Stripper past newest concern for 'Idol'

By Sharon Fink, Times Staff Writer
Published March 5, 2008

On a taped segment of Tuesday's American Idol, contestant David Hernandez said his most embarrassing moment involved a photo shoot and a runny nose.

So good for him for standing proudly behind his last job: stripper at a male strip club.

Before making the Idol field, Hernandez, 24, of Glendale, Ariz., appeared nude and performed lap dances for the "mostly male" clientele at Dick's Cabaret in Phoenix, the club's manager told the Associated Press.

"He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here," Gordy Bryan said.

The first really interesting salacious revelation of this Idol season broke out Tuesday, the day Hernandez performed live with Idol's remaining eight guys for a spot among the final 12 contestants. But that won't get him kicked off the show, the AP said. His fate would be left to the voting viewers.

Fox and Idol's producers declined to officially comment on Hernandez to the AP. Idol contestants aren't available for interviews until they're eliminated from the show.

Idol has had to deal with varying degrees of "scandal" in its seven seasons. When it comes to issues related to sex, contestant Frenchie Davis was kicked out in 2003 because photos of her appeared on an adult Web site. But last year, top 24 member Antonella Barba remained in the competition after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

No mention of Hernandez's stripping was made on Tuesday's show. Required to sing a song from the 1980s, he did a respectable rendition of Celine Dion's It's All Coming Back to Me Now. The judges liked it, and it should have been good enough to get him into the top 12, which will be announced on Thursday's show.

Bryan said Hernandez steadily worked at his club for three years, until Sept. 30, 2007. "He never renewed his licensing with the state, so he hasn't been on my roster since then," Bryan said.

Rumors of Hernandez's stripper past - along with photos of a scantily clad Hernandez working as a bartender at a gay nightclub - were first posted last week on VoteForTheWorst.com, a site that encourages votes for bad but entertaining contestants.

What did you think? Comment on Tuesday's show at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic

If you watch

'American Idol'

The final eight women sing songs from the '80s at 8 tonight on WTVT-Ch. 13.

[Last modified March 4, 2008, 23:56:12]