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Roteach
Member
06-01-2003
| Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 8:21 am
Whether or not Fantaisia wins (and she has a very good chance of winning), she will make her name in the music business. I am more blown away by her ballads than by her up-tempo stuff. She will go far in the business.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 6:50 pm

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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Saturday, May 22, 2004 - 6:52 pm

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Kajuansmama
Member
02-12-2004
| Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 3:55 pm
i love fantasia!
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 10:52 pm
Okay, Fantasia TORE UP that last song tonight! I just about wore out my phone's redial button voting for her. I don't know if it will help or not, though, because it sure was easy getting through (although I AM voting over two hours after the show aired here). Either way, she's a winner and I think she'll do well. I love the quality of her voice precisely because it isn't crystal clear. It has. . . flavor. It has personality. It has a quality that lets you immediately reailze who you are listening to. You'll never hear a single from Fantasia on the radio and think it's some other pop star. She's unique and very, very talented. You go, BoBo! 
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 6:05 pm
Congratulations to the American Idol, Ms. Fantasia Barrino!

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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 6:06 pm
YAH!!!!!!!! Fantasia!!!!!!!!!
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 6:40 pm
yeah, yeah, YEAH!!!
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Llkoolaid
Member
08-01-2001
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 7:20 pm
Congratulations to Fantasia and all her fans.
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 10:34 pm
WOOO HOOO!!!! This might be the first American Idol whose CD will actually end up in my collection. CONGRATULATIONS FANTASIA!!!!
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Fruitbat
Member
08-07-2000
| Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 2:26 am
Ahhhhhhhhh. I am happy.
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Alegria
Member
07-05-2002
| Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 11:48 pm
    Me too.     
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, May 28, 2004 - 10:40 am
Upcoming Fantasia Appearances: Friday May 28 Larry King Live Tuesday June 1st Regis & Kelly Wednesday June 2nd The Early Show Thursday June 3rd The View

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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, May 28, 2004 - 5:31 pm
No false "Idol" After Super Bowl-style fanfare and 65 million votes, TV's most popular show concludes with Fantasia Barrino as the most deserving "American Idol" yet. By Heather Havrilesky After screwing up most of the votes and sending some of the most talented contestants packing, after shaking our faith in democracy and making us wish that we were ruled by an evil tyrant -- namely the ornery but wise Simon Cowell -- America finally dismissed overrated show choir teen Diana DeGarmo and made Fantasia Barrino, the most talented and unique contestant yet, this year's winner of "American Idol." It was great. Fantasia cried and sang and firecrackers blazed and confetti showered down and it was like the Super Bowl and "Star Search" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" all rolled into one. But that was just the last seven minutes of the show. Much like the rest of the season, which is barely tolerable without TiVo's fast-forward button, 90 percent of the "American Idol" finale featured some of the most inane banter ever to be captured on the small screen -- and that's saying a lot. The festivities featured an outdoor stage in Hollywood where many of the eliminated contestants sang (reminding us, in many cases, why they were eliminated), footage of stadiums filled with screaming fans in the finalists' home states of Georgia and North Carolina, an extended version of the usual dorky play-by-play by host Ryan Seacrest, an alarmingly amateur, horribly choreographed medley featuring this year's "Idol" contestants, and interviews with stars attending the show. To top off all of the hoopla, Jennifer Love Hewitt was on hand, MTV-style, to chatter aimlessly with whoever would have her. Jennifer Love Hewitt: Hawaii's my favorite place in the entire world! Jasmine Trias: Oh God, it's the best! Love Hewitt: You rock! Sitting through the "American Idol" finale was like watching a national championship sporting event, except that the event took place the night before, and fans were gathered merely to learn who won and to celebrate the outcome -- for approximately seven minutes. At least Simon Cowell could be trusted to say something outrageous in that matter-of-fact, sociopathic tone that tells you he's not just playing it up for the cameras. Seacrest: What's the most difficult part about being a judge on "American Idol"? Cowell: Uh ... The most difficult judge? Most difficult part ... Um, it's not difficult for me because I'm the one on the show -- without sounding conceited -- who actually