'Barbie' star Alexandra Shipp reveals she was told to stop singing during her awkward 'American Idol' audition
It’s hard to imagine that pop star Alexandra Shipp was asked to ‘stop’ singing during her ‘American Idol’ audition. But it’s true, she really was asked to stop. It’s one thing for a non-singer to have a bad audition, but quite another for someone as talented as Shipp. So, what went wrong? The actor and singer made the wrong bet by singing a spoken-word rendition of a Whitney Houston song. During her appearance on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show,’ Shipp revealed that she had auditioned for ‘American Idol.’ “I didn’t know that,” said Kelly Clarkson, who won the first season of the show. “I did a cardinal no-no, which was that I tried to sing Whitney,” Shipp revealed. She recalled feeling “nervous” ahead of her performance of ‘Run to You.”
So instead of taking the high note in the chorus, she spoke the lyrics in a monotone. “I went, ‘Tell me, what does it mean,’” the Tick-Tick Boom actress said in a baritone. The revelation shocked Clarkson so much that she stood up in disbelief. “Wait, you did spoken-word during a Whitney Houston song? She asked. At this point, everyone burst out laughing. However, Shipp defended herself, noting that she was young at the time. “I was 16 and I was so nervous,” she said.
Clarkson, deeply engaged in the story, asked about the judges’ reactions. “They said stop. What was that?” Shipp revealed. “Oh my gosh,” the ‘Stronger’ hitmaker reacted. Shipp recalled that she didn’t respond much and “tried to play it off like it was meant to happen.” But she made it clear that it wasn’t meant to happen at all. Despite her poor rendition of the iconic track, she was given another chance to sing. The second performance was significantly better, but still not enough to reach the Top 24. “They were like, ‘We think you are really cool, maybe you should be on Disney Channel or act,’” she recalled.
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Shipp said, “Okay,” while smacking her lips. She followed their advice and made her acting debut with a minor role in 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel' in 2009. Eventually, everything worked out for Shipp, who has taken on diverse roles and released music to date. She went from debuting as a child actor to starring opposite Andrew Garfield in Netflix’s musical 'Tick, Tick… Boom!' where she also showcased her vocals. Her credentials also include films like ‘Barbie,’ ‘Anyone But You,’ ‘X-Men: Apocalypse,’ ‘Shaft,’ and many others. She also played the role of beloved R&B singer Aaliyah in her musical biopic.
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Besides singing on soundtracks, Shipp has collaborated with iconic producers like Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Damon Thomas. Meanwhile, ‘American Idol’ continued to platform young talents and make them singing superstars. The beloved singing competition show recently completed its 23rd season and crowned Jamal Roberts as the champion. He made history as the first Black male to win American Idol in 22 years. With his soul-stirring and powerful voice, he managed to capture the entire nation’s heart.