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PAST CONTESTANTS WHO FINISHED IN 3RD PLACE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
#433 - 1--LindaK--PAST CONTESTANTS WHO FINISHED IN 3RD PLACE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?--2008-05-11 20:00:00
#LindaK writes
Fourth place is now history for the first 7 seasons. Whoever gets booted this coming week joins the following contestants in Idol history as 3rd place finishers.
- This article covers only the past year, 2007-2008. If I have omitted any significant activities from this past year, please comment under the article (preferred) or email me and I will include it.
Season 1: Nikki McKibbin
Nikki released her debut cd ‘Unleashed’ on May 22, 2007. It was #52,437 in MP3 Albums on Amazon.com. I couldn’t find actual sales statistics. USA Today on April 11, 2008 said that “with the help of the Dallas metal band Rivethead, McKibbin finally got around to doing music her way. She released the hard-rocking Unleashed last summer on indie Chenoa Records. "I'd rather be broke and happy than rich and miserable," she says.
The article goes on to report that Nikki is a stay-at-home mom in Fort Worth. She hosts karaoke every Wednesday night at her stepfather’s bar in Arlington, so if you’re in the area, go check it out!
Nikki’s mom passed away last August, and this led to rumors that her loss coupled with poor cd sales led to depression and a suicide attempt, followed by a stint in a psychiatric ward. Nikki’s rep denied these rumors on Access Hollywood, March 10, 2008. The article goes on to report that Nikki is currently in Fort Worth and writing songs for her next cd. She has also laid down two tracks for ‘American Christmas’, which is an American Idol holiday cd due out in late 2008.
More information can be found at http://nikkimckibbin.com, and
http://ww.myspace.com/nikkimckibbin, and
http://www.accesshollywood.com/article/8724/former-american-idol-nikki-mckibbin-rumors-not-true-says-rep/ Season 2: Kim Locke
I always liked Kim, but when I met the season 2 contestants during their tour, I did not get to meet her. Two weeks ago, Kim was the guest singer at the March of Dimes walkathon right in my area. It just so happened that my 11 year old son collected a bit of money for the March of Dimes, so off we went in the rain. I did get to meet Kim this time, and I have to tell you all that she is a total sweetheart, down to earth, friendly, and of course, extremely talented.
This past year, Kim has done a few things on television. She was a guest co-host on The View in March 2007. In April 2008, she was on "Don't Forget the Lyrics!", and her charity was Camp Heartland. Kim was the first contestant in the history of the show to attempt the million dollar song. She didn’t get it, but was given $100,000 for her charity. She has vowed to raise the money she didn’t win for her charity.
Kim was also on Celebrity Fit Club which began on April 22, 2007.
The finale on June 17, 2007 was watched by 2.7 million viewers, the show's highest yet.
In addition to tv, Kim has been busy elsewhere. She was in the summer 2007 issue of UneQ magazine. She was also a spokesperson for Jenny Craig and lost 27 pounds on that diet. On her myspace on October 8, 2007, Kim said that she reached her goal of losing 40 pounds.
In January 2008, Kim was the centerfold of Us Weekly's "Diets That Work". The article counted down the top five celebrity diets of 2007, and Kim was named the winner.Wikipedia says that Ellen DeGeneres was so personally blown away by the feature that she asked Kim to be a special guest on her talk show. The episode taped on January 10, 2008 and aired the following day.
When I asked Kim if there was anything specific she wanted me to mention for this article, she thought about it and said, mention my restaurant. You could tell this is something she is extremely proud of. So Kim, here it is. In December 2006, Kim and her partners Eric Kupferberg, Liam Harvey and Jim Stake, opened the Croton Creek Steakhouse & Wine Bar, located in Croton Falls, New York. People I spoke to at the walkathon have been there, and they all raved about it.
Kim is active in many charities, including HIV and AIDS and breast cancer. She also supports YouthAIDS, the Davy Foundation, and Camp Heartland. In recognition of her many charitable efforts as an HIV/AIDS activist, she was given the Red Ribbon award on November 9, 2007. As mentioned, she appeared on a Celebrity episode of Don't Forget The Lyrics to raise money for Camp Heartland and vowed to raise another $400,000 for the charity by the end of 2008. In October 2007, she teamed up with General Mills to introduce the 'Pink For A Cure' campaign to promote awareness of breast cancer in the African American community.
Oh yeah, music. Kim’s newest cd is called ‘Based on a True Story’ and was released on May 1, 2007. So far it has sold 21,000 copies in the US and it ranked 6634 on amazon,.com. She also released a cd called ‘Christmas’, digitally released on November 6, 2007.
