Season 9 Preview: Todrick Hall

By On 01/04/2010 · 23 Comments · In AI Season 9

This is our continuation of our preview of possible Season 9 contestants. Remember, that the Hollywood round doesn’t occur until January 9th this year. We don’t know how far any of these contestants might go. And since we never see some of the competition round contestants until the competition starts, we might never see some of these people. We might have even found the wrong person with the same name.

Number 16:Todrick Hall
Age: 22
Home State: Texas
Style: R&B/Broadway

Pictures/Myspace/Links after the jump

Picture 1 Picture 2
Myspace
The Magical Land of Oz (youtube)
It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye (youtube)
Dancing In Somebody Elses’s Music Video (youtube)
Youtube Channel
Article
Article

Previous Roles:
Colour Purple (Broadway), High School Musical 2, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Various Cruise Lines, Beauty and the Beast at Disneyworld, Various Theme Parks.

Wrote, Choreographed and Directed “Oz The Musical” at the age of 17 which included members of Danity Kane and American Idols.

Well, this dude is certainly experienced. And talented. And a go-getter. He’s also not bad at singing R&B and singing is nominally what this show is about.

I don’t mind a contestant with experience. The music business is difficult to break into even for those with a lot of talent. But there are two things wrong with it. One, some people will think that you are either cheating by having too much experience or that you must suck not to have made it despite all that experience (I can already hear the complaints about this dude knowing Oprah….and there is even a photo of him with Clive floating around somewhere). I think as the seasons tick by, that is less of a factor. Two, sometimes experience leads to bad habits. People with experience in theatre will sometimes sing to the back of the room. When they put the camera two inches in front of their face, it feels like somebody is crawling into your livingroom and making odd faces at you. People with a lot of experience at theme parks and cruise ships seem to come dipped in that kind of cheese you squirt out of a can.

From the youtubes I watched, this guy seems that he’s avoiding both of those pratfalls for now. I think he would be an interesting addition to the cast. We haven’t really had a male R&B star for years (no, in my book, neither Danny Gokey nor Michael Sarver count. Matt was Pop/Rock). The guy can sing. He’s got experience with covers. He wrote a musical so hopefully that means he can re-arrange a song or two. And he can dance! The group numbers will never be the same. Again, he might not make it if this is deemed a girl’s year, because I see he is talented and there will likely be “thudding”.

What do you think?

Name leaked by IDF/VFTW

 
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  • idoladdict07
  • unique28v

    I think experience is good and let’s face it, about 95% of contestants that eventually make the show are experienced in some way. He has a good voice and frankly I just want some R&B on the show. lol

  • auntieaimee

    I absolutely love his voice. Beautiful tone, great control. He doesn’t have any of the “Broadway Baby” tics that can annoy people. But, yeah, he almost seems a little too polished, which may hurt him. Or maybe they’ll save him for next year, since they’re pulling for a girl winner this time.

  • jammasta

    Since when was Danny Gokey R&B? >_>.

    I like R&B, I want some R&B on the show, too. Seems like R&B artists don’t do well on American Idol. Ruben won but hasn’t done much, Lil Rounds had a good voice but was really copycat (and never really had an R&B flavor to her songs anyway except for early performances), Nikko Smith and Chikezie got out really early. Elliott Yamin and Jordin Sparks are probably a few of the exceptions, although Jordin seems to have strayed away from R&B.

    This guy has a 90′s R&B tone to him, I like it.

  • SarahP

    oooh i’d love an R&B guy! been thinking that it’ll be cool to have a Chris Brown-sie idol this year…

  • barnie

    I love his voice. Great tone and control. Idol hasn’t had a good AND current R&B contestant in a long time.

  • itsalleternal

    He’ll surely be an asset for sure if he made it. Something different with the potential to attract a solid fan base.

  • Daytripper73

    The guy is a scam artist. He was behind the Oz Musical and the entire cast, including none other than Diana DeGarmo got ripped off. There was a second leg of the tour supposedly to star Stacie Orrico that ended in controversy with parents of kid “munchkins” reporting him to the media for stealing their money. The guy is trouble.

  • gingerly

    I try to ignore this stuff. I’m truly only concerned with what they sing on Idol and how they’re portrayed on the show. I’ve never sought out anybody’s stuff. I just don’t care because I feel the show is ultimately about the show. How many people are so obsessed that they will click on every available link to make judgment about a contestant before the show? I doubt it’s enough to truly matter.

  • Niall

    I just did some checking after reading daytripper’s post. This was interesting:
    http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=10562143&nav=menu374_2_9

  • Niall

    Can’t edit…

    from the above article, it seems not only did he rip off the parents (honestly, who makes parents pay THEM in order for their kids to be in a show?), but he false advertised “a former American Idol contestant”- Diana Degarmo- in order to make those parents more comfortable with handing over their money. Dude stinks to high heaven. I don’t think we’ll see much of him unless AI wants a scandal.

  • bigjr6633

    I could care less about what he did in the past I’m only judging his voice which I would think people should be doing too. He has a great voice and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone like him on Idol. A black male r&b singer is hard to come by on Idol now cause they never pick them. He could be quite and addition to this show.

