Thursday afternoon, March 31, 2005—one week after 17-year-old Las Vegas native Mikalah Gordon was eliminated from the Final 11 American Idol contestants. We're sitting in front of a vanity mirror talking about Mikalah's recent appearance on The Tony Danza Show while our hair and makeup artist prepares her for the Weekly's cover and feature photos.
LVW: So how often do you Google your name?
MG: Every day, five times a day. I'm not lying. [Pretends to type into Google's search engine] I'm like, "Ummm ... 'Mikalah Gordon.'"
LVW: Have you posted anonymously or used any fake names to write comments about yourself on message boards?
MG: OK, I'm going to admit that when the show first started, I [went on a message board and] said my name was "Mikalah's the Best", and did say a few nice things about myself. But who doesn't? Who doesn't do that, okay? I was nervous, I'm 17.
LVW: Well I heard you're 30.
MG: On a good day! Going by the Internet, I'm 30, I'm 45, I've had my lips done ...
LVW: I want to show you some stuff I found for sale on the Internet. Here are some I Love Mikalah and Vote 4 Mikalah buttons from eBay.
MG: Oh my gosh! Actually, I made these.
LVW: Here's an I Heart Mikalah watch.
MG: A watch? Most of my fans are so young, I wouldn't think they'd want a watch.
LVW: At least not one that's not digital. Here's a printout of a bunch of I Heart Mikalah shirts and tank tops and things from CafePress.com.
MG: They even have boobs on the mannequin! And I like the thongs. They can sell whatever they want as long as it has my name on it.
LVW: Would you buy any of this?
MG: Actually—I'm not lying—I probably would.
LVW: Want to make some money off this Las Vegas Weekly issue? I'll have you sign a few copies and then I'll eBay them and we'll split the profits.
MG: Yeah! Just bring them and I'll sign away!
LVW: Did you vote for yourself on American Idol?
MG: I voted for two hours straight every day. I'm not gonna lie, I'm here to be honest. I probably got 400 votes in for myself.
LVW: The whole time you were on the show, were you thinking, I can't wait to go back to school and have everyone stare at me in class, like, Wow, that's her!?
MG: Um, yeah, so I did it today. [Laughs] I had to go withdraw from school today—I'm going to do school in L.A. So I saw some of my friends today, and they're so cute. Everyone's so tan, I don't know why. But when it was time to leave for the show [in January], a lot of people were asking me, "Aren't you going to miss school, don't you want to go back?" It's like, I had a great time in high school, and if you were to grade me on my social life, I'd be going to Stanford or Harvard.
LVW: And what if we were to grade you on grades?
MG: Then I'd go to UNLV. [Laughs]
LVW: Did you sign any autographs at school today?
MG: I did, I signed, like, two. But I mean, I already had a really big mouth, so people were like, "Whatever. Shut up."
LVW: You're the only American Idol contestant this season whose personality really came through. Are the others on guard at all times so that they don't turn off voters, or are they genuinely just a bunch of bores?
MG: Well I've practiced for 17 years with a hairbrush in front of a mirror so that I'd know what I would do if I got onto a stage. So it comes naturally to me.
LVW: But the Final Ten seem so humble and modest, and thanking God and all that. Are they different offstage?
MG: They are how they are on stage. They're good kids. [To the makeup artist:] Wow, you covered that pimple so good!
LVW: Did you and the other contestants hang out together much?
MG: Everyday we were together for, like, 16 hours, so when it was time to go back to the hotel, we were like Get. Away. From me.
LVW: So do you watch the show every week?
MG: No! No, I'm off the show, I don't care now. Just kidding! Yeah, I watch it. And because of contracts and stuff I'm still really involved with American Idol. In about a month I plan to go back to L.A. and watch the rest of the show.
LVW: You can wear a Vote 4 Mikalah shirt.
MG: I'll wear my own shirt and hold up a sign for myself.
LVW: What kind of stuff do you hear from fans of the show?