Upcoming performances are listed on her myspace,
http://www.myspace.com/kimberleylocke, and her official fanclub is
http://www.kimberleylocke.org/.
I was thrilled to finally meet Kim and I wish this talented young woman all the success in the world!
Season 3: Jasmine Trias
Jasmine performed in Las Vegas from February 15 through March 25, 2007. She was also a commentator on MTV News/TRL for American Idol 6. In February, she was a celebrity judge on a kids’ talent contest on ‘The Tyra Banks Show’.
Since last November, Jasmine has been the host of a television program called ‘Pacific Groove’ in Hawaii
.
Jasmine is still big in the Phillipines and you can catch her on tv there. ‘Your Song’ is a weekly, musical anthology program of ABS-CBN in the Philippines. The plot of each episode is inspired by a hit song performed by a local artist. The song title is used as the episode title, while the song itself is used throughout the episode as background music. A new cast is featured in each episode. In 2007, Jasmine was in an episode called ‘I’d Rather’ where she sang that song. Wikipedia notes that Jasmine will be in a tv show called ‘Bukas Kitang Mahalin’ in the Phillipines this year. Jasmine also filmed a movie in the Philippines called "Suddenly It's Magic" produced by GMA Films. It was supposed to be released in the summer of 2007, but has not yet been released.
Jasmine’s myspace url is
http://www.myspace.com/jasminetrias, and her official website is
http://www.jasminetrias.net/. Other good Jasmine websites are
http://www.jasminetriasonline.com/, and
http://jasmaniacs.com/.
Season 4: Vonzell Solomon
Vonzell, also known as Baby V, is the CEO of her own independent music label, Melodic Records. Her cd, ‘My Struggle’ was released to Itunes on January 9, 2007. Vonzell’s myspace reports that she is finishing a cd, with a single scheduled to be released in the next few months, and the whole cd later in the year.
On May 17, 2007, there was a fire in Vonzell’s home. There was damage to the house, but even worse, her dog Minnie Mouse died in the blaze.
Along with Anthony Fedorov and Debbie Reynolds, Vonzell recently completed the Simply Ballroom tour, based on the British version of Dancing With The Stars. It started in the UK and was in the US from March 2 through April 6, with 27 shows in 16 cities.
Idol Camp is an official American Idol performing arts summer camp for ages 10-15, in the mountains of California. According to Vonzell’s website, it offers a well-rounded curriculum designed to foster passion and creativity in a fun-filled, non-competitive environment. Campers create their own schedules by choosing from classes in singing, dancing, acting, song writing, audition and performance techniques, personal style, video production, set design and more." Vonzell will be at Idol Camp this summer, 2008, which should be a blast!
She is also featured in ‘Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul’.
For more information, visit Vonzell’s site is
http://www.officialbabyv.com/, and her myspace is
http://www.myspace.com/vonzellsolomon. Vonzell is adorale and I know her many fans can’t wait for her cd!
Season 5: Elliott Yamin
Elliott is a fan favorite and his new cd only adds to that reputation. His self titled cd was released on March 20, 2007. It debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart and at no. 3 on the Billboard 200. According to Wikipedia, it was the highest new artist debut on an independent label in SoundScan history, and In October 2007, it was certified gold in the United States. Also in October 2007, on the 14
th, Elliott released ‘Sounds of the Season: The Elliott Yamin Holiday Collection.
The video for the song “Wait For You” was released on March 20, 2007. During April and May, he did a radio tour to promote the cd. In May, he performed the song on the top 3 American Idol results show. On May 17, he started a national tour through June 21, 2007.
Also in June 2007, on the 13
th, Elliott was at the Oscar Mayer ‘Sing the Jingle, Be a Star’ contest kick-off event in Los Angeles. Hundreds turned out with hopes for a chance to appear in a national Oscar Mayer commercial and win tickets to the 2008 American Idol finale.
Among many other performances, Elliott also appeared as himself on the television soap opera ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ which aired August 24, and the television show ‘Lincoln Heights’ which aired September 20. On this show, he performed "Wait for You.”
Elliott went to the Philippines in September 2007 for a free mall concert tour of the Ayala Malls to promote his cd. He continued his North American tour in the fall, from October 5 through November 26.
In December, 2007, Elliott opened for Whitney Houston at the Live & Loud 07 Music Festival in Malaysia.
The cd ‘Elliott Yamin’ placed on four year-end Billboard charts for 2007, ranking at number 3 on the Top Independent Albums chart and at number 114 on The Billboard 200 chart.
