Bo Bice and Melinda Doolittle Praise the Lord

two of my favorite Idols EVAH, one of my favorite songs EVAH

what a lovely, sincere, soulful duet on “People Get Ready,” their solo stuff sounds great too.

love the genuine affection between them. they’ve always struck me as two of the nicest people to wind up near the top on Idol, and they both are just terrific singers.

very very nice way to ease into a Sunday — thanks MJ!

Beautiful and heartfelt performances. Their voices are really fantastic.

They sound great together. I’ve always loved Bo and Melinda.

Thanks for the videos, MJ!

Superb duet. Loved it.

I always loved this these two. Great combination and great singing.

I always loved this these two. Great combination and great singing.

a to the men. these are two singers i will always keep on the radar, and be happy to support.

I got goosebumps listening to that duet. They have the passion and the faith! I loved watching the two of them too – you can tell they FEEL the music!

I just saw Melinda in concert Thursday night. She sang for almost 2 hours, in 95deg. heat (100% humidity). It was part of a Barbecue festival, and because of the heat, it was sparsely attended. (Maybe 100 people tops) Nonetheless, she sang her heart out, mixed and mingled with the intoxicated festival goers etc. (Her bass player suffered heat exhaustion and was hospitalized, but she found a last minute sub)
I didn’t watch AI back then, and I barely remembered her. But HOLY COW, I was knocked out by this girl’s voice and the show. Better then Aretha, better than Whitney, just an unbelievable voice. I can’t believe that she is not a superstar, poor management maybe? My youngest daughter was depressed- “If someone that awesome isn’t making it, what is the point?”
From what I saw though, she is one of the greatest voices to ever appear on Idol. I hope and pray she receives the recognition she deserves, her talent, in my opinion, is HUGE.

My youngest daughter was depressed- “If someone that awesome isn’t making it, what is the point?”
From what I saw though, she is one of the greatest voices to ever appear on Idol. I hope and pray she receives the recognition she deserves, her talent, in my opinion, is HUGE.

your daughter is very wise, and has a good ear. this is one of the things that tends to discourage me so much about the state of the music industry, all of its games and politics and emphasis over the past decade in substituting autotune and other tricks as a shortcut to recognizing and elevating authentic talent like hers to the fore. i’m way more interested in listening and being entertained by someone like her, and spending the time to follow up on her than i am these flavor of the month artists that seem to pop out of the woodwork, no real feel or talent for music or singing, but it is they who get the backing and push to take them to the top. smh. in a perfect music world, she would be front and center in it. since there is no such thing, i will continue creating my own by stocking my ipod and library with artists like her.

very very nice way to ease into a Sunday — thanks MJ!

Colette, before you rush off to church, you need to know it is only Saturday!!!!!

These two are just incredible. Great talents, both of them. I would love to see them in a concert.

in a perfect music world, she would be front and center in it.

Doesn’t make sense, does it? Makes me wonder how the Arethras of the world made it. Another, more sympathetic, time and place, maybe.

I can’t believe that she is not a superstar, poor management maybe? My youngest daughter was depressed- “If someone that awesome isn’t making it, what is the point?”
From what I saw though, she is one of the greatest voices to ever appear on Idol.

She is. My only real lasting disappointment watching this show all these years was that Melinda Doolittle didn’t make the top 2. It made no sense to me then, and it still makes no sense to me now.

rant/ These days, if you are a woman in the music business, you HAVE to have sex appeal. Melinda will not get a major deal because she is not a size 2 and she doesn’t have a face that will play on the mainstream. I think she’s adorable, but there are a lot of people who would never share my opinion. And honestly, I don’t feel sorry for her, I feel sorry for us. What other amazing talent are we missing out on because of our own nonsensical adherence to ridiculously narrow standards of beauty? It’s stupid. /rant over

Love, love, love these two! Such emotions they both invoke when I listen to them sing. That’s the mark of an artist to me…how do they make me feel. Bo Bice’s “In A Dream” on Idol has to be very high on the list of “Idol Moments”. Travesty that Melinda didn’t make the top two her year!

What other amazing talent are we missing out on because of our own nonsensical adherence to ridiculously narrow standards of beauty? It’s stupid. /rant over

this is no rant, it’s telling it like it is. just observing comments made over the years here and elsewhere, there are some, imo, serious and sometimes disturbing projections and expectations placed upon female singers, entertainers, models, etc. relative to their looks, and weight especially. they’re held hostage to an outdated eurocentric standard that dismisses talent like melinda’s out of hand, arbitrary aesthetic ‘standards’ that can arguably be construed as sexist, ageist, racist and any other -ist you want to put out there. yes, there is something wrong when someone this talented doesn’t seem to be garnering the attention and the connections needed to bring them wider acceptance. i dunno, maybe it will take her some more years of ‘toiling in the vineyard’ like granny used to say before she gets her due – like betty lavette is getting hers now. smh.

