Fantasia Barrino: American Idol to American Tragedy

Can we hate on American Idol for a hot second? Wait, I always do that. Fantasia Barrino has not had a great week. The past few days have seen her fighting off allegations that she was the “other woman” in a nasty divorce battle. Whether it was that or a combination of insurmountable personal shit that led to her attempted suicide last night by prescription pill overdose remains to be seen. Either way, it’s clear that this is another example of how damaging it can be to thrust pain upon an ordinary person.

Even given the fact that Fantasia won American Idol six years ago, there was never anyone present to keep the illiterate single mother grounded during the transition from struggling lower-class citizen to immediate superstar. After the initial rush of excitement and album sales from the six months following her Idol win, Barrino, like almost every other winner of the massively popular reality contest, has struggled to remain relevant. Sluggish sales from her sophomore album were eventually balanced out by success on stage and a high-rated reality show which followed her struggle to gain control over her life and finish her high school diploma. Everything seemed to be on track and her third album was due to be released in a few weeks.

This is not the first suicide drama from an Idol contestant. In 2008, Paula Goodspeed, an obsessive Paula Abdul fan who was humiliated during a season five audition, overdosed in a car not far from Abdul’s house and unfortunately succeeded in ending her life. With so many ordinary individuals with much or little talent coming through auditions and having to deal with the consequences of a widely-seen television appearance, Idol producers have no way of gauging the effects on fragile individuals who just can’t deal.

So, with a daughter to care for and what looked like a second reprieve for a talented young woman, why did 26-year-old Fantasia Barrino want to call it quits on life? If one thing is certain, it’s that the Idol producers who threw her into the murky waters of celebrity and let her fend for herself don’t give too much of a shit about her well-being. They’re too busy trying to save their sinking ship which may not only be detrimental to the mental well-being of its contestants, but also is declining in relevance. One hopes that they take time to address the former, lest we have a bunch of whack-job Susan Boyles running around with no one to keep it real for them.