Soulful, fiesty, rough-around-the-edges and more brash than a hot pink dress at an all-white dinner party. No one was prepared for a 20-year-old High Point, NC native to make it through the rounds of the nation’s top talent competition known … Read the rest
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”― Audre Lorde
A few years ago, I went to a concert featuring former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino. Just as she had been … Read the rest
….In the ten years that have passed since American Idol, Jennifer Hudson’s had a lifetime’s worth of highs and lows, including a fiance, the birth of her son, a weight loss of nearly 100 pounds and unfortunately, enduring the untimely … Read the rest
Is she maddening? Misguided? Even slightly on the messy side? Sure. But what stands out the most about Fantasia Barrino is her way of channeling those raw edges and unguarded emotions into song. It’s been these undeniable qualities that have … Read the rest
Before the movie, back when she was fresh off American Idol and getting her solo career off the ground, I interviewed the sweet and personable new winner, Jordin Sparks (2007): even then, I could tell she was sweet, well-grounded and … Read the rest