Mario Vazquez could be the smartest person ever to appear on American Idol (including Simon Cowell). Seems he’s making good on his promise to EW.com, after his mysterious departure from the competition in March, that ”just because I left American Idol doesn’t mean it’s the last you’ve heard of Mario Vazquez.”
If this report from Fox News gossip columnist Roger Friedman is true, Vazquez has made a deft end-run around the process, signing a record deal with Clive Davis (the mogul who’s signed the other major Idol singers) without having to withstand the rigors of the contest or, more importantly, without having to sign an onerous contract with Simon Fuller’s 19 Management. (Vazquez is represented by the same lawyer who helped Clay Aiken get out of his 19 contract.)
Of course, if the fedora-sporting crooner is going to put out a record, he’d better do it soon. His 15 minutes of fame avoidance are about to run out.
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Mario has got to be the smartest guy ever to go on Idol. He was well aware of the fact that in no way was an hermano ever going to win on Idol (especially not with the South rising again, as it clearly did this season), so rather than put himself at Red America and Simon Cowell’s mercy, he dropped out and lookey here! The man got himself a record deal that won’t make Simon even more money. I believe they call that striking while the iron is hot. Go Mario!
Smart? If you ask me he was anything but. Instead of having his face and voice plastered on teenage girls hearts and ears for twelve more weeks he took himself out of the public and then expects the public to come back to him. Hardly great advertising. All of the idols could sing. But plastering there face on tv made that awful song “Inside you Heaven” a hit twice.
to EP Sato: as an hermana in the South, i still think he had plenty of chances to make it to the cream of the crop of that show. the show’s had minority winners, so i don’t think it’s a race thing. besides, maybe you’ve never been to the south, but it’s made up of a lot of Latinos.
with that said, i think he was smart because their contracts with Fuller are crazy! good for him for still getting a contract with a recording legend.
I have to agree with the other Brandon…I’m not sure it was that smart to bow out, commercially speaking. Although he was able to avoid the Fuller nonsense, it’ll take him a lot longer to get the name recognition that Bo Bice or Carrie Underwood have. Whether he might have won or not, it would have been great publicity.
And on a completely different subject, it seems like the South has a pretty poor reputation in the rest of the country, yet half of the Presidents and many movie stars come from there, and every Idol so far has been Southern, along with most of the other contestants. A strange paradox.
Everyone has their opinion so here goes mine.
I’m glad for Mario Vasquez, glad that he got out of the heinous contract he would have had to endure had he stayed in the show and glad that, for better or worse, he bowed out when he did. As for missing out on the media coverage, etc.. seems that some people have forgotten that some of the biggest names in showbiz were completely unknown. American Idol has only generated one true pop star (Kelly Clarkson). The other winners (Reuben, Fantasia) have only achieved modest success; the jury is still out on Carrie Underwood.
As for “Inside Your Heaven” having been a “hit” twice.. that must be within the bible belt because I don’t see the singles flying off the shelves at my local Tower Records or other stores where I live nor do I hear them (it) on heavy rotation on any of my radio stations.
I much prefer Mario signing with Clive Davis’ record label without there being much pressure from the American Idol camp. Can’t wait to see where or how far he goes!
Go Mario!
Mario who?
The only future Mario has got is possible as a stunt double for Fez on That 70’s show.
That guy doesn’t deserve anything after lying about Paula and him. I don’t beleive a word that loser says.
No, wait. That’s Corey Clark that lied. Okay. Congradualtions Mario!
GenieBella – you have your contestants mixed up. The one that lied about Paula and him was Corey Clark .. Mario Vasquez is from this year’s American Idol.
The other naysayers in here – Brandon, Tim, go on and keep on hating.. fortunately, not all of america is all about country and good ol’ ameriKKKan southern values.. ah, it’s great to be ethnic!
To Mario:
To clear a few things up. I hate country music, and I have no problem with, as you put it, ethnic music, but Mario Vasquez has all the talent of a backstreet boy. All of the idols were short on talent. Great Singers are a dime a dozen. Great songwriters are unique.
