The Justin Guarini 'fro

We’ve been amused over the past few days at the ‘net reaction to some photos posted of Justin from his role in the upcoming movie “Fast Girl” (in which he co-stars with Mircea Monroe and Caroline Rhea). Justin plays a race car driver, and perhaps not surprisingly, the producers decided he needed a sleeker hairstyle. Not much room in those racing helmets, you know. So, they put Justin into a short haired wig. Take a look at the set photos:

Wireimage

Getty Images

Kinda knocked you for a loop, huh? It sure did several other bloggers and message board chatterers. The buzz ramped up, almost immediately.

Justin’s hair has been a subject of conversation ever since America was introduced to him on the first season of American Idol. Our Brief Mentions section on the website documents how often the subject of Justin’s hair comes up, seemingly randomly. Some people love it, some people hate it. Early on, Justin’s fans coined a term for his curls: jinglets. (Yes, Justin’s fans were the first to combine the first letter of their favorite Idol’s name with other words. Many other groups have since adopted the same practice.) There are many of Justin’s fans who adore those jinglets. But there is also a difference of opinion - some prefer a shorter crop, some prefer the wilder ‘fro, and some something between the two. The only style that was almost universally panned was an unfortunate foray into the “faux hawk” a couple of years ago. That one we pretty much blame on his then-girlfriend. We can’t help but chuckle at the fact she’s now playing a suspected murderess on Veronica Mars. Somehow seems fitting. ;)

Anyway you look at it, Justin’s ‘fro is part of who he is. Not as some fashion statement, but really part of who he is.

What is interesting to us is how many people still remain uninformed about the source of Justin’s soft Afro. Justin is biracial; his father is black and his mother is white. He comes by his hair naturally.

Unbelievably, there have been media and other comments about Justin’s hair that refer to it as “permed,” or “frizzy.” Of course, we all know the tired reference to a Simpsons character, which reflects a sad ignorance of the difference between dreads, which that character wears, and naturally curly hair. Curiously, the same comments are not made about various NBA players who have sported an Afro hairstyle in the recent past. Or, about Macy Gray, whose hair has taken on a life of its own as well. But then, they aren’t biracial (as far as we know). Should that make any difference? Halle Berry has talked about how being biracial (with lighter skin tone) poses its own unique challenges in our society.

It really bears no argument that people in this country are still judged on the basis of racial traits. Some of this can be subtle. There has been a lot of discussion about the way that many black women feel the need to conform to cultural expectations about an attractive appearance by straightening their natural hair. A few years ago, ABC's 20/20 did a story about an African-American woman who actually was fired because she refused to straighten her hair. She was told she failed to look “professional.”

Justin has always had a sense of humor about his hair. His most recent name for it (from a blog entry) is “thunder bush.” He has also described it as an "unruly child" sitting atop his head, “planetary,” and “having its own zip code.” No matter what, it is part of what makes Justin so unique, and so many people can’t help but continue to talk about him because of it.

Justin is proud of his heritage and we applaud him for that, even if we might once in a while wish he would get a trim. To quote one of our favorite songstresses, the exceptional Corrine Bailey Rae, “Don’t you let those other boys fool you. Gotta love that Afro hair-do.”

The ‘fro through the years:

Baby 'fro


First Idol Audition


American Idol Finale


Post Idol "groomed" at the Teens' Choice Awards (2003)


Short cropped at Rockers on Broadway (2004)


Current in concert (2006)

Word of the Day: Flukey

MTV.com recently ran an article in which Idol alums give advice to the current AI5 group releasing albums. The article has the line “What did Kelly do right that Justin did wrong?”

How ridiculous is that? As if either of them had any real career direction control right after their season of Idol. They did what their handlers had them do. The question should be “What did Simon Fuller and Clive Davis do right with Kelly and what did they do wrong with Justin?”

Between the media’s superficial reporting and the general naivete’ about the way the entertainment business works, sometimes we just can’t help but yank our hair out by the roots. And while some women look pretty damn good bald, we’re sad to say we’re not among them.

So, in an effort to save our remaining coiffure, we offer as an answer to MTV’s question, this lesson in the entertainment business: It’s flukey.

That’s it, in a nutshell. It’s flukey. There are people with loads of talent who never make it big, while there are people with average (or low) talent who explode. Success does not equal talent, nor vice versa. Which category of success someone falls into can be a matter of fluke.

Yes, sometimes people with big talent are successful. Take Jennifer Hudson, about to appear in Dreamgirls and getting a lot of buzz. She is very talented, although she didn’t make it to the end of Idol. But, her anticipated success is as much the result of fluke as anything. If she hadn’t competed in the third season of Idol, if she hadn’t managed to escape the clutches of 19 Management post-Idol, if Bill Condon hadn’t finally gotten it together to shoot Dreamgirls when he did, she would probably remain lost in the shadows. Even with her Idol exposure, without the fact that Condon looked for his Effie when he did, she probably would have continued to fade into the post-Idol sunset. Her casting as "Effie" is the proverbial fluke. A career-making fluke, perhaps, but a fluke nonetheless.

After the first season of Idol, Fuller and crew have acknowledged that they held Justin back so that the winner could have her “time alone in the spotlight.” They did not allow him to release a single, or an album, or accept any of the various offers that were being sent his way. And he was getting a lot of offers, because at the end of the first season, Justin was a hot, hot property.

But anything hot cools down if the flames aren’t fanned, and after nine months of nothing, when it came time for Justin finally to have his time, the attention had moved on. The first season winner had her chance for the spotlight, and her project got priority, not only in terms of timing but in terms of budget and promotion. At the time, so-called “pop princesses" were a hot item in the music industry, the fluke Fuller and Davis took advantage of to create multi-platinum sales. What Fuller and Davis did right with her is get her music out there, and push it hard on radio and MTV. What Fuller and Davis did wrong with Justin is force him to hang in the shadows far too long, force him to record music that didn’t come from his artistic heart, and ultimately fail to make his success a priority.

When her first album was not surprisingly a success, the first season winner again got access to all the resources of a major label and the benefits of being made a priority at that label, and her second album has gone on to do exceptionally well. Her upcoming third album should at least start strong because of all those resources she has at her disposal. She doesn’t need flukes anymore. Nor will Jennifer Hudson if Dreamgirls is a hit.

By contrast, because Justin’s momentum was stolen from him, he has to make his own resources. He is working as hard and has both the breadth and depth of talent that deserves success. Whether he ever again gains a national stage, unfortunately, has less to do with his talent than the public might think. He will need one of those flukes.

So, is Justin’s Dreamgirls is out there? Only time will tell. If not, however, ever since he escaped the Idol machine, Justin Guarini has made a career to be proud of. A self-made career. And that part’s no fluke.

Justin Guarini debuts "Missing You" in concert