OMG this is on the front page of the Grand Rapids Press this morning. Ruben Studdard was going to be the highlight of the Lakeshore Soul Festival in Muskegon MI, but he couldn't fit into a first class plane seat. Before a representative could book an another flight for him he left to go back to home to Alabama. Evidently the festival organizers spent all day calling his record label, his lawer, his pastor and his mom trying to get a hold of him. But the concert was not to be. I don't mean to offend anyone whose larger, but I just thought this was hilarious:lol:

Are you for real? :lol: That's hilarious.

:lol: that's funny but kind of sad.

i thought you meant like his mom grounded him 'cuz he dint do his homework :(

Haha. Poor guy. Seriously, hes gained 100 pounds since the show ended last May.. thats crazy.

poor guy :lol:

A plane seat that was too small caused Birmingham's Ruben Studdard to cancel a Friday appearance at the Lakeshore Soul Festival in Muskegon, Mich.

Rodney Brown, president of the nonprofit festival, said Studdard "disappointed an entire community" when he failed to board a commuter plane Friday morning in Atlanta.

"It's a terrible thing," Brown said. "A lot of things were riding on his performance. Maybe the plane wasn't big enough to accommodate him, but he could have gotten on another flight that would fit him."

Brown said organizers were willing to spend $20,000 to charter a private jet for Studdard, 25, that would have allowed him to arrive in time for his 8 p.m. concert.

But Studdard "made himself unavailable" and could not be reached to change the plans, Brown said. Efforts to reach Studdard and his management team for comment were unsuccessful Friday.

"I feel sorry if he's embarrassed," Brown said. "But there are thousands of Ruben Studdard fans here who were extremely excited to see him."

Studdard would have been the headliner Friday night for the four-day music festival that ends Sunday. Brown said acts would be shuffled to fill in the lineup in Studdard's absence.

Studdard won the "American Idol" competition last year, where he received the nickname "Velvet Teddy Bear" because of his smooth singing voice and his size. Studdard said at the time that he weighed 360 pounds.

In the past month, Studdard headlined Birmingham's City Stages music festival and performed with his band, Just a Few Cats, at WorkPlay. His band was not traveling with him to the Michigan date.

Brown said 3,000-7,000 people were expected to attend Friday night's show.

He also said the festival expected Studdard to return the deposit he had received for the performance.

"We have a lot of upset people here," Brown said. "If there's a way to resolve it, that he would make it up to this community, it would be great."

Wow... that's sad.

:mad: :crazy: :crazy: :mad:
I'm not mad at Ruben . I'm mad that with all the people working with him, they let him gain another 100 pounds. Some support they must be.

wow :lol: even though that kinda made me laugh, his people need to help him loose weight. Or if they're too lazy, then Ruben needs to take time to lose weight himself.

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
Haha. Poor guy. Seriously, hes gained 100 pounds since the show ended last May.. thats crazy.

isn't Ruben like the last celebrity who needs to gain 100 lbs?

Hopefully Sorry 2004 will turn into Diet 2005

Originally posted by David
wow :lol: even though that kinda made me laugh, his people need to help him loose weight. Or if they're too lazy, then Ruben needs to take time to lose weight himself.

maybe his people are afraid Ruben will eat them if they tell him to slim down. LOL.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
isn't Ruben like the last celebrity who needs to gain 100 lbs?

Hopefully Sorry 2004 will turn into Diet 2005
:rofl:

"Sorry 2004" is the most ridiculous song name i've ever heard. sounds like it's supposed to be the name of a race car.

Originally posted by safety pin
:rofl:

"Sorry 2004" is the most ridiculous song name i've ever heard. sounds like it's supposed to be the name of a race car.

I think he was apologizing to the year 2004, that his 15 minutes weren't up yet, so he was sorry.

Let's just hope William Hung isn't around to apologize to 2005

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
I think he was apologizing to the year 2004

Well... he should. Us Claymates take that song as an apology for winning American Idol over Clay. Haha.. not that it matters now, anyway. Just look at who's more successful.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
I think he was apologizing to the year 2004, that his 15 minutes weren't up yet, so he was sorry.

Let's just hope William Hung isn't around to apologize to 2005
william hung RULES.

Originally posted by safety pin
:rofl:

"Sorry 2004" is the most ridiculous song name i've ever heard. sounds like it's supposed to be the name of a race car. :rofl: i hated that song. it was part of Vh1's "50 Awesomely Bad Songs" countdown :lol:

are you serious? has he really gained 100 pounds or are you playin cause thats scary if its true

That poor dude...he's ALWAYS always getting it for being fat. I mean...it's funny...lol...but he must feel like ****. :/

Originally posted by darlene_conner
are you serious? has he really gained 100 pounds or are you playin cause thats scary if its true Dead serious. Even watching season 3 finale.. he was huge. Hes always been a big guy, but looking at that finale.. damn.

dang that is just sooo sad! i hate that no one is tellin him to lose weight and help himself and if they are hes just not listenin

somewhere under this thread there is still some envy. FAT OLE RUBEN still WON. Congrats to the NEW LUTHER VANDROSS.

