• Oklahoma and Kansas state legislatures pass anti-LGBTQ adoption laws
• A new survey of over 40,000 Americans shows acceptance for same-sex marriage has hit 61%
• Ireland moves to ban so-called “conversion therapy”
• The ‘boys of summer’ are back and most Major League Baseball teams have scheduled special LGBT Pride Nights (head over to Outsports.com for a complete list of MLB Pride Nights)
• Drag queen Ada Vox exits American Idol with her head held high
• Tony Kushner’s Angels In America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes became the most Tony-nominated play in history as the 2018 Tony Award nominations were announced
• Adam Rippon came to slay on the premiere of the all-athletes season of Dancing with the Stars
All that and more on this episode of The Randy Report
“Disney Night” on American Idol did not prove to be a magical event for contestant Ada Vox, the drag persona of Adam Sanders, who has been wowing the judges all the way into the talent competition’s Top 10.
Although her rendition of “Circle of Life” from the hit animated musical The Lion King was one of the best performances of the night, she couldn’t garner enough support from the voting public to move on to the top seven.
“How special it is to have you on this show,” said judge Lionel Richie. “You are a movement unto yourself.”
Vox was the first drag queen to ever get this far in the competition.
“Although America might not be ready for people like those of us who are a little bit different,” Vox told HuffPost in advance of Sunday’s show, “I think it’s very important that our talents be recognized.”
In the previous round, Vox was one of the judges’ “saves” from being eliminated. But in Sunday night’s show, the viewers were in charge of the competition and the San Antonio-native apparently didn’t inspire enough votes to advance to the next round.
I’m not an expert on drag but I do think I know talent, which Vox has served up in large portions.
I’m hoping this journey on AI helps propel the queen to a fabulous next chapter.
Disappointed but not shocked that Ada Vox was eliminated from Idol. If we weren’t ready for a woman president, there was absolutely no way we were getting a drag queen Idol.
WTH American Idol! I’m pissed @AdaVox didn’t go through….The best singer on the show is gone now. Thanks America for ruining my show. Bring Ada Back!#adavox#AmericanIdol#bringadaback#vox
This is pure talent. @AdaVox was voted off American Idol because we’re living in a Trump society. If she was a little, white, blonde girl, America would love her. Someone give Ada Vox a record deal already!! She’ll sell out arenas!! pic.twitter.com/ZgTn5Xjy4u
There is still an out musician in the running to win the AI crown this year.
Jurnee Siani, an 18-year-old from Littleton, Colorado, has been open about her sexuality and her wife military veteran Ashley Weathers, since the beginning of the show.
Her performance of “How Far I’ll Go” From Moana earned her a ticket into the top seven. It’s worth noting that an out singer has never won the talent competition.
American Idol contestant Ada Vox heads to the Top 10
There was quite the dramatic moment last night on American Idol as Ada Vox, the drag persona of Adam Sanders, found herself without enough viewer votes to be automatically advanced to the Top 10.
So, the San Antonio native had to sing for her life. The judges were given the power to “save” four contestants from elimination and head into the top 10.
Choosing the apropos “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls, Ada wowed the judges yet again.
As an emotional Vox waited to learn her fate, Katy Perry quieted the crowd and said:
“I don’t know everything. I’ve got a lot to learn. But I have worked my butt off for over 10 years in the spotlight and these gentlemen on my side (pointing to Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan) – all of us collectively together – how many years would that be, maybe 60? Collectively? I think we do know talent when we see it. I would say that we would like to make an executive decision right now that Ada – you get that seat, baby.”
And with that Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan joined Perry in pointing to the area where the Top 10 contestants were sitting.
Later, Vox commented on the video page below expressing her thanks:
Hey, y’all!!! Firsrly, I wanted to start by saying that I love you all!!! Secondly, I wanted to make note that I am aware of my much less than perfect vocal. Haha not only did my emotions run wild on me, but before the show, I had an allergic reaction to our lunch which made my tongue and throat swell up almost immediately. So that was fun… Lol. Thank you to everyone who did vote!!! If you want to see me continue on, make sure to vote next week! I promise it will be so much better!
America, we have our first American Idol drag contestant – Ms. Ada Vox.
While there was a huge amount of attention being paid to former FBI Director James Comey’s interview on ABC last night, it should not be ignored that also on ABC, American Idol contestant Ada Vox delivered a scorching rendition of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”
Ada Vox is the drag incarnation of Adam Sanders, who had previously auditioned for the reality talent show but been cut in early rounds.
Praising Ada’s performance last night, judge Katy Perry declared, “You’ve heard of the expression ‘wig snatched’? Wig flew!”
Lionel Richie agreed with Perry tweeting later, “You are on another level!”
