"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

[My Alter Ego]

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

There's a certain irony in a mother allowing her teenage daughter to sing a song about abusiveness that leads to murder, but not say the word "Hell."

I'm consistently surprised "Gunpowder and Lead" is allowed to be sung on a "family reality show" to begin with.

[Miguel]

There's a certain irony in a mother allowing her teenage daughter to sing a song about abusiveness that leads to murder, but not say the word "Hell."

I'm consistently surprised "Gunpowder and Lead" is allowed to be sung on a "family reality show" to begin with.

I thought the same thing.

After reading the lyrics, I was surprised the song was chosen. I suppose Idol might argue it's a song empowering to women. I would consider that a stretch.

[My Alter Ego]

There's a certain irony in a mother allowing her teenage daughter to sing a song about abusiveness that leads to murder, but not say the word "Hell."

I'm consistently surprised "Gunpowder and Lead" is allowed to be sung on a "family reality show" to begin with.

I thought the same thing.

After reading the lyrics, I was surprised the song was chosen. I suppose Idol might argue it's a song empowering to women. I would consider that a stretch.

A "stretch" indeed. I'm all for women's empowerment, but this is not empowerment.

[Tusk]

I was Raised Catholic (The whole Angus Young/AC/DC catholic uniform and everything...learned how to tie a tie @ 7), don't get me started on the litany of condescending and contradictory beliefs that many of that religion spout.

I've met many good Catholics/Christians who believe and act out their beliefs, carrying out the positive aspects of the religion, but so many use the their religion to somehow display their 'piety' and better than thou aspects. It's seems always presentented in a condescending manner, to tell everyone how superior their ethics are.

The example of a fairly innocent word as "hell" being more evil/bad than the action of murder to justify abuse..... it carries on their practice of words being more important than actions.

(Partly due to the fact that all you have to do is confess your sins to a guy in a box, and you're magically forgiven for them......that's what Newt Gingrich thought might expunge his sins by converting to Christianity before running for President)

True Christians, the one's I respect, don't have to convince me of their faith by telling me ...they show me through their action and empathy for others...

I think if Jesus did come back, he would tell them that they just never got him. Jesus did not care about money, wealth or position in society. He hung out with prostitutes, sinners, lepers, and those with no hope. Jesus was with the people who needed him not those who would use him to show how 'holy' they are. (at least that's what I got from reading/studying the christian mythology)

[midnightblues]

They could've changed it very easily. When Haley song UOK they had to change a couple of verses up to be more suitable. Why not, bail and hell do not rhyme anyways. They could've said, I have to miles before he makes bail, and if I'm right were headed back to jail something like that. I think Jesus was more normal than most Christians I know.

[My Alter Ego]

They could've changed it very easily. When Haley song UOK they had to change a couple of verses up to be more suitable. Why not, bail and hell do not rhyme anyways. They could've said, I have to miles before he makes bail, and if I'm right were headed back to jail something like that. I think Jesus was more normal than most Christians I know.

Changing the word "hell" to something else that rhymed does not change the questionable message of the song (an abused woman intent on murdering her abuser, perhaps because the "system" systematically fails to protect the abused), given that AI attempts to sell itself as a "family" show.

On a more pleasant note, MNB my hat is off (well, if I wore one it would be off) to you in joining John in the ranks of "Posting Freak!"

[Miguel]

True Christians...show me through their action and empathy for others...

I get where you're coming from, but I think it should be noted that being concerned about bad language doesn't preclude one from acting on one's beliefs and expressing empathy for others. Lauren and her mother seem like kindhearted people.

[Tusk]

True Christians...show me through their action and empathy for others...

I get where you're coming from, but I think it should be noted that being concerned about bad language doesn't preclude one from acting on one's beliefs and expressing empathy for others. Lauren and her mother seem like kindhearted people.

It might have come off that way, my rant was more about the system and the misguided interpretation of a message delivered two millenea ago, it wasn't meant as a comment on Lauren or her family.

Lauren is exactly what I mean when it comes to Christians doing rather than saying. She doesn't get preachy and referency (to passages/quotes in the Bible) like Colton, she has shown time and time again that she's a sweetheart with a heart of gold, so her parents must be doing something right.

[midnightblues]

They could've changed it very easily. When Haley song UOK they had to change a couple of verses up to be more suitable. Why not, bail and hell do not rhyme anyways. They could've said, I have to miles before he makes bail, and if I'm right were headed back to jail something like that. I think Jesus was more normal than most Christians I know.

Changing the word "hell" to something else that rhymed does not change the questionable message of the song (an abused woman intent on murdering her abuser, perhaps because the "system" systematically fails to protect the abused), given that AI attempts to sell itself as a "family" show.

On a more pleasant note, MNB my hat is off (well, if I wore one it would be off) to you in joining John in the ranks of "Posting Freak!"

Moved up in the ranks? Well I look at it this way, if the song was so much a question and if American Idol thought that it would be not the best choice for a family show they could've just said let's to another choice. Unfortunately that is not how AI works. Miranda Lambert when she came out with her album titled Gunpower and Led, there was a lot of controversy ,and Miranda Lambert took a lot of crap as being the type of woman that you don't want to cross. In a interview she came to her own defense saying that it was just a song, and that she is not the type of woman that would do harm to anyone. After all her mother and father were both detectives yikes.