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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > August > 14 > Entry
8/15: Remember Mikalah Gordon? She’s baaack in “Gone Country 2”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Mikalah with Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync. credit/CMT
ABOVE: The cast (l-r). Sebastian Bach, Mikalah Gordon, Sean Young, Lorenzo Lamas, John Rich, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick.
Mikalah Gordon was a polarizing figure from season four in 2005. She started out with a lot of refreshing attitude, then kind of melted into confusion over her image and sound. And her diction while singing was odd to say the least.
She didn’t quite disappear after “Idol,” doing some hosting work for Fox Reality Channel’s “Idol” roundups for a couple of years, acting as a correspondent for “The Tyra Banks Show,” plus playing a spoiled pop star on “The Unit.” She also portrayed Fran Drescher’s cousin on Fran’s sitcom “Living With Fran.”
And now she’s on her first big reality show since “Idol” called “Gone Country 2,” where this Jewish, Italian gal from Vegas attempts to “go country.” She’s now 20 years old and while she says she wants to be a country star, this is also a good way to get some (any!) exposure and a paycheck, too.
“I find country music very genuine and passionate,” she said. “I think it’s time for something unique in country. I know what I want to do. I want to sing.”
Growing up, she listened more to old-school country such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. “Kris Kristofferson is an in incredible songwriter,” she noted. She’s a fan of some modern-day stuff by Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Tim and Faith. Plus, she likes southern rock along the lines of Lynyrd Skynrd, a style she would tend to prefer for herself.
She joins a wacky “Surreal Life”-type cast: actor Lorenzo Lamas (pretty looking even in middle age), the slightly nutty actress Sean Young, the “Dee Snider” character in Sebastian “Skid Row” Bach, Jermaine Jackson (yes, one of those Jacksons!), Irene “Fame” Cara and Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync fame. Like Diana DeGarmo the first time, Mikalah is by far the youngest. And Mikalah is less well known than Diana, having finished 11th (as opposed to second).
One thing she said John Rich doesn’t do to her the way he did to Diana was make her cry. “I don’t cry,” she said.
The show debuts tonight at 8 p.m. I watched a preview. Mikalah comes off more mature and level-headed than she was on the show because, well, she is 20 years old, not 16.
Mikalah voluntarily jumped into clearing the air about “Idol” without me even asking. She said she made some serious mistakes on “Idol” but chalked it up to being young. “I was really really insecure,” she said. “I know I came off as kind of annoying. I had a really big mouth. I used that more as a cover. I really thought this could make me a huge star.”
Here’s Mikalah’s original audition where she shows some of her sass:
She works over Simon during Hollywood week:
But after making the top 24, she looked at the message boards. Big mistake. “I saw what people were saying about me. I was devastated. i was heartbroken.” (They insulted her attitude as well as her singing style.). She felt at that point to show her “more gentle or softer side. I was so confused. I was just trying to please everybody but myself.” She said she grew up without a lot of real life experiences and wasn’t used to be criticized.
She never saw herself as a diva on the show. “My mom would have kicked my ass if I ever became one. I had good intentions. I just didn’t know what I was doing.”
Here’s the “too mature for a 16 year old” take on a Barbra Streisand song “Somewhere.” It’s actually not bad in my opinion but I think she got reamed for it by Simon.
After the show, she stopped singing publicly for at least two years. She moved to Los Angeles and waitressed to pay the bills between TV gigs. “I made hardly any money from ‘Idol,’ ” she said. (Missing the top 10 for the tour didn’t help matters.) “I didn’t make money until I started doing some hosting gigs,” she said. During her time in L.A., she said she was tempted to go back home to Vegas and go to beauty school. But she stuck it out. “Now I’m self sufficient and independent,” she said. “I’m now more confident though I’m not cocky.”
She also got herself a vocal coach to help her reduce her nasal tone in her voice. She had to think about speaking only from her diaphragm.
She recently did the Razz Room in San Francisco with Gina Glocksen and Ricky Smith and got to meet Trenyce and R.J. Helton. She sang “Last Dance,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” and “God Bless the Child.” (She’s even planning to do a Wizard of Oz charity event in Lovett, Texas, in which she plays Dorothy and R.J. plays the Tin Man.)
Her take on each contestant besides herself:
Sebastian Bach: “He’s wild. I learned a lot from. He stays true to himself. I don’t know what his true intentions were for being on the show. But when he gets on the stage to sing, you see so much love for what he does.”
Sean Young: “Crazy girl! She was in one my favorite movies! [Ace Ventura]. She was very much in her own little world. But for what it’s worth, she was nice to me… her main goal was to write a song. And she did. She knew she wasn’t going to get a career out of it.”
