On finale eve, Idols of years past gather and compare notes
Every May as the world convenes in front of TV sets to choose our new pop despot, a certain college of cardinals gathers around the main stage. For the 80-some singers who have stood on the "Idol" stage before, finale time is like a giant family reunion, a time to reconnect with their comrades in arms, with whom one, two or six years ago they fought through a bloody season and toured the nation before being scattered to the four winds to seek their fates in the swirling tides of contemporary music.
On finals eve, the gathering place of this fabled fraternity was in a off-the-map basement on the opposite edge of downtown from the Nokia. On Monday night, the Edison bar was the scene of the most intimate of "Idol" conclaves as about two dozen Idols past gathered for a party thrown by Fox Radio to celebrate the finals.
Into a quiet alley, down a long stairwell, one found a cozy little gathering where Kimberley Locke and Bo Bice, Diana DiGarmo and Hayly Scarnato, Melinda Doolittle and Jason Castro hobnobbed with those few who have walked the lonely path of the American Idol. And talking with them, one gets a sense of the many directions a post-"Idol" career can go.
I spoke first with Season Four’s Mikalah Gordon, all grown up now and looking fantastic in a daring and wild cocktail dress. The ever-hilarious Mikalah revealed that she was actually to be part of the finale; the next day she was heading to Arkansas, where she would be the result show’s correspondent from Kris Allen’s hometown. “They send me to middle America, hoping that somehow how the opposites will make peace,” she said. Asked what she would do if the night does not go well for Kris and the town riots, she replied without missing a beat. “Mace ‘em. Let ‘em try it.”
Asked who she was rooting for, Mikalah demurred but offered that her best friend T.J., who was her escort for the evening, was a Kris Allen man, the cuteness factor weighing heavily. However, when pressed who was the all-time cutest "Idol" man, Mikalah harked back to her season, giving that prize to Bo Bice.
Next, I chatted with last season’s country star, Kristy Lee Cook, who reported that she’s spent the last few months remodeling her house, rebuilding it (it seemed from scratch), with a barn raising to follow shortly. “We have chickens now, pheasants, Kristy Lee, whose fiance proposed to her while she was on the show, is hoping to tie the knot sometime this fall, but says the wedding will have to wait until the house is done.
I visited with Kristy Lee’s Season Seven comrade, last year’s third-place finisher, the lovely Syesha Mercado, looking radiant as ever, but from whom little has been heard since the tour ended last spring. Syesha, escorted by her fiance, the charming and gracious Hess Wesley, said that an album is indeed working its way toward the public but that she is taking her time to get it right. She explained she has recorded over 20 songs, but added that the big lesson of her post-"Idol" year has been that she “can’t be what everyone wants me to be” and thus has been working to put together an album that feels authentic to who she wants to be. As to the timetable, Syesha would only say that the album is coming together but that she may have to take pauses for potential acting work, noting she has several scripts she is actively considering.
As for the couple’s wedding, that too seems to be getting closer. After four years of living together, they don’t seem to feel any pressure to make it official. “We’ll get up one morning and say, ‘Let's do it today,'” Hess said.
The banter paused as another Season Sevener, the great Michael Johns, took the stage for a 20-minute set. Having seen Michael play twice in the last week, one notices what an accomplished and comfortable performer he is becoming, delivering affecting and intimate sets in two very different venues. On this evening, he had a surprise addition to his lineup, a moving version of Beyonce’s “Put a Ring on It” perhaps the cover one would least expect from the Johns band.
Michael, it seems, is one of the busiest of Idols these days. With his new single “Heart on my Sleeve” out and an album to follow shortly, he is perpetually in motion. Last Friday night, he left a show for "Idol"/"So You Think You Can Dance" executive producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe’s winery to race back to Akron, Ohio, for a show, returning for this set, after which he was to board a red-eye to Buffalo, N.Y., for another show, at the end of which he was to rush back to be at the results show on Wednesday night.
I visited next with Season Two’s Kimberley Locke and Season Three runner-up Diana DiGarmo. Asked how it felt to be back, both replied: old, saying that "Idol" has changed so much and come so far since their day. Kimberley, who stepped onto the "Idol" stage while the show was still finding its way, explained, “We were just kids out of high school who had no idea what we were doing. Now the whole thing is set up for you.”
Diana, who is all of 21 now, but was a mere 16 when she was on the show five years ago, laughed about how at this young age, she is one of the Idols from the farthest back at the event, feeling like the old lady of the old world.
Having just finished a celebrated review of the songs of Burt Bacharach, Diana is taking June off to visit her home for the first time since January. In July, she will be team up with "Idol" alum Anthony Federov for a brief run in an Oklahoma production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Kimberley, one of the most motivated and perpetually active of Idols, spoke of a desire to get into TV hosting; she will dip a toe into that when she takes the microphone for an upcoming show called “Gospel Dreams.” However, she said she is also feeling the lure of Broadway. She professed to be a bit intimidated by the grueling demands of a theatrical production but thought that eventually she will be giving it a try. Of the possibilities that Idoldom opens, she said, “You can make it into what you want to do.”
Season Six’s LaKisha Jones seemed to be at one of the most dramatic moments of her young life. With her album due out this week, she is also 5½ months pregnant. She said that while she is planning appearances in support of the album, a touring schedule will have to wait until the fall, after the baby is born. Perched in a corner booth to catch her breath, LaKisha described herself as “nervous and happy at the same time” as well as feeling good about her album after a long road to getting it out.
Ever the good spirit, Jason Castro seemed to be settling in happily to life in L.A., where he has relocated while working on his album. Aiming for an October release, he said he worked with "Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi on one song. Remembering back to a year ago, he said that as hard as it was on the show, life got even busier after it ended -– the tour, singing engagements, etc. He related that a week ago he ran into Danny Gokey, who expressed relief at having a break, to which Jason told him, “Man, things are just starting to get crazy.”
Season Seven’s Chikezie stands weeks away from his album coming out. His manager played me a brief clip on the iPhone. Anyone who saw the Idols Live tour last summer knows how powerful a performance Chikezie is capable of. The clip I heard showed every sign of living up to that promise. The singer said that life after "Idol" is in many ways indeed crazier than it is on the show. While you’re on the show, he said, everything is just set out for you -- what you do, where you go. But afterward -– while putting together an album and a performing career, it's hurry up, then wait, then more waiting. Then you hurry up again.
I checked in with "Idol’s" greatest alumni pundit, Kimberly Caldwell, whom along with Justin Guarini hosts the TV Guide Channel "Idol" discussion shows, “Idol Wrap” and “Idol Tonight.” Asked who she thought has the edge going into the finals, Kimberly cautioned that "Idol" finales traditionally have a lot more surprises than people think. She gave a slight and surprising edge to Kris Allen, saying he is the likely inheritor of Danny Gokey’s voting bloc; however, she cautioned this could well to be the closest vote we’ve seen in years.
Kimberly has a busy off-season planned. She just became the face and body of YMI Jeans and is featured stretched out on giant billboards across L.A. She is also to be the host of a new MTV/P Diddy show this summer.
Finally, I visited with the greatest Idol of them all, the stupendous Carly Smithson, fresh back from a trip to Atlanta, where she is working on her album. Carly is to serve as Mikalah Gordon’s opposite on the results show, taking up station in her hometown of San Diego with the Lambert fanwatch. As for her much-speculated-on album, she said she had some exciting news but that unfortunately that news was not yet ready for public release. So stay tuned to this space for all breaking news on Carly and the entire Idol Nation.
-- Richard Rushfield
Photo: Season Seven finale. Credit: Fox