knows what they're talking about. Cowell's vanity is justified, since his sense and sensibility were the only things viewers could count on during the third "Idol." First there was the slightly sad popularity of William Hung, with his tone-deaf rendition of "She Bangs." Then there was the premature dismissal of two of three extremely talented African-American women, La Toya London and Jennifer Hudson, whose powerful voices put other finalists like John Stevens and Trias to shame. Then there was the disastrous all-Gloria Estefan show, in which contestants sang painfully bad hits like "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and "Conga" while the audience and judges winced. While Cowell has had fewer nice things to say than ever, judge Randy Jackson has appeared to be using all of his strength to swallow back the urge to proclaim the voting racist, and even Paula Abdul seemed a little off-kilter each week, replacing her usual servings of unfocused positivity with tense, emotionally overwrought haikus that neither the audience nor her fellow judges seemed to comprehend. But one force has kept this season together: Fantasia Barrino. A 19-year-old single mother from High Point, N.C., Barrino offered consistently stunning performances with a distinct voice that sounds like a cross between Macy Gray and Aretha Franklin. While the other contestants were on par with the stars of high school musicals, ensemble Broadway performers and the cast of Disneyland variety shows, Fantasia revealed herself to be a superstar. On Tuesday night when DeGarmo took the stage to sing "I Believe," the song written by former "Idol" finalist Tamyra Gray set to be the winner's first release, the whole thing played out like a pretty impressive number by a high school show choir. When Fantasia performed the same song an hour later, the audience at the Kodak Theater rose to its feet. Even the backup gospel singers, dressed in red robes, smiled widely and came alive, thrilled to be a part of such a great performance. Fantasia was in the zone. From the softest moments of the song to its rabble-rousing chorus, when Fantasia sang "I Believe!" all of the tackiness of the phone-elected pop star evaporated and we believed right along with her. There are plenty of good performers in the world, but probably only a handful who come alive under the spotlight, hypnotizing everyone within a square mile: Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Bono, Bruce Springsteen. I still remember the first time I saw Prince perform "Little Red Corvette" on "Solid Gold." He was so intense, so unusual, his movements so self-assured and eccentric. I was maybe 8 years old, but I remember asking my older brother, "Who is that guy?" "Oh, Prince?" he said, knowingly. "Yeah, he's pretty weird." I knew immediately that he meant pretty weird in the extremely cool sense. Fantasia Barrino is pretty weird. During many of her performances, she moves around in the audience, hunched over, not really connecting with the masses so much as having her own strange kind of fun with them. For all of her humility and thanking-the-good-Lord, Barrino has a swagger that other "Idol" contestants have lacked. Most of all, like all great performers, she locates the emotional center of a song and sinks her teeth into it. People have raved for weeks about her sublime rendition of "Summertime" from "Porgy and Bess." It's a song that's hard to hear without imagining Billie Holiday's purring voice, yet Barrino somehow managed to inject her own flavor of heartbreak and triumph into its strains. And when she sang "Chain of Fools" a few shows back, it was as if she had never heard Aretha's version at all -- she was a woman possessed, shaking and growling, her eyes rolling back in her head as she wailed that she was nothin' but a fool. Poor DeGarmo, with her shiny pantsuits and bad hair, looks like a miniature car-rental agent onstage next to Barrino. It's incredible that anyone saw this as a competition at all. While DeGarmo pastes on her best "Up With People" face and belts out her numbers like a teenage Little Orphan Annie, Barrino inhabits the stage like the world is hers for the taking. To be fair, the contestants sing some of the most difficult pop ballads around -- many of them roam far from the average singer's range. But Barrino always seems to trust her voice, so much that she's free to play with each song, free to dance around as she feels moved to do so, free to unleash an emotional storm on the audience. Unlike former winners Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard who, for all of their talent, would never be in the spotlight without a show like "American Idol," Barrino is a natural star and a fantastic performer who richly deserves every bit of the fame and fortune that she'll get from this experience. Whether or not "American Idol" goes down in history as an absurdly fluffy, escapist diversion from these dark times, Fantasia Barrino has a gift that could make her bigger and brighter than the pop cultural supernova that created her.
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Creampuff
Member
08-27-2001
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 9:01 pm
Very nice article regarding Fantasia's talent, along with her AI win! I'm sorry the author found it necessary to run down amost everyone else in the process!!