Lorenzo Lamas: “He’s a good looking man! He’s way handsome for an older man.” [I teased her about the fact he’s more than twice her age.] “I wouldn’t go there. He was very serious. He does a lot of gigging around. You can’t help but respect him.” How was his song? “You have to watch and judge for yourself. At least he’s good looking.”
Jermaine Jackson: “I wanted to kill myself being there with a Jackson! I have to say, I was intimidated. He’s really wise and spiritual and humble. I was surprised how humble he is being a Jackson. And his wife is so cute.”
Chris Kirkpatrick: “”He was my best friend in the house. He was closest to my age. Funny thing— I was the rebel when I was 11. I refused to listen to ‘N Sync. My girlfriends were all in love with Justin. I listened to a lot of soul and my father was a jazz musician… I think his main objective was to prove that he can stand on his own. He did a good job. There is some tension between him and John Rich. But at the end of the day, Chris wrote a genius song. I think he did what he set out to do.”
Irene Cara: “You’ll see. Nothing I can say about that.” Hmm….
-Diana DeGarmo’s gig this fall with “Godspell” on Broadway is in trouble before it even started, according to Variety. Financial problems are being cited..
-Carmen Rasmussen is pregnant, according to people.com..
Comments
By JTesla
August 15, 2008 1:25 AM | Link to this
Great interview. She seems to be a little more level headed. I’m looking forward to what the opinion is of her from those watching Gone Country.
By flats
August 15, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
hello
By harrietth
August 15, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
Are the posts going thru now? I see yours, flats. I tried earlier but couldn’t get through.
By DawnH
August 15, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
TESTING 1-2-3… TESTING 1-2-3. Where is everyone? Is the blog broken?
Hello, flats!
By harrietth
August 15, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Seems to be working now!
By Lara
August 15, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this
Ok, I tried to post earlier, but couldn’t.
Happy Friday, blogsters. My short day, so I won’t be around all day. Good for her….good that she is getting rid of that annoying voice and is growing up!!! I am TiVO’ing this show - gotta watch my train wreck rock star - BAS!!!
By flats
August 15, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
WHAT THE CRAP WAS WRONG WITH THE BLOG!!!!!!15 DAYS 1 HOUR 39 MINUTES TIL COLLEGE BALLS!!!!!!BALLS BABY!!!!!!GO DAWGS!!!!
By harrietth
August 15, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
She had to be among the most annoying contestants AI ever produced. Got on my nerves something awful. Glad she has had this self-discovery and maybe can make it via another avenue. Time will tell. I don’t know if I can stand another numer of weeks with John Rich, though.
By Nana
August 15, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this
Oh good, it’s working now. I tried earlier and kept getting an error message. At first, I thought it was my home computer, but when I tried again from work, I got the same messge. Then I knew it wasn’t either of my computers.
Good Morning. Well, we finally made it to Friday. What a week this has been.
Rodney, as usual, this was a intriguing report. It seems that Mikalah has grown up and prioritized her life. I hope she does well on GC. The videos were also interesting, as I had forgotten which contestant she was.
Hey flats, how ya doing?
By harrietth
August 15, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
Meant to say number of weeks of John Rich. Don’t know if I can take him again.
By flats
August 15, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
WHAT THE CRAP WAS WRONG WITH THE BLOG!!!!!!15 DAYS 1 HOUR 39 MINUTES TIL COLLEGE BALLS!!!!!!BALLS BABY!!!!!!GO DAWGS!!!!
By flats
August 15, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this
Hello Nana and Dawn..What the crap has been going on with this thang?That gordon chick has always been hot.She seems like alot of fun!
By Nana
August 15, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
flats, there was a system failure at AJC. I just received an email from RH replying to my earlier one. He wanted to know if it was working now. I did tell him it was and we are able to post.
By linny ,,,=^..^=,,,
August 15, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
hey gang, hope you’ve had a good morning, albeit frustrated apparently by the blog being frozen up. I’ve been swamped and didn’t even hardly look at the computer this morning, so i’m sort of behind things.
i’ll be AFK (for those who are not familiar with that term, it’s an old chat room term for “Away From Keyboard”) for a few days, not sure if i’ll have any access to any kind of computer till maybe tuesday … pray for cooler weather in middle georgia, but no rain since my wipers don’t work right now…
Rodney thanks for all the info on Mikalah — i may suffer through JR to see her on there after all; i’ll let you know if (when) i watch what my thoughts are —
wait — was there ANY doubt of that?
~¿@
By flats
August 15, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
Linny…I’ll continue the college balls countdown while your gone!Have fun girl!!!
By Nana
August 15, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
calling it a day and headed home to p/u hubby then on to LaGrange for the week-end to visit Dad. Ya’ll take care and have a great weekend. Will catch up on the news when I get back Sunday evening.
Bye!!!!
By harrietth
August 15, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
harrietth is waving goodbye to linny and nana Have a good week, linny, and see you next week, Nana. I will not be blogging on the weekend.
