the show: Winehouse's "Tears Dry on Their Own." She also promised to perform her unique moves, which are reminiscent of Elaine Benes' infamously awkward dance on "Seinfeld."
Joy has spurned offers to improve her moves. "I will never take dancing lessons," she said.
What's in Joy's future? One recent rumor had her playing singer Stevie Nicks in a Fleetwood Mac biopic. The rumor was given added fuel when Nicks nixed Lindsay Lohan and encouraged producers to cast a new face.
"I have not been approached," Joy said. "But I am praying to the heavens. It would be a dream come true."
Danny Gokey, 29, who finished third this season, also talked to The Salt Lake Tribune about his soul patrol.
Gokey, a Milwaukee worship director who was an early favorite because of his intense, soulful vocals, is the only Top 4 finalist who has not yet received a record deal with the show's producers, 19 Entertainment. (Allen, runner-up Lambert and fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta have scored deals.) Gokey said he's not worried, because other music producers have said they would sign him if 19 Entertaiment doesn't. (Gokey, like Joy, is contractually obligated to deal only with "Idol" producers until the end of the tour.)
Although Gokey's experience has been in Christian music, he didn't see himself as a contemporary Christian music performer. "I see myself as mainstream," he said. "I don't want to exclude anyone from my message. I am a Christian who wants to make mainstream music."
His "message," he said, is to raise awareness of the Sophia's Heart Foundation, a charity dedicated to funding research and aiding people with heart disease. Gokey founded the charity to commemorate his wife, who died from heart disease one month before his "Idol" audition. The affliction, Gokey said, is one of the largest killers in the United States but has the least awareness.
Music, Gokey said, is about overcoming obstacles and bringing hope for everyone. He's lived it.
No comments:
Post a Comment