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 9:55 pm
Idol Wild: Finally, artistry wins Slate The third season of American Idol, which concluded last night with a satisfying victory for North Carolinian Fantasia Barrino, has been unpleasantly complicated for some observers. Kate Aurthur complained in the New York Times last Sunday that "the votes have been so capricious, and have pushed the show so far from its stated purpose—to find the best unknown singer and make him or her a star—that even the panel of judges has disavowed the results." She's referring to an episode a couple of weeks ago during which capable La Toya London was voted off and the wildly inconsistent but very pretty Jasmine Trias moved into the final three. Afterward, several judges carped about the voters' bad taste and announcer Ryan Seacrest implored viewers, as the credits rolled, to get off their lazy asses and vote (but not for Jasmine, you idiots, it was implied). Aurthur blames the audience (and to a lesser extent, the phone-voting technology) for the fact that Idol, which "used to exude a sense of pop-cultural justice," has "lost its innocence." But the complainers have drawn the wrong conclusions from this year's weirdness. By Idol's own standards, it was far from a bad year. It was the opposite, and that was the problem. The contestants for the third Idol were the strongest ever, something that the judges, when they weren't complaining about the feckless voters, repeatedly acknowledged. There were six different contestants who could, with the requisite throaty loudness, hold a tune and inflict a little vibrato on it. All six could have easily taken Justin Guarini's place as a finalist in the first Idol season. Such a large, tightly bunched field invites chaos. It is one of the few remotely scientific principles of political science that voting procedures involving three or more candidates or preferences are unpredictable and sometimes perverse in their outcomes, especially when, as in weighted-voting arrangements, voters can choose not just a single favorite, but can express the order and strength of several preferences. (American Idol voting registers strength of preference in several indirect ways: the decision to get up and vote at all; the willingness to persist through busy signals and other telecom snafus; and, given the option of unlimited voting, the motivation to do all these things repeatedly.) As an indication of how voters' general, collective preferences can be distorted by such procedures, consider that on different selection shows both Fantasia and her runner-up Diana DeGarmo had to stand and sweat among the low vote-getters as contestants they would later vanquish looked on from across the stage, safe in the high-vote group. (On selection shows, to build suspense, Seacrest divides contestants into two groups, low and high vote-getters. The shows conclude with the lowest vote-getter being eliminated and then singing a farewell song, which often helps remind us exactly why they were eliminated.) So, it was the strength of the field that brought a little chaos to Idol voting, which was primarily reflected in the displeasing sequence in which people were eliminated—and it was this disorderly sequence that, in turn, caused all the hasty disavowing and garment-rending over the lost innocence of a Fox reality show. But it also provided the best opportunity yet to observe and ponder the different reasons why voters find particular American Idol contestants attractive. For the armchair sociologist, the six contestants came as close to the ideal of a random sample of characteristics (which, if you were an actual sociologist, you would call "variables") as you could hope for. There was prettiness (Jasmine), aggressive perkiness (Diana), and extreme semiprofessional adequacy (La Toya, who sang in clubs with her musician husband, and Jennifer, who, in a transcendently appropriate biographical note, sang on a cruise ship). There was another buttery-voiced, Rubenesque baritone (George), but he was slightly effeminate and not so endearingly fat. Age might have been another factor, especially in the survival of 18-year-old Jasmine at the expense of 25-year-old La Toya. Indeed, the two oldest among the final six were the first eliminated. There was also race, which came up most conspicuously on a selection show at the end of April when the three lowest vote getters were all black women with excellent voices. (If there are any suspicions that Fox manipulates the votes, that image of three black women huddling together awaiting elimination should banish them. Network executives must have been cringing.) But this showed that the race question cuts in several directions. Some observers immediately inferred that these three were splitting the black vote—Idol voting is for, not against contestants—thus implying that black voters were voting their race. In an earlier article, I predicted that runner-up Diana DeGarmo would win, and implied that one of her advantages, on top of her adequate singing and her cloying perkiness, was that she was white, but—given her white Southern accent and her vaguely Latin complexion and surname—ambiguously so. (It's a little unnerving how, when trying to puzzle out the racial reflexes of the American public, you find yourself resorting to descriptive categories disconcertingly redolent of 19th-century racial science: "She has the nose and forehead of a member of the Latin Race, but the vocal timbre of a member the Caucasian race." For the record, I don't think Americans in general think like 19th-century racial scientists, but I do think that visual racial and ethnic cues play some hard-to-specify role in the type of desires and preferences provoked by a show like American Idol.) Apart from the baseline of vocal adequacy and the distribution of other factors like age and looks and personality (and race), one thing I didn't expect to have to