Idols- Where are they now?

First off, I want to say a big thank you to my step-mom for the last suggestion to write about Clay Aiken. Someone at this Clay Aiken fan site found my blog post and put a link to it on that site. That got me a lot of views so again, if the person from there is reading this, thank you!!

So because my step-mom’s pick last time brought me a lot of traffic, I’ll see if her pick this time can bring me a lot of traffic. So my next pick will be Amy Adams came in 10th place on season 3 of American Idol in 2004. Before she went on Idol she lived in Bakersfield, California as a professional makeup artist. She has one son who was born in May 2005. In September 2005 she toured with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Then in August of 2009 she joined with Garden Pathways Inc. Performing Arts daycare and American Sound Recording Studios in Bakersfield, CA for a weeklong singing camp for kids 12-18. She got married to Adam Miller on November 20, 2010.

Here is a picture of Amy at her American Idol audition.

And here is the most recent picture I found of her.

She looks completely different because the last time I saw a picture of her, she looked like this:

So as for what she is doing anymore, I have no idea and I couldn’t find much about what she is up to. I just searched for her on iTunes and nothing came up. All that came up was the actress Amy Adams who was in Enchanted. So I guess she is just one of those Idol alums that went back to being a nobody. Which is kind of sad because I really liked her! And she could have gone somewhere!! I guess the contestants from the earlier seasons are kind of at a disadvantage because the show wasn’t really a big hit then.

   

Idols- Where are they now?

For this post, I decided to write about Justin Guarini. He was the runner up on the very first season of Idol. I actually decided to write about Justin because I just got a tweet the other day that he just became a dad. In February 2009, he announced his engagement and then on September 26, 2010 they were married. Then on April 26, his wife, Reina Capodici, gave birth to a seven lb, 2 oz boy.

 

Since being on Idol, his debut album was out in 2003 which also came out around the same time as the movie he co-starred with Kelly Calrkson, From Justin To Kelly. The movie didn’t do that well, but I loved it! I’m probably the only one who did!

 

 

His album only sold 134,000 copies and then in December 2003, he was dropped from RCA Records. In December 2005 he released his second album Stranger Things Have Happened that he produced himself through his own production company, Justice Entertainment, Ltd.. In 2010  he was cast in his Broadway debut as Carlos in the Broadway show Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. He also played a part in the Broadway show American Idiot, which just closed on April 24 of this year. He is going to star in a production of Rent in Beach Haven, New Jersey from May 28-June 19.

 

I can’t really find anymore information on Justin so I don’t know if he is currently working on another album or anything.

 

Here is a picture of him from his first audition on American Idol.

 

Then here is one in 2007, comparing his hair to when he was on Idol.

Then this is a picture of Justin, his wife, and his wife’s daughter.

 

That’s all for this edition of “Idols-Where are they now?” Stayed tuned for the next one! And if you haven’t already, link up to my blog hop! I will be closing the linky later tonight and then picking a “Featured Blog of the Week” to be featured on next week’s blog hop. Have a great Friday everyone!!!

         

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Idols- Where are they now?

So I was talking to my mom the other day about my last “Idols- Where are they now?” post and she asked if she could get to pick the next Idol. I told her sure so she suggested Sanjaya Malakar. This is perfect because I just found an article about him on Yahoo. The article talked about how Stefano from this season of Idol is joining other 7th place finishers, and Sanjaya happens to be one of those 7th place finishers. Ironicly, Kimberley Caldwell (whom I wrote about first) was also a 7th place finisher.
But onto Sanjaya. Oh where do I begin. Sanjaya brought a lot of controversy for the show. He was the season’s most talked about contestant! I actually just read that some girl online went on a hunger strike until he got voted off. The strike got cancelled though because he stayed on the show longer than expected. He is mostly known for gaining the support from Vote for the Worst which is a site that encourages people to vote for the bad contestants on Idol. He even had Howard Stern behind him who was telling his listeners to vote for Sanajaya just to mess with the Idol results. He got a lot farther than everyone had thought he would. Oh, and I can’t forget about the “crying girl”, Ashley Ferl. This girl was shown repeatedly during his performance in the top 11 and was always crying. And of course,

