Clay Aiken - who's set to have a baby with Jaymes Foster - isn't the only season two finalist with huge news on his future.
Rubem Studdard has obtained a marriage license in Alabama. According to state law, that means he now has 30 days to marry Surata Zuri McCants.
As eyewitness to the paperwork being filled out said the couple "looked really happy." And we couldn't be happier for them!
Ruben Studdard is back on the radar of American Idol.
The Season 2 champion, whose albums haven't exactly topped the charts, will perform the "farewell song" used to play off contestants as they are eliminated from the top 12 this season. The song will be a cover of Kenny Loggins' "Celebrate Me Home," in a new version produced by Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam.
"It's very soulful, very heartfelt," Lewis said. "Ruben is singing his pants off."
Season 5's farewell song, Daniel Powter's "Bad Day," went on to sell 1.9 million copies and was the top digital download of 2006.
Big League Productions - the company that books Broadway musicals for touring throughout the world - is launching a traveling revival of the Tony-winning play "Ain't Misbehavin." Its headliners?
American Idol singers Ruben Studdard and Frenchie Davis.
Reportedly, Richard Maltby, Jr., who wrote and staged the original 1978 production, will direct the tour, as well. The original Broadway production made a star out of its leading lady, the late Nell Carter.
The musical won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Carter) and Best Direction of a Musical (Maltby, Jr.). The national tour is scheduled for 2008-09, although specific dates have yet to be announced.
Jordin Sparks' debut album didn't sell particularly well.
But this American Idol champion can find comfort in the fact that she's doing a lot better than a past winner: Ruben Studdard has been dropped from J Records.
Studdard's first CD, Soulful, released in 2003, went platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel, also fared well. But sales of his 2006 project The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235,000 copies.
We'll keep you updated on what this means for the future of The Velvet Teddy Bear.
We don't hear a lot about Ruben Studdard, but here's some news about the season two American Idol champ, courtesy of The Birmingham News:
A $50 million entertainment district planned for downtown Birmingham got a shot of star power Wednesday, as officials announced that city native Studdard plans to open his own club there.
In addition, Memphis-based Performa Entertainment Real Estate, the planned district's developer, is working with another American Idol winner who hails from Birmingham, Taylor Hicks, on the possibility of opening a club there.
The working name for Studdard's venue is Ruben's Club 205, and it would offer the kind of soulful music he's known for, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Executive Director Jack Fields said during a BJCC board meeting.
Such an establishment, along with the prospect of a club with Hicks' stamp, would draw people to Birmingham and fall in line with Performa's goal of reflecting the city's history, culture and music in the district's tenant mix, Fields said later.
"That offers two very distinct types of entertainment that provide a broad spectrum for people to come and enjoy," he said. "These household names would create excitement for people to come to Birmingham and select Birmingham as a site for their meetings."
Economic developers have touted the district as a recruiting tool for conventions and businesses. Plans call for two hotels and dozens of restaurants, nightclubs and retail shops that are expected to begin opening as early as summer 2009.
Performa, best known for its Beale Street development in Memphis, has said it wants to capitalize on the national attention metro Birmingham has gained as the home of three American Idol alumni: 2003 winner Studdard, 2006 winner Hicks and Bo Bice, runner-up in 2005.
Ruben Studdard sang in gospel choirs as a child. He also graduated from Alabama A&M University with a voice studies degree in 2000.
But the 28-year-old couldn't break into the music industry until he auditioned for a certain reality competition series in 2002.
"I tell you what - the one thing I can say is that I tried my whole life to be a professional singer and nothing ever worked until American Idol came around," Ruden told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "I'm appreciative of everything they've ever done for me, and I will always sing their praises."
While American Idol may have launched Studdard's career into pop stardom he proved that he could also remain faithful to his roots, as his 2004 gospel album "I Need an Angel" was certified gold after selling more than 500,000 copies since its release.
"The gospel album started off being a Christmas album and [RCA chairman and producer Clive Davis] said, 'You grew up in the church and gospel is something you really love,'" Studdard said. "Plus, Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway, my favorite singers, have all done gospel albums. I got a chance to pay tribute to some singers that I grew up listening to, and because of it, everyone thought I turned into a gospel artist."
Studdard characterized those thoughts as a "misconception" and backed that up with 2006's "The Return," an R&B album that may have only sold 226,000 copies since its October release, but definitely has a more soulful sound than Idol fans are used to hearing from him.
"[With 'The Return'] I knew I wanted to come out with something everyone would love," Studdard said. "The album took so many directions. I worked on it for two years, so you can imagine how many directions you could go. But it turned out exactly the way I wanted."
Studdard said he plans on starting to work on his fourth album in July and his sights set on recording a duet with a fellow Idol winner.
