"Lauren Alaina and her mother have become road warriors"

[Miguel]

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/...y-suddeth/

^^ Lengthy Mother's Day article about Lauren and Kristy. Below, I've quoted some Idol/tour bits including a mention of Haley (bolded).

From the moment "Idol's Top 40 were announced until Lauren's homecoming in May 2011, Suddeth was at her daughter's side in California.

"Everything she went through, I did also. I sat in a closet-sized room that couldn't have held more than six people while she rehearsed. I went to photo shoots, video shoots, everything she did. It was like I was on TV but yet I wasn't," Suddeth said.

...Suddeth, Judy McCreery (Scotty's mom) and Cynthia Megia (Thia's mom) shared one bedroom in the 'Idol' mansion and one bath. The singers' schedule started early, so the three women rotated the 5 a.m. bathroom shift. Sometimes their day didn't end until 1 a.m.

"We lived in a suitcase the whole time. We didn't even unpack until we got to the final three. Even then I thought, 'I hope I didn't just jinx us,' " Suddeth joked.

"On 'Idol,' once you get to the Top 40, you sign a contract. It's either you sign or you go home. We had a group lawyer who represented the whole Top 40. We were able to negotiate and change some things but, still, 'Idol' was paying for that lawyer," she explained.

"Once Lauren made it to the Top 3, I hired my own entertainment lawyer. My husband and I interviewed several lawyers and chose one ourselves. At that point, you're not negotiating with 'Idol'; we're negotiating for Lauren's career."

Suddeth said the couple set up a trust for Lauren's earnings.

"I put 25 percent up off the top, and no one can touch it until Lauren is of age. I have a business manager that I chose. I'm the president of Lauren's company. Everything goes through me, but I have someone who handles our taxes, and he does all the budgeting."

Lauren's parents also screened all musicians auditioning for her band.

"We didn't want anyone who used alcohol or drugs. There were standards that had to be met because they would be around our daughter every day.

"I believe 'You are who you hang with,' and I didn't want that corruption around my child. Nashville's a small area, and everybody talks. I inquired of other artists who they used."

Now mom and daughter travel with an entourage of nine: tour manager, two sound guys, band leader, lead guitarist, drummer, keyboard, bass player and bus driver.

"The guys in the band are like our family," Suddeth said, and Lauren agreed. "We drive at night, arrive at the arena where we stay all day. We still fly a lot because we do a lot of radio shows between concerts."

Suddeth said that she and Lauren meet with a stylist before going out on the road, but mom has the last word on what's appropriate.

"I say too short, too low or no. When Lauren went to a Christmas show, she was given a dress that was very revealing."

The mother said Lauren wouldn't wear it until the bodice was pulled together -- and by showtime it was.

Suddeth recalls that on one noncompetition song picked by the "Idol" producers, Lauren balked over the use of the word "hell" and told them she didn't cuss.

"The producers claimed it wasn't a bad word, but she said where she came from it was. They came to me and said I needed to talk to my daughter," said Suddeth, with a wry grin.

"I said I raised my daughter not to cuss, so I'm not going to tell her to sing that. They weren't happy that Lauren bucked the system."

But by showtime, the song had become a duet with Haley Reinhart, and Reinhart sang the offending word.

"I'm amazed at the things I never had to think about before. I've learned I can't please the world, but I have my standards as a mother, so when my kid walks out on that stage, I'm not embarrassed, and neither is she."

---

This is apparently the offending lyric Haley sang:

County road 233, under my feet
Nothin' on this white rock but little ole me
I've got two miles 'til, he makes bail
And if I'm right we're headed straight for hell

I don't see how "Hell" is a cuss word in this instance. If you're a Christian, you literally believe in Hell. The lyrics are about lying in wait to shoot a man who "slapped my face and...shook me like a rag doll." If she carries out the murder, she believes both her and her victim are going to end up in Hell.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mirandala...rlead.html