  • jack5791

    It has been proven that experience really doesn’t matter either way, so I never know why people make such a big deal about it. Megan Joy, who had NO prior singing experience really, still made 9th on Idol. With experience, could she have gone further? Well, Carly and Michael both had tons of experience and only made 6th and 8th respectively. Experience may be beneficial but having experience doesn’t mean a contestant will go far and having no experience doesn’t mean that a contestant will not make it.

  • alison8701

    I was sort of down with him until I read that article. That’s terrible. It’s going to get out. He shouldn’t try to get on TV after he scammed people. Or he should have at least taken off “Oz The Musical” from his website and stuff. VFTW will be all over this if he gets through..

  • sr4mjc

    I hope there is an R&B artist this season! Then I can finally lose interest and get back to my real life after S7 and S8 took over the last two years.

  • jms

    alison8701
    01/04/2010 at 3:04 pm

    I was sort of down with him until I read that article. That’s terrible. It’s going to get out. He shouldn’t try to get on TV after he scammed people. Or he should have at least taken off “Oz The Musical” from his website and stuff. VFTW will be all over this if he gets through..

    Huh? What did I miss? Granted I read those articles quickly but I didn’t see anything about him running a scam. Is there another article that I missed?

    I’m really liking this guy. I don’t like the breathless tone he sometimes uses when singing but overall I like his sound. I love that he can dance and is comfortable on stage. I’m all for anyone that can improve the general performance level of the show.

  • jms

    Ah. I see someone posted a link that said the Oz thing didn’t happen. Yeah, that was a sucky thing to happen but it sounds more like stupidity than actual bad intent. More info is needed before I decide it was more than that on his part. He was identified as writer and director, not producer. The article also said they would refund money to parents that asked (although I think it should be automatic and not require them to ask). Assuming said refunds actually occur, I’ll put the event on the side of being too ambitious and not working with someone with experience putting on shows. Although, the information I’d really like to know is who the producers were, if they are friends/family of his and his current relationship with them.

  • MusicAlltheTime

    This guy ran another scam, called CinderellaRock. He presented it as a musical theater class for kids, ending with a performance. He collected money from the parents, and then “canceled” the class/performance, and disappeared. He’s total scum.

    Yes, parents asked for their money back. No, they didn’t receive it.

    I just read the article about Oz the Musical. Hall did exactly the same thing in my town. He convinced a dance teacher to encourage her students to participate. She thought it was legitimate, and let him use her studio for “auditions.” He did the same thing at about 15 cities in Texas.

  • sonyab

    Meh he didn’t wow me. When he was singing I was bored. I did love his dancing tho! :)

  • Daytripper73

    He’s a con artist. Ask any of the members of the Oz cast, such as Michael Bojtos, Bradley Gale, Trisha Kelly, etc. Look them up on Facebook and ask them about their experience with Todrick Hall. He left a bunch of them high and dry in Texas after he “ran out of money.” He misrepresented whether or not he had enough backers to put the show on the road. Diana DeGarmo left the show after she realized she was NOT going to get paid and chalked it up to a learning experience. He’s a slick talking con man.

  • Daytripper73

    http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/lakeland_oz_musical_canceled_061109

    http://www.firstcoastnews.com/money/onyourside/news-article.aspx?storyid=142763&provider=rss

    http://onsanantoniotx.com/articles/463646-nat-l-musical-tour-in-limbo–parents-furious

    His m.o. is to always say he’s putting on another version of Oz, or the CinderellaRock thing referenced in another post, and that he’ll pay people back out of those profits. He casts kids, collects the money and then never puts on the show. People complain, he makes excuses, and promises to make good. Lather, rinse, repeat. Over and over again. Shady. There’s no way AI needs an r&b singer bad enough to accept this dude and all his baggage.

  • keko

    Didn’t you all realized he is ONLY the director?

    If you know anything about doing a musical, you even know that there are different people working on it and they all have different responsibilities.

    Well, Todrick is the writer, director and choreographer of OZ the Musical.
    BUT HE IS NOT THE PRODUCER!!!

    So why are you all spending bad words on him as he’s a thief? He is not the one who stole the money and not the one who had them!!

    Try to judge him just looking at the great artist he already is..and at the great potential he has to be a part of the show..
    The guy can sing! and he can even dance..we’re dealing with a complete r&b artist and if you just take care of music, since music is what the show is about, you will notice he has a HUGE talent and a great personality too… He definetely deserves to be on the show!

    Open your eyes….

  • TxBound

    Eyes are open, I personally worked with him for many years and was a part of these musicals. I was ripped off with many other crew and cast members as well as parents. He uses people to get ahead. I wasn’t planning on saying anything but the fact that I fell for his lies really got to me. He might not be the producer but he has purposely done so to point the blame everytime the truth comes out. It’s his easy way out, but if you’ve worked with with him you know that he has a hand in EVERYTHING, meaning that he knew all along what was happening, and didn’t do anything about it because he was still making money. I can say that for a fact!