'Idol' Contestant Danced At Gay Strip Club, Venue Claims

LOS ANGELES — David Hernandez's stripper past didn't come back to haunt him on Tuesday night's "American Idol." Hernandez's three-year stint as a male stripper wasn't even mentioned during the live telecast, which featured the 24-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., performing a rendition of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." However, acerbic judge Simon Cowell did mutter something about stripping, off camera, immediately after the song ended.

Randy Jackson called Hernandez's singing "pitchy" but said he had a "big ol' voice." Paula Abdul raved that Hernandez had some of the "best vocals." And Simon Cowell said it wasn't as good as last week, but Hernandez had secured himself a place in the finals.

On Thursday, 16 semifinalists will be narrowed down to the final 12 contestants.

Other than Cowell, no one alluded to Monday's news that Hernandez worked for three years in Phoenix at Dick's Cabaret. There, he would appear fully nude and perform lap dances for the club's "mostly male" clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan told The Associated Press on Monday.

It apparently wasn't Hernandez's "most embarrassing moment" either. (Contestants had to 'fess up about theirs during the show.) In a taped segment before his performance, Hernandez said his red-faced moment happened when he discovered he had "a pea-sized booger" in his nose following a photo shoot.

Fox and the producers have declined to comment about Hernandez.

In 2003, semifinalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed from "Idol" because of her appearance on an adult Web site, but Antonella Barba remained in the competition last year after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

Third-place finisher Nikki McKibbin from the first "Idol" season briefly worked as stripper before the show, according to Joe Cannizzaro, president of McKibbin's record label, Chenoa Music. Like Hernandez, McKibbin wasn't dismissed from the show when her history as a stripper was publicly revealed _ nor was it disclosed on the show.

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Dick's Cabaret manager Bryan told the AP he was aware that Hernandez was a vocalist, but that Hernandez never sang at the club. Bryan said he now believes Hernandez stopped working at the strip club on Sept. 30, 2007, because of his participation in "Idol."

On a video posted on AmericanIdol.com, Hernandez said he broke the lease on his apartment and lived out of his car before auditioning for "Idol." And, when asked in a Q&A posted on the site which talent would he would most like to have if he couldn't sing, Hernandez responded: "Dancing! I'm horrible at that."

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AP writer Erin Carlson in New York contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

American Idol: http://www.americanidol.com/

Comments

[SILVANUS]

So bloody what? He wasn't in crack getting welfare!
Come to your senses.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

I am surprised the guy didn't sue. His rights to privacy were invaded. Whose business is it what he chose to do or for what reasons or for whom? This is America. Nobody has to like everything people do, nor agree, but this is a big enough country that leaves room for all sorts of people, and yes, that includes strippers. I worked with a stripper, not in a club, in an office. If she hadn't discussed her past, nobody would have been any the wiser. The myth that they are all hyper sexual, perverts, all are prostitues is bullshit. Most did so for the extra money to pay for college or the bills. Really bad stuff there. This guy should sue the crap out of the producers. Unless they had an agreement, and he was financially compensated for this, that guy had no right to out this contestant, straight or gay. Its pathetic these producers, and Trump's is no exception, are sleaze. Preying on the aspirations of kids, when they know few to none have a shot at success is just mean and cruel. I would love this show to be shut down once and for all. As someone who worked as a producer, I will tell you now, no way in hell would I put kids through this. I sure as hell would not put my neck out to embarrass anyone, for any ratings or money. Talk about amateurs, the amateurs are not the contestants, its the producers stupid.

[Seafarer61]

He pursues a singing career in front of 35 million people each week and you're defending his "right to privacy?" You don't walk into a gin mill and complain when the waitress wants to know what you're drinking.

[jneems]

Well, that would explain why he is so often shown dancing on the side-lines as the AI contestants sing. Idol producers certainly knew this, as they knew about the others with previous record deals, etc.

Stripping and lap dancing at a gay nightclub is pretty disturbing. There are plenty of other, less degrading ways to make a living. I like the guy, tho. I wouldn't want to see him cut because of this..

[xdevildawg4u]

Would you consider it disturbing if he stripped and lap danced at a women only bar?

Do you find women who strip and do lap dances for men disturbing?

The homophobia on display in these comments is truly shameful.

[VPN]

HuffPost's Pick

The national media doesn't seem to have have any problem putting the faces of the war criminals and their supporters squatting in the White House on TV , why should a person who allegedly worked as a stripper be excluded from a singing competition? Like the sleazy sharks in the music business have such high ethics and morals.

[GoLeftGoDeep]

SO WHAT?

[JDC123]

Exactly. Who gives. If a beautiful man wants to show off his assets, god bless him. And the world is a happier place for it.

[sfsilver]

Yeah I just don't know what anyone is trying to accomplish with this story. Am I supposed to hate him and not vote for him becasue he had a career in the Gay Adult industry? Why aren't the investigative energies put into finding this story about an Idol contestant put into investigating corruption in the Bush administration?

[Democrab]

Oh my Gawd! Falwell will roll over in his grave.

I think he already did over the title "idol" anyway.

This is terrible news! This means that there might be people of the "gay" persuasion performing before TV audiences with their clothes on! How can we tell if they're gay if they're dressed?

What will Fox do?

I think they should have all contestants internally examined for gayness and give them all polygraph tests.

But I suppose he could dance for gays and not be gay. Is that possible?

I'm just so confused! Where's Ted Haggert and Larry Craig when you need a little guidance in this ambiguous world?

[PhxJustice]

Big Freaking Deal!

When are we going to get over our juvenile responses to men and women of legal age working as strippers, the porn industry, any other form of adult entertainment and even being escorts (prostitutes)? Yes, a lot of early settlers in the original colonies may have been of Puritan background, but that doesn't mean, that we as a society, have to live in such close minded ways.

Look, if a stripper can win an Oscar, why can't a stripper be a contestant on American Idol?

Besides, doesn't anyone else feel that the American Idol producers already knew about all of this. They held onto this bit of info, leaked it out themselves for the freaking publicity. They do it every year.

The big yearly "Idol" scandal.

Big Freaking Deal!