Mikalah Analise Gordon (born January 14, 1988) is an American singer and eleventh-place finalist on the fourth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. She was the second finalist eliminated on March 25, 2005.

Early life

Gordon was born in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, the same city as her ''American Idol'' audition. Her mother, Victoria Cavaricci, is

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

, and her father, Rocky Gordon, is

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish.
Gordon was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and attended St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic School from 3rd to 8th grade. During her formative years Gordon regularly performed on stage with her father, a jazz musician who mentored his daughter, attempting to improve her versatility. Before ''Idol'', she was with the Helen Joy Young Entertainers, sang at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, and worked at an

oxygen bar An oxygen bar is an establishment, or part of one, that sells oxygen for recreational use. Individual scents may be added to enhance the experience. The flavors in an oxygen bar come from bubbling oxygen through bottles containing aromatic solutio ...

''American Idol''

Gordon was eliminated during "Billboard #1 Hits" week, on the March 24 show. This was also the week when the show mixed up the voting numbers for three of the Top 11 contestants,

Anwar Robinson Anwar Farid Robinson (born April 21, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter/musician who was the 7th place finalist on the fourth season of ''American Idol''. After moving with his family from Newark to Montclair, New Jersey in 1994, Robinso ...

Jessica Sierra Jessica Ann Sierra (born November 11, 1985) is an American former singer and was the tenth-place finalist on the fourth season of ''American Idol''. She was the third finalist eliminated, on March 30, 2005. Sierra released her single '' Enough'' ...

and Gordon herself. Her last song on the show was a rendition of "Love Will Lead You Back" by

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...

Post ''American Idol'' career

Mikalah Gordon returned to ''American Idol'' as a host for the pre-show on the fourth-season finale of ''American Idol'', sang during the beginning medley of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

' songs and another song with finalist

Lindsey Cardinale Lindsey Michelle Cardinale (; born February 5, 1985) is an American country singer and university student who was the twelfth-place finalist on the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Cardinale was born in Hammond, Louisiana, to Agnes ...

and

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

. Gordon landed a guest-starring role on Fran Drescher's new sitcom, ''

Living with Fran ''Living with Fran'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB. It starred Fran Drescher and Ryan McPartlin, and was co-created by Jamie Kennedy. The series debuted on April 8, 2005, and ran two seasons before ending on March 24, 2006 ...

''. She played Fran's cousin Brianna, a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

singer. Following an appearance on the February 24, 2006 episode of ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'',

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

hired her as a Tyra Show correspondent. Mikalah was a Co-Host of ''

American Idol Extra ''American Idol Extra'' is a television show that was shown on the Fox Reality Channel and Star! and billed as "the show that picks up right where ''American Idol'' leaves off". The program featured the first full-length interview with the most ...

'' for the first 2 seasons. The show gives a behind the scenes look at ''

'' after the taping each week. Mikalah appeared on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

on April 6, 2007. She posed as an "American Idol Finalist." Mikalah played Lila Lee, a country singer on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

under the watch of

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled aft ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

's military drama, episode "M.P.s" on October 30, 2007. She was at the American Idol season finale visiting

David Cook David Cook may refer to: Entertainment * David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR * David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol'' * David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...

's hometown, cheering and talking to the crowd in 2008 and performed the same activities in

Kris Allen Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', he self-released a 2007 album, ''Brand New Shoes''. Allen's ...

's hometown in 2009. Gordon currently lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She was a contestant on '' Gone Country'' 2, on CMT. During the show, she wrote a song called "You're Ugly When You're Drunk" which she performed in the finale. Gordon can now be seen in multiple venues throughout the Los Angeles area weekly, performing standup comedy and singing. Gordon released her first single, "Honey," on July 23, 2013. Gordon performs in residency at Rose Rabbit Lie, a night club located inside the

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (commonly referred to simply as The Cosmopolitan or The Cosmo) is a resort casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort opened on December 15, 2010, and is located just south of the B ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Mikalah 1988 births American child singers American Idol participants 21st-century American singers American people of Italian descent American television actresses Living people Musicians from Las Vegas Singers from Los Angeles 21st-century American women singers