Ooohhh, I love these two, thank you MJ!! I am so glad that I can come here and get goodies like this. These are two of my all-time favorite Idols and I agree with the frustration that Melinda doesn’t get more recognition, I have always called her exquisite. Her voice is just fantastic. I’m glad she’s still doing her thing, maybe one day she’ll get her big break.

ggdoorsfan, Bettye LaVette is *amazing*!!

Double old-school Idol goodness! What great voices (and people), Bo and Melinda!

Melinda was my favorite to win that year; she has incredible pipes.

She looks a lot different now than she did on Idol!
I’ve always thought she was beautiful.

Nina1: ha, I should have said eased TOWARD Sunday….maybe it’s because I’ve had the tummy flu this week, and have lost track of the days! anyway, I’m not a Christian. but I can certainly appreciate the spiritual feeling in voices like Bo’s and Melinda’s.

I do agree that it’s ridiculous now about what women are expected to look like in order to make it. I wonder about Crystal in that sense — though she’s not in glam mode, her hip young look might carry her over. But would Phoebe Snow cut a break today? Janis Joplin? Ella Fitzgerald? All brilliantly talented, and very attractive, but not stick figures with “perfect” features.

What I still don’t get is how rough it’s been for Bo. Is it just due to his unfortunate health issues? I thought he’d be a big thing in country-rock, certainly his groove has been popular. In any case, he’s a wonderful singer.

One of my favorite songs sung by two great people. Melinda is in a class by herself. Her voice and the aura of joy she exudes are not matched by anyone. Thank you MJ for posting this.

I wasn’t a fan of Bo’s but I’m glad he’s looking well. I remember he had some health problems.

Melinda is still awesome. In her song choices post Idol she seems to hold back vocally in terms of style. She can do much more.

That was a gorgeous duet. Bo and Melinda are easily two of the most talented people to ever be on Idol…it’s a shame that neither is as successful as they probably should be. They were my favorite contestants on their seasons but I have to admit I haven’t kept up with them post-Idol as much as I should have.

Word on Betty LaVette, ggdoors. And Sharon Jones too.

That duet was awesome. Wow.

Just my opinion, mind you, but I never liked Melinda’s voice. Yes, I can see she has chops – but I hated the “heavy” quality of it, and she never moved me. I guess it’s just a matter of taste. I realize that’s like saying there’s no Santa Claus. Heh.

So why didn’t she become a Super!Star!? She doesn’t appeal to everyone. I could say that I liked Lakisha far more, and she didn’t become a star either.

Now Bo, that’s simple. He was mishandled, and his album wasn’t representative of his gifts. Now he’s digging his way out, but it’s a long dig.

I enjoyed all the videos posted here on these two (in their entirety). Their testimonies of faith and how they approach life was interesting and inspiring. Beautiful voices, beautiful people.

Melinda never goes into a “shrill place” like some singers and this pleases me to no end. She knows how to connect to a song, and never ever just “phones it in”.

I always thought we would see her performing on awards shows.

Thank you MJ so much for this.

I saw the Sharon Jones band at a small club in Houston. Fun, but so over the top that I don’t want to see that act on a regular basis. Her voice got on my nerves after a while… unlike Melinda’s smooth and melodious voice.

Two incredible people with incredible voices. love them both.

Sharon Jones!! Yeah, baby! For soul music aficiendos, a must — “James Brown in a dress”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0iGhFwZx6c

Melinda and Bo are without a doubt two very exceptionally talented people but more importantly, they are very special and genuine as well. It’s hard not to love them.

I absolutely loved that Duet. It was beautiful. I have both of their albums and really love these guys.

Yeah, 2 of the best if not the best to ever take the AI stage. Definitely the most authentic.
Thanks for the post MJ. I probably wouldn’t have known about it if you hadn’t put it on your site.

Hey! Good Sunday morning to all! I caught this from your Facebook post, MJ. Liked it so much I included Bo and Melinda singing “People Get Ready” to close the show today. Thanks so much!
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What can I say? It really makes a difference when artists are invested in their music and put so much feeling and soul into their performances. “People Get Ready” was awesome, thanks so much MJ for posting the performances and interviews for Bo and Melinda. They are both beautiful people and amazing singers!