MARIO VAZQUEZ
Name: Mario Vazquez
Birth name: Mario Adrian Vazquez
Born: 15 June 1977 The Bronx, New York
Mario Adrian Vazquez (born June 15, 1977) is a Puerto Rican-American singer from
The Bronx, New York. He competed on American Idol's fourth season which aired on
the FOX network in early 2005.
Vazquez is an alumnus of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and
Performing Arts. He was also involved in the City Kids Repertoire Company in New
York City, which enabled him to travel the country and perform in front of the
President and at major charitable functions and shelters.
After making it into the final round of twelve contestants on the hit reality
show "American Idol", Vazquez suddenly dropped out of the competition for "family
reasons" a few days before the finals started. When the press contacted his
mother regarding his decision, she wasn't aware that he had made it to the
finals. Vazquez was replaced by Nikko Smith who had previously been voted out.
Some believed that Vazquez quit the show in order to avoid
the highly restrictive contracts that the final twelve must sign. Vazquez,
however, appeared the next morning on "Good Day New York" on WNYW FOX5, and
quashed rumors of a feud with "American Idol" producers or any of his
competitors. "American Idol was only positive. They were only wonderful to me,
from the beginning through the middle, to the end," he told the show. "It had
nothing to do with the contract or anything signed with J Records." J Records is
the same company that manages Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino.
In August 2005, it was reported that Vazquez had signed with record executive
Clive Davis and Davis' Arista Records. Vazquez's manager is Arnold Steifel,
of Rod Stewart fame. He is also reportedly set to work with Houston rapper Mike
Jones. Other co-producers include Ne-Yo, Soulshock and Karlin, Lester Mendez,
Scott Storch and Luny Tunes.
His first single "Gallery" written by Ne-Yo who also co-produced the vocals on
the track, was one of the most added records at Rhythm radio stations across the
country its first week out. The track was sent out to Top 40 radio on April 17,
2006 and was made available through all digital retailers as a single release on
May 2, 2006. Both English and Spanglish versions of "Gallery" are currently on
radio and are released digitally. Vazquez's self-titled album was released
September 26, 2006 by Arista Records. The album debuted at #80 with 12,000 sold,
falling out of the Top 200 within two weeks. Vazquez attributed his departure
from American Idol due to his need to control the "sound" that he has worked on
since he was 13 years old. He felt that American Idol wasn't going to give him
that. In an interview about American Idol Season 5, Vazquez also attributed his
early departure from American Idol as a way to prevent himself from being
labeled as a top 12 contestant he did not want a "number", felt that since he
was now known worldwide as a semi-finalist (which was better than not being
known at all), he could end the competition and go solo. He believed that his
musical success would not make a difference whether he quit as a semi-finalist
or participated in the finals round. Unfortunately for Vasquez, this success has
not come in the form of CD sales as he stands as the third lowest selling
American Idol contestant, in front of Corey Clark who was disquallified and Ayla
Brown who did not make it to the finals, and behind even William Hung. Later
that year, Vazquez performed on the Cartoon Network Friday block on August 25,
2006.
A second single "One Shot" was released to radio in February 2007 after 10
months of relying only on the first single to promote the album. It began
receiving moderate airplay and by early March was hovering around #58 on
Mediabase 24/7's CHR/Pop chart when scandal broke.
The former American Idol finalist faced accusations that he tried to
masturbate in front of a male employee in a bathroom on the set of the hit show
in February 2005. Shortly thereafter, Vasquez mysteriously dropped out of Idol,
citing personal reasons.
Name: Mario Vazquez
Birth name: Mario Adrian Vazquez
Born: 15 June 1977 The Bronx, New York
Mario Adrian Vazquez (born June 15, 1977) is a Puerto Rican-American singer from
The Bronx, New York. He competed on American Idol's fourth season which aired on
the FOX network in early 2005.
Vazquez is an alumnus of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and
Performing Arts. He was also involved in the City Kids Repertoire Company in New
York City, which enabled him to travel the country and perform in front of the
President and at major charitable functions and shelters.
After making it into the final round of twelve contestants on the hit reality
show "American Idol", Vazquez suddenly dropped out of the competition for "family
reasons" a few days before the finals started. When the press contacted his
mother regarding his decision, she wasn't aware that he had made it to the
finals. Vazquez was replaced by Nikko Smith who had previously been voted out.
Some believed that Vazquez quit the show in order to avoid
the highly restrictive contracts that the final twelve must sign. Vazquez,
however, appeared the next morning on "Good Day New York" on WNYW FOX5, and
quashed rumors of a feud with "American Idol" producers or any of his
competitors. "American Idol was only positive. They were only wonderful to me,
from the beginning through the middle, to the end," he told the show. "It had
nothing to do with the contract or anything signed with J Records." J Records is
the same company that manages Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino.
In August 2005, it was reported that Vazquez had signed with record executive
Clive Davis and Davis' Arista Records. Vazquez's manager is Arnold Steifel,
of Rod Stewart fame. He is also reportedly set to work with Houston rapper Mike
Jones. Other co-producers include Ne-Yo, Soulshock and Karlin, Lester Mendez,
Scott Storch and Luny Tunes.
His first single "Gallery" written by Ne-Yo who also co-produced the vocals on
the track, was one of the most added records at Rhythm radio stations across the
country its first week out. The track was sent out to Top 40 radio on April 17,
2006 and was made available through all digital retailers as a single release on
May 2, 2006. Both English and Spanglish versions of "Gallery" are currently on
radio and are released digitally. Vazquez's self-titled album was released
September 26, 2006 by Arista Records. The album debuted at #80 with 12,000 sold,
falling out of the Top 200 within two weeks. Vazquez attributed his departure
from American Idol due to his need to control the "sound" that he has worked on
since he was 13 years old. He felt that American Idol wasn't going to give him
that. In an interview about American Idol Season 5, Vazquez also attributed his
early departure from American Idol as a way to prevent himself from being
labeled as a top 12 contestant he did not want a "number", felt that since he
was now known worldwide as a semi-finalist (which was better than not being
known at all), he could end the competition and go solo. He believed that his
musical success would not make a difference whether he quit as a semi-finalist
or participated in the finals round. Unfortunately for Vasquez, this success has
not come in the form of CD sales as he stands as the third lowest selling
American Idol contestant, in front of Corey Clark who was disquallified and Ayla
Brown who did not make it to the finals, and behind even William Hung. Later
that year, Vazquez performed on the Cartoon Network Friday block on August 25,
2006.
A second single "One Shot" was released to radio in February 2007 after 10
months of relying only on the first single to promote the album. It began
receiving moderate airplay and by early March was hovering around #58 on
Mediabase 24/7's CHR/Pop chart when scandal broke.
The former American Idol finalist faced accusations that he tried to
masturbate in front of a male employee in a bathroom on the set of the hit show
in February 2005. Shortly thereafter, Vasquez mysteriously dropped out of Idol,
citing personal reasons.