Image Credit: Patrick Ecclestein/FoxWhether he’s facing the judges or facing down an American Idol exit interview, Jermaine Sellers is never at a loss for words. He talked happily about his eclectic fashion choices, his outsized personality, why he confused Idol associate music director Michael Orland for a certain King of Pop, and who was always on his mind when he was performing on stage.
EW: Hi, Jermaine — how’s your morning been so far?
JERMAINE SELLERS: [Laughs] I feel like God brought me from a mighty long way, you know? I’m here right now. It’s sad that I had to go home so soon, but I just feel like things happen for a reason.
What did the judges say to you last night?
They let me know that I’m a great singer. I do push a little bit, but they’d rather have someone who has the drive, who wants to push and get it out there. Overall, you know, they said that’s it’s a younger crowd that votes; it’s the young girls that vote. I have a soulful voice, so I think that was why I didn’t get so many votes.
You were also known for what you said off stage, as Ryan pointed out last night. Did you feel like the producers emphasized that more for you?
No. I feel like I had to stand up for the Gospel singers that are out there. We stand in that [Idol audition] line just like everybody else does, and we never seem to make it this far. I was standing in the gap for a lot of the Gospel singers, the singers who can do the riffs, who have the range. You never get a chance to really see them. I felt like even though the judges were saying pull back more, I felt like if I pulled back anymore I wouldn’t be representing my fellow Gospel singers. I felt like I would just be singing the song without it being sang, you know?
Your fashion choices also got some notice — what inspired them?
[Laughs] I’m a geek. I really am. My main focus was on the younger crowd. A lot of kids don’t have the Sean John, the Baby Phat; sometimes they have to mix and match whatever they have in their closet at that time. And they get picked on. I basically represented those young people right there. School for me was really bad, because my parents weren’t as fortunate as other kids’, and [classmates] picked on me because I couldn’t wear the clothes that they had on. I feel like every night I was on that show, I wasn’t just standing there for myself, I was standing in the gap for somebody who’s going through some situation — I felt like they could feel me. They could feel where I’m coming from.
Between your comments and your clothes, were you concerned that your personality was going to overwhelm your singing at all?
I think that, with the whole diva thing, it wasn’t me being a diva. It was just me standing up for myself. I didn’t want to come across as a diva. Anybody who knows me knows I’m a character. I love to see people laugh. And shows are edited, of course. Some of the stuff, like the comment with me throwing the band under the bus or whatever – the only reason why I said something, when you rehearse something a specific way, and you go out there and want it to be done the way that you rehearsed it. At that point, your nerves are on edge, so you’re scared to death of not making it through. So I said to myself, if going to go home, I’m going to go home because I messed up. I’m not going to go home because somebody else messed it up for me. It wasn’t me being a diva.
Did you mend fences with Michael Orland, the Idol music director who was leading the band that day?
You know, the reason why that night [of the Top 24 boys] that I said “Michael who?” I was thinking that I sang Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” [during that Hollywood Week performance]. I was like, “Wait, are y’all about to say Michael Jackson rose from the dead or something?” That’s why I said it like that. But Michael [Orland] is really cool. I have nothing bad to say about him. Him, Dorian [Holley, music director], Miss Byrd [vocal coach Debra Byrd] — I call her Mama Byrd — they were all there for us. The training that they gave us prepared us for the platform that we’re about to go to.
Especially Mama Byrd. I love that lady. She saved me. There were many nights where I was like, “Mama Byrd, I don’t know what to do. I feel like crying right now. They keep telling me to pull back, and I can’t pull back no more, because if I pull back I won’t be singing. It won’t be me.” And she said, “Well, baby, all I can tell you is go out there and sing. Sing like you at church, like you’re singing to God.”
Your faith is clearly really important to you.
Whenever I sing, I don’t even see the judges. I don’t see them until I’m done with the song. I always imagine God on the cross, and basically everything that he went through. This is just my test right now, this is me going through my trial. So now I’ve gotta get judged afterwards — you know, how they judged Jesus. That’s how I looked at it. I threw the Christian thing out there a lot, because there’s a lot of people who don’t give God the credit for us even making it that far. If it wasn’t for Him, we wouldn’t have even made it to the show, period, you know?
So what’s next for you?
Of course, I want to act. I definitely want to do what the Kirk Franklins, the Mary Marys, the BeBe Winans [did]. I would say more so what BeBe and CeCe did, many years ago. They crossed over. At the time, it was Video Soul with Donnie Simpson [on BET] where their videos were being played. Songs like “Heaven.” Stuff like that, the contemporary crossover music, to where you can see my songs on MTV. Just something that’s going to inspire somebody and let them know that I made it this far, you can make it too.
