Todrick Hall Blog

Todrick Hall singing "My Order" at McDonald's Drive Thru

2010-07-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

American Idol Season 9 contestant Todrick Hall singing "My Order" at McDonald's Drive Thru. Ba da da da da, I'm Lovin' It!

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A Look Back ~ American Idol Curtain Call Interviews: Todrick hall and Katelyn Epperly

2010-04-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

American Idol Season 9 contestants Todrick Hall and Katelyn Epperly don't regret a single thing about their experience and look forward to their futures.

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American Idol Contestant Todrick Hall sings "Change of Heart"

2010-04-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

American Idol Season 9 Semi-Finalist Todrick Hall singing "Change of Heart" from "The Magical Land of OZ", a musical which Todrick wrote and directed. This experienced entertainer can also add a run on Broadway with American Idol Season 3 Winner Fantasia Barrino in "The Color Purple", "High School Musical 2," and a "Beauty and the Beast" production at Disney World to his list of accomplishments. Let's not forget that this incredible singer can also Dance!

Guess who's having a Birthday this Weekend?

2010-03-30T02:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, just 5 more days until Todrick Hall's 25th Birthday! The Actor/Singer/Playwright (and don't forget Dancer) from Arlington, Texas will be celebrating this Easter Weekend. So, road trip it to Memphis and celebrate Todrick's Birthday with him! Woop Woop!

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Todrick Hall was Planning to Dance on American Idol Next Week

2010-03-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Todrick Hall stumbled a bit during his first American Idol live performances, but he seemed to hit his stride with a bombastic version of Queen's "Somebody to Love" this week.

Unfortunately, the "Idol" viewers repaid him by sending him on his way Thursday night, along with Lilly Scott, Alex Lambert and Katelyn Epperly. We caught up with Hall on Friday (March 12) to talk about why he was eliminated, how he got sucked into the rumor mill and what's next.

Q: Were you surprised to be eliminated after your best live performance?

A: I feel like I should have done that a couple weeks earlier. The problem is, I'm an African-American male, as you call tell from watching me on TV. [Laughs.] ... I got so many messages saying, "Sing Usher. Sing Chris Brown. Sing Brian McKnight. Sing Ne-Yo, Stevie Wonder, any black artist basically that you can sing, because that's your demographic." But that's not the kind of music that I want to sing, so I'm happy that I stayed true to myself, but I kinda feel if I had just sang the cookie-cutter songs that people would have expected me to do and not gone so far out there with the clothes and the performing and would have just been a normal guy that got up there and sang semi-decent, I feel like I would have done better. But I'm happy that I stayed true to myself, because I think that is the most important. I would not have been happy doing anything else.

Q: Do you think your theater background worked against you on the show?

A: I do honestly feel that way, and it's sad to say, but when people know certain things about you, it's kinda hard to shake those things. But I just told someone today that I feel if Lady Gaga, who is one of the most successful artists out right now, if she was on American Idol, I don't think that they would have good things to say about her. ... I do think that they want you to be out of the box and they kept telling me that I was changing things too much, but I would hear them tell people they're not changing enough and not making it their own. You have to try and find that line of when is it not changing it too much and when is it being too cookie-cutter and being a karaoke version, which sometimes they're OK with and sometimes they're not. I feel like I was true to myself, and I feel I'll be rewarded for being different in the end.

Q: What did you do after your elimination?

A: I just took a deep breath and thought, "What do I do next? Pick yourself up." I've grown up in theater, and I always know there are no's. ... I was more concerned about Alex and some of the people who had not necessarily gone through this.

Q: There have been a lot of online reports about you being involved in a scam surrounding "Oz, the Musical." Can you explain that?

A: I'm so glad that I can talk about it now. It wasn't a good time to talk about it when I was on "American Idol," because I just needed to focus on the show, but I do want everybody to know, I'm not a scam artist. I am a nice person. No 23-year-old that I know in the history of the world has ever had to put on a show, and I think if they think about that, they'll realize I'm just an ambitious kid that got wrapped up with a producer that didn't really know what he was doing. I didn't really know what I was doing. I allowed my name to be attached to it, but I'm gonna get on the phone on Monday and hopefully call a lot of those people, because I do want to go there, and I love kids, and I wouldn't want people to think negatively of me in that way, and I think the show is going to happen again and that we'll be able to fix that situation. And there won't be no more negative press. Just for the record, I was just the writer and director/choreographer. I did not produce that show. I never had any of that money. I never dealt with any of the money side of the show.

Q: Did you know what you would sing for the Rolling Stones theme week?

A: I was gonna sing "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." I was gonna dance for the very first time. They kept yelling at me for dancing, then Ellen, the very last week, said, "I think you should dance," so I was going to be the first contestant to actually do a dance break, like Crystal Bowersox does her harmonica type of thing and the guitar and people have beatboxed. But no one ever danced, and I was looking forward to doing that.

