By Jennifer DesquironSpecial to CSMS MagazineShe is tall, strong and terribly pretty. She sings with an impressive voice, as Maddy Figueroa Jones from Plus Model Magazine will tell you. In deed last night she sang almost close to her best. But the judges were not prepared to buy into it. Throughout her performance, she received round after round of applause from the audience. Dressed in a black outfit under her traditional long wavy hair, she looked, as usual, bombastic. She interpretedForever and Ever by Dione Warwick, a song most observers thought was a bit difficult to handle. Under the watchful eye of her parents sitting in the audience, she held her own to the end, but end did not sway the judges, especially Simon, who claimed that her performance resembled more like a “cabaret” diva than a true competitor. Simon’s assertion seemed to have offended many in the audience, especially Joanne’s parents. Their eyes looked red and moist under the camera while listening to Simon’s demoralizing comments. The judges got jeered and booed, a tacit rejection of their affirmation. Many Haitians who watched the show last night may have felt the same way. “I think Simon’s negative comments are unacceptable. He just doesn’t like the girl,” said Oriole Francois, a taxi driver near Downtown Los Angeles. His voice was charged with emotion. No one should be disturbed by the judges’ comments. This is Reality T.V. Remember Jennifer Hudson? She was rejected on this same show, but she later went on to becoming one of the hottest celebrities in Hollywood. Simon later admitted that by rejecting her, he had committed the biggest blunder of his career. Joanne Borgella is not new in the business. She participated in the Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance, a well-rated BET show made to glamorize heavyset women, as Borgella is herself a bit on the heavy side. In an interview with Plus Model Magazine last March, Joanne Borgella was confident of herself. “The experience on the show was amazing. I was watching BET and the promo for the show came on and I was so happy to see something that I could be a part of. It changed me! I have always been confident in myself, but like everyone else I did have some insecurity – I never wore sleeveless shirts! NEVER!! Even to the audition for Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance – I had on a vest and a sweater to cover my arms. It was like 80 something degrees and I had a shirt, vest and jeans. It took being around other women that felt the same way for me to be at ease and be happy with myself. Now I wear sleeveless shirts all the time and you can’t tell me anything!!!” We have to wait until next week to see if she still has a chance at remaining in the competition.Note: Jennifer Desquiron is a student at UCLA majoring in journalism. She wrote this piece exclusively for CSMS Magazine.
Haitian model Joanne Borgella is off to a bumpy start at the American idol competition last night