"Wait for You" placed on six year-end Billboard charts for 2007, ranking at number 11 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart and at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart.
2008 has been musically busy for Elliott. He went to the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland and Germany to entertain service members as part of a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour from February 12 to February 21, 2008. He went with Fantasia to Angola as part of Idol Gives Back in March 2008, and the clip was shown on this year’s American Idol on April 9. In March he went to Japan for a promotion tour, because his cd will be released there this month. Elliott also sang ‘Wait for You’ at the 25
th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on April 9, 2008, and on April 16, sang ‘Free’ on the American Idol results show.
On March 11, 2008, producer Randy Jackson released his first studio album, on which Elliott sings a duet with Katharine McPhee. The song, "Real Love" was released as a single for radio airplay on April 22, 2008.
Elliott will sing Elton Johns "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from Disney's The Lion King in the compilation album DisneyMania 6, due to be released on May 20, 2008. Elliott also began working on his next cd in early 2008, and hopes to release this in the fall.
Elliott is a spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 2007-8 have been busy for Elliott in this aspect, too. The Central Virginia Chapter of the JDRF honored Elliott for his commitment to diabetes awareness and research at its 8th Annual Spring Gala on March 1, 2008, and more than $400,000 was raised at the event.
The following comes from Wikipedia. In August 2007, Elliott visited Capitol Hill as International Celebrity Advocate Co-chair of the Promise to Remember Me Campaign to petition Representatives for their support to extend the Special Diabetes Program, which provides federal funding for type 1 diabetes research. In October 2007, he was named Global Ambassador to promote the Inspired by Diabetes Creative Expression Competition, a global contest in which people with diabetes, as well as their friends and families, can share through art, music, or essay how the disease has impacted their lives.
During his fall 2007 concert tour, Elliott announced that 100% of proceeds from the sale of designated T-shirts and pins would benefit the Life for a Child Program, which provides insulin, as well as diabetes-related care and supplies, for children in developing countries.
Also, on World Diabetes Day, November 14, 2007, Elliott was joined by children with diabetes for a performance of the song "Promise to Remember Me" in the United Nation's Rose Garden.
He was also on the Montel Williams Show on November 29, 2007, and talked aout his experiences with the disease.
In March of this year, Elliott’s mom Claudette passed away. We all grew to love Claudette during Elliott’s time on Idol. To this day, his homecoming clip was the most emotional one I’ve seen, and that was because of Claudette.
Elliott’s myspace address is
http://www.myspace.com/elliottyamin, and on
http://www.elliott-yamin.org/ there is a dedication to Claudette and you can donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
Season 6: Melinda Doolittle
Melinda is our most recent 3
rd place Idol graduate. In March, 2007, she was featured on the ‘Amazing Grace’ soundtrack. During the summer, she sang with Blake and Jordin at the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Special.
Melinda joined Michael W. Smith on his ‘It’s A Wonderful Christmas’ tour from November 29 through December 22.
“My Funny Valentine”, Melinda’s first single, was released on February 12, 2008 through Itunes and Amazon MP3 Downloads. She is currently working on her first cd with an anticipated release date of June this year. I also read that she plans on releasing a Christmas cd this holiday season.
Periodically, you can hear Melinda on a web show called "Moments With Melinda" where fans can call and talk to her. You can go here for more information:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/momentswithmelinda.
Melinda is also featured in the book ‘Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul’.
Last year, in June 2007, Melinda visited Zambia with Laura Bush and the Malaria No More organization to distribute life-saving bed nets and raise awareness. As part of the trip, she performed with a praise band at the Miracle Life Family Church in Lusaka. If you go to her myspace, there is a group called ‘Melinda’s Backups’ that is raising money for Malaria No More. This year, they raised over $9000 by participating in the Nashville County Music Marathon on April 26
th. They are currently planning next year’s event, scheduled for April 25, 2009, and if you are interested, they are welcoming all.
Melinda’s myspace is
http://www.myspace.com/melindadoolittle, and there is an announcement there that her official website is coming soon. Good luck, Melinda!
There you have it. The Idols for next week, who finished in 2nd place, our runners up, are:
Season 1: Justin Guarini
Season 2: Clay Aiken
Season 3: Diana De Garmo
Season 4: Bo Bice
Season 5: Katharine McPhee
Season 6: Blake Lewis
If you have any information you would like included about any of these contestants, from the LAST YEAR ONLY, please email me at
andmeljar@aol.com.
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