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Todrick Hall and Lilly Scott talk to Good Day LA (video)

2010-03-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

American Idol Season 9 contestants Todrick Hall and Lilly Scott talk to Good Day LA

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Todrick Hall sings "Somebody To Love" by Queen on American Idol

2010-03-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Todrick Hall sings "Somebody To Love" by Queen on the American Idol Season 9 Top 8 Boys show.

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Todrick Hall sings “What’s Love Got to do with It” by Tina Turner on American Idol

2010-03-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Todrick Hall sings “What’s Love Got to do with It” by Tina Turner on the American Idol Season 9 Top 10 Boys show.

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American Idol hopeful Todrick Hall sings "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye"

2010-02-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

American Idol Season 9 contestant Todrick Hall singing "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye".

Todrick Hall sings “Since You Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson on American Idol

2010-02-25T08:03:00.000-08:00

Todrick Hall sings “Since You Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson on the American Idol Season 9 Top 24 show.

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Get to Know American Idol's Todrick Hall

2010-02-21T15:33:00.001-08:00

American Idol Season 9 Top 24 semifinalist Todrick Hall has never had a vocal lesson, but he's going to change that. He is giving up his Idol audience tickets to be on the show.

Meet American Idol's Todrick Hall

2010-02-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Todrick Hall, 24

Hometown: Arlington, TX
Currently Resides: Arlington, TX
Twitter: @todrickhall
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Todrick-Hall/275437171751

Hall grew up in Plainview, TX, and has been singing since age 10. After graduating from Bowie High School in 2003, he went on to perform on cruise ships and in theme parks.

Jermaine Sellers, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche and Todrick Hall perform

2010-02-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Season 9 contestants Jermaine Sellers, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche, Todrick Hall and Thaddeus Johnson perform on American Idol Hollywood Round #3

Todrick Hall makes the Top 24 on American Idol

2010-02-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Todrick Hall makes the Top 24 on American Idol season 9: Hollywood week part 3

Todrick Hall and group sing “Bad Romance” on American Idol Hollywood Week

2010-02-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hollywood Week Group "Destiny’s Wild" – Todrick Hall, Theri, Jareb Liewer and Siobhan Magnus - sing “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga on American Idol Season 9.

Todrick Hall made his mark long before American Idol

2010-02-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

The experienced entertainer — who has starred on Broadway with Fantasia Barrino — impressed judges with his own composition.

Every "American Idol" season yields a few fresh new faces that become instant stars. On the January 27th episode, however, some die-hard fans were excited to see a familiar one who could be headed for the top.

Todrick Hall, a 24-year-old "actor/playwright" from Arlington, Texas, was one of the contestants seen auditioning in the latest "Idol" installment, earning him a golden ticket to Hollywood. But he is hardly a newcomer to the entertainment scene, with a résumé that could further endear him to "Idol" fans.

"You were with Fantasia in 'The Color Purple'?" judge Kara DioGuardi asked him as he came out to audition, referring to Hall's stint on Broadway with the winner of Season 3, in a show produced by Oprah Winfrey and undoubtedly seen by many "Idol" fans.

He sure was. In fact, Hall has also appeared in "High School Musical 2," and a "Beauty and the Beast" production at Disney World. The up-and-comer has also honed his craft in theme parks and on Disney cruise ships as well as wrote, choreographed and directed his own original production called "Oz, the Musical." He's a big fan of Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston, and seems determined to follow in their footsteps.

"Welcome to Dallas, y'all," the affable contestant said to the judges (including Joe Jonas) as he stood in front of them. "This is a special song that I wrote just for y'all."

Hall then tapped into his musical background to impress the judges with a personalized ditty. "Todrick is my name, and I'm here to play a part in your game/ Hopped a plane, took a train just to claim my 15 minutes of fame," he sang. "Do I have to get down on my knees in my $300 jeans? Because I would/ If it meant to me that maybe you could/ Just send me to Hollywood."

Soon enough, Todrick was even getting the irritable Simon to give him a clap, if only in sarcasm. Moments later he was flipping those $300 jeans end-over-end with a celebratory backflip, having received four yes votes and a ticket to Hollywood. We can only assume that somewhere Fantasia is smiling in approval.

Todrick Hall: American Idol Golden Ticket interview

2010-01-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

American Idol Season 9 contestant Todrick Hall has never missed an episode of Idol and won't take a job that interferes with the show's schedule. He knows Fantasia personally and you will be impressed by his yodeling!

Todrick Hall: American Idol audition

2010-01-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

American Idol Season 9 contestant Todrick Hall performs an orginal song.

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