It's not every day that The Hollywood Reporter does a piece on a background singer in a reality-TV singing competition. But not every background singer is Todrick Hall, YouTube star, former American Idol semifinalist -- and former Arlington resident, who has attracted attention for such stunts as a ghetto parody of Beauty and the Beast or singing his orders at various fast-food establishments.
Check out DFW.com's list of the Top 50 DFW reality-TV stars.
In the Reporter article, Hall credits choreographer Brian Friedman for getting him on the show -- without even having to audition. "[Friedman is] a great guy and a friend of mine who follows my work," Hall told THR following Wednesday's live show. "He wrote me and said, 'I know this may be weird, but would you ever consider being a backup singer?' I was, like, 'Absolutely!' Two days later, I'm on stage singing with everybody."
Hall goes on to talk about the weirdness of running into Simon Cowell again; the more relaxed vibe at X Factor compared with Idol; and how he has yet to fulfill his biggest X Factor dream: meeting judge Britney Spears. But that should happen given enough time, right?
You have to look close for Hall, of course -- the focus is on the contestants, as it should be. But in this clip (which is on the X Factor website in an unlinkable, unembeddable version in case Fox takes this down later), you can see Hall front and center among the male background singers as Jennel Garcia sings the Ike and Tina Turner arrangement of Proud Mary. And maybe even wears one of Tina's hand-me-downs.
