Her name is Stephenie LaGrossa and she is originally from Philly - her family still lives there - but she lives with her boyfriend Michael in Tom's River.

She is 25 and a PT pharmaceutical rep (drug pusher ) and bartends somewhere at night. [/b][/quote]Damn, I didn't see this before. Well, I don't recognize the name, but if she's a bartender here in Toms River, I'd surely recognize her!!

I was thinking that too, but I didn't want to say anything.

Dang, I missed who's torch was snuffed.

I got home late and tuned in a half hour late and CBS had the UNM/BYU game on. I was surprised that this would override a primetime gig like Survivor. Quarterfinals...and the Lobos W-I-N!!!!

I'll have to log on to cbs.com to read what I missed. They put out a pretty detailed synopsis on the show if you ever miss it. If firefighter Tom was booted, I will boycott the show forever.

Holy crap!! I'm heartbroken. I'm not watching the show anymore.
MARIO VAZQUEZ DROPS OUT OF 'IDOL'
March 13, 2005


"American Idol" Top 12 finalist MARIO VAZQUEZ has withdrawn from the competition for personal reasons, FOX announced Sunday. Semi-finalist NIKKO SMITH, 22, who was eliminated last week, will be replacing him. Smith was chosen because he received a higher number of votes than competitor TRAVIS TUCKER. Twenty-seven-year-old Vazquez was told by SIMON COWELL during the semi-finals, "You have a charm about you. There are better singers, but you have a lot going for you."

I wonder when after he's finished having sex if Ryan says, "Seacrest OUT".

I was surprised with Nikko getting booted too. I thought it would be Constantine. But LDV should be happy he's back.

The heck with all these scrubs now. I'm not watching a show that has no Mario, but has that fat fvck Scott and annoying Mikalah.

Well, Mario was one of the favorites - I thought he was going to make it at least to the top 3 with a good chance of winning it all.

I see a very real possiblity of 4 straight girls getting booted out.

So, only the lesbians are staying?

We got totally addicted to AI last year. One of the reasons we like it so much is that we can watch it as a family, which is nice.

Mario was one of my favorites as well, especially since we had a past connection (no, not that kind). I've heard rumors that he dropped out because he's gay and didn't want to be outed on national tv. I don't believe anyone has ever dropped out voluntarily at this point in the competition before, although George Huff got into the final 12 last year because someone got kicked off.

I am glad that Nikko is back. I thought he did a beautiful job singing Georgia, and couldn't believe that Constantstink made it and Nikko didn't. I also can't believe that Mikalah is through and Amanda is off. Although I didn't think Amanda was wonderful or anything, she was certainly better than Mikalah.

And btw, Part, I happened to notice that not only was your above response Vintage Part, it was Post # 69 in this thread, which carries a certain irony.

These were posted on the AI message board. Either Mario's gay, or his girlfriend is pregnant and he wants to be there for her. Talk about covering the spectrum.
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A lot of contracts have a "morality clause" which states that a performer is not allowed to do anything "indecent" during the run of his contract.

Now, Rosie O'Donnell has stated publically that she had to sign one for her talk show, basically promising to keep silent about her homosexuality until the demise of the show.

If indeed Mario is gay (and the rumors about him seem almost too specific to be ignored) then perhaps he did not want to be silent, did not want to date a "beard", did not want to deny who he is.

If that is true, that he would rather be free to be Mario than become the American Idol and all the gold that comes with that...

...it makes him a bit of a hero, don't you think?
_____________________________
Mario is going to be a dad! He wants to be there for his girlfriend through her preganancy and being on American Idol would conflict with that since he'd be out in LA and his girlfriend is back in NYC. I think it's very noble that Mario is choosing his child over American Idol. People should give him props for this. Good luck to you Mario!

Here is a statement from Mario. Not too much revealed here.
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I'd like to say it was a very hard decision, lots of things to think about, the friends I made there and how wonderful 'American Idol' has been to me," Mario tells ET.

"It came down to where my intuition kicked in," he says of withdrawing from the hot competition. "I need to focus on personal areas in my life and it meant I couldn't continue."

Although he wants to keep his reasons private, he does address the rumors. "It's stuff that I need to deal with," he says. "It has nothing to do with the family."

Mario says he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to SIMON, PAULA or RANDY but did say farewell to his fellow competitors. "For them it was a shock but they all understand," he says.

And he says once he takes care of his personal issues, it will be back to music for him. "Music -- that's my passion," he says.

I guess I'm the only one who watches American Hot Rod ? Boyd Coddington is a complete asshole, but it's cool to see them work on the cars. Most of the time though, they do some hack stuff, don't measure properly, which is why they'd never work on any car project of mine. But some of the guys are cool.

Don't feel bad DJ. I'm probably the only one who watches 'American Chopper'. Can't go to bed on a Monday night without seeing Sr/Jr get into it.

I agree. Nikko won't go all the way but I will enjoy him until he goes. He is a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, he will be at a huge disadvantage in coming back to the show with such short notice. Mario's announcement came late Sunday so Nikko was probably doing alot of traveling from St. Louis and has had little time to practice his song for tonight. I heard that they often tape the performance segments the day before which means he would have had to tape yesterday.

Mario was clearly a favorite to win or at least place in the top 3. His departure is always going to make us wonder - when the next American Idol is chosen - what the outcome would have been had Mario been in the competition.

btw - most of the reports I read point to contract negotiation as the reason Mario quit. It is rumored Bo Bice did not like the terms to which they all had to agree to and considered quitting (I have heard it is a 7 year contract with 19 Ltd.!!) At age 29, Mario probably didn't want to be locked into a 7 year exclusive contract with the AI folks. He probably saw a "From Mario to Mikaylah" movie in his future!

