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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
American Idol contestant has Beavercreek ties
There are several weeks and several eliminations left in this season’s America Idol, but a teenager with local ties won’t be part of those shows.
Jasmine Murray was voted off the show on March 10. Her half-sister, Dana Murray Patterson, lives in Beavercreek and is the director for the Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center at Wright State University.
Dana says her little sister, the baby of the family of 10 brothers and sisters, has always loved to perform, including in backyard talent shows as a child, in her home state of Mississippi.
“I think she definitely has star quality and has that presence,” Dana said. “It’s beyond just her ability to sing or to move. She’s definitely an entertainer. You can tell that’s something that she loves.”
Jasmine and Dana have the same father, Rev. Dr. Samuel J. Murray, who lives in Indianapolis.
Dana found out her sister was on the show via text message.
“My sister texted us and said Jasmine’s on the show and we were like, ‘What!” We started calling, way back before it aired… I don’t know that it really sank in until she made it to that top 13.”
But Jasmine made it no farther than the top 13, voted off after performing during Michael Jackson week.
“The best way to describe it is we were very hopeful and then very proud of how far she made it,” Dana said. “We’re still very proud. Not even an ounce of disappointment at all. A lot did not make it that point. I have nothing but great things to say about her performance.”
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Why does McCain/Coulter fight have to turn to weight?
You may have heard about the conservative Republican women’s catfight that started last week.
It has degenerated into one woman calling another woman fat. OMG! Intelligent women leaders turning serious political discourse into a ‘Mean Girls’ scene.
Here’s how it started: Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of Sen. John McCain was talking about how being conservative does not mean being mean. In other words, how being conservative doesn’t mean being Ann Coulter.
Here’s what McCain said: “… “More so than my ideological differences with Ann Coulter, I don’t like her demeanor. I have never been a person who was attracted to hate or negativity. … Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals. Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck.”
An aggressive comment, certainly, but one that is on point. She worries about a negative, nasty force in her party. We all worry about negativity in politics. We’ve complained about that for years.
Coulter has ignored the comments, which is really neither good nor bad.
But conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham called McCain “just another Valley Girl gone awry.” And then made an extremely off-point comment.
Ingraham joked that McCain didn’t get a role on a TV reality show because “they don’t like plus-sized models.” Where did that come from? Was she suddenly possessed by the nasty girl from my 9th grade homeroom?
McCain, of course, pushed back, saying she’s a size 8 or size 10, like most of us (I added that part).
The blogosphere and TV shows like ‘The View’ have pounced on this. “Next on The View: Is Meghan McCain fat or is she an awesome, curvy role model?”
In the words of a good Valley Girl: Whatever!
Why is it that women’s bodies are always attacked or even brought into the conversation? Hillary Clinton runs for president and we talk about pantsuits. Kelly Clarkson is out with a well-received new album and people prattle about how she has gained weight.
More importantly, why are women in leadership doing it to each other? Let’s talk about role models. Instead of wondering whose possesses the body of a role model, could we consider who possesses the demeanor of a role model?
And there’s bad news ladies: It might just be the men. Barack Obama doesn’t take Rush Limbaugh’s criticism and then simply call him “fat.” He argues the ideas.
Sen. Ted Kennedy has been around a few years and has put on a lot of pounds, but Republican males have criticized his issues and standards.
This fight between conservative Republican women started with issues. That’s where it should return. Then we’ll sort out the role models.
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