Brandon (there seems to be 2 around here):
I don’t know how much talent he has, since he didn’t really compete. I think it would be unfair to write him off as a “backstreet boy wanna-be” before seeing what he can/can’t do. Having said that, I don’t know that it is a bad thing for him to be backstreet boy-esque considering that is what seems to work for most artists these days (bubble gum pop, mainstream hip-hop, etc ) then I suppose this would be good for him.
My comment re: Country was a bit more broad, not necessarily aimed at you. Yes, I’m a bit upset that Carrie won over Bo but then again, he’s not as vocally talented as Carrie. I think she won not necessarily based on talent either but moreso on ethnicity and demographic appeal (no offense but: white, country).
Needless to say, I stand by my comments earlier; American Idol has only generated one true pop star and that’s Kelly Clarkson. I personally can’t stand her but admit she’s been the most succesful ones to date.
Would have been nice to see a latino brother make it to the top 5 or even top 3 but I doubt he would have ever won American Idol. For as famous as Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, etc are I don’t think America is quite ready to embrace other people beyond the traditional black/white artists, at least not when calling them “American” idols.
Funny that how Brandon plays up the south AND notes how the Idol singers were all from there in the same sentence. THAT’S MY POINT DUMASS. No way a Boricua from Brooklyn was going to win over Bo or Blondie. Mario knew that and decided to get fame his own way. We are talking about him on EW so it must have worked.
For the record: I wasn’t dissing the south (Miv, I am an hermano who lives below the Mason Dixon Line, do you still feel special somehow?), and I do not believe the show is racist.
Sato: I wasn’t playing up the South. I’ve been there and hated it, and I think its poor reputation is generally deserved. Despite that, there seem to be a good handful of talented people that come from there: as I said before, many Presidents, most serious Idol contenders, other musicians, writers, etc.
For the record: I WAS dissing the South. And I’m not a “DUMASS”.
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He’s not good-looking and that plays a big factor along with talent. Looks are importatnt for the kind of career he wants and he’s not cute. I wouldn’t bet money on him making it.
Even Simon has commented on this (in EW no less) – the show does HUGE numbers in the South and it is no surprise that all of the finalist (except Justin from season 1) are/were from the South. I think it was smart of Mario to leave and not get bound to the whole AI thing – AI is over and it’s creditbility is pretty much shot. Even Clive Davis was quoted as saying the franchise is pretty much “over” in a recent LA Times roundtable discussion about the state of pop music. Kelly Clarkson and Fantasia are both trying to distance themselves from the show and while it will probably remain popular in the South (and the contestants will continue to be from there) I think the rest of the US will move on.
Good luck Mario.
I truly think Mario will fly high. Latino with Clive Davis. Not to many of those (Santana) are in the music business and America will go crazy about it simply because it will be unique. There is another guy that I think will be Big. His name is Cesar and Mario Vazquez sings in his new album “Worlds of Change” (www.cesarmusic.com) You can even see Mario with Cesar in pictures. All this is good for the music ’cause we are tired of the same b.s. all the time. We need real talent.
Dan.
MARIO VAZQUEZ AND CESAR WILL BE THE NEXT STARS!!!!
MARIO GOT CHARISMA AND A GREAT VOICE AND CESAR IS A GUITAR GENIUS!!!! http://WWW.CESARMUSIC.COM
hes good lookin
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Love Mario Vazquez and Usher. I also love guitarist Cesar. He is the Next Santana!
I think that if Mario would have stuck around he probably would have made it!
I think that if Mario would have stuck around he probably would have made it!
Chancey:
If you are listening, Mario is just as cute as he can be. And he has charm. Millions of voters that put him in the top twelve can’t be wrong. He is a good-looking Puerto Rican. I love his curly hair. Are you full of charm and appeal or just full of it?
i commend u in your short road to success but i do know nothing comes easy in life. my son wil be lip syncing one of your songs at school he is only 10 yrs old wish him luck.
i love u sexy boy
I love you Mario!!! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZ make more cd’s!! <33333 xoxoxoxooxoxoxox
hey no to just to get in yalls conversation buy i have to agree with mario’s opinion, im glad mario vazquez did what he did, we need more people like him.