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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2006 > December > 11
Monday, December 11, 2006
12/12: Taylor and Fantasia release day!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s the day Fantasia and Taylor square off with releases on the same day. My first-week predictions: 300K for Taylor and 200K for Fantasia. Our music critic Nick Marino gave a thumbs up for Fantasia’s self-titled CD. We didn’t get Taylor’s in time for review (though I guess they could have listened in advance on Yahoo if the music folks had asked me!)
I’ve tried to get interviews with Taylor and Fantasia but no luck yet. I’m too low on the totem pole. But AP did talk to Taylor here.
*When the concert wrapped in September, Hicks began his tutelage with legendary music mogul Clive Davis to craft an album that would be a fitting follow to his star-making “Idol” turn.
It was an “intimidating” experience, Hicks said, describing himself as “stubborn about my artistry and my creative integrity.” But he’s happy with the result. The album’s 12 tracks “a great representation of me as an artist,” he said.
Davis said he helped Hicks “define who he is.”
The album sounds like “modern whomp music,” Hicks said.
“He’s a modern soul man,” Davis said. “But we have stretched him a little. He’s getting in touch with other aspects of music and his versatility.”*
MTV news also got some time with Taylor. In it, he noted he plans to write a memoir, too.
“It’s the life experiences of a struggling musician on the road for 10 years,” he said. “What I’ve learned and what I can apply to everyday life that could possibly help other people in the same situation.”
Fantasia spoke with USA Today. You can sample her CD on AOL Music before you buy it..
An excerpt from the USA Today story:
*For Fantasia, she wanted more live music and up-tempo tunes.
“I remember going into the studio early on, and it just wasn’t right,” she says. “I wanted a modern-day Aretha Franklin meets Tina Turner. They finally got it. I told them to give me something that makes you feel good.” *
She also has cut ties with American Idol as Clay and Kelly did. She is no longer managed by 19 Management in favor of R&B/hip-hop powerhouse Violator Management.
A Newsday reviewer splits opinions about Taylor and Fantasia. Glenn Gamboa gave a so-so review to Taylor (“Taylor Hicks” (RCA) doesn’t give him much of a chance to show off his strong voice or his unique soul-patrol personality. It’s choked with bland leftovers and ill-fitting covers that make it the latest in a line of “American Idol” alumni debut albums that are almost always disappointing.) But he gave a solid one for Fantasia. He notes that “Fantasia takes a bit of Beyoncé flash, a bit of Mary J. Blige soul and her own keeping-it-real growl, laying the foundation for a leap from singer to budding superstar diva.”
12/11: Diana stalker pleads guilty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to the Australian paper the Age,, the woman who tried to extort money from Diana DeGarmo Monday pled guilty to blackmail and stalking. She demanded between $15,000 and $25,000 to go away last spring.
Between March and June, Tanya Maree Quattrocchi of Melbourne, Australia, called DeGarmo’s cel phone 369 times and text-messaged her 570 times.
The paper said in April, Quattrocchi emailed the singer’s producer pretending to be her and was given two of her unreleased songs she later threatened to release publicly if DeGarmo did not meet her online, it said.
“No matter how many times I changed my passwords or tried to keep my information safe, she would always break back in,” DeGarmo told the court in a statement. She eventually had the FBI get involved and the agency taped a conversation between the two. She “terrorized me for almost five months of my life that I can never get back.”
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