What's going on with Fantasia? After missing shows in the Los Angeles production of The Color Purple the musical thanks to inflammation of her vocal cords, it seems she has more troubles as security has been beefed up around the Pantages Theater thanks to a piece of hate mail she received from an interesting individual. Per TMZ:
Fantasia's manager tells us Barrino became alarmed over a disturbing letter loaded with racial slurs -- including the n-word -- and a line that read, "go back where you came from and die."
We're told the person who wrote the letter claims he used to work as a security guard for Fox while Fantasia was on "A.I."
This is another strange development in the life of the third season's winner, and really comes out of nowhere. It's good to know security is taking this threat seriously.
"This all happened by accident," says Smithson, who sang Evanescence's Bring Me to Life during the 2008 Idols Live tour. She's friends with Moody's housemate, Monique Morrison. "I met him once or twice (at the house) before the band thing," says Smithson, who had been working on a solo project.
The Fallen will release its first single, "Bury Me Alive," on their official Web site (WeAreTheFallen.com) on Monday and plan to release songs individually over the course of the next year and a half before working on an album.
>People magazine's 10th annual "Hottest Bachelors" edition was revealed this week, and a certain Idol runner-up made the cut. Adam Lambert was named as one of the hottest bachelors alive. Upon hearing the news, Adam said:
"Am I really? I'm not hot!" Adam Lambert responds in disbelief when Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell reveals the news that he is listed on People magazine's 10th annual list of Sexy & Single Men in 2009. He, however, quickly adds, "That's pretty cool. That's really cool."
The current issue of People is now available on newsstands everywhere.
>Another runner-up was in the news this week, but for more negative reasons. David Archuleta's father, James Jeffrey Archuleta, was nabbed for solicitation of a prostitute at a massage parlor back in January in Midvale, Utah. Archuleta's attorney, Erik Bauer, responded to the news:
“He did not go there for sex and that was it and pure, plain and simple that’s the way it was,” Bauer said. “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s a good man and we hope this story won’t cause his family any embarrassment.”
The services reportedly cost $582, so it seems that Arch Sr. asked for the works.
>Chris Daughtry appeared on FOX Business Network's America's Nightly Scoreboard on Tuesday to promote his band's forthcoming album Leave This Town. Watch the interview below:
Chris discussed the diversity of the music found on Leave This Town and responded to a question regarding the possibility of attempting to do musical theatre in the future, saying that he's thought about it and has done some acting (like the 100th episode of CSI: NY) but he is solely focused on music at this point.
Fantasia will next return to the musical The Color Purple as Celie, only this time she will be joining the national tour for its Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles dates. The tour currently stars Fantasia's fellow Season 3 alum LaToya London. In addition to the tour, Fantasia will have the chance to reprise the role of Celie on the silver screen when she begins filming later this year.
Currently in Boston starring in the national tour of Oprah Winfrey's Broadway musical The Color Purple, LaToya London today made the rounds on local morning shows to promote the show. She first appeared on FOX 25 Morning News. Watch the interview below:
In the chat, LaToya talked about how surprised she was with how the audience reacted to the preview show held last night. She said The Color Purple is a part of history and she is so proud to be a part of the production.
LaToya also appeared on New England Cable News (NECN), where she talked about what the show means to her and what she's been doing since Idol. Watch the interview below:
The Color Purple will run at the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston until Sun., June 28. Tickets can be purchased at CitiCenter.org.
LaToya London may have been considered one of the favorites on the third season of Idol, but she was not able to keep her bright fire of megastardom alive following the conclusion of the season with a fourth-place finish. She has, however, found a niche career in musical theatre, which has served her very well thus far.
LaToya released her debut album, Love & Life, in Sept. 2005 on Concord Music Group (Peak Records). It has sold roughly 58k copies to date, which is not stellar but is surely better than a lot of other albums by Idol alums. It spawned three singles including "Appreciate," which hit #8 on the Billboard Singles Sales Chart.
Now known to her fans as "London," LaToya can be found starring as Nettie in the U.S. tour of Oprah Winfrey's musical The Color Purple, which is currently playing at the Sacramento Community Center Theatre in Sacramento, Calif., and will wrap up in Boston on June 28, 2009 at The Wang Theatre.
Prior to the tour, LaToya starred in the Chicago production of the show. Also on the performing arts front, LaToya starred in the comedic stage show Issues: We All Have 'Em and the musical Beehive in 2006.
She is currently looking for a home for her sophomore album after getting out of her three-album record deal with Concord/Peak Records.
LaKisha Jones, the soulful fourth-place finalist from Season 6, was overshadowed by some of her peers on the show. But she has been able to catapult herself into a multitude of areas of the entertainment industry following her stint on Idol.
LaKisha wrapped up a six-week run on Broadway on Feb. 24, as The Color Purple unexpectedly closed, unable to boost ticket sales following the departure of Fantasia from the show.
Despite the disappointing news, LaKisha is not just sitting on her hands, and has instead shifted her focus to completing her debut album. It will be released to digital retailers like iTunes in August and in stores later in the fall. Her first single, "Same Song," is written by Diane Warren and will be released in the near future according to her record label's Web site.
There is currently a clip of a song that will be featured on her album, "So Glad I'm Me," up on the site.
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