“American Idol” season one contestant Nikki McKibbin has died at age 42 due to a brain aneurysm.
The Texas native came in third in 2002 when “Idol” was doing its test run in the summer time and it burst out to become a major, genre-defining hit of the 2000s. Kelly Clarkson, of course, won that year.
According to TMZ, she was placed on life support after the aneurysm. Her organs were harvested early Sunday morning before she passed, the website said, citing family members.
Season one “Idol” runner-up Justin Guarini posted a sweet eulogy on Instagram Sunday, calling her a “fiery, funny lady who could sing the Hell out of a rock song with the same kind of ease and command she lovingly used to cut you with her twangy Southern wit.”
She was a 23-year-old single mom whose son Tristan was a toddler when she competed on the show. He later competed on the show in 2014 and made it to Hollywood but not the live shows.
One of her notable covers on “Idol” was Stevie Nicks' “Edge of Seventeen.”
Guarini, on his Instagram post, said he loved when Nicks sent her flowers with a card that said she was “the Gypsy that I was,” referencing a Fleetwood Mac song. “Nikki was on cloud nine,” Guarini wrote, “and the joy and excitement that radiated from her was infectious.”
She released a rock album in 2007 and appeared on shows such as “Battle of the Network Reality Stars” and “Fear Factor.” Six years after “Idol,” she appeared in the second season of the VH1 show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” struggling with cocaine and alcohol addiction. In 2014, she told TooFab she was giving music lessons to kids and worked at a heavy metal concert shop. She said at the time she had been sober for several years.
“Idol” released a statement: “Nikki McKibbin was an incredible talent and we are deeply saddened by the news of her passing. She was part of our American Idol family and will be truly missed. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family and friends during this difficult time.”
She is the fourth “Idol” finalist to die following former Buckhead resident Michael Johns, Rickey Smith in 2016 and Leah LaBelle in 2018.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Jennifer Hudson was recently presented a Virtuoso Award at the 2020 SCAD Savannah Film Festival.
Hudson, the season three “Idol” finalist, two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and Academy Award-winning actress, stars as Aretha Franklin in the highly anticipated biopic, “Respect.”
That film, which was shot in metro Atlanta last year, was recently pushed back from a January 2021 release date to August 2021.
Other actors in the film include Marlon Wayans, Tituss Burgess, Mary J. Blige, Forest Whitaker and Audra McDonald.
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Credit: Kara Birnbaum/NBC
Credit: Kara Birnbaum/NBC
Season five finalist Katharine McPhee is pregnant with her first child, according to People magazine.
The 36-year-old actress and singer married David Foster, the 71-year-old Grammy-winning producer, last year. She starred in the CBS drama “Scorpion” for four seasons from 2015 to 2018.
Foster has five adult children from two previous marriages. This is his fifth marriage, her second marriage.
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Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer
Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer
Paula Abdul will be one of the judges for the upcoming Fox show “The Masked Dancer," a spin-off of “The Masked Singer.”
She will be joined by Brian Austin Green and actress and singer Ashley Tisdale. Craig Robinson is set to host.
Abdul was a judge during the peak years of “Idol” and also judged seasons 12 and 13 of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance."
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Kelly Clarkson has released a new Christmas tune “Under the Mistletoe” which features country artist Brett Eldredge. She co-wrote the song and released this statement about it:
“I love writing new Christmas songs that have a classic, throwback vibe. Brett is such an amazing singer and I was so impressed by his classic sound on his Christmas record so it was a perfect match for picking a duet partner for ‘Under The Mistletoe.’”
And here’s a sampling of some of her “Kellyoke” cover songs from her syndicated show “The Kelly Clarkson Show."
This is her version of Aerosmith’s 1993 song “Cryin'”:
From that same year, this is “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes:
And 1977′s Bee Gees classic “Stayin' Alive" for Halloween in which she dressed up as Meryl Streep from the film “Death Becomes Her.”
Last month, Clarkson covered her “Idol” cohort’s Adam Lambert’s “Whadya Want From Me?”
And here’s a delightful cover of the Bleachers' 2017′s “Don’t Take The Money.”
This is Clarkson’s cover of Fiona Apple’s haunting 1997 hit "Criminal.
And one more: 2003′s Coldplay song “The Scientist.”
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