Post-Idol Update: Fantasia, Clay and Sanjaya

Here is your quick update, or ‘where are the now’ of your past Idols:

Fantasia Lands Lead in Feature Film

Fantasia Barrino, winner of American Idol Season 3, has been gaining quite a bit of weight lately, and we have now gotten word as to why. Fantasia has landed the lead role in a feature-film adaptation of the 1993 book ’Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel’ which recounts the life of the late American gospel singer, a civil rights activist who was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Coming off of her stint as ‘Celie’ in the Broadway version of ‘The Color Purple’, Barrino will portray Jackson on her journey from abject poverty in New Orleans to her rise as a global figure in gospel and early supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. The singer died in 1972 at the age of 60.

The film, script written by  Jim Evering and directed by Euzhan Palcy, goes into production in April in Pittsburgh and Chicago for a December 2011 release.

Clay Aiken Says No

Rumors abounded yesterday about how Clay was dropped from yet another record label and word from Aiken is that he has no desire to get back in studio at this time. “There is no upcoming album planned at this time,” Aiken told The Hollywood Reporter. “I am focusing on my live show and heading out on tour this week for the next few months. The truth is, I have no desire to get back into the studio any time soon.”

Sales on his last album, ‘Tried and True’ were pretty dismal selling only  63,000 copies plus about 10,000 digital downloads. Clay, responding to rumors that he was dropped from his label said, “There has never been a long-term label deal in place, but when there is new album to discuss, I will discuss it with the label.”

Kind of a jerky response if you ask this writer.

Sanjaya Malakar Hits the Big Stage

Sanjaya Malakar, former Idol Season 6 finalist,  is making his stage debut this month in an off-Broadway musical entitled “Freckleface Strawberry.”

The show is based on the popular children’s book by Julianne Moore and is being staged at New World Stages on 50th Street.

Sanjaya, who will join the show on Feb. 23, is also currently writing and recording his own original music for a full length album he titled “Life-Love-Music.” No word on when that may be completed and released.

I hope that infamous crying little girl in the AI audience gets the first ticket to his show.

What do you think about the post-idol news? Sound off below!