consider in handicapping American Idol was artistry. The typical Idol contestant—Diana DeGarmo, for example—embraces the show's abiding aesthetic of kitsch optimism with disappointing conviction and consistency. But when Fantasia Barrino sang "Summertime" from her knees Tuesday night, she evoked the humid, pagan atmosphere of Porgy and Bess in a way that simply shamed the American Idol franchise. The flat, nasal tones in which she operates in middle registers often rang oddly in the saccharine pop songs she was normally obliged to sing, but in "Summertime" she pushed those same tones to exquisite effect through snaking, breathless, almost sinister notes. At the end of Tuesday's show, Fantasia had to sing "I Believe," the hideous new "American Idol single" that begins "Have you ever seen a rainbow's end?" But she ripped the kitsch heart out of that song—which Diana had earlier embraced with every ounce of her perkiness—by transforming it into a furious gospel rave-up. Wednesday's final tally indicated, surprisingly to me, that a majority of voters found Fantasia's deviation from American Idol's governing sensibility a good thing. A few days ago I reiterated to Slate's editors my confident, sociologically grounded, completely cynical prediction that Diana DeGarmo would be the new "American Idol," just so they had it on record ahead of time. It's an odd, happy way to be disabused, having your cynicism mocked by events.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 10:04 pm
From Australia, where Fantasia's victory just aired, another perspective [I don't necessarily endorse some of the commentary but I might]: So why did Fantasia win? Honestly I'm as surprised as anyone. Maybe the voter demographic of Idol has changed, or the majority of Americans are smarter than the TV network thought. She is exceptionally talented but isn't the nice wholesome image that American Idol is really aimed at. She doesn't "sing" their winners single, she chews it up, swallows it and spits it out with passion and guts. Dianna sang the single like she was singing the national anthem at a major sporting event. Nice and technical and all cheer-leader positive and American-dream like. Fantasia does nothing so predictable. Tasia somehow makes the song about trouble and strife and survival. She mixes up hard and soft sounds throughout the song, even throws in a brilliant wild Led Zeppelin wail or two- one critic referred to her singing "like a pagan". That's not the pretty-nice-non-threatening "Star Spangled Banner" poster child they were expecting. And thank goodness for that I say - Fantasia has put life back into the competition. No wonder there is a section of American society that's appalled she won. Their safe, bland, mediocre reality TV world just got blasted out from under them. Is nowhere sacred anymore?
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Roteach
Member
06-01-2003
| Monday, May 31, 2004 - 5:49 am
Great articles. Just to let you know, Fantasia is going to be on Regis and Kelley tomorrow morning.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Monday, May 31, 2004 - 8:19 am
Great articles, Tish! That last one was mighty interesting, lol ...
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Monday, May 31, 2004 - 8:34 am
I can't remember the interview, but Fantasia said that she is young and wants to sing Hip Hop for the most part. Thought that might be of interest. Of course, she may have to battle 19 and RCA to record what she wants to, as most idols do. I wish her good luck to get what she wants. I hope she gets advice from the other idols to ease her way. I think her family will be the biggest help to her with all their experience in the business.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 7:05 pm
'Idol' speculation: Fantasia has staying power USAToday Season 3 of American Idol ended with the coronation of Fantasia Barrino, the rags-to-ratings-rocket who won the prize with her robust pipes and sassy personality. As Idol idles its cameras until January's fourth season, the feisty North Carolinian is now faced with justifying the superlatives judges and voters heaped upon her during a thrilling race to the finish line. No doubt she'll sell records. Whether Barrino, 19, lives up to the hard sell of the show's diva designation remains to be seen. Breathless fans gobbled up singles and albums by Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, but critics downplayed the Fox talent-show sensations as overrated karaoke performers granted shortcuts to fame. The viewers who dialed in roughly 33 million votes to hand Barrino the third Idol title clearly consider her worthy of worship. This time, music industry experts seem to agree, predicting Barrino may transcend the hype and hoopla to join music's artistic elite. "Everyone who has some experience in the record business is convinced that Fantasia is the one (Idol) who really deserves a national stage," says Craig Marks, editor of music magazine Blender. "Fantasia is the very first rock singer, as opposed to lounge or pop singer, in the three-year history of American Idol. There are a lot of reasons the show is terrific as television, but Fantasia is the first reason it's proven to be a boon to music fans and a great talent scout. "On vocal chops alone, it's almost shocking how raw and rock 'n' roll her voice is, compared to the smooth and bland singing usually produced on that show. All the things people rightfully accuse American Idol singers of being — generic and watered-down and histrionic and melismatic — Fantasia is the antidote to that. She's a down-and-dirty soul singer." If Barrino doesn't outsell her Idol cohorts initially, she's likely to outlast them, Marks says. "As a vocalist and personality, she's got something that feels more built to last," he says. "It sounds older. The music world will be a slightly richer place with her in it." Idol judge Randy Jackson compared