Former American Idol alumni Anware Robinson was nearly shot to death during a robbery recently.

At one of his previous shows, Robinson spoke to the audience.

He said that while driving home with his friend Joshua three young men attempted to rob him. In fear for his life he drove off. The three assailants pursued him with guns raised and pointed at the car. He alluded certain death by slamming on his breaks as the thieves sped off into the night. Though he did not tell what night it happened it appears to have happened recentky as he said that he was “thankful to be with us this evening”.

Read more at Elev8

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Following a memorable performance of “God Bless The Child” earlier this season, Lusk graced the ‘Idol‘ stage with a performance of “A House Is Not A Home” (Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick). According to judges including Jennifer Lopez however, Lusk was quite at home on the ‘Idol’ stage.

Lusk is not the first ‘Idol’ hopeful to earn comparisons to R&B and Gospel greats. Both Fantasia and Ruben Studdard received similar praise for their performances in year’s past, with Fantasia winning the title in 2004 and Studdard winning in 2003.

Randy Jackson compared him to  singer Rance Allen (The Rance Allen Group).

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Former “Idol” finalist Mandisa Hundley knows the feeling. The two-time Grammy nominee finished in the top 10 the year Taylor Hicks won and is now planning to release her third gospel album April 5, called “What If We Were Real.”

But as it turns out, her biggest life change came after the show. She embarked on an emotional weight loss journey two years ago and has since lost 90 pounds.

Mandisa’s struggles fueled her new music.

“Where I was at the beginning of this album and where I ended up are two very different places,” “It’s been a process. I will always struggle with my weight. It’s the thorn in my flesh.”

Standing on a scale one morning and seeing a disappointing number prompted Mandisa to finally get real with herself and her fans.

“I had gained weight and was so frustrated at that moment that I said so on Twitter.”   She tweeted: “I’m fed-up and over it.”

“I was feeling embarrassed and ashamed. I realized that I had only talked about how great things were. I never let people in when they were not. It was then that I decided I’d talk about the bad things too,” she said.

The result is what Mandisa calls her most honest record to date.

She began recording “in a very dark place.” The title track and the song “Just Cry” came out of those early sessions. However, by the end of the process, she said she was back to a place of peace and joy, with the song “Lifeline,” about unwavering trust in God, the last track she recorded.

Mandisa is on her way to losing 100 pounds but said she doesn’t have a goal weight. “My only goal is to be healthy physically, spiritually, and emotionally. That is a lifelong journey,” she said.

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The singer-actress had been closing a deal to be a permanent judge on the show for its upcoming 10th season but the deal fell apart.

“Her demands got out of hand,” says the source. “Fox had just had enough.”

With Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres both departing the talent search, the network had been pursuing a number of celebrities as potential judges, including Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

But now that Lopez is out of the running, the network may be looking at their earlier top picks again.

Fox had no comment. A rep for Lopez did not immediately return calls for comment.

according to cnn.com

The recent suicide attempt by the singer Fantasia took the entire world by surprise, myself included. Nearly every time I’ve seen Fantasia on television, she’s exuded nothing less than positive, empowering energy. She makes music that most of us can relate to, and seems to have a place in her heart for those who are working to overcome their obstacles.

Her apparent drug overdose, for which she was hospitalized, came after Paula Cook accused her of having an affair with her husband Antwaun. Fantasia has also been plagued by reported financial troubles, a decline in her career and rumors that she and Antwaun might have documented their relationship with a sex tape. It seems that love can make us do some crazy things – all of us included.

I am not sure if Fantasia was deceived by Antwaun or not, but it’s not out of the question. Millions of married men and women tell their lovers one thing and their spouses another. But without making an assumption regarding whether or not Fantasia was at fault, I thought about how her suicide attempt might affect millions of her young fans across America, including my daughters.

First, every young person should remember the cliché that “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” I’ve personally hit the bottom of the abyss of love and found that it helped me bounce back to an even better place than I was before. I’ve been embarrassed, deceived, broke, and devastated, and in every single case, the problem was in my past within the next 2 – 6 months. When I look back on my teenage years and think about times that I thought about hurting myself, I thank God that I stuck it out until the pain was behind me.

Second, Fantasia’s suicide attempt reminds us that money and fame can’t buy happiness. Fantasia was once a girl with a dream, just one of hundreds of thousands of talented singers praying for the chance to become a star. Against all odds, she found herself on the largest stages in the world, living a life she never imagined. That life eventually led to financial tragedy, interpersonal complications and the suicide attempt we are reading about today. All this reminds us that being whole and happy on the inside is your ultimate key to true wealth and success. Money and fame can’t make you whole.

So, as you work to become successful at whatever you are trying to do, always keep in mind that your happiness is found on the inside. While it is tempting to think that more money in the bank, better looks or meeting the right person is going to make your life complete, the truth is that much of your psychological well-being is control by a person called “you.”
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

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(CNN) — Even before Ellen DeGeneres took her seat on “American Idol,” the roar began.

Cries of “What does she know about music” and “Bring back Paula Abdul” lit up blogs and message boards. Then the next shoe dropped — anchor judge Simon Cowell announced that the ninth season would be his last.

