'Justin's dad': Bell enjoying 'Idol' ride
Rodney Ho
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution September 3, 2002
For several weeks running, cameras on the Fox catch-a-rising-star show
"American Idol" have focused again and again on one animated figure
who never seems to stop dancing, singing, clapping and laughing.
No, we're not talking about one of the fresh-faced, eternally beaming
performers. We mean former Atlanta Police Chief Eldrin Bell, who's merely an
audience member but appears to be having the time of his life.
Not just any "Idol"-izer, Bell is the proud papa of Justin Eldrin Bell
Guarini, one of two finalists poised on Wednesday to nab the "Idol"
title and its big prize --- a recording contract with RCA.
"I'm no longer Eldrin Bell," says Bell, 67. "I'm Justin's dad. He
tells me, 'Dad, I used to be around you, and everyone called me Bell's kid. Now
it's the other way around.' I'm enjoying it."
"Idol" producers have carefully guarded media access to Guarini for
several weeks. But Bell is positively garrulous in giving his son props.
"He makes an excellent role model," Bell says. "He was never
allowed to be impolite or vulgar."
Guarini has taken his share of shots from the public; some fans on Internet
message boards have made fun of his curly mop of hair (comparing him to
"The Simpsons" character Sideshow Bob) and his lounge singer-style
finger-pointing and winking. But he's survived two months of intense competition
and scrutiny with his dignity intact, his dad asserts.
Bell, a snazzily dressed man about town, knows about life in the media
spotlight, having endured a string of professional and personal problems during
his 33 years on the Atlanta police force. Though he was frequently investigated,
he was never charged with a crime, building a Teflon reputation. He became
Atlanta's top cop in 1990.
Bell resigned in 1994 and has been running a security consulting business. He
recently moved to Jonesboro from Midtown.
Over the past two months, Bell has been commuting weekly to watch his son
perform, hopping a Delta flight Tuesday morning to Los Angeles and returning on
a red-eye Wednesday night. He hasn't missed a single show.
Bell says the only mistake his son has made was a few weeks ago when he brushed
off judge Simon Cowell's critique and asked the audience what they thought of
his performance. "We had a little talk about it," Bell says. "I
said, 'You shouldn't get caught up between the judges. Your business is to sing.
You don't make flip remarks like that.' He apologized" publicly and
privately. ("That was my low point," Guarini added in an interview in
this week's People magazine. "I realized, 'This is not who I am.' ")
Guarini, 23, spent his toddler years in Atlanta until his mom Kathy, a former
CNN anchor, divorced Bell when their son was 5. Bell, a singer himself, says
Justin's interest in music became clear when he joined the Atlanta Boy Choir at
age 4.
"I think a lot of his vocal talent came from his dad," observes
Justin's half brother Adrion Bell, an Atlanta-based BellSouth ad executive.
"Justin has unique tone quality. It's a feeling, a smoothness."
Eldrin Bell, who has more than a passing resemblance to Smokey Robinson, likes
to hang with musicians like Jermaine Jackson, whom he met through Atlanta
entertainment attorney Joel Katz. In 1984, Bell took Guarini along on several
Jackson "Victory" tour dates.
"He got a full dose of backstage," Bell recalls. "We went with
the Jacksons to the functions. He was right there." (Guarini still owns the
Victory jacket he received.)
In the mid-1980s, Guarini's mom moved him to Doylestown, Pa., where she married
Jerry Guarini, a retired physicist who designed radar systems for the Navy. Justin
Guarini spent summers in Atlanta and traveled frequently with Bell, who
would take him to church functions, police conferences, even security detail at
the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
"I sing and speak a lot at churches," Bell says. "Justin would
introduce me by saying he had a 'drug' problem. 'My dad drug me everywhere,'
he'd say."
Guarini also would join Bell for police duty, trolling the Atlanta streets at
night, sleeping bag in the back seat of the police car. "He's seen drugs
and the results of drugs," Bell says. "He learned lessons about human
behavior and what not to do."
A volleyball captain and choir president, Guarini graduated from Central Bucks
East High School in 1997 with the yearbook title "Most likely to end up on
Broadway," his best friend Michael Leach said. Guarini later helped form an
a cappella group called Midnight Voices and recorded a CD.
He lived in Miami and New York searching for his big break. Jobs included
selling security systems door to door and singing at bar mitzvahs and weddings.
Last year, he hired and oversaw 50 actors at a haunted hayride in Bridgeton, Pa.
"All the girls had a total crush on him; they'd show up with all their
makeup on and hang out with him," says Liz Griffin, who operates the
hayride. "The Justin you see on TV is not an act. I was pregnant last year,
and he was always helping me off the wagon and the car. He is by far the most
polite, happy person I've ever met."
While working on the hayride, Guarini also began letting his hair grow to its
Afro length.
"It's clean and nicely shaped," notes his dad, who hasn't sported an
Afro himself since the 1970s. "I'm thoroughly satisfied with it."