Ex-’American Idol’ finalist Vonzell Solomon detained for gun in luggage
By Christopher Rocchio, 06/12/2008
Next time Vonzell Solomon wants to fly the friendly skies, she’ll presumably double check the contents of her luggage.
The American Idol fourth-season third-place finisher was detained Tuesday at Southwest Florida International Airport after security personnel found an unloaded gun in her luggage, Lee Port Authority spokeswoman Barbara-Ann Urrutia told Southwest Florida’s The News-Press in a Wednesday report.
The 24-year-old Fort Myers, FL resident reportedly forgot the gun was in her luggage until it was discovered as she was making her way through the TSA checkpoint on a U.S. Airways flight shortly after 12PM, The News-Press reported.
While Solomon has a concealed weapons permit, carrying the firearm into an airport is a violation of that permit, so the gun was confiscated and she was issued a notice to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon into an airport, according to The News-Press.
“She was given a notice to appear, which is typically what happens when there is someone who has done something like this,” Urrutia told The News-Press. “When it’s obvious that it’s a mistake and there is a permit, we really try to work with people.”
It is unclear whether the gun will be returned to Solomon upon the case’s completion, Urrutia told The News-Press. The date of the court appearance was not immediately available.
THEN in other news.....
Bank Gunnin’ for Idol Reject’s House
http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/12/bank-gunnin-for-idol-rejects-house/
The hits just keep on coming for “American Idol” finalist Baby V.
Now the Bank of New York is foreclosing on Vonzell Solomon’s Florida home. The house is toast — i.e., on the auction block — on June 16. This is the same “AI” wannabe that was busted Tuesday in a Florida airport for trying to board a plane carrying a gun. Rough coupla days!
Musicians Union Sues ‘American Idol’ Producers
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/06/13/musicians_union_sues_american_idol_produ
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A musicians union has filed a federal lawsuit against the producers of “American Idol,” claiming musicians were underpaid because the show’s live music was re-recorded for reruns.
The American Federation of Musicians filed the suit seeking unspecified damages Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that American Idol Productions Inc. and its subsidiary Tick Tock Productions Inc. violated a collective bargaining agreement.
That contract says the show’s musicians should be paid royalties for rebroadcasts of the show, the lawsuit said.
The producers are required to pay 75 percent of scale to musicians who appear in the original show and rehearsals, plus 10 percent of that pay to a union pension fund, with decreasing percentages for each rebroadcast, according to court papers.
In 2007, the producers started cutting out the show’s soundtrack and using different musicians to re-record new music for the past-season highlights show “American Idol Rewind,” the lawsuit said.
The union was not informed of the recording, according to court papers.
Phone messages left Thursday night with a representative for American Idol Productions were not returned.