Fans had barely adjusted to the addition of a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, the season before. Once it was announced that DeGeneres was coming onboard, the naysayers were even more perturbed.

The whole situation brought DeGeneres into a whirlwind of drama, exacerbated by rumors that she and Cowell don’t get along (both deny that’s the case) and initial performances by contestants that have been less than stellar.

Now, after fans have had a week to check out DeGeneres’ live judging of the talent competition, the talk show host and comic appears to be almost as polarizing as last season’s runner-up, Adam Lambert.

“I knew it was going to be bad as soon as they announced it,” said Brian Wheaton, who started a Facebook group called “Ellen is going to RUIN IDOL!”

“Why bring her on?” Wheaton said. “Because she’s funny? We had plenty of humor before with Paula and Simon.”

Change is never easy, but it’s even more difficult for an enterprise that has a multitude of diehard fans and has ranked No. 1 in the ratings for the past five seasons. For a show like “Idol,” which leans so heavily on formula, tweaking the dynamic can prove to be tricky.

Even fellow celebrities have judged this season’s judging. In a recent interview with The Associated Press — widely circulated on the Web — legendary R&B singer Patti LaBelle offered her opinion.

“Some of the judges, I don’t think they’re qualified to even judge,” the Grammy Award-winning singer said, without specifying which judge to which she was referring. “The comments that were made, they could make you, like, wanna kill yourself.”

DeGeneres, who has been dubbed “E” by fellow judge Randy Jackson, was to fill the slot some thought was missing in the mix of musical insiders already serving — that of the super-fan.

“She really fills a void,” said Jennifer Bailey Bergen who is a member of one of several Facebook fan groups created in support of DeGeneres as a judge, including “Team Ellen (American Idol).” “She’s somebody who enjoys the show and I think she’s doing a really good job of not at all soft-balling, but offering real critiques.”

Prior to the performances of the Top 24 contestants, viewers saw only the DeGeneres critiques producers edited from hours of footage during the Hollywood rounds. Now that the show is live, viewers hear her critiques unedited.

Michael Slezak, a writer for Entertainment Weekly who covers “American Idol,” said fans might want to give DeGeneres more time before they write her off. For her part, Slezak said DeGeneres needs to take the advice often doled out to contestants — show more confidence.

“I feel like her first two live shows, she was a little tentative and in a couple of cases almost apologetic for her lack of musical know-how and I don’t think that’s the way to go,” Slezak said. “As she showed during Hollywood week in the taped portions, she has a strong point of view, she is able to express an opinion in a witty authoritative way and I think she just needs to own it.”

DeGeneres has been instrumental in picking the musical talent featured on her successful talk show, so she is not quite the novice many believe, Slezak said.

Melinda Green, who runs the “Idol” fan site “Top Idol,” said she believes DeGeneres will take some time “to find her footing.” “I think that because it’s a new gig and she’s not sure how to play it, she’s not being the Ellen that we all know,” she said.

Green pointed out that from a marketing standpoint, Fox was pretty savvy to bring DeGeneres aboard since she is able to use her daytime talk show to spread even more “Idol” love.

“She’s brought on some of the contestants who didn’t make it, like Angela Martin and Shelby Dressel,” Green said. “In a way it makes ‘Idol’ no longer the bad guy in terms of the eliminated contestants, because there is still that outlet to get them before the public.”

DeGeneres is clearly taking her role seriously, Slezak observed, paying close attention to the performances and not joining in on some of the goofball antics displayed by some of the other judges.

As for her reticence, Slezak said she’s probably trying to avoid the criticism she suffered for being too loose and free with the punch lines during a guest-hosting stint on Fox’s other hit competition show, “So You Think You Can Dance.”

“We don’t want it to be ‘The Ellen Show,’ ” Slezak said. “We don’t want her to be a stand-up comic, we want her to be a judge, but I think she needs to get a little bit better at infusing her critique with a little bit of humor.”

VIA:  AOLtelevision.com

Haeley Vaughn shocked American Idol judges with her cute personality and Pop Country singing style.  She is the first black pop country mainstream singer that American Idol has ever seen, and she represents well.  Check out her American Idol audition below:

Simon Cowell was enamored with her right away. “Cute little thing, aren’t you,” he grinned. “What I like about you is you’re different. You’re not coming in and singing Mary J. Blige, therefore you stand out a little bit. You obviously love that kind of music and I think you’re infectious. You’ve got a great smile.”

Larry Platt on “The View”

So who is this Larry Platt? He’s got everyone singing , “Pants on the Ground”

Sources say that Platt, age 63, worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia, organizing sit-ins in the South. He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.
He got his nickname, “General,” from the Rev. Hosea Williams because of his heroic efforts on behalf of the civil-rights movement.
The Georgia General Assembly proclaimed Sept. 4, 2001, Larry Platt Day in Atlanta.

Didn’t know that did ya? Neither did I!

Here is his original performance on “American Idol”

And Check out Brett Farve signing it after their win on last Sunday’s game.