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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > October > 14 > Entry
10/14: Sanjaya writing a memoir, Blake Lewis incredibly frank, Jennifer Hudson not so much
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I would have nabbed a Blake Lewis interview if he were coming to Atlanta but his date here on October 20 was cancelled. Nonetheless, the Philly Daily News got some incredibly frank comments from the man. As the reporter noted, he’s the most honest of any contestant I’ve ever seen, short of Chris Sligh.. This is a must read and as MJ noted, he gives some sort of strange comment about Sanjaya at the end that along makes me very very curious indeed. (Indeed, Sanjaya on his MySpace page says he’s writing a memoir because we all need memoirs from 19 year olds.)
I’d still like to talk to him one of these days.
The best part of the interview excerpted here but read the rest.
Q: Did you always feel like an odd man out on the show?
A: [Laughing] They sure treated me like a troublemaker. Early on, when we got to Hollywood, we had this handler … I wanted her fired. She’d come down to the lobby in her pajamas at 10 o’clock at night and scream at me - where had I been, blah, blah. I don’t disrespect anybody, but if I get disrespected, I’m over with you.
I also complained that they didn’t feed us well. The catered food was really gross. The biggest TV show and you’re treating us like cattle? You ought to make people happy who’re making you half a billion a year.
So I’d leave, do my own thing. I brought a skateboard with me and would get away from the bunch. Plus, I didn’t rehearse a lot, and they hated that.
I come from a jazz/hip-hop/electronic/freestyle improvising tradition. I did a one-man-band thing for 10 years before this came along. At rehearsal, I’d stand straight in front of the camera and sing badly. I was holding back for the live show. After three weeks, they finally caught on and let me be.
And I wasn’t a team player. I hung out with the production guys - the lighting and sound guys. Maybe that’s a reason I was successful. I cared about the true people running the show.
-A writer in the U.K. Davina Morris read my blog about Jennifer Hudson’s people refusing to let me ask about her album cover or personal questions and was concerned. But Davina wrote she was “cheery and enthusiastic.”
“I’m confident, so maybe people mistake that for arrogance,” she said. “But I think it’s just a misconception. I find that some people are afraid to approach me. When those people meet me, they seem almost surprised that I’m a nice person!”
But when the reporter even dared broach her weight, she said, “It’s really not an issue. And you know what? When people meet me, they know way better than to come to me and say something crazy like that!”
Ooookay. She sounds defensive, doesn’t she?
Then she said she didn’t know anything about any tampering with the photo of herself on the cover that makes her look a bit slimmer. (This is the first time I’ve even seen the issue addressed. Thank you Davina!)
“If there was,” Hudson told the reporter, “I’m not the photographer. I’m just the person in the picture.”
Hudson is a bit contradictory about talking about her personal life. She has talked about her engagement enthusiastically with several media outlets (remember Leno?) but then chooses not to with others. With this British reporter, who asked about her wedding date, she said, “I don’t discuss that.”
Comments
By Harmony
October 14, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
I wasn’t planning on going to the wedding anyway.
By JTesla
October 14, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
Great stuff Rodney, thanks. It should stir the pot a little ;)
By harrietth
October 14, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this
I’m sorry, folks. Talk about being “over” someone. I am so over Blake it is not funny. He is among those who choose to criticize, when without Idol, he’d never have come to national attention. And, he doesn’t seem to care, so who else does?
By flats
October 14, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
WOW!!!He’s so cute!GO DAWGS!!!!!
By Nana
October 14, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this
I say let Blake do his own thing and be a wise a$$ about it. Does he really think he has that much talent that he doesn’t need to rehearse with the other Idols and that he is above them? He strikes me an arrogant nincompoop.
As far as JHud, she is another that has gotten the big head and thinks she is better than others. Yes, she is an oscar winner, a great talent, but that doesn’t make her any better than anyone else. She is another Starr Jones IMO.
I agree with JT about Paula and Simon. Give their pay to Simon and let him judge. I don’t think that neither Paula nor Randy’s opinions carry much weight in what they say. I will bet my last dollar that Simon has more say in AI than the public will ever know. I had heard that his salary was higher than P & R, and even Ryan makes a whopping 12 mil a year. I guess that P & R come somewhere in between 12 mil and 36 mil yearly. Still not a bad pay for sitting in a chair and being entertain.
I guess I have vented enough for now, so I will close down my computer, lock my office and head home. Ya’ll drive safe and be careful.
Deirdre, linny, where oh where are you today? Miss you gals.
By JTesla
October 14, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this
harrietth, it seems to me that he is really stretching when it comes to dishing the dirt. The Sanjaya reference, the handler issue… yawn. If that is all he has for promoting his music then Blake has already set sail aboard the Failboat.
Of course when it comes to being over someone, I’m over Miss Photoshop. Can someone please inform her that sassy is not a good trait? I can understand a little attitude, but in my book sassy is synonymous with another descriptive word that begins with B.
By kellyfan
October 14, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this
Hi y’all. Woh, Blake sure didn’t hold back. Some of it sounds a bit like sour grapes, but it’s definitely not the first time someone’s come out to criticize Clive…grin I wasn’t really a big fan of his, but he was entertaining and probably could’ve done more. As far as his comments on Sanjaya, I have my theories, which really aren’t that shocking. ;)
Not even gonna comment on JHud…I like her voice and loved her in Dreamgirls, but whenever I read what she said…not so much.
By harrietth
October 14, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
JT, it is really a case of what have you done lately, to which Blake should not even bother to reply. I hate it when these former Idol contestants think they are bigger than the show that gave them their first exposure. JH did mention Idol when she won her Oscar, but nary a mention since then. I wonder how much of it is listening to the music folks that say they need the distance for credibility’s sake. Just asking…
By harrietth
October 14, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
Oops. Time slipped up on me. Time to go for the day. Bye all.
By linny ,,,=^..^=,,,
October 14, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this
LOL, well, with 1 existing boss, adding a newbie boss-in-training, PLUS covering for overflow from another assistant, i’ve been literally SWAMPED today! but hey, job security is a lovely thing, since i live payday to payday! At least i don’t have any stress about investments—i don’t HAVE any!!!
see you guys tomorrow (or as a friend of mine INSISTED on spelling it “tamarrow” (go figure)