Barrino to Mary J. Blige and Aretha Franklin, "but I would say she has a classic, versatile quality that goes back to Dinah Washington or Esther Phillips," music consultant Tom Vickers says. "She has the making of the next quintessential diva. She has the ability to go all the way in whatever genre she chooses." A vinyl-era chanteuse in the bootylicious age? It isn't career sabotage. It's great timing, says music-business consultant Dennis O'Donnell, who sees a growing hunger for authentic entertainers. "She's a pure singer, and she's more of a stylist, which is never a bad thing," O'Donnell says. Assembly-line pop stars are wearing out their welcome, he says. Fans are expressing renewed interest in earthy, spontaneous artists who provide mystery and emotional connections on stage over robotic lip-synchers who re-create videos in tightly choreographed spectacles. "The industry is going toward singers who sing real songs with bands who play real instruments," he says. "In the coming generations, prefabricated entertainment will be shoved to the background." Barrino's challenge will be marshalling her skills for maximum impact. To reach the masses, talent has to translate from record and radio to TV and film. "I think her chances are pretty good," O'Donnell says. "She can sing. She does have charisma and a really good face. All the rest can be taught if she's receptive to it." The greatest immediate threat to Barrino's career is asphyxiation by producers and songwriters intent on churning out another cookie-cutter pop singer. Barrino may be vocal enough, as a singer and a rebel, to resist attempts to mold her. "There's not much a producer or label could do to counter that voice," says Teen People managing editor Amy Barnett. "She's very real and not at all cheesy, as opposed to people from the prior season, who felt so manufactured. The fact that she had to overcome some adversity to get where she is made people like her even more. As long as she sticks to music that showcases her vocal abilities, she can expect a platinum album." What sort of album? That may prove more crucial than the Idol gold medal. During the contest, Barrino's repertoire ranged from soul and pop to rock and schlock. She seldom stumbled, but got her highest marks for vintage turns. The Idol franchise, however, seems intent on pushing a pop agenda. "That's been Idol's mistake," Barnett says. "A pop album doesn't guarantee crossover appeal. Fantasia does best in an old-school mode, and generic pop tunes don't suit her well. I could see her doing old-school R&B and neo-soul. If she does a quality R&B record, she can develop a widespread audience. Look at Alicia Keys." Keys is a fine model, Marks says. He'd also like to see Barrino collaborate with hip-hop innovator Missy Elliott or follow R&B singer/songwriter Jill Scott's lead. "Whatever you do, you have to put real instruments, a real band, behind Fantasia. I don't think she can be molded. She's not a Whitney (Houston). Her voice may be too old-school to be heard on black contemporary radio. "I'm not sure what kind of material I'd give Fantasia," Marks says. "But I do know she's really good. She seems like a completely grounded girl who's also a bit of a weirdo, and that's what's so refreshing about her. Of all the people who've been on American Idol, she's the only one whose record I really want to hear."
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Crossfire
Member
08-07-2001
| Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 7:39 pm
Interesting. They seem to have the same take I did. This reminds me of the post where I indicated that if I were playing with a band, Fantasia is the one I'd invite to sing. Her vocal performances always screamed out for one, a much better fit than the canned pop styling.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 11:02 am
That's a really interesting article Tish. When I watched her perform on Regis and Seacrest's shows yesterday and on Early Show this AM, what strikes me is the emotional content she puts into her song whenever she sings it. She was so into it on Early Show this AM that she kept wandering away from the spotlight into the shadows! They had the light fixed as though they expected her to just stand there and sing. That is not Fantasia's style IMHO..and that's what I like
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 3:33 pm
Fantasia was on The View this morning, which meant I had to watch Elisabeth Hasselbeck again. She was having a thumb malfunction. But at least she loves Fantasia...and it is now just "Fantasia," apparently, at J Records' request; no more Barrino. She's like Beyonce, Cher, Madonna, and Chaka in that way, donchaknow? Anyhow, she performed I Believe and she almost feel. Says she's tired. Barbara Walters had Bobo's mother bring out Zion, much to Fantasia's surprise. Zion is really cute though. Anyhow, Fantasia said she hasn't been getting any sleep because of all the press, and her voice sounded like it. Kinda ragged. But she looked lovely. And when she gets to rest the voice, it'll be back. I swear, they work those kids too hard on that show, singing too many hours for too many weeks. I still don't think George's voice has recovered from it.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 11:29 pm
What: FANTASIA BARRINO, winner of 2004's "American Idol", has been asked by the Council of Fashion Designer's of America to sing the opening number at the most prestigious night in fashion, the 2004 CFDA Fashion Awards. She will perform a song selected especially for the evening, which this year salute's New York City. On hand to hear Fantasia make her fashion world debut will be a who's who of fashion and style, including Beyonce, Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Selma Blair, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, Miuccia Prada, Sean Combs and Tom Ford. link
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