On a recent appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show featuring his current protégé, 15 year old singing sensation, Renee Olstead, David Foster stated that, at this stage in his career, he wished to redirect his focus beyond the recording studio in an attempt to "foster" and guide promising young artists. He felt that this was a necessary calling in his life and that the recording industry needed a new direction and focus.

Therefore, under his impeccable tutelage, rising stars Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Renee Olstead have been introduced and cultivated by the FosterMan and the music scene has never looked or sounded better. David's impeccable attention to detail, in combination with his intuition for discovering the very best young talent in the music industry, are a bona fide recipe for success.

Although these three singers are extremely distinct in their performing ability, they all have one thing in common: they are committed and dedicated to David's high standard of musical excellence and have created or filled niches in the recording industry that have long been forgotten and/or neglected.

Therefore, when Top 8 finalist Nadia Turner and Top 6 Finalist Constantine Maroulis were eliminated from the American Idol Season 4 competition because they received the least number of "votes' (wink! wink!), I shook my head in awe and thought, "Thank heavens for David Foster! Maybe he can salvage this mess, as he understands and appreciates excellent artistry that transcends the customary genres that bombard us on the airwaves every day.

As an artist and vocal teacher, I have seen and worked with a plethora of extremely talented individuals over the course of my career. You cultivate an instinct when measuring the "star factor" and the important elements that distinguish thousands of great singers from the one who has the potential to be a star.

Nadia and Constantine offer an eclectic and diverse approach to their performing style; yet, they were blatantly criticized by the American Idol judges and, consequently, many voters, because both parties couldn't discern the correct barometric reading on Nadia's and Constantine's eclectic style of music.

Where their vocal talent and artist gifts should have been praised and acknowledged, they were dismissed for not conforming to one genre of music. I must have fallen asleep at the wheel here. Were they not asked to perform dance music one week, followed by a week devoted to Broadway music and then asked to select the genre that best suited them from certain decades during the remaining weeks? And so they did and both performers worked extremely hard to make certain that the songs were appropriately selected and well rehearsed.

Week after week, Nadia and Constantine performed Broadway, jazz, rock and pop genres with ingenuity and creativity - not to mention vocal excellence. How could these two phenomenal performers, who sing with a multi -dimensional singing style, take a back seat to the generally one dimensional, karaoke- laden performances of some of the other contestants? I will give the current Top 5 American Idol finalists their props - they are good solid singers; but, with the exception of Anthony Federov, none have strived to take inventive risks on the American Idol stage.

With Nadia and with Constantine, the elements of surprise and wonder permeated each and every one of their performances. Both created truly memorable showcases each week, laden with style and substance and with respect and commitment to the art of singing. Additionally, they had mastered the art of entertaining and, whether or not you liked their individual voices, you had to admit that, as artists, they knew how to innovatively communicate their songs to their audience.

Their voices and their persona are singular and distinctive and essentially remind
me of the eclectic abilities of cabaret superstar, Patricia O'Callaghan.. This talented songstress can successfully present an entire concert featuring jazz, Broadway, rock, pop and - are you ready? - classical music. And all genres are subtly entwined and programmed with creativity and ingenuity. She has garnered critical international acclaim and has been featured and applauded numerous times in Billboard magazine for her prodigious talent .

But, let's get back to Nadia and Constantine. Last year, I wrote an article for Foxes On Idol called "Fostering Idol Superstars". It continues to be an extremely popular article, one that was recognized by David Foster's favorite fan site, DavidFoster.Net. In this article, I singled out American Idol Top 2 finalist, Diana Degarmo and Top 6 Finalist John Stevens, both of whom had the opportunity to experience the mentoring process of David Foster during the recording process of their respective albums.

John, in particular, has received the full support and guidance of David in the recording process of his CD, scheduled for release in June 2005. Additionally, against all odds, I predicted that John would be signed by a large record label and, thankfully, my intuition didn't fail me for Maverick Records is now the managing component in John's rising career. Not bad for someone who was so disgustingly alienated and abused by the judges and voters alike last year. Not bad at all!

Therefore, it is my hope and my dream that both Nadia and Constantine will benefit from David Foster's support and guidance. Both of these artists offer something new and different to the music industry and, truthfully, David Foster is one of the few people who will understand how to utilize and develop their talents to their full potential.

It would be wonderful to see both of these artists succeed in a very large way, without the Idol flag waving dirt in their face. What the heck, I may as well go for broke! It will happen! Just you wait! And we will meet here once again next year at this time and celebrate and have the last laugh with Nadia and Constantine.