So what has he been up to since he was on Idol back in 2007? In 2009, he released an autobiography and EP, both titled Dancing to the Music in My Head Last year he released a Christmas CD and a single titled “4 AM”. He also made appearances on “Hell’s Kitchen” and the 300th episode of “The Soup”. He was also on the second season of the reality TV show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Earlier this year, on February 23, 2011, he joined an off-Broadway musical title Freckleface Strawberry. He is also recording and putting together a new band. He should have a new single out in late May. I was never a fan of Sanjaya, but I didn’t really dislike him. I listened to some samples from his EP that he put out in 2009 and it doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll have to check out his single when that comes out and maybe I’ll buy it.



  

Idols- Where are they now?

 The next Idol I've decided to feature is Mikalah Gordon. She came in 11th place on the 4th season of Idol. She was my favorite from the season and I was so bummed that she didn’t make it into the top 10 so that she could go on tour! She is mostly known for her comparison to Fran Drescher and she actually had a guest appearance of Fran Drescher’s sitcom Living with Fran. After that, Tyra Banks hired her as a Tyra Show correspondent, but I’m not sure how long that lasted. She was the co-host of American Idol Extra for the first 2 seasons. That show was on the Reality Channel and it went behind the scenes of Idol every week. She was a contestant on Gone Country 2 on CMT. I also remember reading somewhere a few years ago that she got a vocal coach and she actually got rid of her nasally sounding voice.
Here is a picture of Mikalah back in 2005 at the season finale of season 4 of Idol and then the one on the right was taken in 2010. She was only 17 when she went on Idol and she is now 23!

I searched for her on iTunes and I found a song called “Perfect World” that she did with her dad, Rocky Gordon. I actually heard this song before because I have this DVD of her singing in Las Vegas before she was on Idol and she sang that song. I forget how I got that DVD though.
Well, I guess that’s about all there is to say about Mikalah. I guess she doesn’t have a record deal because I couldn’t find anything saying she did. All I found was wikipedia saying that she is working on an album. I would love to hear more from Mikalah in the future, but I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon.
Here are some blog hops I'm joining today...

Idols- Where are they now?

I thought of a great idea the other day when I was at breakfast with a friend. We were talking about some of the past Idol contestants and wondering where they are at now. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to try to write about one Idol per day and let you know what they are up to. I’m not guaranteeing that I’ll get to post one every single day, but I’ll do my best.
The first one I’ve decided to write about is Kimberly Caldwell.

She came in 7th place on the 2nd season back in 2003. It’s hard to believe it, but her debut album just came out today. That’s actually why I decided to write about her first. I got a tweet from American Idol saying that her debut album came out today, so I decided to buy it and check it out (I still have about $40 left on my iTunes gift cards from Christmas, haha). I’m listening to it as I write this and so far it sounds pretty good. But her CD songs aren’t the first songs she has released since being on the show. In 2008 she released 2 singles (“Fear of Flying” and “Gave Yourself Away”) which were both available on iTunes. On May 21, 2009 she announced that she signed a record deal with Vanguard Records and was expecting to have her debut album in stores in 2010. Shortly after she signed with Vanguard, that record label joined forces with EMI Music Group, so now Caldwell is under both of those labels and Capitol Records. It was then in December 2009 that her first single (“Mess of You”) was released. I guess that single didn’t do so well because I never heard anything about her or that song. She’s also probably known for being a correspondent for the entertainment/extreme sports program 54321 on FOX Sports Network and an entertainment correspondent and host for the TV Guide Network. I’m not sure how she’s going to do because it’s been 8 years since she was on Idol and I’m not sure that many people would remember her. But from what I’ve listened to from her CD (I’m about halfway done listening to it), it sounds pretty good and I could see her songs being played on the radio.
Click here to check out her site
Click here to follow her on Twitter
   
Here is one of the first pictures of Kimberly when she was on Idol. She has changed a lot! But she looks great!!!