I can safely say he was one of the worst contestants the show has ever had.
Oh I totally disagree.. he had a great voice. They just picked on him and he was on of few Idol contestants who couldn’t take it and had to argue. But I agreed with him. (Not on the God stuff.. I mean I don’t know about the “God won’t let us fail” or whatever, but he sang so much better than other guys, and he didn’t need to back off of ANYthing!)
This guy is delusional!
Amen. Let’s see…he compared being on a glorified talent show to Jesus being on the cross, he attributed his AI failure to little girls not being able to appreciate the soul in his voice, and he annointed himself the messiah (no pun intended) of gospel singers everywhere. Even after being served a massive reality check by 27 million people, he’s still convinced that he had nothing to do with his elimination. And he still thinks he is too awesome for the masses, cuz the masses can’t appreciate soulful gospel voices.
Dude, you need to come back down to reality.
And start auditioning for Broadway musicals, that’s where he will probably be embraced fully, if you know what I mean?
actually no. Broadway singers have crazy crazy voices. much more than recording artists who can mask thinks in the studio.
shinoli clearly doesnt get what you mean. i, however, do. haha
LOL! Thanks, Liz. I would explain shinoli what I meant, but I’m just too sleepy at the moment.
Actually Tommy YOURE the one who didn’t understand what Jermaine was trying to say. Here’s a hint for ya. A certain LARGE demographic of Americans happens to believe Jermaine can SANG very, very well. So well that he almost won a certain other, similarly themed talent show, a couple of years ago, on a certain cable channel. (Google it). This said demographic could not make heads or tails of what the judges were saying, and this said demographic LOVES the riffing and running, the outspokenness about God, and the realness. Think about it…
Jermaine’s problem – beyond the excruciating notes he persistently failed to hit – was his total lack of humility. Even after being voted off, he doesn’t get that his own failure to sing pleasantly was what alienated voters — not his ostensible “soul” vibe that young girls supposedly don’t like. And comparing himself to Jesus on the cross? COME ON.
Well, this guy managed in one swoop to alienate believers and non-believers alike. That’s quite a feat! He really is something. Unfortunately, that “something” is not “a good singer” or “a sane individual”.
He compared singing on a televised talent show to Jesus suffering on the cross.
Yikes.
how u doin? jermaine .. maybe if u “butched” up some, you wouldn’t HAVE come across as a gospel DIVA. 2 feminine for my taste. don’t worry todrick hall will be exiting soon.
Yes…because butching up would have made him a better singer, right?
I’m sick of him using the “gospel singer” as a something the judges didn’t get. Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Melinda Doolittle, just to name a few, all sang in church and knew how to “take a song to church” but they also knew when and how to do it. Jermaine is a clear example of how that’s not something you can teach.
Amen.
As a gay man, I am ashamed for my people. That is all.
No need to assume the shame for us all. He’s a bit deluded and I don’t think that has anything to do with his being gay(if he, in fact, is.)
What makes you think he is Gay?
Right – LOL
I don’t even know what to say about this guy. He’s kind of annoying in that same way Danny Gokey was annoying. He’s obnoxious but doesn’t know it and doesn’t know when to stop. And somehow everything he does is ok or makes sense because he’d doing it for God.
Jermaine Purifoy. You deserve justice.
Somebody said the other day that Jermaine’s problem is that someone, through his entire life, has told him he’s awesome so frequently that he believes it to his very core, and I think that’s pretty accurate. Apparently, that person also told him that the very best singers are the ones who can sing the most notes in the shortest amount of time, and he’s determined to break whatever his previous personal best was.
agree 100% (or %1,000,000 – this is “Idol”)
Yes yes yes. He’s still not owning up to the fact that he was just NOT SINGING WELL! Not because he was a church singer.
Unfortunately this season, I think we could all easily knock it down to a top 10 right now with all the weak/bad singers in the competition.
I think some of them have potential to improve, but there are a few that are painful to watch and listen to that I can just can’t see improving enough.
He reminds me of Gumby, ala Eddie Murphy.
Please delete your rac….ah, screw it.
AWFUL, in every conceivable way. He has no business singing music, standing on a stage, being in the public spotlight.
When I looked at the picture, I wanted to smack that smirk off his face and after reading the interview I want to send him to the psych ward. This poor guy is delusional.
