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Trivia time: The final 12 in season three was so overloaded with gals (8 of them) that Idol changed the rules the following year, forcing a six-six split. The question: Who was the top finishing male performer that year?
By MARK FRANKLIN
So last night on Idol we met this year’s Carly Smithson. You know, the contestant who has no business on a show that’s about discovering new talent because she’s already been discovered.
Her name is Joanna Pacitti, a 24-year-old, dark-haired beauty from Philadelphia, and she can sing.
That shouldn’t be surprising, since she’s had songs on five soundtracks, including “Legally Blonde,” according to Wikipedia.�That shouldn’t be surprising since you can go to iTunes and download�her�2006 album “This Crazy Life,” made for�Geffen Records. You can listen to many of the songs on the album for free on Joanna’s MySpace page.
At least Idol judges were a little more upfront about her background on last night’s audition show than they were about Carly’s a year ago. New judge Kara DioGuardi immediately recognized Joanna as a former A&M Records artist. But she got her golden ticket to Hollywood anyway. And then the tears flowed because she was so thankful to get a second … or is that a third, fourth, fifth or sixth chance … at music stardom. Hmm.
The good news is last night’s show was at least evenly divided between freaks and great singers, which made for much better viewing than Tuesday’s audition show from San Francisco. In the future, look for these names: Brent Keith Smith, a good-looking rocker; Alexis Grace, one of the best female singers to advance so far;�and Leneshe Young, a talented teen who wrote the song she sang�and pulled it off, a true rarity on Idol audition shows.
OK, now it’s flashback time. We’re up to season three, which means it’s also Fantasia time.
I’ll always remember Fantasia Barrino (picture above) as the contestant who was too good for Idol’s own good.
I mean, season three featured Diana DeGarmo, a spunky teenager with a big voice; Jasmine Trias, a Hawaiian cutie with a sweet personality; and Jennifer Hudson … well, we now appreciate the scope of her talent.
But when Fantasia began singing, it was pretty clear who should win the competition. And it was crystal clear after she qualified for the final eight and sang “Summertime.” Randy Jackson called it the best performance ever on the Idol stage. Four years later, it’s probably still the best. And there were six weeks of Idol left that year. Talk about sapping the suspense out of a show.
Fantasia has failed to match the hit-making success of fellow Idols Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, but she’s a star in her own right. Both of her albums — “Free Yourself” (2004) and “Fantasia” (2006) — were nominated for Grammys. She played herself in “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” a made-for-TV movie about her life. She has starred on Broadway in “The Color Purple” and is slated to appear in the film adaptation.
She also returned, hair dyed bright red, to perform on Idol last season, singing “Bore Me” and eliciting the strangest expression I’ve ever seen on Simon Cowell’s face. It’s the last of the clips that follow. If you get bored, just fast forward to the 2:30 mark or so, and you’ll catch it.
So here’s a look back at Fantasia’s time on Idol.
Fantasia sings “It’s a Miracle,” and a Barry Manilow song never sounded better.
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Fantasia sings “Summertime.” Wow!
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A performance leaves Simon speechless.
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Trivia answer: George Huff, who finished fifth. Huff, now 28, released a Christian album entitled “Miracles” in 2005 to moderate success. He recently completed a short Christmas tour out West with another former Idol contestant, Melinda Doolittle. And, according to his MySpace page, album number two should be coming out in April.
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