Vanessa Olivarez

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Vanessa Denae Olivarez (born February 3, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American singer best known as the first finalist to be eliminated on the second season of the television series American Idol.

Contents 1 American Idol 2 Post-Idol Career 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 4 External links

[edit] American Idol

Olivarez auditioned for American Idol's second season with a rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 2002. Paula Abdul was not present for Olivarez's audition, but both Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson were impressed by Olivarez and put her through to Hollywood. Olivarez impressed the judges once again during a round where contestants had to write their own songs. Olivarez wrote a song called "The Only Thing Special About You Is Me." She was then placed in the top 32 contestants of the season.

Olivarez performed for the first time in front of America on February 18th, 2003. She sang Irene Cara's "Out Here On My Own." The judges were impressed, but Cowell told Olivarez that she needed to lose weight. Olivarez responded by shaking her rear at him and saying "it worked for J-Lo!" She received encouragement from Abdul and Jackson, and was voted into the top 12 by America. Olivarez performed once again on March 11th, singing The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The comments from the judges were mixed. They didn't think Olivarez performed badly, but they said it was "pitchy" in spots and that it wasn't her best. Controversy began here when host Ryan Seacrest interviewed Olivarez after the performance and she made a comment which many viewers thought to be somewhat rude. Seacrest later reminded viewers that Olivarez's comment was previously scripted, but many believe that this still hurt Olivarez's chances in the competition. Olivarez landed in the show's bottom three and was eliminated on March 12th, 2003, after receiving the lowest number of votes from America.

Olivarez was the only finalist of the group not invited to participate in the group musical tour following the end of the series, aside from Corey Clark who had been eliminated due to an ongoing criminal case in which he was involved.

Much speculation and controversy about Olivarez' dismissal from American Idol has recently surfaced in 2007. Olivarez admitted that she had come out openly as a gay woman to the other Idol contestants after her arrival in Los Angeles for the top 12. The "rude comment" (in which Seacrest asked Olivarez to read a cue card to take the viewers to a commercial) was in fact a detailed script which Olivarez played to prima donna perfection: in response to Seacrest's question, she stated, "Oh, Ryan...I'm an artist, not a performing monkey like you! Read your own script!" Viewers booed, and Olivarez's shot at stardom ended abruptly after these comments damaged the American impression of her character. Olivarez had agreed to read the script as part of a joke the writers had crafted for the show, but many have theorized that 19 Entertainment and Fox conspired to remove Olivarez from the competition in this manner because the conservative network did not want to support an openly lesbian artist and knew that this ill-crafted "joke" would cost her votes and force her elimination from the competition. 19 Entertainment's treatment of Olivarez subsequently confirmed this hypothesis: she was the only finalist omitted from the Season 2 CD, she was excluded from the tour (even though Josh Gracin could not participate in the tour and his spot should have gone rightfully to her - there were only 9 contestants on tour that year, including Charles Grigsby, who placed 11th and took Corey Clark's spot), and 19 Entertainment had originally planned not to invite Olivarez to the final results show, but changed their minds one week before the finale aired. Additionally curious is the fact that all the online polls in 2003 showed Olivarez in the top 4 or 5 contestants prior to the night of "the comment", leading many to maintain that Olivarez (widely popular and liked at the beginning of the top 12 and certainly more supported than Carmen Rasmussen, at that time a complete unknown to the competition whom Simon Cowell brought back into the fold out of the blue) was actually the victim of vote fixing on the part of 19 Entertainment and Fox. 19 Entertainment has refused to comment on this matter and gay rights organizations are currently considering launching a public boycott of American Idol on Olivarez' behalf.

[edit] Post-Idol Career

Olivarez eventually headed to Canada to pursue a music career. Her first single, a song called "The One" (with "I'm In Love With My Best Friend's Ex" as a B-Side). The song reached #9 on Canada's single charts. Although another of her songs, entitled 'As Vain As You', ended up on a "Girls Night Out 3" compilation, Olivarez did not release any albums in Canada. She did, however, get to star in a Toronto production of "Hairspray," in the lead role of Tracy Turnblad, for which she gained critical acclaim.

Olivarez returned to the United States after the production ended. She has since appeared on On Air With Ryan Seacrest and joined a musical group called Butterfly Stitch. The group has released an EP as well as a live album and plans to release a full studio album sometime in 2006.

In April, the group reached #2 for three straight weeks with the poignant Americana ballad, "Radical Love". Other songs that have made the Idol Waves Top 15 include "California Red", "Good For Me" and "Miami".

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Cover	Album Information
	Vanessa
	Butterfly Stitch EP
	Butterfly Stitch - Live at The Loft

[edit] Singles

Cover	Music Information
	The One Released: 2003 Charts: #9 Canada.

[edit] External links

• Olivarez Strips For PETA
• "The One" hit #9 in Canada
• Butterfly Stitch Official Site