Ugh, it is clear I am rambling. Slow day at work. That is what almost 6" of snow on the ground (and still falling) will do!!!!!!

(Who wants to argue that I live in the desert again??? )

Not me. I know how cold it gets near that mountain top.

Wuss. That was late May.

Come on over now. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

No thanks. I know what 5" feels like.

We'll talk wuss when you have to deal with 2 1/2 feet of snow.

Ummmmm....

Ummmmm....

[/b][/quote]I'm not touching that one.

So many comebacks. So little time.

I seriously wonder who die hard Mario fans will pledge their allegiance to? This is gonna seriously change this competition in a big way.

What about you Bethie? Boycotting or going with someone new?

I had predicted my top 5 as Bo, Nadia, Mario, Anwar and Carrie. I think die hard Clay fans will vote heavily for Anthony. Really hard to tell right now who will take Mario's fanbase. I think they are singing 60's tonight....we will see soon enough, right?

I was a Mario groupie, I admit. But I always loved Anwar as well. I was hoping it would be Anwar and Mario in the top 2, and they could have settled it by having a wet t-shirt contest or something. Now that's not gonna happen.

I don't think I'll replace Mario with anyone. I hope Anwar wipes the floor with the rest of the scrubs. But my heart won't be in it, unfortunately. If I hear Anwar's named mentioned in the near future as being voted off I will be thoroughly convinced that America is on crack.

Let's hope the next 6 to go will be 4 girls, and Constantine and Scott. Then I'll be a happy gal again.

I LOVE America Chopper. My office is not that far from their shop and I've driven past it, hoping for a glimpse, but no such luck. Sr./Jr. fights crack me up. And I must admit to feeling the love for Vinny.

As for AI, I always liked Mario, but I also felt that, technically, Anwar was far better. As for the girls, I think that Nadia is the only one who can give them a run for their money.

I read a rumor somewhere that the reason for Mario's departure is his past tie to Michael Jackson. Don't know if that has any truth to it, but he did list performing with Jacko as one of his proudest moments on the AI website.

Two Words:

NADIA and WOW!!!

She is the whole package.

Mikayla SHOULD be sent packing tomorrow, but I truly feel it will be Lindsay.

Nadia is good, but the word I think of for her is SKINNY. Someone feed that girl a steak. But she is the best of the worthless bunch they have out there last night. Even Anwar left "it", whatever "it" is at home last night. I say we scrap all of them and find some people who have talent.

I need to find out who I can sue for the hour of my life that was stolen whilst watching that train wreck.

:rolleyes:

With the exception of Bo and Nadia, I think they were all so bad last night. And please remind me how Constanstink and Mykalah made it to the Top 12? She is just absolutely awful. Her voice is just grating. My daughter refers to her as "the new Camille". And he just struts around. What was that last note???? Yikes!! I think my ears are still bleeding.

I totally agree!! Whoever told Mikalah she can sing needs to have their heads examined. I'm tired of Paula and Randy saying Mikalah is just being Mikalah. Well, Mikalah SUCKS. I don't think Bo's the best singer, but he puts on the best show. My top 3 are Nadia, Bo and Anwar, cause quite frankly everyone else stinks. This is quite a disappointing season.

Haha Bethie, I didn't think it was as bad as all that but it was boring. When I found out they were doing music from the 60's, I was excited - I thought there would be a great selection of songs they could choose from.

As much as I don't like ConstantPreen, he picked a perfect song for him and did a decent job with it. I could do without all the fruity faces and posing...but he picked the right song to sing.

I was soooo hoping Bo would do "When a Man Loves a Woman" - I think it would have been excellent!! I would still love to see that.

Vonzell doing Aretha's "Natural Woman" would have taken her out of the middle of the road and either made her or break her. Take a risk!

As far as Mikaylah goes - if history has shown us anything - EVERY season, some horrible female singer will butcher "Son of a Preacher Man" - Mikaylah did not disapoint us there... :rolleyes: . As wretched as that was, I still think the lifeless and dull Lindsay will go. I mean C'mon..."Knock on Wood"?? Not even a good karaoke song....what was she thinking?

What's it gonna take for Carrie to show a little personality to go along with her countryfied voice? Maybe they will do ghetto/hip-hop night and the girl can sing "Milkshake" or "Goodies".... :p

I too was excited about 60's night. That was a great era, and thought they would ROCK. Alas, I've been disappointed. It's so hard to pick anyone to go home tonight, cause there's no real "loser". It's just like picking from the lowest of the low. I loved Vonzell, "Is that the one who sang Dionne Warwicks" song? I'm getting them confused now. I used to like Carrie, but I think she would have done better on "Nashville Star". She doesn't have the strong voice I once thought she had.

Not only was the singing bad, but I didn't know a lot of the songs last night. Kinda makes for a boring show. Maybe it's just me though.

The whole Camille/Mikalah thing... At least Camille wasn't annoying!

Can't we bring back JPL just to dance around in his "white men can't dance" kind of way? Even though his voice wasn't good, I still looked forward to his performances because he always put himself out there. And I miss George Huff and his little bounce! In a way, I do feel that this year's crop has more talent potential than last year, they just haven't caught on to the judge's constant harping of "You need to put it all on the line". I fell like it still is an amateur night with some pretty talented people. I just feel that most of them haven't made any sort of connection with the audience.

And is there anyone else who is convinced that someday dead bodies will show up in Scott's basement???