Ruben Studdard

小簡介
2003年5月21日，在第二季的美國偶像大賽(American Idol)決賽上，一個身材巨肥碩的黑小伙，被評委稱為“天鵝絨般的泰迪熊(Velvet Teddy Bear)”的R&B歌手Ruben Studdard在觀眾最終的2400萬張選票中，以極其微弱的優(yōu)勢壓倒了被普遍看好的另一名決賽選手Clay Aiken成為了第一個美國偶像大賽的黑人歌手，從而也一舉登上了著名的《滾石》雜志的封面，成為了最炙手可熱的偶像明星。 　　
Ruben Studdard憨厚的笑容和成熟的嗓音，以及一身運動衫的打扮，打破了美國偶像大賽一直以來以青少年流行偶像占統(tǒng)治性地位的局面，這項大賽此前的冠軍和亞軍得主，Kelly Clarkson和Justin Guarini都是青少年流行音樂為主，包括賽前非常被看好的Clay Aiken也是這種風格，Ruben Studdard的出現(xiàn)，既證明了自己的演唱實力，也顯示出了黑人音樂的強大魅力。 　　
Ruben Studdard生于1978年7月14日，出生在美國阿拉巴馬州中北部地區(qū)的“鋼鐵之都”伯明翰市。Ruben Studdard的父母都是教師，他的全名為Christopher Ruben Studdard。從小時候開始，Ruben Studdard就一直在附近的教堂里邊的唱詩班擔任領(lǐng)唱，在年齡一點點增大以后，他并沒有像唱詩班里其他成員一樣離開演唱的生活而專心于普通的工作，Ruben Studdard下定決心要在音樂領(lǐng)域干出點成就。在阿拉巴馬州的Alabama A&M大學里，Ruben Studdard曾經(jīng)由于在足球方面的杰出成績獲得過大學的運動獎學金，他在足球方面的前途一片光明，但是為了自己所鐘愛的音樂，Ruben Studdard毫不猶豫的放棄了在足球領(lǐng)域的似錦前程，而進入了學校的音樂學院主修聲樂課程，并且在2000年非常順利的拿到了學位證書而畢業(yè)，并且從此開始了自己正式的職業(yè)音樂歷程。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Partway through the second American Idol in early 2003, guest judge Gladys Knight christened corpulent crooner Ruben Studdard a "velvet teddy bear," a nod to his smooth, Luther Vandross-styled voice and his Barry White-sized girth. It was a nickname that stuck, since it captured the persona of the 25-year-old Birmingham, AL, native who had unexpectedly become the front-runner in the national televised talent show. Surrounded by skinny kids emulating Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the two singers who walked away with the debut American Idol in 2002, Studdard stood out with his massive frame, winning smile, easygoing style, mellow voice, and trademark jerseys bearing the number 205, the area code of his hometown.
That hometown looms large in the background of Ruben. The son of two teachers, Studdard was born in Birmingham on July 14, 1978. As a child, he sang at his parents' Baptist church, but it wasn't until college that he became serious about music. Abandoning a promising career in football that would lead to an athletic scholarship at Alabama A&M University, he decided to switch his major and study voice at the school, graduating with a degree in 2000. He started his professional career as a singer for Just a Few Cats, a Birmingham-based jazz and soul band. During 2002, Ruben joined one of the group's backup singers at an audition for the second American Idol, making the first round of cuts at his local audition, then winning himself a slot on the national television program.
Studdard made a big impression from the start. Where most of his competitors were pop star wannabes hungry to win the competition, Ruben was quiet and exceedingly laid-back, impressing audiences and judges alike with his large voice and easy confidence. He soon climbed to the top of the pack and stayed there throughout the show, only once being voted into an elimination round. By that point, American Idol 2003 had turned into a horse race between Studdard and Clay Aiken, a skinny, geeky kid from the South whose appearance and taste were nearly the polar opposite of Ruben's. Like many horse races, this one ended in a photo finish, with Ruben beating Clay by a few thousand votes in May 2003.
Within a month after the end of competition, Ruben's first single, "Flying Without Wings," was released concurrently with Clay's "This Is the Night," a release scheme designed to keep the competition alive. Aiken beat Studdard to the top of the charts, and shortly afterward, it was announced that the planned joint August release of their debuts would be delayed, and each record would be released separately. As Aiken rode a wave of popularity that eclipsed Studdard's, Ruben worked frenetically -- recording his debut, touring with American Idol, filming a cameo for Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and suing 205 Flava Inc., the company that made the jerseys he famously wore on American Idol, claiming that the clothes makers illegally profited from his image (205 Flava Inc. countered that they paid the singer $1,000 to wear the jerseys on the show during the competition, and presented checks written to Ruben's brother and manager on MTV News to support their claim).
As Ruben worked, his album's release date kept getting pushed back, first from an August release, back to October, and then to November. Studdard's sessions boasted a variety of producers and collaborators, including Fat Joe, Missy Elliott, and R. Kelly, whose names were leaked to press during recording in an effort to shore up Ruben's hip-hop and R&B credentials. When the finished product, entitled Soulful, was finally released on December 9, 2003, it didn't boast either the highly touted Missy or Kelly tracks (though Fat Joe made the cut), but it did display a distinct hip-hop-flavored R&B bent, which stood in contrast to the pop-oriented efforts by other American Idol contestants Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, and Justin Guarini. The gospel album I Need an Angel followed one year later. In fall 2006, Studdard revisited his urban roots with the aptly named third album The Return, which featured such contributors as Scott Storch and Ne-Yo.