American Idol's Long Hair Girl
Posted by: kdc
First, Mea Culpa
This is long overdue, and I apologize in advance to Victoria Watson for sharing some time for an interview with me while she had strep throat. Then I got buried in the entire Wife Swap tsunami, 90&9 had some tech problems and . . . suddenly it's weeks later and still no reporting.
In Case You Missed It
Way back on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Victoria tried out for American Idol in Birmingham, AL. This wasn't extraordinary in and of itself, except American Idol played up the small fact that her hair dropped six feet to her ankles. Naturally, it was obvious she was Apostolic.
Simon especially seemed touched by her presence. He asked why she wanted to be on the show. As reported on Collideoscope, "To be a role model" was among her answers. Simon actually said, "You're a genuinely nice person aren't you?"
Her participation led to the clip being immortalized on YouTube. (Go watch it before you continue reading it.)
The Woman Behind the Hair
Victoria is a freshman voice major at Santa Fe Community College in the Gainesville, FL area. Her pastor is Jeff Arnold.
She'd "always watched" American Idol, so "I just thought it would be cool" to tryout. Her Mother was a big support and said, “Might as well see what will happen.”
After talking with her pastor about it, she spent a Saturday with 14,000 others, where it took 5 hours to register. The following Monday (with the producers), she spent 3 hours in line, then 2 more hours waiting. We "probably sang 'Sweet Home Alabama' 50 times" while waiting.
The good new was her hair got her lots of media attention--Fox News Live interviewed her 3 times during auditions, as did a local newspaper. Her answer was scriptural (It was "Given to us for our glory.") and her constant refrain was, It's “not long hair, it’s uncut hair. The only reason I could give for my hair was scriptural. There’s no other reason.” The live nature of the broadcasts insured that her witness wasn't edited out.
For Victoria's part, she said,“I thought the (Simon’s) comment was fair," but still cried. "It was like a dream shut down.”
After the Broadcast
The next morning she was snatched up by a local (non-Christian) radio station for an interview, soon talked to another radio station, was soon covered by the Gainesville Sun (where they had her sing for their web broadcast), was seen in OK Weekly, and now a hair magazine is requesting pictures.
In the meantime, the articles were placed on the church bulletin board and the pastor told everyone that he was being asked, "Is that girl from your church?"
For a girl who just wanted to be a role model to others by being on American Idol, it appears she's achieved her goal. Just not in the way she expected.
Who said genuinely nice people finish last?
First, Mea CulpaThis is long overdue, and I apologize in advance to Victoria Watson for sharing some time for an interview with me while she had strep throat. Then I got buried in the entire Wife Swap tsunami, 90&9 had some tech problems and . . . suddenly it's weeks later and still no reporting.
In Case You Missed It
Way back on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Victoria tried out for American Idol in Birmingham, AL. This wasn't extraordinary in and of itself, except American Idol played up the small fact that her hair dropped six feet to her ankles. Naturally, it was obvious she was Apostolic.
Simon especially seemed touched by her presence. He asked why she wanted to be on the show. As reported on Collideoscope, "To be a role model" was among her answers. Simon actually said, "You're a genuinely nice person aren't you?"
Her participation led to the clip being immortalized on YouTube. (Go watch it before you continue reading it.)
The Woman Behind the Hair
Victoria is a freshman voice major at Santa Fe Community College in the Gainesville, FL area. Her pastor is Jeff Arnold.
She'd "always watched" American Idol, so "I just thought it would be cool" to tryout. Her Mother was a big support and said, “Might as well see what will happen.”
After talking with her pastor about it, she spent a Saturday with 14,000 others, where it took 5 hours to register. The following Monday (with the producers), she spent 3 hours in line, then 2 more hours waiting. We "probably sang 'Sweet Home Alabama' 50 times" while waiting.
The good new was her hair got her lots of media attention--Fox News Live interviewed her 3 times during auditions, as did a local newspaper. Her answer was scriptural (It was "Given to us for our glory.") and her constant refrain was, It's “not long hair, it’s uncut hair. The only reason I could give for my hair was scriptural. There’s no other reason.” The live nature of the broadcasts insured that her witness wasn't edited out.
For Victoria's part, she said,“I thought the (Simon’s) comment was fair," but still cried. "It was like a dream shut down.”
After the Broadcast
The next morning she was snatched up by a local (non-Christian) radio station for an interview, soon talked to another radio station, was soon covered by the Gainesville Sun (where they had her sing for their web broadcast), was seen in OK Weekly, and now a hair magazine is requesting pictures.
In the meantime, the articles were placed on the church bulletin board and the pastor told everyone that he was being asked, "Is that girl from your church?"
For a girl who just wanted to be a role model to others by being on American Idol, it appears she's achieved her goal. Just not in the way she expected.
Who said genuinely nice people finish last?
