American Idol's Mandisa, now in contest's final 20, makes her faith in Christ known

NEW YORK — Mandisa Hundley, the contestant who endeared herself to fans by publicly expressing forgiveness to one of the show’s judges, has advanced to the next round of the popular television show “American Idol” and observers say she has a good shot at winning the whole thing.

Mandisa—who prefers to be known by her first name—is a regular worship leader at Beth Moore’s Living Proof Live conferences throughout the country and one of 10 women and 10 men still competing for a chance to win the contest. She has made it known that a brief bout with fame is nothing compared to her relationship with Jesus Christ.

In fact, she put her faith into action recently when Simon Cowell, one of the show’s infamously cruel judges, flippantly remarked about her weight.

“Do we have a bigger stage this year?” he asked on camera after she walked away.

Mandisa, of Nashville, Tenn., responded to Cowell’s comment the next time she appeared in front of the judges.

“What I want to say to you is that, yes, you hurt me and I cried and it was painful, it really was. But I want you to know that I’ve forgiven you and that you don’t need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody,” she said. “I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you.”

Cowell, getting up to hug her, said, “Mandisa, I’m humbled, really. I’m just so appalling, aren’t I?”

She took the stage first during the Top 12 Girls show Feb. 21 and made a memorable impression with her version of Heart’s “Never.” Even Cowell was impressed with her performance.

“I think you’ve just thrown down the gauntlet to the other 11 girls, and I think we are going to see you all the way through to the finals of the show,” he told her during the broadcast.

Mandisa—who prefers to be known by her first name—is a regular worship leader at Beth Moore’s Living Proof Live conferences throughout the country and has been vocal during the American Idol competition that her personal relationship with Jesus Christ means more to her than fame.

Fans and industry experts have posted widespread praise of Mandisa on websites and weblogs as she develops a broad following. And because voters decide the winner on American Idol, popularity can only add value to talent.

“Out of the twelve, I managed to pare down the competition to the three female contenders that I feel certain will make it into the top six,” Pat Fish, a reviewer on Blogcritics.org, wrote. “... I was very impressed with Mandisa’s performance and immediately considered that she will move on to at least the top six, if not the top three, of the female contenders. ... In fact, after Mandisa, I was mentally eliminating almost every singer of the evening.”

Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly said Mandisa “owned the song [and] owned the stage” when she sang Tuesday night, and he ranked her as one of two “front-running divas” on the show.

A blogger on “Foxes on Idol,” a website playing on the name of the show and its network, Fox, was confident of Mandisa’s potential.

“Mandisa could actually win this thing, and should be in the top 3,” the blogger said.

On the description of contestants at www.idolonfox.com, Mandisa said she has been singing as long as she can remember, but if she could no longer sing, she’d most “love to be an anointed and effective Bible teacher.” When asked who her American Idol is, she replied, “An author and speaker named Beth Moore. She inspires me to live more like Jesus and I want to do the same.”

Before she performs, Mandisa said she prays, and her hero is Jesus because “He saved my life.” If she doesn’t make it further on American Idol, she said she will continue to sing for a living just as she does now because she loves it. In other words, American Idol fame is not everything to her.

But if she wins, who will she thank first?

“Jesus! He’s so good to me,” she said.

Published, March 2006

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