Who is: Who is Mandisa Lynn Hundley?

Friday, May 25, 2012

Who is Mandisa Lynn Hundley?

Who is Mandisa Lynn Hundley? The entertainment and music world knows her as Mandisa, she is an American gospel singer and was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season (2006) of American Idol.

Early life

Born Mandisa Lynn Hundley on October 2, 1976, she grew up in Citrus Heights, California, area.^[2] After graduating from El Camino Fundamental High School, she attended American River College in Sacramento where she studied Vocal Jazz.^[2] Then she studied at Fisk University in Tennessee and graduated with a bachelor's of music degree with a concentration in vocal performance.^[2]

American Idol

She auditioned for the United States reality/talent show American Idol in Chicago. She referred to herself as "just Mandisa", and was billed simply as Mandisa, without a last name. She was a backup singer for famed Christian author and speaker Beth Moore. She has stated her musical influences run the gamut from Whitney Houston to Def Leppard.

Idol judge Simon Cowell made several comments about Mandisa's weight after her successful audition. He first quipped are we "going to have a bigger stage this year.^[3] Then, when Paula Abdul commented that Mandisa had a "Frenchie" growl to her voice, Cowell responded that a more apt comparison would be to France itself.^[3] These were among comments that drew the ire of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, (NAAFA) and would be one of the reasons Mandisa would entitle her 2007 album True Beauty.
When Mandisa presented herself to the judges prior to the final cut-down to the season's 24 semi-finalists, she told Cowell: "what I want to say to you is that, yes, you hurt me and I cried and it was painful, it really was. But I want you to know that I've forgiven you and that you don't need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody. I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you.^[4] Cowell told Mandisa that he was "humbled" and apologized to her immediately.^[4]
On the March 7, 2006, Idol show, she stated in her pre-performance video that she sucked her thumb until she was 24 years old. She performed a rendition of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" which drew praise from all three judges. She was among the 12 contestants chosen on March 9, 2006, as a finalist in Idol's fifth season.
Mandisa was eliminated from American Idol on April 5, 2006, in the Top 9, having never previously been in the Bottom 3 (she was there with Paris Bennett and Elliott Yamin, neither of whom had been in the bottom 3 either). Mandisa revealed that, when the first group of Taylor Hicks, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry was sent back to safety, and Mandisa, Elliott and Paris were on the stage on one side and the other group of Ace Young, Katharine McPhee and Bucky Covington on the other side, she told Paris and Elliott that it was most likely their own group in the bottom three, as she remembered how the same thing had happened in American Idol (season 3), when the three divas landed in the bottom three, and was sure that it would probably be a "shocker" like that one as Ace, Katharine and Bucky had all been in the bottom three earlier. She, like most eliminated contestants, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno one day later.

Performances

Week #	Theme	Song Choice	Original Artist	Order #	Result
Audition	Free Choice	"Fallin'"	Alicia Keys	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood	Group Performance	"Band Of Gold"	Freda Payne	N/A	Advanced
Top 24 (12 Women)	Free Choice	"Never"	Heart	1	Safe
Top 20 (10 Women)	Free Choice	"Cry"	Faith Hill	10	Safe
Top 16 (8 Women)	Free Choice	"I'm Every Woman"	Chaka Khan	7	Safe
Top 12	Songs of Stevie Wonder	"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing"	Stevie Wonder	4	Safe
Top 11	Hits of the 1950s	"I Don't Hurt Anymore"	Dinah Washington	1	Safe
Top 10	21st Century Hits	"Shackles (Praise You)"	Mary Mary	5	Safe
Top 9	Country Music	"Any Man of Mine"	Shania Twain	2	Eliminated

Professional career

Mandisa performed the song "I Don't Hurt Anymore" at the TV talk show, Live with Regis and Kelly. Mandisa sang with Gladys Knight at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and collaborated with tobyMac and Kirk Franklin on tobyMac's recent album, Portable Sounds.^[5]
Her book IdolEyes (with Angela Elwell Hunt) was published by Tyndale House in May 2007. She performed on American Idol Extra with her song "True Beauty".