The planet he lives on seems quite lovely, though.
You know, it’s no question that Jermaine can sing. Perhaps he would have come across more tolerable to some of you had he been blonde, with blue eyes. You know it’s funny how 4 minorities were eliminated yesterday only to leave some singers, who even Ellen has encouraged in so many words to give up, I.E. Tim Urban. Ellen recommends that Tim should try acting because singing is not his forte, but somehow he remains. Jermaine has been in a Tyler Perry play, countless Gospel recordings and performed at various venues sharing his gift. In my opinion, it’s Idol who will ultimately lose out.
I’m sure he can sing quite well, given the opportunity. However, most of us don’t want to hear the song bludgeoned to death under the weight of his clueless insistence that more melisma = better singing. It’s not how many notes you can hit that matters, it’s how many you get correct.
In reply: Could it be that minorities don’t vote. I thought Joe Munoz was a good, not great singer and should have stayed on. He even spoke Spanish….and with all the Mexicans in this country, how come they didn’t vote for him? I’m sure there’s a study out there somewhere that shows that whites pickup and phone and vote in mass, compared to blacks and Mexicans. Why do you think that after 8 seasons only three blacks have won the contest, when Black artists dominate the charts?
Not only that think about this: 19E/R/AI owns Idol. It’s also a management company, so they’re looking for the most commercial artist they can “sell”. Thin, blue eyes, pretty/handsome, long hair, whatever.
because they market their people to events, like conventions, Vegas, Walmart shareholders meetings, and that’s where the money is right now. Not in concerts (unless you’re U2 or the Rolling Stones). Kris and Glambert could not sell out a stadium….neither can Taylor, or anyone of the winners (Carrie could)….so the next best money maker is the events.
Did you know that people like Mariah and Beyonce make $1-2Mil for “special events” around the world?
Fantasia is no longer with 19E/R because she’s not “marketable”. It’s been said that 19E/R doesn’t know how to market urban singers, and that’s true. Notice that everyone who wins now goes ‘country’.
Oh Sally, you are so clueless. The reason Joe was voted off was because he had no charisma – and sorry, throwing out a few lines of Spanish at the end of your song does not a movement make. And besides Carrie, which winners have gone country? Fantasia was successful on Broadway but the reason she hasn’t found mainstream success has nothing to do with 19E – it has to do with the type of music she has chosen to record post-Idol – let’s face it, she won because of the way she performed standards/pop music on the show and her CD’s were full of hip/hop music – not the same thing.
Yeah, go ahead and play the race card because we all know that his constant bickering with the judges and all of his “God” talk or the fact that he sounded like sh*t during all of his performances wasn’t off-putting at all. Yes, it all came down to the fact that his skin is dark. Same thing for the other guy as well – his inability to carry a tune or connect with the audience and judges was because of the shape of his eyes. Yup, Idol lost out indeed.
I think it has less to do with race than style. His style of singing is not going to play with a mainstream American Idol audience that is increasingly older and white. I don’t think it makes viewers racist. But the truth is his style is culturally out of step with what most of the viewers listen to. That’s just a reality. But, I would argue, he’s not a good example of the style he champions. Why must every song be sung like a gospel song? And if so, is there only one way to sing gospel music?
And, again, the example you cite, a Tyler Perry play, is something of a lighting rod for discussions on race. Both white and black people tend to view Tyler Perry movies and plays as something of a culturally specific form of entertainment. Again, there is an audience for that, but it’s not exactly the mainstream American Idol audience that gets 25 million viewers and episode. To appeal to that audience, you have to step out of that style. If you want to advance in the competition that is. It’s just the reality.
My reason for mentioning the Tyler Perry play wss to reiterate his ability to sing, not to speak on race. Please read my comment again. Thanks.
I’m sorry, Dude did not show his singing ability on “What’s Going On?” It was a wreck. The Onesies didn’t help. The backtalking didn’t help. The all-over-the-place God’s going to keep me on didn’t help. The clothes didn’t help. His grammar didn’t help. He was a wreck. Now, after that horribleness you want to add race, go right ahead.
Honestly, I wish he had stayed on…he would have been the Sanjaya of the season and drove Simon nuts…remember when Simon was totally befuddled wondering how Sanjaya stayed on…it would have made major news for AI.
Unfortuntly, there are still plenty of contestants remaining who can easily fill the “Sanjaya slot.” This is a weak season.
I agree with Marceebee, this season is a bunch of hype with no substance, save for one or two contestants.