Folks, come to grips with the reality that a drag queen just might win American Idol — or at least wind up in the Top 2.
I cannot even begin to put you into any category @AdaVox, you are on another level! 📈#AmericanIdol
Last week I wrote about Ada Vox, the drag persona of Adam Sanders who competed in Season 12 of American Idol but didn’t make the cut.
But as Ada Vox, she is back and tearing it up. A few years older and definitely wiser, she killed last night with her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”
It may have been the best performance of the season thus far. Check out how the audience shares the love.
After the performance, Sanders met with the judges without drag garb, saying, “I wanted to face you all as myself without the guard. I wanted you all to see who I truly was.”
Said Lionel Richie to Sanders: “I’m glad you showed up in your true form because I want to tell your true self that the dynamic duo will be going forward.”
I’d be stunned if Ada doesn’t get into the Top 10.
What’s really wonderful are the supportive comments on the YouTube page.
When Adam Sanders was 19-years-old he made the Top 50 of American Idol in Season 12.
Clearly, Top 50 means he was cut and had to head home.
But Sanders admits he “wasn’t ready.”
“After American Idol I started getting messages on social media every day, people attacked my weight, my sexuality…telling me that I was horrible, that I sucked, that I didn’t deserve to be here, that I shouldn’t be who I am. And I let it get to me in the wrong way. It killed me inside, almost as much as people telling me I should have killed myself.”
“I just kind of disappeared from the world for a while, and in doing that I kind of hurt myself even more. That’s really when I was at my worst, thinking maybe I shouldn’t be here. Maybe I’m not worth the fixing, maybe I’m not worth another try. But through all of the negativity I have managed to build myself up as a new person, as a stronger person. I have recreated myself in ways I could not have imagined.”
Sanders is a bit older and wiser now, and back for a second go-round on American Idol. And this time, he’s Ada Vox – ready to show the world who he is.
There’s a lot of story-telling in the clip below (because that’s what American Idol does…) but get to the where Vox wows the judges with a bit of “House of the Rising Sun.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race might not be the only place a queen can make a name for herself on TV, ok…?
Some news items you might have missed: • A group of men arrested in Egypt for waving a rainbow Pride flag are being subjected to hideous forced anal exams to prove whether they’ve had sex with men. Gay sex isn’t illegal per se in Egypt, but the country is currently cracking down on so-called “moral decency.” • Handsome Downton Abbey star Rob James-Collier says playing the troubled, gay butler “Thomas Barrow” on the hit series has left him type-cast and shut out of opportunities his fellow DA stars have had. • Ivanka and brother Donald Trump Jr. were close to being charged with fraud in NYC back in 2012 until the Manhattan District Attorney received a campaign donation of $25,000 from Trump Sr.’s personal lawyer. The case was summarily dropped. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmm • Sad to read one of my favorite Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees, are one of four MLB teams to have never hosted an LGBT pride night for fans. The New York Timeswrites that the Yankees have “shied away from promotions with an ethnic or cultural flavor.” • Check out your new judges for the American Idol reboot for the first time on Good Morning America this week: Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan
David Hernandez, American Idol season 7 alum, drops his new single and music video, “Beautiful.”
In an exclusive interview with OUT, Hernandez says the theme of the track is to remind folks that they are beautiful just as they are. “If you’re missing a leg, you’re still beautiful. If you’re overweight, you’re still beautiful. If you are 75 years old, you’re still beautiful,” Hernandez says.
In 2008, Hernandez made it onto the reality competition series American Idol, landing in the top 12 before being eliminated. Rumors, however, quickly started circulating about the “real reason” Hernandez was sent home. Viewers bombarded Hernandez with comments about his past as a male stripper and soon questioned his sexuality, wondering if it influenced his exit from Idol.
Hernandez has said members of the show were fully aware of his past from the very beginning. But still, the media was relentless. “It was hard to go online and not read something negative about myself.”
People were more interested in rumors and scandals than the music.
Though Hernandez now believes he has the strength and self-confidence to handle a lot of backlash, his younger self did not, and the Idol drama took a toll on himself and his family.
“My dad still knew nothing about my sexuality or my profession. So when it’s plastered all over CNN that’s not how somebody really wants to go down.”
The song is imminently listenable – sexy tribal drum beat with tons of visual diversity lighting up the screen makes this a big, vocally bold anthem for celebrating all dimensions of ethnicity, sexuality, age and whatever flavor you can think of.
After 15 years of voting for their favorite singers, viewers of American Idol were asked by President Obama to take that same passion for participation to the ballot box this fall by registering to vote.
Acknowledging how AI “transformed television,” Obama reminded the TV audience that the show – over 15 seasons – “reached new heights.” And while admitting “not all of us can sing like Kelly Clarkson,” when we vote “all our voices matter.”
