Diana DeGarmo, the Snellville singer who went from American Idol to Broadway, says she’s been the victim of an internet stalker who stole her identity and blackmailed her. The singer, currently starring in "Hairspray" on Broadway, says the stalker first contacted her through DeGarmo’s page on MySpace.com. Appearing Tuesday night on "The O’Reilly Factor" DeGarmo says the woman then bombarded her with email and Instant Messages. The stalker then got DeGarmo’s cell phone number and called her up to 60 times a day. The singer says the woman assumed her identity and used it on the internet to solict sex and drugs. DeGarmo told O’Reilly the woman then called her and asked for money to leave her alone. DeGarmo tracked the stalker to Australia and reported her to police there. So far no one has been arrested.
Despite the moans of "What is Relix doing covering the winner from American Idol" – a show many probably find to be the antithesis of what this publication is all about – it should be known that Taylor Hicks is one of our own. Whether it was picking up the harmonica at 15, seeing Widespread Panis and Phish in the mid ’90s, promotion his own Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Derek Trucks shows or opening for Robert Randolph, Hicks has stepped himself in the live music tradition. In fact, he credits much of it for his win. We caught up with People magazine’s Bachelor of the Year as he was preparing to go onstage last month as the American Idol tour rolled through Colorado.
You’ve said, “Having a number-one single is only the beginning.” How so? What steps are you taking to insure your longevity as an artist in a climate where someone catapulted into pop culture like yourself can come and go so quickly?
That single, “Do I Make You Proud,” I tried to make that single my own single but in reality it’s the show’s single. It’s not mine. The song that was given to me first, I got up from a chair and walked right outof the studio. I was handed this song and I was just like, “No way, you’re not going to make me sing this song. I’m out of here.” The beginning for me on a national level was American Idol, but obviously I’ve been trying to play as much live music as I could since I was about 15.
Prior to last season and this most recent one, I never really watched American Idol. But in all honesty, you and Bo Bice turned my head a little bit with your musical selections.
You know what? I don’t watch it either! [laughs] You can write that.
The audiences you’re performing for now are probably quite a bit different than the ones you were performing for just a year ago.
American Idol, for me, is fizzling out. I want to take that opportunity and exposure: you either come to see me, buy my album or you don’t. I’m not trying to meet expectations. If you can say you’re a working musician, then you’re doing something good. I’m just glad to be a working musician because that’s what I’ve always been.
I never got the whole Taylor Hicks thing to me looks like he is 50 and he dances like a schmuck and his singing is average. I just hope comments like this that make him the poorest selling Idol ever and he goes off to has-been land. Obviously his album is not that good if they pushed it back a week?
Former American Idol star, Ruben Studdard, 28, has always been open about his weight problems — and his success in shedding over a 100 lbs earlier this year by making extreme changes to his diet and exercise regimen. In an interview with PETA vice-president, Dan Matthews, the singer talks about the spiritual side of being a vegetarian, getting regular colonics, and how his new lifestyle is effecting his band.
Why He Became a Vegetarian: "I actually came home, and there was a little brochure in my hometown paper — I ain’t never told nobody this — but it was a thing about cleaning up your temple. I think it was like a Seventh Day Adventist magazine, and they were talking about ‘try vegetarian.’ I went online that day, and I just started reading little things from different vegetarians, and it was so much easier than I thought it would be, so I decided to try it."
His Favorite Veggie Snacks: "My favorite dish is from PF Chang’s — the Buddha’s Feast. It’s hands-down my favorite dish. And the tofu lettuce wraps. McDonald’s has a veggie burger now. It’s not as good as Burger King. Burger King’s veggie burger is off the chain."
His Colonic Guru: "They [medical experts] talk about all the colon problems, blah blah. And I’ve had a hydro-colonic before, so the lady that does that for us, she eats only raw vegetables-like she won’t anything but raw vegetables. And of course every time we’d go, she’d be like ‘try this’ and ’stop this,’ but of course we weren’t paying any attention — -but now of course we do!"
How His Diet Has Changed His Bandmates: "My band, they all complain about my rider requirements for only veggie stuff backstage, but they’re learning too, like I did. There’s always a better way to live if you’re open to it."
The Hollywood stars seem to be aligned for Jennifer Hudson. Access Hollywood has confirmed that the former "American Idol" contestant signed a record deal with Clive Davis’ J Records. Jennifer revealed her plans to Access this past Saturday at the "A Fine Romance" event in Hollywood. "My album, I’ll be recording my album! I just signed my record deal 2 weeks ago. So I’m starting on that in January." At J Records, Ms. Hudson joins such music giants as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Barry Manilow, but Jennifer will also feel right at home with her former "Idol"-mates as the J/Arista label houses many of her "Idol" counterparts like Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks. The J Records label is part of the Sony BMG music conglomerate. Oprah Winfrey profiled the cast of "Dreamgirls," including Hudson, on her Monday, November 20th, 2006 show. In her show, she included the following bite from "Idol" judge Simon Cowell: "We have our history together, don’t we, Jennifer?" Simon told Jennifer via Oprah. "Now I feel my criticism has probably had a significant part in your career, because the buzz on you is huge. I heard your [version] of ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ today, and I would like to be the first to eat a massive dose of humble pie. Because there are good performances and occasionally there are extraordinary performances. That was extraordinary, Jennifer, and I feel very proud for you. I feel we had a very small part in what’s happened in your life, and please thank me when you get your Oscar®."
