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MANDISA READY TO MOVE FORWARD: Former ‘Idol’ contestant talks about her fashion choices; love for Simon, future goals and angering gay community.
*After her elimination from “American Idol” Wednesday night, judge Simon Cowell stepped to fan favorite Mandisa Hundley with some words of encouragement.
Following her performance Tuesday of Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine,” Paula and Randy weren’t feeling the song choice, and Cowell warned that it may lead to her early exit from the competition. America voted, and Mandisa soon found herself doing interview after interview about how it feels to be booted off prematurely, and more importantly, what Simon had to say to her after the show.
“He told me he really liked me, I had a great voice and that it's all about the song,” the 29-year-old recounted.
Her special relationship with the British judge goes back to his infamous comment following her audition in Chicago, when he made a disparaging remark about her weight. After Mandisa left the room, Simon asked if “Idol” was “going to have a bigger stage this year.” Later, when Paula said that Mandisa reminded her of former contestant Frenchie, Cowell cracked that a better comparison would be to France itself.
During final auditions in Hollywood months after the audition taping - after Mandisa and everyone else in America heard Simon’s dis - the singer addressed him directly, stating that his comments were hurtful, but that she forgave him, adding, “you don’t need somebody to apologize to you to forgive somebody.” Cowell told Mandisa he was “humbled” and apologized. She recalls the moment as the biggest highlight of her “American Idol” journey.
“That would have been worth it if it were just me and him and nobody else saw it but the fact that they showed it that meant a lot to me,” she said.
Mandisa says viewers responded favorably to her gesture of forgiveness, which instantly gave her a sizable fan base before the voting even began.
“It’s not what I set out to do originally but I think it worked in my favor,” she said. “I just wanted to be able to tell [Simon] how I felt and was so glad that America responded that way.
Things were looking pretty good for the contestant after making the final 12. She breezed through early rounds singing songs by Stevie Wonder (“Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing”), Dinah Washington (“I Don’t Hurt Anymore”) and gospel’s Mary Mary (“Shackles”) – all genre-friendly offerings for the power-singer. But last week’s country-themed show brought problems, according to the judges and fan bloggers, who, for the most part, thought her song choice was a mistake.
“I love that song and, and I sing background for Shania and just fell in love with her,” she said of her decision to belt Twain’s “Any Man of Mine.” “I just thought this is a fun song and what I wanted to do after the week before was show my personality, be that joyful, bubbly [girl and] have a good time on the stage. I thought that song did that.”
When asked whether themed-weeks are biased against contestants whose voice favors a different music genre, she says: “I recognize that ‘American Idol’ is a TV show first, and in order to have an interesting TV show you’re going to have to do different genres. In the end, I don’t think that it plays a role into the kind of record that the winner will make but it makes for a good TV show.”
Meanwhile, fans of “Idol” have certainly taken notice of Mandisa’s sense of style since beginning her run in Chicago. The singer says she’s lost about 30 pounds over the course of the series, telling reporters: “I exercise, eat healthy and try not to let food dictate my life."
“My style changed a lot,” adds the Sacramento, CA native. “I think in the very beginning I was wearing lots of loose fitting clothes thinking I was hiding something. I wasn’t hiding nothing and so I realized that I just have to be more comfortable with who I was. People knew I had curves and I shouldn’t have been scared to show them.”
In addition to “singing, acting and modeling” as possible post-“Idol” career options, Mandisa says she’d also like to launch a clothing line for plus size women.
“I used to think that there was not a lot of clothing for plus size women that really wanted to look hip and cool and also look very classy at the same time, so I’m recognizing now after being on the show that there are,” she says. “I would just love to be able to pull a bunch of different things together and show there is a line of clothes that can accentuate any body form.”
While “American Idol” fame will likely facilitate the accomplishment of her goals, sudden notoriety is also bringing extra media attention to her every move. Mandisa is “really upset” that an interview she did with gay-themed magazine The Advocate may have inadvertently suggested that she would not participate in events in support of the gay community.
"Based on what I believe, I'm not an advocate for (being gay), so it's nothing I would take part in," she told the magazine’s Web site.
The question followed comments the outspoken Christian initially made on "American Idol’s" Web site praising author and speaker Beth Moore of Living Proof Ministries. Moore's Web site has links to groups such as Exodus International that discourage homosexuality.
"It broke my heart," Mandisa tells the Associated Press of speculation that her comments made her anti-gay. "I live my life by the value system that you treat others the way you want to be treated. I let love be my guide. I absolutely hate no one."
Mandisa says her views "could have contributed" to her elimination last week. But the singer is instead choosing to look forward to the world of possibilities suddenly at her feet.
“There’s, a lot of different options,” she notes. “In fact, I can’t wait to hear all about [them]. Ultimately, though, I’m going to have to get with the Lord and say okay which route should I take? You’ve not seen the last of me.”
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