With one exception,* I was really pleased with the piece. I thought it was overwhelmingly favorable in that it left the impression that there isn't anything Mr. 8Ken can't do.
There were two noticeable errors: (1) It was the mother, not the son, who urged 8Ken to try out for American Idol; the son is severely autistic and nonverbal; and (2) the Independent Tour was highly successful, and 8Ken and Kelly were co-headliners; the ticket stub pictured in the piece was fabricated. 8Ken and Kelly remain good friends; she was spotted at Spam a few weeks ago and went backstage after the show to meet Parker. No one connected to 8Ken cooperated with the show. The older woman with the blonde hair sold her daughter's wedding video on eBay to make a quick buck and sued the whole family, claiming they tried to interfere with the sale of the book she wrote. A fan bought a copy of the wedding video and distributed it among the fandom to thwart her profit-making. I remember watching the video for the first time and thinking how strange it was that strangers all over the world were watching people they didn't know from Adam walking down the aisle. But 8Ken did sing beautifully, and we all have the recording of "Me and You" on our iPods (or Zune in my case). It was nice to see Terrance Mann so prominently featured, given that he only worked with him once, directing a local production of 1776, and 8Ken was part of the chorus, if I remember correctly. I liked how the show didn't mention his declining record sales. Plus, there was a mention of a track, "The Real Me," on his latest CD that should be heard because it's an astounding performance, so I was glad to hear it plugged. Sure, the production values couldn't have been any cheaper, but hopefully it may generate some new fans -- or at least some new respect. Melissa P. *I thought it was shoddy journalism to include Paulus. Someone didn't do their homework. Anyone who's aware of his Cyberspace presence, especially his video blogs, would know that he is mentally unstable and easily fits into the online stalker category. I don't think anyone, especially a media outlet like E!, should give such people any kind of attention. And, he didn't lose his real estate job because he was harassed by fans; he lost his job because he put nude pictures of himself on the internet. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas Allen Heald, Esquire Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 6:35 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: The silver lining in our economic cloud Pollak, Melissa F. wrote: > Puleeezee > > Mr. 8Ken had been performing locally for years before he was urged to > try out for American Idol (just like almost all of the other > contestants who make it to the final round on the show). He just > needed some help from entertainment professionals -- which he got on Idol -- and after. BTW ... i finally watched the THS on Aiken. Was there anything new skullduggery wise? Seemed to be a 1/2 hour stretched to what seemed like 2 hours. He was on the show, he's gay, he sold records, the allegations by Paulus (and no comment by aiken reps), the baby, the regis and kelly hand-scandal, and spamalot. Seemed as interesting as a Current Biography entry. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