"I really want to do a duet with [Idol 3 champ Fantasia Barrino] on this next album," Studdard said. "We met while she was on [Idol] and have been friends ever since. I'm hoping this next album will be more soulful than all the ones I've ever done."
Ruben Studdard is telling kids in Alabama not to be like him.
The American Idol winner, who is a spokesman for the Scale Back Alabama weight-loss campaign, spent Tuesday taking a fitness message to schools in hopes of helping Alabama shed its weighty reputation.
"I donât want yâall to be like me. I donât want yâall to get to college and stop working out and forget all the things you have to do to be healthy," Studdard, 28, told students at Montgomeryâs Capitol Heights Junior High School.
"I want yâall to continue working out for the rest of your life so you donât have to start all over like Ruben Studdard, trying to get yourself back into shape," he said.
Studdard said in December that he had started a weight-loss program in the summer.
His comments Tuesday came a few hours after state Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks and State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton unveiled an Alabama KidFit initiative at a news conference across town.
Flanked by children wearing the programâs yellow T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of fruits and vegetables, Sparks and Morton expressed dismay at Alabamaâs persistent ranking near the top of the nationâs list for obesity.
"This generation of young persons in Alabama . . . could be the first generation that does not outlive their parents in age span," Morton said. "Thatâs frightening."
SOURCE: The Associated Press
The scales of American Idol may have tipped in Ruben Studdardâs favor in 2003, but there are other scales he would like to tip a bit less.
After shedding almost 100 pounds, the Birmingham native and American Idol champ says he wants to help other residents of Alabama to lose weight. Heâs asking the 25 percent of the stateâs residents who are obese to lose 10 pounds in eight weeks â a total of 10 million pounds.
Since committing to a weight-loss program this summer, Studdard has lost nearly 100 pounds, started eating healthier and begun exercising, according to a news release announcing the program.
âIâm not where I want to be, but Iâm on the right track, and Iâm excited about encouraging other Alabamians to begin their own weight-loss journeys,â said the 28-year-old singer, whose third album, "The Return,â was released in October by J Records.
Studdard told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he wanted to get in shape âbecause I have a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure and things of that nature.â
âI felt like it was necessary for me to combat those issues at a young age before it became a bigger issue. I went to this place called Duke Diet & Fitness Center for a month and learned how to change my eating habits.â
Scale Back Alabama, an eight-week weight-loss campaign, kicks off Jan. 4 with an event featuring the former American Idol. The campaign is being jointly sponsored by Alabamaâs hospitals, the Alabama Department of Public Health and Barber Diaries.
The Velvet Teddy Bear, Ruben Studdard, has always been up front about his weight problems -- and his success in shedding over 100 pounds earlier in 2006 by making extreme changes to his diet and exercise regimen.
In an interview with PETA Vice President Dan Matthews, the American Idol winner talks about the spiritual side of weight loss, what it's like being a vegetarian, how important it is to get regular colonics, and how his lifestyle affects his band.
On Becoming a Vegetarian:
"I actually came home, and there was a little brochure in my hometown paper - I ain't never told nobody this - but it was a thing about cleaning up your temple. I think it was like a Seventh Day Adventist magazine, and they were talking about 'try vegetarian.' I went online that day, and I just started reading little things from different vegetarians, and it was so much easier than I thought it would be, so I decided to try it."
On His Colonic Guru:
"They [medical experts] talk about all the colon problems, blah blah. And I've had a hydro-colonic before, so the lady that does that for us, she eats only raw vegetables - like, she won't anything but raw vegetables. And of course every time we'd go, she'd be like 'try this' and 'stop this,' but of course we weren't paying any attention - but now of course we do!"
On His Favorite Veggie Snacks:
"My favorite dish is from PF Chang's -- the Buddha's Feast. It's hands-down my favorite dish. And the tofu lettuce wraps. McDonald's has a veggie burger now. It's not as good as Burger King. Burger King's veggie burger is off the chain."
How His Diet Has Changed His Bandmates:
"My band, they all complain about my requirements for only veggie stuff backstage, but they're learning too, like I did. There's always a better way to live if you're open to it."
The Velvet Teddy Bear is always going to be a hefty fellow, but it's good to hear that he's taking precautions to keep that heft under some control.
Ruben Studdard will guest on the Rachael Ray Show Tuesday, and among the topics he will discuss will be his strategies for losing weight and the current dietary habits that keep him up to par.
According to the promotional materials on Rachael Ray's official site, the Season 2 American Idol winner saw his weight hit a high of over 400 pounds. Now he's 100 pounds lighter, and he'll be keeping those pounds off with Rachael's healthy snacks! This should be fun to watch.
Ruben's newest album, The Return, is in stores now, and is being called a critical and commercial success. Way to go, big fella.
