Was it a wrong decision? I don’t think so. ‘The X Factor,’ I mean, they know everything about my life, so they made a decision on how they wanted to put me out there.
But I’ve got three kids and seven grandkids, so I missed so many opportunities that I could have said yes to, that would have helped launch my career. I’m sure that had I not had children, maybe I would have reached my goal. When you have children, it’s a no-brainer: You can’t go for everything you want to go for, and you let opportunities pass you by. “I personally embrace my past, and hopefully with all the controversy, I’ll get a chance to speak out, because people - I would say ‘haters,’ is what I call them - don’t know my story. When I would ask that question, I would be told, ‘This is what’s important, this is how we want to do it.’ As for why “X Factor” producers didn’t mention anything about her past singing career, she replied, “I really don’t know the answer to that. “I do want to let the public know that I am for sure not hiding who I am,” she insisted. Lillie spoke to Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks the day after her “X Factor” audition aired to set the record straight. But they resented the show’s lack of disclosure. Most fans didn’t seem to begrudge Lillie’s past (it’s not like she ever became a huge star, and clearly she still needed this break). I have a problem with her having experience and pretending that she doesn’t.” Other commenters on the blog and on Twitter defended Lillie, but MJ reader Montavilla might have summed it up best with the comment, “I don’t have a problem with her having experience. “There’s a huge difference between playing bars, fairs, busking, anything to try and get a break, even being a session singer, to having a record deal and several Billboard charting songs, and performing with top name artists,” posted another disgruntled reader, HKFan. ‘Discovering a superstar?!’ Really?” posted one irate MJ reader, Sassycatz. The X Factor is turning into The Voice, recruiting real, accomplished artists who are down on their luck.
It didn’t take long for the Interweb to start buzzing about Lillie’s past.Ī story on Lillie/Nicole’s background first appeared on the pop-culture website MJsBigBlog, and a Stacy Francis-like backlash was in effect before “The X Factor” had even finished airing on the West Coast - already tarnishing what should have been Lillie’s big moment. Lillie, an incredibly ageless 54-year-old diva, seemed to come out of nowhere on “The X Factor’s” premiere, wowing everyone with her soul-stirring performance judge Kelly Rowland even exclaimed, “Where have you been hiding?” But nothing remains hidden online, and once Lillie’s daughter tweeted about the audition using the name “Nicole McCloud,” the secret was out. And the latest such controversy centers on “X Factor” Season 3 standout Lillie McCloud. Even “The Voice,” probably the most transparent talent show when it comes to casting seasoned professionals, caught some flak this year for putting through Judith Hill, a veteran who’d sung backup for Michael Jackson.
Such “scandals” surrounded “American Idol” contestants Carly Smithson and Joanna Pacitti, who’d had major-label deals as teens, and “The X Factor” Season 1’s Stacy Francis, who became the focus of a Perez Hilton smear campaign after her extensive showbiz background came to light.
#YOUTUBE CECE WINANS ALABASTER BOX ONE YEAR AGO PROFESSIONAL#
It happens almost every season, on every talent show: A promising singer is presented by producers as being a fresh-off-the-turnip-truck total unknown, but it only takes a few YouTube or Wikipedia searches to uncover that contestant’s illustrious professional past - and the public cries foul.