Mandisa's first full-length album True Beauty was released on July 31, 2007. She released her first single, "Only the World," on May 22, 2007. The song had a successful debut on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart, which tracks commercial single sales, debuting at #2 and reached #1 the following week. It is also getting major airplay on Christian radio stations. The track is available for purchase on ITunes along with the album track "True Beauty". Written by Matthew West, Sam Mizell and Clint Lagerberg, "Only The World" captures Mandisa’s joyful spirit well. “We all have difficult days we wish we didn’t have to go through, but it gives you so much peace and joy when you realize that it’s only the world we’re living in, and one day we’re going to go to a much better place,” she says of the song’s theme. West would go on to co-write three of the songs on True Beauty, as well as Mandisa's highest-ranking single to date, "Christmas Makes Me Cry".
True Beauty debuted at #1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, making it the first time a new female artist has debuted at #1 in the charts 27 year history.^[6] It also debuted at #43 on the Billboard 200, an unusually high debut on that chart for a Christian artist. She also garnered a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album nomination for True Beauty in December of the same year.^[7] Showcasing Mandisa’s stylistic range was the task set before the five sets of producers who lined up to work with her on the album—top-notch names like Shaun Shankel (Beyoncé, Natalie Grant); Brown Bannister (Amy Grant); Christopher Stevens (TobyMac); Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders (India.Arie, Johnny Lang); and Double Dutch, the team of Robert Marvin and Josiah Bell (Matt Kearney, Matt Redman). Mandisa also spent personal time with the album’s writers before the songwriting process began, sharing her vision for the project and what she hoped to communicate through the songs. The end result is a seamless flow of tracks that create a diverse landscape for messages of hope, inspiration and faith.
Mandisa's cover of "Shackles" features a horn section provided by LiveHorns.com with Tommy Vaughan on trumpet, Rodney Mills on trombone, and Shane Philen on sax. They also appear on Mandisa's performance of "The Right Thing" on the VeggieTales soundtrack for The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.
Her second single "God Speaking" was released to Christian radio in October 2007. A third single, "Voice of a Savior," written by West, was serviced to Inspo radio in mid-2008, where it peaked in the Top 5 of Radio and Records' Soft AC/Inspo chart.
In November 2007, Mandisa released a holiday EP, Christmas Joy EP, which features the song "Christmas Makes Me Cry", a duet with frequent collaborator Matthew West. Earlier that year, Mandisa also recorded "Christmas Day," a duet with Christian recording legend Michael W. Smith. "Christmas Makes Me Cry" peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot Christian AC chart, stopped from reaching #1 by her duet with Smith,"Christmas Day." It was the first time in the history of the Christian singles chart that a solo female artist was featured on the top two singles at the same time.
On October 14, 2008, Mandisa released a full-length Christmas album, It's Christmas. All songs from the Christmas Joy EP were featured on It's Christmas, as well as several new tracks.^{[citation needed]}
Her second album, Freedom was released on March 24, 2009.^[8]
There have also been reports that Mandisa will be releasing "We Are Family" which is a Bonus Track on Napster on April 14, 2009. The song was available for a short time on Amazon.com added to Freedom labeled as "Freedom + Bonus Track."
Her third album, What If We Were Real, is slated to be released on April 5, 2011. In March 2011 she will be on tour with comedian Anita Renfroe promoting her new album. The first single from her new album is entitled "Stronger".

Personal life

Mandisa currently resides in the suburban Nashville community of Antioch, Tennessee. Since her appearance on American Idol in 2006, Mandisa has made efforts toward health and weight loss. The title of her second album, Freedom, was inspired by her experience of overcoming an "addiction" to food.^[9] As of March 2009, she had reportedly lost 75 pounds and hoped to lose a total of 100 or more. As of February 2010, she has reached her goal and lost 100 pounds. ^[9]

In popular culture

When The Daily Show parodied President Bush's decision-making abilities by featuring him in a superhero comic book by R. Sikoryak called "The Decider," one of his decisions in the comic book was to vote for Mandisa because "she's a sure thing."^[10]

Awards

2008: Grammy Award for Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year (for True Beauty) – nominated
2008: GMA Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year – nominated
2008: GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year – nominated
2009: GMA Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year – nominated
2010: Grammy Award for Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year (for Freedom) – nominated
2010: Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year - nominated
2010: Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year, for My Deliverer - nominated
2010: Dove Award for Short Form Video of the Year for tobyMac's Lose My Soul - nominated