Irony alert! Last Wednesday Nashville's own Mandisa Hundley was the casualty of country-music week on Fox's American Idol (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET), as her rendition of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine" failed to make the entire judging panel (or, apparently, the voting public) effuse.
Defending the song choice — and addressing Simon's reaction to it in particular — Mandisa says, "I know that he does not care for country or for that song too much, but I absolutely love it and don't have any regrets. I think it's a great song and I think that whoever wrote it is brilliant."
If only all the debates Mandisa had to contend with during her Idol engagement were so tidy. Having prefaced her previous week's read more
After they're booted off American Idol, the rejects always go down promising they'll score a major record deal, despite what Simon says. Here, TVGuide.com catches up with six of last season's AI finalists, who are all still chasing the impossible dream.Jasmine Trias, 3rd PlaceAge: 18 From: Mililani, Hawaii Before Idol: She was a high school senior singing at birthday parties and weddings. Life change: "Suddenly, everybody knows who you are. I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this is so weird.' Because I was never very popular in high school — I always kept to myself." Up next: "I just did a McDonald's commercial for the Philippines. I had no idea American Idol was being watched in another country! I'm also working on a new album in L.A." Advice to hopefuls: "Stay close to your family. With all the hype, you really need people whread more
Few American Idol contestants have polarized fans like Jasmine Trias has. They either love the 17-year-old Hawaiian cutie — or they can't stand the tone-deaf little so-and-so! Last week marked the end for Trias, who smiled through her tears all the way to the final three. Now that Fantasia and Diana are left to fight it out, she has time to take on a few of our nagging questions. Hey, it should be a piece of pineapple upside-down cake for the Mililani girl who faced Simon's slams and lived to tell the tale!
Simon commented that everyone in Hawaii would have to vote to save Jasmine. Then, she beat out La Toya London! Did Hawaii really do it or was that just hype?According to Verizon, Hawaii logged more calls during Idol's two-hour voting period than all of the company's 29 coverage states — with the exception of New York and California. So it could've happened. "They said Hawaii voted a lot that week wread more