Originally posted by jekouptown
Congrats to the NEW LUTHER VANDROSS.


Oh please, let's not insult Luther here...

Originally posted by Kaffeine Kay
Oh please, let's not insult Luther here...
LUTHER has a weight problem just like RUBEN. RUBEN is a smooth crooner....just like LUTHER.

I don't like either Ruben or Clay (but I probably like Clay better of the two), but it's nice to finally see someone in here who likes and defends Ruben. No offense, but this board does have a Clay-to-Ruben fan monopoly, so it's refreshing to see someone who supports Ruben in here as well.

But, I think all things American Idol suck and I'm glad Fantasia and Diana's singles aren't doing as well as earlier American Idol singles. The show values image too highly, over substance. I'd rather hear somebody with a mediocre voice present an amazing song, than someone who can sing 82 octaves and yet sing something bland and following a typical formula.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
But, I think all things American Idol suck and I'm glad Fantasia and Diana's singles aren't doing as well as earlier American Idol singles. The show values image too highly, over substance. I'd rather hear somebody with a mediocre voice present an amazing song, than someone who can sing 82 octaves and yet sing something bland and following a typical formula.

You're blaming the American Idols for stuff they have no control over. They don't choose their songs. I'm not standing up for Fantasia, but Diana brought the talent. It's not her fault they give her ****ty songs like Dreams to sing. Marketing certainly isn't their strong suit (giving a ballad single to someone who sang 90% uptempo songs on the show doesn't make much sense).

Originally posted by Idol Fanatic
You're blaming the American Idols for stuff they have no control over. They don't choose their songs. I'm not standing up for Fantasia, but Diana brought the talent. It's not her fault they give her ****ty songs like Dreams to sing. Marketing certainly isn't their strong suit (giving a ballad single to someone who sang 90% uptempo songs on the show doesn't make much sense).

oh..so they should cater to DIANA because she sings uptempo. I thought the same way when I saw RUBEN sing sweet home alabama..
I heard Gladys Knight sing ole mcdonalds had a farm. she made me want to go and buy the cd.

Originally posted by Idol Fanatic
You're blaming the American Idols for stuff they have no control over. They don't choose their songs.

and what is there to idolize about them? They are PUPPETS. You're not going to find a future Hall Of Famer among the entire lot of them because they all record only what Simon tells them to. A true artist has control over what they record, with very little imput from what the label tells them to do.

Originally posted by jekouptown
oh..so they should cater to DIANA because she sings uptempo. I thought the same way when I saw RUBEN sing sweet home alabama..

I know Ruben's from Alabama (I know it because I have a friend from his hometown), but I cannot believe he did not catch fire over singing Sweet Home Alabama.

The song was written over racism!!! In the early 1970's, Neil Young wrote a song called "Southern Man" which was a song protesting the racism that still prevails in the south... Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote Sweet Home Alabama as a way to tell Neil Young to go to hell for dare criticizing their opinions. Oh well, 30 years later, Neil Young is still recording while most of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd members had a rock tragedy. The thought that a black guy would proudly sing Sweet Home Alabama is kinda disturbing to me. Unless he was doing it in a tongue-in-cheek (I didn't see the performance) way like when Tori Amos remade one of Eminem's sexist songs and twisted it around.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
I know Ruben's from Alabama (I know it because I have a friend from his hometown), but I cannot believe he did not catch fire over singing Sweet Home Alabama.

The song was written over racism!!! In the early 1970's, Neil Young wrote a song called "Southern Man" which was a song protesting the racism that still prevails in the south... Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote Sweet Home Alabama as a way to tell Neil Young to go to hell for dare criticizing their opinions. Oh well, 30 years later, Neil Young is still recording while most of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd members had a rock tragedy. The thought that a black guy would proudly sing Sweet Home Alabama is kinda disturbing to me. Unless he was doing it in a tongue-in-cheek (I didn't see the performance) way like when Tori Amos remade one of Eminem's sexist songs and twisted it around.

I guess they know he didn't have a choice.

Originally posted by jekouptown
I guess they know he didn't have a choice.

Ruben's in his mid-20's, he has the right to say "I refuse to perform this song".

That is a reason why I dislike AI so much, everyone affiliated with the shows are PUPPETS. I prefer artists who do their own thing and don't rely on someone TELLING them the songs to sing.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
Ruben's in his mid-20's, he has the right to say "I refuse to perform this song".

That is a reason why I dislike AI so much, everyone affiliated with the shows are PUPPETS. I prefer artists who do their own thing and don't rely on someone TELLING them the songs to sing.

your right....REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE. This is not THE APOLLO. You really don't have the choice. After the artist makes it big he or she can sing an original song. When you see a contest more than likely you will see someone do a cover song. Even if you see someone live in concert they will do a song everyone knows. If its not one of the songs they sing then they will pick a song out of the top 10.