desflood
03-17-2005, 11:28 AM
Ex-'Idol' Hires Clay's Lawyer
"Personal reasons" be damned. The secret is out (and so is the album).
Mario Vazquez, the guy who suddenly quit "American Idol" last week, has been "Clayed," or should I say, "Aiwakened?"
He's hired former "Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken's high-powered record-industry lawyer. And he may have jeopardized his "amateur" status by being featured on an album that's already been released.
Vazquez, I've learned, has gotten Atlanta entertainment lawyer Jess L. Rosen to represent him. Coincidentally — or not, depending on how you look at it — Rosen is most famous for extricating Aiken from his octopus-tentacled "American Idol" management contract with Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment last year.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Mario is featured on an album that was originally released last May and had a re-release this week, according to Amazon.com. He sings several pop songs as the only guest vocalist on "Worlds of Change," by an Argentine flamenco and R&B guitarist named Cesar.
The whole thing, which sounds like Santana with a younger, more sanctimonious Michael Jackson, can be heard on this Web site. My guess is some enterprising record exec will pick up the whole thing from Los Angeles-based Darque Records and release it under Mario's name.
Someone else will have to decide if that CD violated the "American Idol" rules. The show's Web site states: "In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any CURRENT recording or talent-management agreements."
In leaving the show, Vasquez was obviously convinced of the value of bowing out now rather than continuing through the needless process of competition. Aiken would be his role model.
After losing "American Idol" to Ruben Studdard, Aiken realized that he was stuck with a management contract that kept him with Fuller, the show's owner, for years to come at a very high commission.
Rosen got him out of it and moved him over to Jeff Kwatinetz's behemoth agency, The Firm.
The result is that there is now nary a mention of the lovable, Barry Manilow-like Aiken on the "American Idol" Web site, except for unflattering pictures of him in his pre-makeover nerd days. Ouch!
So I guess it's fairly clear that Mario's "personal reasons" were specifically about the money he could make if he bolted the show before being indebted to them legally and financially for a couple of years.
Rosen, who did not return calls, prides himself on negotiating contracts for artists, according to his Web site.
As for Mario, he's also now using Susan Blond for public-relations help. She's the famous PR lady who once made Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a hit.
Next will come rumors that Mario's been signed for management by Tommy Mottola and for recording by Sean Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment at Warner Bros.
No one confirms or denies this, but either way, Rosen will be racking up the billable hours keeping Vazquez out of court once Fuller realizes what's happened.
"Personal reasons" be damned. The secret is out (and so is the album).
Mario Vazquez, the guy who suddenly quit "American Idol" last week, has been "Clayed," or should I say, "Aiwakened?"
He's hired former "Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken's high-powered record-industry lawyer. And he may have jeopardized his "amateur" status by being featured on an album that's already been released.
Vazquez, I've learned, has gotten Atlanta entertainment lawyer Jess L. Rosen to represent him. Coincidentally — or not, depending on how you look at it — Rosen is most famous for extricating Aiken from his octopus-tentacled "American Idol" management contract with Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment last year.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Mario is featured on an album that was originally released last May and had a re-release this week, according to Amazon.com. He sings several pop songs as the only guest vocalist on "Worlds of Change," by an Argentine flamenco and R&B guitarist named Cesar.
The whole thing, which sounds like Santana with a younger, more sanctimonious Michael Jackson, can be heard on this Web site. My guess is some enterprising record exec will pick up the whole thing from Los Angeles-based Darque Records and release it under Mario's name.
Someone else will have to decide if that CD violated the "American Idol" rules. The show's Web site states: "In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any CURRENT recording or talent-management agreements."
In leaving the show, Vasquez was obviously convinced of the value of bowing out now rather than continuing through the needless process of competition. Aiken would be his role model.
After losing "American Idol" to Ruben Studdard, Aiken realized that he was stuck with a management contract that kept him with Fuller, the show's owner, for years to come at a very high commission.
Rosen got him out of it and moved him over to Jeff Kwatinetz's behemoth agency, The Firm.
The result is that there is now nary a mention of the lovable, Barry Manilow-like Aiken on the "American Idol" Web site, except for unflattering pictures of him in his pre-makeover nerd days. Ouch!
So I guess it's fairly clear that Mario's "personal reasons" were specifically about the money he could make if he bolted the show before being indebted to them legally and financially for a couple of years.
Rosen, who did not return calls, prides himself on negotiating contracts for artists, according to his Web site.
As for Mario, he's also now using Susan Blond for public-relations help. She's the famous PR lady who once made Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a hit.
Next will come rumors that Mario's been signed for management by Tommy Mottola and for recording by Sean Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment at Warner Bros.
No one confirms or denies this, but either way, Rosen will be racking up the billable hours keeping Vazquez out of court once Fuller realizes what's happened.