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Thursday, August 14, 2008
8/15: Remember Mikalah Gordon? She’s baaack in “Gone Country 2”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Mikalah with Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync. credit/CMT
ABOVE: The cast (l-r). Sebastian Bach, Mikalah Gordon, Sean Young, Lorenzo Lamas, John Rich, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick.
Mikalah Gordon was a polarizing figure from season four in 2005. She started out with a lot of refreshing attitude, then kind of melted into confusion over her image and sound. And her diction while singing was odd to say the least.
She didn’t quite disappear after “Idol,” doing some hosting work for Fox Reality Channel’s “Idol” roundups for a couple of years, acting as a correspondent for “The Tyra Banks Show,” plus playing a spoiled pop star on “The Unit.” She also portrayed Fran Drescher’s cousin on Fran’s sitcom “Living With Fran.”
And now she’s on her first big reality show since “Idol” called “Gone Country 2,” where this Jewish, Italian gal from Vegas attempts to “go country.” She’s now 20 years old and while she says she wants to be a country star, this is also a good way to get some (any!) exposure and a paycheck, too.
“I find country music very genuine and passionate,” she said. “I think it’s time for something unique in country. I know what I want to do. I want to sing.”
Growing up, she listened more to old-school country such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. “Kris Kristofferson is an in incredible songwriter,” she noted. She’s a fan of some modern-day stuff by Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Tim and Faith. Plus, she likes southern rock along the lines of Lynyrd Skynrd, a style she would tend to prefer for herself.
She joins a wacky “Surreal Life”-type cast: actor Lorenzo Lamas (pretty looking even in middle age), the slightly nutty actress Sean Young, the “Dee Snider” character in Sebastian “Skid Row” Bach, Jermaine Jackson (yes, one of those Jacksons!), Irene “Fame” Cara and Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync fame. Like Diana DeGarmo the first time, Mikalah is by far the youngest. And Mikalah is less well known than Diana, having finished 11th (as opposed to second).
One thing she said John Rich doesn’t do to her the way he did to Diana was make her cry. “I don’t cry,” she said.
The show debuts tonight at 8 p.m. I watched a preview. Mikalah comes off more mature and level-headed than she was on the show because, well, she is 20 years old, not 16.
Mikalah voluntarily jumped into clearing the air about “Idol” without me even asking. She said she made some serious mistakes on “Idol” but chalked it up to being young. “I was really really insecure,” she said. “I know I came off as kind of annoying. I had a really big mouth. I used that more as a cover. I really thought this could make me a huge star.”
Here’s Mikalah’s original audition where she shows some of her sass:
She works over Simon during Hollywood week:
But after making the top 24, she looked at the message boards. Big mistake. “I saw what people were saying about me. I was devastated. i was heartbroken.” (They insulted her attitude as well as her singing style.). She felt at that point to show her “more gentle or softer side. I was so confused. I was just trying to please everybody but myself.” She said she grew up without a lot of real life experiences and wasn’t used to be criticized.
She never saw herself as a diva on the show. “My mom would have kicked my ass if I ever became one. I had good intentions. I just didn’t know what I was doing.”
Here’s the “too mature for a 16 year old” take on a Barbra Streisand song “Somewhere.” It’s actually not bad in my opinion but I think she got reamed for it by Simon.
After the show, she stopped singing publicly for at least two years. She moved to Los Angeles and waitressed to pay the bills between TV gigs. “I made hardly any money from ‘Idol,’ ” she said. (Missing the top 10 for the tour didn’t help matters.) “I didn’t make money until I started doing some hosting gigs,” she said. During her time in L.A., she said she was tempted to go back home to Vegas and go to beauty school. But she stuck it out. “Now I’m self sufficient and independent,” she said. “I’m now more confident though I’m not cocky.”
She also got herself a vocal coach to help her reduce her nasal tone in her voice. She had to think about speaking only from her diaphragm.
She recently did the Razz Room in San Francisco with Gina Glocksen and Ricky Smith and got to meet Trenyce and R.J. Helton. She sang “Last Dance,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” and “God Bless the Child.” (She’s even planning to do a Wizard of Oz charity event in Lovett, Texas, in which she plays Dorothy and R.J. plays the Tin Man.)
Her take on each contestant besides herself:
Sebastian Bach: “He’s wild. I learned a lot from. He stays true to himself. I don’t know what his true intentions were for being on the show. But when he gets on the stage to sing, you see so much love for what he does.”
Sean Young: “Crazy girl! She was in one my favorite movies! [Ace Ventura]. She was very much in her own little world. But for what it’s worth, she was nice to me… her main goal was to write a song. And she did. She knew she wasn’t going to get a career out of it.”
Lorenzo Lamas: “He’s a good looking man! He’s way handsome for an older man.” [I teased her about the fact he’s more than twice her age.] “I wouldn’t go there. He was very serious. He does a lot of gigging around. You can’t help but respect him.” How was his song? “You have to watch and judge for yourself. At least he’s good looking.”
Jermaine Jackson: “I wanted to kill myself being there with a Jackson! I have to say, I was intimidated. He’s really wise and spiritual and humble. I was surprised how humble he is being a Jackson. And his wife is so cute.”
Chris Kirkpatrick: “”He was my best friend in the house. He was closest to my age. Funny thing— I was the rebel when I was 11. I refused to listen to ‘N Sync. My girlfriends were all in love with Justin. I listened to a lot of soul and my father was a jazz musician… I think his main objective was to prove that he can stand on his own. He did a good job. There is some tension between him and John Rich. But at the end of the day, Chris wrote a genius song. I think he did what he set out to do.”
Irene Cara: “You’ll see. Nothing I can say about that.” Hmm….
-Diana DeGarmo’s gig this fall with “Godspell” on Broadway is in trouble before it even started, according to Variety. Financial problems are being cited..
-Carmen Rasmussen is pregnant, according to people.com..
