Her Focus is on True Beauty and Real Success
by Robert Mineo
The impact of "American Idol continues with the latest release from 2006 Top 10 finalist Mandisa, True Beauty. With accessible, uplifting and soulful inspirational music, this artist, like a few other Idol alumni such as Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken and RJ Helton, is being marketed to a Christian audience.
Unlike those artists, however, Mandisa—full name being Mandisa Lynn Hundley, nickname being 'Disa—directly and specifically integrates her Christian faith into her persona and her music. As such, True Beauty does not connect with Christian listeners as a gospel music detour, a collection of positive crossover music or as a batch of Christmas tunes. Her image, her lyrics and her faith make this a more organic "Christian" album.
Her pre-Idol resume confirms it as well. This Sacramento, Calif., native cut her teeth singing in church. As a Nashville-based session singer she has worked with notable Christian artists such as Larnelle Harris, Take 6 and Sandi Patty and traveled to sing at various worship conferences and women's events.
Reigning Idol Jordin Sparkes, second runner-up Melinda Doolittle and fellow Top Ten-ers Phil Stacey and Chris Sligh have been vocal about their own faith and have their own connections to Christian music as well. But Mandisa will be first to market with that base and she may be a litmus test of the success that can be expected if those other artists aim to make Christian music.
Mandisa notes that, "When you do Idol, they say they want you to be who you are and not to pretend to be someone else. So I couldn't make any apologies then (or now) about who I am and how important my faith is to me." She adds, "I know that my value isn't determined by that show or anything else that others might have said about me, and I think that knowledge helped me be more relaxed throughout the whole process."
Her relaxation techniques have been successful so far, based on the critical reactions to her Idol performances and subsequent appearances leading up to the release of True Beauty.
After his stint as guest coach, Barry Manilow was quoted as saying, "I'm such a fan already. Mandisa is one of those girls that has range, and she can sing from bottom to top without any trouble. She's one of a kind."
Clicking on to her MySpace page and/or her website, mandisaofficial.com, to read fan postings indicates that popular support appears to be there as well. Besides her big voice, her unashamedly big stature also seems to resonate with regular folks.
Mandisa projects herself as quite comfortable in her own skin, regardless of the response it has garnered and how much it flies in the face of current celebrity trends. This theme works its way into her music, most visibly on the title cut of True Beauty, which opens with the line, "Do you think that a California girl is supposed to have curves and wear her jeans size 3?" And it extends outward to her total presentation. She is a spokesmodel for fashion retailer Ashley Stewart and the title of her companion book, Idoleyes - My New Perspective on Faith, Fat and Fame, says it all.
But how far will this all take Mandisa in the immediate chart wars and in establishing a long-term career? At press time the full album is a few weeks away from hitting street date. First single "Only The World" did top the Hot Single Sales Chart for quite a few weeks, besting former Destiny's Child members Kelly Rowland and Beyonce. But other Idol acts have performed well on that chart without seeing wide-ranging overall success.
No fear; Mandisa herself embraces a concept of success that goes beyond quantifiable success in the short and long term. "More than just a career, I really want to have a ministry that has an impact on people," she declares. "I want to be able to use the platform the Lord has given me to speak to people about race issues within the body of Christ and also about health issues. I just want to follow through with what is in my heart. I never want to look back and wonder, What would have happened if ... ."
