‘The X Factor’ USA: Contestant Lillie McCloud defends audition, musical past
Earlier this week, Lillie McCloud created plenty of attention for herself when she auditioned on “The X Factor” USA with a pretty strong vocal performance. She certainly did not look like a 54-year old woman, and she had the energy of someone just starting out and performing for the first time.
However, it was immediately after her first performance that the controversy first started to come out that she was actually Nicole McCloud, an artist with a number of dance songs that have charted over the past few decades. While we took somewhat of an issue with her recording the theme song to an international version of Simon Cowell’s “Got Talent” franchise, mostly because it feels somewhat like a conflict of interest, we also said that it was not entirely fair for her to be accused of hiding anything. Why? She didn’t. Producers chose to show what they did on TV, and they do thorough background checks on everyone who they put on television.
Speaking to Yahoo! Music, McCloud defended herself by saying that she had told the producers her story, and explained why her dance career did not turn out in a way that made her into a star:
“I do want to let the public know that I am for sure not hiding who I am … I really don’t know the answer to [why producers showed what they did]. When I would ask that question, I would be told, ‘This is what’s important, this is how we want to do it.’
“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 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’m sure that had I not had children, maybe I would have reached my goal. 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…”
Lillie also confirmed that this is her real name rather than “Nicole,” and the name started to take off for her on the show this season thanks mostly to Simon referring to her as that in various interviews. It was not a deliberate move to get away from her old stage name.
What do you think about Lillie’s comments, and are you going to support her this season no matter her past? Be sure to share below!
Photo: Fox