From the moment Mandisa elicited an apology from ornery judge Simon Cowell, she not only won his heart, but the hearts of AI viewers everywhere. With her booming voice and mega-watt smile, performances like Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" propelled Mandisa to the final rounds of season five. But it's her post-Idol career that has really helped her to make her mark on the music industry.
Mandisa's first album, True Beauty, debuted at #1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, making it the first time a new female artist has debuted at #1 in the charts 27 year history. It also debuted at an impressive #43 on the Billboard 200, which is quite atypical for a Christian artist. She also received a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album nomination for the album in December of the same year. For Mandisa, however, the message she conveyed with her debut album was just as important as how well it did on the charts. With the entertainment industry being so focused on weight and external beauty, Mandisa wanted to reach her fans with the message that it's internal beauty that should matter the most. As she states on her web site, “They give us this unattainable standard of beauty that doesn’t really exist. It’s amazing how the self-esteem of young girls is so low right now because of what society is feeding them, and I really do hope that America is waking up to the importance of that issue. If we really understood that our value is not based on how we look, but in who we are as people—I really think we would be much more free.”
Mandisa also wrote a book called "IdolEyes", which also gave her a chance to convey the message of inner beauty versus the more superficial things in life. Because her songs and her message of spirituality have become so important to her fans, Mandisa has joined the "Women of Faith" tour, which began September 19th and wraps up on November 11th. You can check Mandisa's MySpace page to see if the tour is coming to a city near you.
American Idol has certainly helped to put Mandisa in touch with some impressive people in the music industry. She recently joined musical legend Gladys Knight and performers such as Lalah Hathaway, Shirley Murdock and The Boys Choir of Harlem on stage at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater at the First Annual Benefit Gala “Back to Harlem,” sponsored by the Ashley Stewart Stores Community Foundation. The event raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for three charities: the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dress for Success and The Boys Choir of Harlem.
Fans of Mandisa will also be thrilled to hear that her Christmas album, entitled It's Christmas, will be released in just less than two weeks, on October 14th. It includes many of the holiday classics, including: Feliz Navidad/ Joy to the World, What Christmas Means to Me, Christmas Makes Me Cry, Christmas Bell Medley, Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard on High, Little Drummer Boy, Christmas Day, O Holy Night, Mary's Little Boy Child, and Children Go When I Send Thee. Mandisa's second album, Freedom, is set to drop April 7, 2009.
On top of her stellar vocals, Mandisa became known on season five for her daring and dramatic outfits. Check out her Transformation Gallery!
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