Mandisa Bio

Christian Music Artist & "American Idol" Finalist

Mandisa - Featured on "American Idol" It's hard to believe that it's been just over a year since Mandisa shot to instant fame when millions of TV viewers across the nation were captivated by her winning smile and powerhouse vocals as she sang her way into the final rounds of "American Idol's" fifth season. Not only did she garner a multitude of new fans who now simply refer to her as "Mandisa" but she wowed critics with her stunningly expressive voice.

"Mandisa is powerful and has tremendous breath and pitch control, and there's no reason that woman should be working as anything other than a singer," Daily Variety associate editor Phil Gallo told USA Today after watching Mandisa's performances on "Idol."

Entertainment Weekly also chimed in with praise, "It's all about Mandisa," claiming Mandisa turned "American Idol" into a one-woman show. "Following her powerful performance of Chaka Khan's soulful classic "Every Woman," EW raved, "If you weren't doing a little bit of couch dancing when Mandisa cut loose on the piping hot arrangement, then you'd better check the cushions for your soul."

Showcasing Mandisa's stylistic range was the task set before the five sets of producers who lined up to work with her on the album's top-notch names like Shaun Shankel (Beyonce, Natalie Grant); Brown Bannister (Amy Grant); Christopher Stevens (TobyMac); Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders (India Arie, Johnny Lang); and Double Dutch, the team of Robert Marvin and Josiah Bell (Matt Kearney, Matt Redman). Mandisa also spent personal time with the album's writers before the songwriting process began, sharing her vision for the project and what she hoped to communicate through the songs. The end result is a seamless flow of tracks that create a diverse landscape for messages of hope, inspiration and faith.

The album's bouncy title track, which she co-wrote with producer Drew Ramsey and singer/songwriter Cindy Morgan, defines an essential theme in Mandisa's own terms: "Visions of perfection/Such a misconception - Cause the real connection is deeper than the eye can see." It's all about the fact that our view of beauty should not be built around our outside. An unfading beauty comes from a gentle and quiet spirit," Mandisa explains. "I really believe that someone can have an inward beauty that shines so much that it makes them even more beautiful on the outside. We chose this as the album's title because this is such an important message to me."

"Only the World" is the album's funky, energetic first single. Written by Matthew West, Sam Mizell and Clint Lagerberg, it captures Mandisa's joyful spirit well. "We all have difficult days we wish we didn't have to go through, but it gives you so much peace and joy when you realize that it's only the world we're living in, and one day we're going to go to a much better place," she says of the song's theme. "This song makes me want to roll down the window, turn up the volume, throw my hands up and just have fun!"

Both "Only the World" and the inspirational "Voice of a Savior" were co-penned by Sam Mizell and award-winning songwriter Matthew West (whose songs have been recorded by many top names in Christian music as well as country superstars Rascal Flatts).

A latecomer to the project is "Love Somebody," a new song written by TobyMac and Aaron Rice. The minute she heard it, Mandisa knew she wanted to add it to the album, which was already in its final production stage. "I'm so excited to have this song on the project because I loved it the moment I heard it. It features TobyMac and his band, Diverse City, and it's one of the most fun songs I've done. I can't wait for people to hear it."

The desire to live free of society's expectations sits at the heart of the messages interwoven throughout True Beauty. Issues of self-esteem and self-worth are front-and-center among those that most young women struggle with today, and Mandisa admits she is no different. "My struggle with my weight has been the biggest struggle of my life. Rather than turning to alcohol or drugs when I was going through emotional times, I turned to food. As a result, I've become unhealthy and it's a day-to-day process to overcome."

After attending Fisk University, Mandisa remained in Nashville where she did session work and performed backup for a wide variety of artists including Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Take 6, Sandi Patty and more. She also traveled across the nation singing with various worship conferences and women's events before venturing onto the American Idol stage.

She recently joined musical legend Gladys Knight and other performers such as Lalah Hathaway, Shirley Murdock and The Boys Choir of Harlem on stage at Harlem's historic Apollo Theater at the First Annual Benefit Gala "Back to Harlem," sponsored by the Ashley Stewart Stores Community Foundation. The premiere event raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for three outstanding charities: the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dress for Success and The Boys Choir of Harlem. Mandisa also signed on to be a spokesmodel for Ashley Stewart Stores, the trend-setting fashion retailer that outfitted a number of her performances on "American Idol."

Her faith plays a major role in her life, a role that was evident to Mandisa's fellow "Idol" contestants, the judges and viewers. And even though it didn't always come with positive results, Mandisa never shied away from being true to herself.

Information from Mandisa's web site

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Mandisa Bio

Christian Music Artist & "American Idol" Finalist

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