Corey Clark

This article is about the singer. For the American football player, see Corey Clark (American football).
Corey Clark

Corey Clark opening a show for Ruben Studdard.
Background information
Birth name Corey Delaney Clark
Born (1980-07-13) July 13, 1980
San Bernardino, California, US
Origin Lufkin, Texas, US
Genres Pop, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1991–present
Labels Universal/Bungalo Records
Website http://www.coreyclark.com

Corey Delaney Clark (born July 13, 1980) is an American singer. He is known for his highly publicized disqualification from the second season of American Idol and later allegations of a sexual relationship with then-Idol judge, Paula Abdul.

Early life and career

Corey Clark was born July 13, 1980 in San Bernardino, California, to Duane and Jan Clark.

Clark received his first professional singing job when he was 13, when Debbie Byrd, a family friend and vocal coach who would later go on to work on American Idol, recruited him and his parents to be among the backup singers for Barry Manilow during a week-long appearance in Las Vegas. At age 14, Clark started and performed as the lead vocalist in an R&B vocal group called Envy. The group also included the now-Grammy Award-winning singer Ne-Yo, Solomon Ridge and Ray Blaylock. Envy performed in several talent contests, and a few years later, won the grand prize at a Las Vegas amateur singing contest. Envy also opened major shows for major artists such as Mýa and Destiny's Child,[1] and performed during Amateur Night at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. The group signed a recording deal in 2000, but nothing came of it, and it disbanded after eight years of performances.[2]

Clark and his family moved to Nashville, and while working as a stage hand in 2002, Clark auditioned for the reality TV music competition show American Idol.

American Idol

Performances

Week Theme Song Sung Artist Order Performed Status
Semifinals Group #4 "Foolish Heart" Steve Perry 8 Advanced
Top 12 Motown "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" The Isley Brothers 9 Safe
Top 11 Songs of the Cinema "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" from "Against All Odds" Phil Collins 1 Bottom 2
Top 10 Country Rock "Drift Away" Dobie Gray 4 Safe
Later disqualified

Controversies

Disqualification

Clark with Reuben Studdard in 2007.

During the American Idol competition, The Smoking Gun revealed that Clark had been arrested at his Topeka, Kansas home on October 12, 2002, after neighbors called police after hearing a commotion within the residence, including a girl yelling. He was charged with misdemeanor battery on four police officers and his sister, and endangering the welfare of a child. However both Clark and his sister Alysha have denied that he ever hit her.[3]

On December 4, days after Clark became one of the final 32 American Idol contestants, he was charged in Kansas District Court with resisting arrest, battery upon his sister, and criminal restraint. Clark ultimately pleaded "no contest" to "obstructing legal process" through a plea agreement, and was sentenced to six months unsupervised probation and ordered to pay $116.00 USD in legal costs. Clark states in his book, "Initially no charges were filed against me, and I was refunded my $116.00 USD bond money after attending a November 11, 2002 court hearing back in Topeka."[4] That December, after Corey had filled out his contracts for American Idol and was publicly named a semi-finalist on the show, the state district attorney elected to proceed with the case and filed charges against him.[5]

According to American Idol's producers, Clark did not disclose his arrest record when joining the competition and poducers dismissed him from the show.[6]

Relationship with Paula Abdul

Two years later, Clark began making allegations about his relationship with Abdul.[7][8] Clark stated in his E-book, They Told Me to Tell the Truth, So...: The Sex, Lies and Paulatics of One of America's Idols, and in a May 2005 interview with ABC's Primetime Live that Idol judge Paula Abdul took him under her wing, beginning on December 12, 2002, and coached him on how to succeed in the competition, including helping him select the right songs, clothes, and hairstyle, in order to avoid the show's "exploitation" of young hopefuls' careers like himself,[9] and that this mentorship developed into a three-month-long sexual relationship.[10]

Clark provided, as evidence of his relationship with Paula Abdul, a message that Abdul left on his voice mail, multiple eyewitness accounts of Clark and Abdul being intimate together in public places, accounts by Clark's parents of Abdul calling their home looking for Corey, a bottle of prescription strength cough medicine prescribed to Abdul in Clark's possession, and phone records of Abdul and Clark speaking to each other for several hours at a time during late night hours. Abdul initially dismissed Clark's claims as lies, saying that she would not "dignify Clark's claims with a response", explaining, "Not only do I never lie, I never respond to lies".[11][12] The show's other judges and some of the show's former contestants also expressed disbelief of Clark's claims, which Clark saw as an attempt by Abdul, the show, and the network to cover up the matter.

Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe, who was unimpressed with the evidence presented on the Primetime Live special, called it "shoddy journalism". Regarding Clark's possession of Abdul's phone number, Lythgoe said, "And I know for a fact that a lot of the contestants have got Paula's phone number and contact her and she contacts them. Paula's the den mother. ... I don't have a problem with that. She's been a star and now she can help them and that's more than Simon [Cowell]." Lythgoe also addressed Clark's claim that he sent Abdul a secret message by singing "I owe it all to you" on the show by explaining that the serenade was choreographed by the producers. Lythgoe also questioned why it took two years for Clark to reveal his alleged affair with Abdul, fueling speculation that Clark was merely attempting to gain publicity for his upcoming album.[13]

Clark denies that the timing of his revelation was part of a marketing ploy, asserting, "If I wanted publicity, I could have done it two years ago when they were first trying to defame my name." Clark states that Abdul and the producers engaged in a character assassination campaign that he could not afford to combat or ignore, and accused them of spreading falsehoods about him throughout the industry in order to ruin his career.[14] Other former contestants who came to publicly back Clark's claims included second season semi-finalist Nasheka Sidall, whom it was stated on Primetime Live first heard "whispers" about the affair soon after her time on the show as a contestant,[15] and fellow second season finalist Trenyce, who corroborated Clark's claims on CNN's Showbiz Tonight.[16] Clark also points to the fact in his e-book that his Idol roommates Ricky Smith and Ruben Studdard were never asked for their views on the validity of his claims,[17] but that third season winner Fantasia Barrino was questioned as to her opinion about Clark's allegations, which Clark saw as an attempt by Fox or its investigators to use Barrino's following to bias the public against Clark. As Clark states:

“ All I have to say about it is that I have neither personally met Fantasia Barrino, nor have I ever competed against her on the same season of Idol, so there is no way that she could have accurately given a description to anybody, publicly or personally, about my or Paula's actions during my time as a contestant on American Idol.[18] ”

In August 2005, after an internal investigation by an independent counsel appointed by Fox, which included interviews with Abdul, Clark and other witnesses, the investigators concluded that Clark’s claims of a sexual relationship “have not been substantiated by any corroborating evidence or witnesses, including those provided by Mr. Clark, and Ms. Abdul expressly denies that any such relationship ever existed." The investigators further added that "Ms. Abdul acknowledges that she had telephone conversations with Mr. Clark while he was a contestant. Their accounts of those conversations, however, differ greatly and no evidence was uncovered to resolve the conflicts in their accounts."[19] The network announced that Abdul could continue her judging duties on future seasons of American Idol,[20] adding, "The line is whether it affects the outcome of the competition....It is the sanctity of the competition that is first and foremost."[21][22]

In the fourth season finale of American Idol, Fox televised a parody of Clark's claims, in which judge Simon Cowell was alleged to be having an affair with himself. The parody was very close in plot to the Primetime Live story. Clark released a statement that the parody offended him, and was an "insult to the intelligence of the viewer".[23]

Legal issues

Clark's 2007 mug shot after being arrested on drug charges

Clark was sued by Wal-Mart in April 2000 for passing more than $600 in bad checks. In May 2001, he was sued by a Topeka grocery store where he allegedly passed a bad $50 check.[24]

In June 2005, Clark was cited and released on a misdemeanor battery charge after getting into a food fight during breakfast in a hotel room with his record company manager and their entourage.

In June 2006, Monica Rodriguez Gonzalez, Clark's wife and mother of their child, Yeshua,[25] filed for a domestic violence protective order.[1]

In July 2006, Clark was arrested on suspicion of violating a court order and trespassing at his wife's stepfather's residence in Yuma, Arizona. On October 2, 2007, Clark pled guilty under a plea agreement to charges of felony aggravated harassment involving domestic violence for the trespassing offense.

Clark filed a libel lawsuit on July 5, 2012 against MTV Networks for more than $40 million, saying that MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello "falsely attacked Clark as a liar and called for a boycott of his music".[26]

Album and music career

Clark, along with the other second season finalists, recorded RCA Records' The American Idol Season 2: All-time Classic Love Songs soundtrack. Their version of the song "What the World Needs Now is Love" debuted at number six on the Hot 100 singles sales Billboard Magazine Chart, beating out Jackie DeShannon's 1965 debut of the same song in at number seven.

Clark's first album, Corey Clark, was released on June 21, 2005.[27] Although the making of the album was highly publicized, the final product received minimal promotion or radio play.

Clark signed a one album, press and distribution label imprint deal with Universal/Bungalo Records, making him the first American Idol contestant in history to release his own album under his own record company distributed by a major label.

Other media appearances

Clark made a guest appearance on the first episode of the sixth season of The Surreal Life

Influences

Clark's favorite male musical artist is Michael Jackson, and his favorite female musical artist is Beyoncé Knowles.