MG: You know what? It's really very love-y. The people who don't like me, they're like, "I hope you die. I hope you rot!" But a lot of my fan base is little kids, and they just say, "You inspire me to sing," and that's the biggest thing when you can touch somebody like that.
LVW: Do you tend to remember the most negative things somebody says about you or the most positive?
MG: I think the thing that is just always in my mind is what [American Idol judge] Simon said: 50 percent of the people will find me annoying and 50 percent will love me. In the end, that's really how it ended up working out. When people see me they either really, really like me or they really, really don't.
LVW: I saw some posts on some message board where kids were going, "I want to be Mikalah."
MG: Those are my favorite. I say, "OK. You can be." [Winks]
LVW: So how long have you been performing?
MG: Since I was 18 months, singing my heart out in the bathtub. And ever since then I sang a lot locally, you know? In high school choir, wherever I could sing. And I've always been a drama queen, so I put myself right into acting. Those were the electives I took in school. And I was a cheerleader. I'm a pretty normal—well I wouldn't say normal, but I am a high school student. I played soccer, I did the whole high school thing. So when AI started, I'd already done everything.
LVW: "AI"? Oh, American Idol.
MG: Yeah, do you like that? "AI"!
LVW: I saw something about you performing for Clinton at the White House?
MG: Yeah! I was 12 or 13. The vocal coach I was with got to take a few of us out there to sing for him. We sang Christmas songs, it was Christmas.
LVW: Do you write any original songs?
MG: I do write out a lot of lyrics and stuff.
LVW: Why don't you recite a few lines for us?
MG: [Laughing] They're in a book! Plus, they're not really that good. It's a lot of love-type stuff that would probably never sell.
LVW: I know that you're open to any kind of performing—
MG: Any—
LVW: —so are you now going to pursue one field of entertainment more than any other?
MG: Actually, I think that the show really helped me realize that acting is what I really love to do. I love to make people laugh. I kind of just went to American Idol knowing that I liked to sing in my bathroom and that I want to be famous. But I have a lot of vocal flaws that I need to fix.
LVW: Have you acted in any plays or anything?
MG: Yeah, right before I left for American Idol I got the lead in a play in school: Singin' in the Rain. I was Lina Lamont. The part that I played was, like, I was totally in love with this actor. And on the screen he was in love with me back. It was at the time when movies were silent. But the minute we were off camera, he hated me, and I was annoying, and [in a Fran Drescher-type voice] I talked like this, and it was really bad, and I'd never have a career in talking movies. When it came to the talking, people were like, "What a horrible voice!" I had to be really nasally for that part, so it was perfect.
LVW: Have you been reading Entertainment Weekly?
MG: No, huh-uh.
LVW: A couple weeks ago they printed their odds on certain performers winning American Idol, but said they "weren't cruel enough" to print yours.
MG: Well, when people say, "I didn't think she was going to win," or "Too bad she didn't" ... I didn't expect to win. I just wanted to make it as far as I could. I needed a new car and I wanted to be famous. But I never thought I'd win. Four months ago I was a nobody, I was going to school. Now I'm doing this, and I made it to the top 11.
LVW: Also, in the current issue, they mention [former American Idol contestant] Mario Vasquez getting an entertainment lawyer, and they ask if there's any way this lawyer can prevent you from ever performing again.
MG: Awww. As many supporters as I have, there are just as many critics.
LVW: I printed out pages and pages of message board threads where people just praised you. But it looks like I left them on the printer.
MG: Thank you. I mean, the critics hated Barbara, they hated Bette, they hated Cher and Madonna. And look at how big they are now.
LVW: See, I don't know who they are.
Mikalah's mom: You don't know who Barbara Streisand is?
LVW: Oh-oh-oh! I thought you were talking about former American Idol contestants! Oh, Cher and Madonna—I thought you said Sharon Madonna.
MG: [Laughing] No.
LVW: Hey, thanks for doing this cover shoot and interview by the way. The Killers won't even talk to us.
MG: Well, let's go get them!
LVW: Wait, I think this recorder's stopped taping ... Yep, it's out of tape.
MG: Good, now I can tell you what I really think about the Final Ten.