Fantasia favourite of the American Idol judges

Grove · October 8th, 2005, 04:38 AM

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Move over, Kelly. Take a back seat, Ruben. The judges for "American Idol" say their favorite winner is Fantasia Barrino, the North Carolina native who won season three of the Fox contest show. Kelly Clarkson was the first winner and Ruben Studdard was the season two champion.

But judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, who were in Greensboro for auditions Thursday, said Barrino was their favorite.

"If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia," Cowell said. "There are no airs and graces about her. ... I like her."

Barrino recently disclosed that she is functionally illiterate. The singer discusses her illiteracy in a new memoir, "Life is Not a Fairy Tale," which she dictated to a freelance writer.

The judges also had high praise for the new contestants they heard sing this week.

"We saw a young girl we all thought was fantastic," Cowell said. That alone was "worth the trip," he said.

The judges, who were joined by show host Ryan Seacrest, bantered affably, usually at the expense of Cowell, who was celebrating a birthday but still managed to live up to his reputation as a man not afraid to insult.

After someone sang "Happy Birthday" to him, he said, "That was very nice, but you have a terrible voice."

miss_perfect · October 8th, 2005, 12:16 PM

Well Cowell's right about one thing; Fantasia completely lacks any sort of grace.

LynnieD · October 8th, 2005, 03:37 PM

I still cannot past the illiterate crap....I just cannot get over it.

japangherl · October 8th, 2005, 03:48 PM

I think that Kelly Clarkson was good. But now i don't like any more of the Idol winners.

Tiara · October 11th, 2005, 05:58 AM

I think she sounds like Macey Grey, Im not too fussed on her, I liked her personality when I watched it tho.

All these TV talent shows are rigged, just look at Steve Brookstein on last years X Factor, if that wasn't rigged then the British public are even more stupid than I thought!

redheadlauren · October 12th, 2005, 06:35 PM

If the winners would stick to the music that best suits them, they'd be set for life!

Kelly - Pop
Ruben - R&B
Fantasia - Gospel
And the gal that won last year, can't remember her name, she's a country singer for sure!

Fantasia is sooooooo Mahalia Jackson or Shirley Caesar like ..... they were/are great gospel singers and she would be the one to take over their crown.

spinning_around · November 4th, 2005, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LynnieD

I still cannot past the illiterate crap....I just cannot get over it.

me either. i just can't understand how she got that far without being able to read. HOW? wtf? and anyways, i can't stand her voice. i used to like a couple of her songs, though

Elisa · November 9th, 2005, 06:08 PM

Fantasia is not at all my cup of tea, musically speaking, yet I can at least appreciate that she is talented. Would I buy her CD? No! But I can see how she'd appeal to some. What I do like about her is her personality. She's all about having a better life for her and her daughter and has remained true to herself.

Clay Aiken was the best contestant American Idol ever produced and it's a travesty he never won. With regard to all the Idol shows, Kalan Porter (former Canadian Idol) reigns supreme. He has an amazing voice, incredible instrumental talent (violin, piano, guitar, bass), not to mention he's gorgeous and an absolute sweetheart. Even Simon Fuller has commented that had he lived in and competed in America, he would be even more popular than Kelly.

WickedHo · November 9th, 2005, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killjoy

I can't stand Fantasia or her horrible singing. Her winning Idol is the reason I stopped watching. It's all rigged and obviously so. The judges wanted Ruben to win and were disgusting with their flattery of him and surprise! surprise! Ruben won! Then they did the same with Fantasia and what do ya know she won too!

I really, really liked Fantasia! I was glad she won! And Kelly and Reuben, too! Fantasia was the complete package, so she deserved to win: a unique (and DAMN GOOD) voice, stage presence, amiable personality, etc. She had it ALL.

What I don't understand: How was the contest rigged? How were any of them rigged? Do you have proof or just speculation cuz the person you wanted to win didn't?

And about Carrie: She shouldn't have won. Bo was SO MUCH BETTER than her! Sure, she's got a phenomenal voice, but, damn, she had such a sheepish demeanor on stage. YOU GOTTA ROCK THE HOUSE WHEN YOU'RE UP THERE!! YOU CAN NOT APOLOGIZE FOR BEING ON STAGE!! Remember that song she sang called "Evil" (or something like that, I think it was an Elvis Presley song)? I wanted to murder her after that! Simon was right when she said it was like a kitten trying to be a tiger (or something to that affect). Believe me: if American Idol was rigged, Bo Bice would have won.

Elisa · November 9th, 2005, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WickedHo

I really, really liked Fantasia! I was glad she won! And Kelly and Reuben, too! Fantasia was the complete package, so she deserved to win: a unique (and DAMN GOOD) voice, stage presence, amiable personality, etc. She had it ALL.

What I don't understand: How was the contest rigged? How were any of them rigged? Do you have proof or just speculation cuz the person you wanted to win didn't?

And about Carrie: She shouldn't have won. Bo was SO MUCH BETTER than her! Sure, she's got a phenomenal voice, but, damn, she had such a sheepish demeanor on stage. YOU GOTTA ROCK THE HOUSE WHEN YOU'RE UP THERE!! YOU CAN NOT APOLOGIZE FOR BEING ON STAGE!! Remember that song she sang called "Evil" (or something like that, I think it was an Elvis Presley song)? I wanted to murder her after that! Simon was right when she said it was like a kitten trying to be a tiger (or something to that affect). Believe me: if American Idol was rigged, Bo Bice would have won.

Like you, I was a Bo fan and was very surprised he didn't win. However, I truly believe that the final tally had to be only votes apart. Carrie and Bo were such extremes (country and rock'n roll) and in the end, I'm sure it simply came down to which kind of music you liked best. It had to be a pretty close race. Admittedly, I haven't followed either career since the show ended, but I'm suspecting that neither is doing really great. I still hear Clay hear in Canada more than either Carrie or Bo. I can honestly say I've only heard them on the radio, maybe 5 times and I listen to a lot of radio. It's amazing how our interest in these reality TV shows can be at a feverish pitch during the shows and then there is a sharp decline afterwards where you can barely recall the Top 10.

Rock Star INXS was an exception for me. The caliber of talent was incredible and JD Fortune is one man I won't soon forget.

travelbug · November 11th, 2005, 10:20 PM

Go to this link to read an very good article about American Idol being rigged:

http://www.beaversonidol.com/article...dolrigged.html

Yeah, I don't like Fantasia either. Too much "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" and she squats and acts like she's constipated when she sings. She sounds like a combination of Nell Carter and Macy Gray. And she's not that bright.

I like Kelly and Clay the best. I also like Kim Locke, have her album.