Richard L. Eldredge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 3, 2003 Wednesday
Things were decidedly off-key Tuesday when we began chasing leads concerning Justin
Guarini reportedly being dumped from the RCA Records roster. The Atlanta Boy
Choir alum's debut disc, "Justin Guarini," hasn't exactly
charted a Clay Aiken or Kelly Clarkson-esque sales trajectory since its release
in June.
When we rang RCA Records publicity department reps in New York, they declined
comment on Guarini's status with the label (usually not a good sign), referring
us to the singer's left coast spokesman Roger Widynowski. "This is all news
to me," Widynowski told Buzz. "Everybody is calling right now. I
haven't heard any official word on anything."
Oddly, Guarini wasn't among the "Idol" singers featured on the show's
Christmas special broadcast last week on Fox. Guarini, a former Atlantan and the
son of ex-Atlanta Police Chief Eldrin Bell, scored the contract with the label
in the fall of 2002 when he was named first runner-up in the first
"American Idol" competition.
Since then, Guarini has participated in a national "Idol" tour and
filmed the musical romantic comedy "From Justin to Kelly" with
"Idol" winner Clarkson. He also performs "I'll Be Home for
Christmas" on the "American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics" CD
released this fall on --- yup --- RCA.