By vig rx plus
August 16, 2008 1:42 AM | Link to this
She was really annoying, but she did have a star quality.
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By liquid vitamins
August 16, 2008 1:49 AM | Link to this
Yes she was annoying.
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By Deirdre
August 17, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
Rodney Good luck tomorrow! :-)
By Deirdre
August 17, 2008 7:53 PM | Link to this
OMG…there’s an absolutely hilarious video that someone has put together on mjsbigblog.com. Go to the headline “Hilarious AI7 Mash Up- Video” and click the pink link below the picture. It is well worth your time!
By magna rx
August 17, 2008 9:15 PM | Link to this
I just can’t imagine her singing country.
Magna RX
By JTesla
August 17, 2008 9:28 PM | Link to this
Awesome video.
Keep us posted.
By Nana
August 18, 2008 5:34 AM | Link to this
Good Morning All!!!!
Hope you all had a very nice and relaxing weekend and now are ready to face another week.
Heading out the door to the office. Ya’ll be careful driving in to your offices and I will catch ya’ll later this morning.
By harrietth
August 18, 2008 7:39 AM | Link to this
Good morning, all! I will be meeting with some freshmen this morning and won’t be on the blog until lunchtime. Academic year gearing up, along with other things.
By Lara
August 18, 2008 7:42 AM | Link to this
I watched Gone Country this weekend. Wow, Bas is the calm one (so far). What is that in Mikalah’s cheek? It is so strange and annoying - but she does have control of her voice and that is good. Why is Sean Young on there?!?
By Deirdre
August 18, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this
Morning!
I’m an Olympic fanatic. Can’t seem to watch anything else. We’ve had a Netflix movie sitting at our house for a week and haven’t even opened it yet..which is the good thing about Netflix…they don’t care.
Hope y’all had a good weekend!
By linny-away-from-home
August 18, 2008 8:04 AM | Link to this
peeking in from savannah before going to see the in-laws… morning blogland! kid all ensconced at school, long drive home this afternoon, probably… did i mention i HATE hotel beds? especially the ones that feel like they forgot to put any padding on a board before covering it with a sheet? aaaaargh. my sleep number must be like about 20, LOL, i want to sink down into my bed like it’s a featherbed (ever slept under, on, or in one of those?) or else on a waterbed… anyway, continental breakfast is SUCH a misnomer!!!! see you later, i have to give up the hotel computer now!!!! peace!
By flats
August 18, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
GOOD MORNING COLLEGE BALLSIANS!!!12 DAYS 3 HOURS 40 MINUTES TIL BIG TIME COLLEGE BALLS STARTS IN ATHENS GA!!!!!WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!Big weekend for me and my girl,got her oldest settled in at western kentucky in bowling green!!!!I hope everyone has a wonderful day and all that mess!!!
By woodpappy
August 18, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
Nana, Leaving for work at 5:30am makes me tired just reading that !
By Nana
August 18, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this
WP: I know leaving at 5:30 is the pits, but when you live between Monroe and Athens, and work at P’tree Industrial and Jimmy Carter, and your hours are 7am - 4pm, you have to get an early start due to the commute and traffic, Ugh, what a mess. In a couple of months, I will have to commute to Griffin everyday as my company is relocating there.I hope that commute will be better, but will take longer to drive.
By woodpappy
August 18, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
HOPEFULLY THEY ARE GONNA GIVE YOU AN INCREASE TO OFFSET THE GAS PRICES AND TRAVEL DISTANCE?????
By Nana
August 18, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
WP: When donkeys fly!!!!!!
By woodpappy
August 18, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
I am so sorry… That’s awful. Well at least you will have time in the morning and afternoon to enjoy the beautiful scenery and clear you mind.
Hey Flats…..Athens is back in full swing and it sure is a pretty sight.
By flats
August 18, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this
I bet woodpappy…best little city in the world!!!
By Nana
August 18, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
WP: In the morning it will be to darn dark to see the scenery and I will have to watch for the leaping deers, and in the afternoon, I just may be to tired to even notice it. But you’re right, the scenery is pretty going the back roads to Griffin. No interstate for me.
By woodpappy
August 18, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this
Nana what are you gonna do about ridin your moped in the winter? That’s gonna be a loooooong cold drive.
By Lara
August 18, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
So, who is going to the American Idols tour show tonight?
By Nana
August 18, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this
WP, I’m gonna someway put a top on it, cover myself from, top to bottom with the heaviest clothes I can locate, 10 pairs of socks, hiking boots, goggles with wipers, ear muffs and by the time I get myself dressed and to work, it will be time to repeat and head home. No one will be able to tell if I’m a coming or a going, and heaven help whoever gets in my way, cause I ain’t gonna be stopping!!!
By tanning lotion
August 18, 2008 9:23 PM | Link to this
I think she would be even more annoying singing country music.
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