Discography

Tracks:

  1. "Chance to Dance" (Blaylock, Clark - 3:40)
  2. "Cherry on Top" (Blaylock, Clark, Cooks, Keane - 4:33)
  3. "Out of Control" (Clark - 3:36)
  4. "So Many Questions" (Blaylock, Clark, Pierce, Ridgel - 4:07)
  5. "Paulatics" (Clark, Cooks, Keane - 4:50)
  6. "Follow That Back" (Blaylock, Clark, Cooks, Keane, Reid - 4:16)
  7. "Feenin" (Blaylock, Clark, Cooks, Keane - 4:21)
  8. "Lights Out" (Clark, Cleveland - 4:50)
  9. "All This Love" (Debarge - 3:40)
  10. "Yes I Can" (Abernathy, Clark - 3:19)
  11. "Look What You've Done" (Abernathy, Blaylock, Clark - 4:22)
  12. "That's My Girl" (Bonner, Clark, Cooks, Keane, Stokes - 4:23)
  13. "Truthfully" (Blaylock, Clark - 3:12)
  14. "Wiggle & Shake" (Blaylock, Clark, Cooks, Keane - 3:36)
  15. "Bed of Roses" (Bonner, Clark - 3:49)

References

  1. 1 2 "Scandalous Finalist", SuperiorPics.com
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Gil. "From Teddy Bear To Sexy Beast:More mature songs about club-hopping, relationships 'will give people an opportunity to see who I am,' singer says."'; mtv.com; September 12, 2006
  3. ↑ "American Idol 2: Corey’s Story", foxesonidol.com, April 18, 2003
  4. ↑ Clark; 2005; Chapter 4.
  5. ↑ "Another 'American Idol' Scandal", The Smoking Gun; June 19, 2003
  6. ↑ Harris, Chris. "Corey Clark Says Paula Abdul 'Told Me She Loved Me'", MTV.com, May 6, 2005
  7. ↑ "Steamy 'American Idol' Allegations" Ex-Contestant Corey Clark Claims He Had Affair With Paula Abdul; CBS.com; May 5, 2005
  8. ↑ Walls, Jeannette. "Ex-‘Idol’ contestant claims Abdul affair"; MSNBC.com; April 28, 2005
  9. ↑ “Clark won’t help ‘Idol’ verify his claims”; MSNBC.com/AP; May 5, 2005
  10. ↑ Segment of "Fallen Idol", Primetime Live's May 4, 2005 story on the scandal, from YouTube (Part 2 of 5).
  11. ↑ “An Illicit Affair on 'American Idol'?: Ex-Contestant Says He Got Coaching From, Had Relationship With, Judge Paula Abdul”; ABCNews.go.com; May 3, 2005
  12. ↑ "Briefly: James Brown, Scott Weiland, Paula Abdul, Mindy McCready", LiveDaily.com story on Abdul's response to the Primetime Live story; May 6, 2005
  13. ↑ Moss, Corey. "'Idol' Producer Calls 'Primetime' Special 'Shoddy Journalism'"; MTV.com; May 6, 2005
  14. ↑ Harris; May 6, 2005
  15. ↑ Segment of "Fallen Idol", Primetime Live's May 4, 2005 story on the scandal, from YouTube (Part 4 of 5).
  16. ↑ CNN.com transcript of an CNN’s Showbiz Tonight’s interview with Clark
  17. ↑ Moss, Corey. "Corey Clark Meeting With 'Idol' Producers Over Paula Flap"; MTV.com; June 30, 2005
  18. ↑ Clark; 2005; Page 142.
  19. ↑ "Paula Abdul to Remain an 'Idol' Judge"; 6ABC.com; August 13, 2005
  20. ↑ "After probe, Paula Abdul to remain on ‘Idol’: Fox finds no proof of impropriety after ex-contestant alleged affair"; MSNBC.com/Associated Press; August 24, 2005
  21. ↑ "Paula Under Investigation by an "Independent Counsel"; July 29, 2005
  22. ↑ "Abdul Stiff-Arms Corey Clark Questions: ‘American Idol’ judges face reporters during audition stop in San Fran."; EURweb.com September 30, 2005
  23. ↑ “Corey Clark didn't like 'Idol' spoof: Finale poked fun at former contestant’s allegations"; MSNBC.com/Associated Press; May 26, 2005
  24. ↑ The Smoking Gun; June 19, 2003
  25. ↑ People: American Idol: Where Are They Now?; 2007; Page 96
  26. ↑ ""American Idol" contestant sues MTV for $40 million". Yahoo News. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  27. ↑ Ford, Tracey. "In Brief: Corgan, Destiny: Billy Corgan sings for Chicago, Destiny's Child kick off in St. Louis"; RollingStone.com; June 2, 2005

External links

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