Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Mishavonna Henson might have grown up in southern California.

She might have sung “Drops of Jupiter” in the Idol semifinals.

But she’s a country girl at heart.

Want proof?

She celebrated her 19th birthday July 25 by singing the national anthem at the Norco Rodeo.

She’s thrilled about an upcoming appearance at the Kern County Fair, where she’ll be opening for the legendary Crystal Gayle.

And just listen to the songs on her 2007 EP, beginning with the first track, “Edge of the World.”

Hold it. Is that really a rapper interrupting the carefree country tune at the 2:15 mark?

Mishavonna laughs.

“That’s actually my brother Micah doing the rap at the end,” she says. “He’s a Christian rapper.

“We were trying to think of ideas for songs for my EP, and my producers were like, ‘Hey, doesn’t Micah rap?’ We’re like, ‘Yeah. How awesome would it be if we put it on one of my songs?’

“And it works. It’s different. No one’s ever done it before. I like to think I’m the first to mix country and rap.”

Mishavonna, who lives in Irvine, was also an Idol contestant with acting experience in her past. She says she started acting professionally when she was 6, appeared in a few TV shows and independent films, but decided to concentrate on singing shortly before trying out for Idol for the first time in season seven.

She made it to Hollywood that year before being eliminated. She auditioned again for season eight. This time she made it as far as the semifinals.

And though her Idol run might not have lasted as long as she would have liked, have no doubt, Mishavonna plans to pursue a career in music.

Here’s the Idol Chatter interview with Mishavonna Henson. Links to her music appear at the bottom.

Idol Chatter: What was your most memorable Idol moment from this season?

Mishavonna: “I’m going to say when I was accepted into the top 36. That was just like one of the most craziest moments in my life because it was so surreal. The fact that I actually made it twice. Even this season when I saw the judges again, when I made it past them in Arizona, that was definitely also pretty spectacular, because most people don’t get second chances. And, especially on this show, it’s very unusual to see someone make it to Hollywood Week once, and then make it again.”

Chatter: Idol made a lot of changes in season eight. If you had the ear of a producer, what changes would you suggest they keep? What changes would you propose they ditch?

Mishavonna: “As much as I love the fact that there was more talent in the top 36, there was also a lot of it that I didn’t like. There were so many people that it was really hard to stand out. Whereas with 24, you were given more chances because there aren’t as many (contestants) voted off every week. So I think I would definitely change it and have them go back to the top 24.

“There were so many people, you didn’t even know who everybody in the top 36 was, which was where my problem came in. I was hardly shown at all during Hollywood Week. My audition wasn’t shown. I wasn’t shown until the third or second episode of Hollywood Week and only for a few seconds. That doesn’t really give the viewers enough time to decide who they really like.”

Chatter: How about the addition of a fourth judge?

Mishavonna: “The switch to four judges was kind of weird. I’m not going to lie. I liked Kara at first and then, I’ll be honest, she just got kind of obnoxious. I feel like everybody was just saying the same thing over again. She does have some good advice. But, well, she’s not my favorite, that’s all I’ll say. I liked Simon the best. It always seems like his advice is best. Even though he didn’t like me, which kind of made me sad. But that’s OK.”

Chatter: All in all, how would you classify your American Idol experience?

Mishavonna: “I think the Idol experience was very, very good for me. It was a learning experience, and it definitely gave me a lot more publicity than I could have hoped for on my own. It’s such a good platform to launch yourself off of. I mean, how many more people know me than did before the show? A lot, which is pretty good. It’s hard to make it in the industry, and Idol really helps you, so I definitely think it was worth the time.”

Chatter: What have you been doing and what do you plan to do now that your Idol run is over?

Mishavonna: “I’m just working on my professional music right now. I’m working with my producers in the studio all the time, just writing and writing and writing and trying to get myself out there. Doing shows. I’ve been performing a lot in southern California.”

Chatter: The artwork on your MySpace page says “country, soul and rock and roll.” How would you classify your music?

Mishavonna: “It’s got the whole county, soul, rock and roll kind of thing. That’s what I like to consider myself, a mix of those three genres. But country is definitely my first love. I just adore singing country music. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

Chatter: Where does that love of country music come from?

Mishavonna: “I was raised listening to country music. My mom loved country. I lived in Texas for a couple of years when I was really little, so I kind of have a little bit of roots in Texas. So I like to think of myself as a country girl at heart, though I was raised in southern California.”

Chatter: Any particular Idols in country music?

Mishavonna: “Definitely. LeAnn Rimes. And I like a lot of the male country artists, like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. Those are definitely a few of my favorites, but LeAnn Rimes would have to be number one for me.”

Chatter: Who did you grow up listening to?

Mishavonna: “Lots of LeAnn Rimes. I think I probably own every CD of hers. I grew up listening to also a lot of oldies. So that’s where the whole soul kind of thing comes into my music. Cause I definitely have a lot of that kind of influence on my voice. My voice is pretty crossover, it’s not straight-up country. It’s got a lot of different things in it.”

Chatter: How did the show with Crystal Gayle (Sept. 27 at the Kern County Fair in Bakersfield, Calif.) come about?

Mishavonna: “My bass player/manager (Gary Scott) is actually friends with Crystal Gayle and some of her family. So we went to one of her shows in Vegas. And I met her and I met some of her team and just got to know them a little bit. Gary talked to them about my music and she said, ‘Hey, why don’t you open for one of our shows?’ So we’re going to open for her at the Kern County Fair. I’m really excited for that.”

Chatter: In addition to the songs from your EP, you’ve put a couple of more recent songs on MySpace — “My Cowboy” and “Seven Lonely Days.” Tell me about those.

Mishavonna: “‘My Cowboy’ was written by one of my producers. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the stuff that I’ve written up on MySpace yet. That’s all very, very soon to come. We’re going to release those as a few separate singles on iTunes because it’s kind of hard to together an entire CD. It’s easier to have everybody buy just a 99-cent single cause a lot of people will do that.”

“‘Seven Lonely Days’ is an old Patsy Cline song. We were like, ‘We should do a cover of an old song and just make it completely new.’ So we found this Patsy Cline song, and it’s pretty well known. So we decided to try to just update it a little. So that’s my updated classic.”

Links …
Want to check out Mishavonna’s music. Head to her MySpace page to check out those songs from her EP, “My Cowboy” and “Seven Lonely Days.”

You’ll find more Mishavonna music on YouTube. Follow this link. There’s a live version of “My Cowboy” and make sure to check out “Country Thing,” a new song she wrote. You’ll also find a live version of “Edge of the World,” complete with the rap.

IF Interviews

I’ve been interviewing semifinalists from season eight because of my belief that the cast of finalists could have been completely different if Idol hadn’t mangled its semifinal format this year.

Previous interviews:

Felicia Barton

Arianna Afsar

Kendall Beard

Kristen McNamara

Brent Keith