September 11, 2006 - Leah arrived in Boston on the first of September and has been busy with auditions for group placements at Berklee. She started her Freshman year at the college today after spending her birthday in NYC with friends.
April 23, 2006 - Leah arrived in Los Angeles on Friday and is planning on being there through April 26th. She is currently negotiating with a producer there, who is interested in representing her. Leah hopes to attend the taping of American Idol while in LA and said that she has confirmed an interview with the TV Guide Channel for before the show and another with American Idol Extra after the show. So watch for her!!
February 4, 2006 - Leah found out this week that she's got about half of her tuition for Berklee in scholarships! She is working toward securing the rest of it, but did not indicate exactly when she might attend the school.
December 31, 2005 - Fremantle Media is allegedly suing any and all American Idol fan sites, big and small, not directly connected to the show. In view of this unfortunate development, All official Fremantle/FOX/American Idol media has been removed from LAFANS.ORG.
December 23, 2005 - Leah sent all the LaFANS a thank you note for her holiday gift, saying, "I just wanted to say THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for the beautiful, lovely, gorgeous, colorful flowers that I received today. That was sooooooo thoughtful and beautifully done. I appreciate it so so much... It made my day and put a smile on my face. So thank you so much. I am always touched by all of your minds. God will bless you all. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and Holidays.. Enjoy every moment. I am going to bed now because I am singing at the crazy Seahawks game tomorrow morning... So I gotta get some rest!!! Love you all tons! Thank you!!! -Leah"
December 17, 2005 - Last night Leah was part of a featured performance at Seattle Center called "Seattle's Best Jazz." It was a one-night only concert featuring jazz vocalists Nichol Eskridge and James Cadell, guitarist Charles E. Jones and Leah LaBelle. The award-winning Garfield High School Jazz Band, led by Clarence Acox kept the rhythms flowing. This was the second year in a row that Leah has performed at this event. Clarence Acox sent us an email saying, "Leah gave a wonderful performance at the Winterfest Concert at the Seattle Center last night. She sang “Silent Night” & “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway. She was awesome."
November 16, 2005 - This past Sunday, Leah participated in the show for the Miss Washington USA Pageant. When asked about the event, Leah said, "It was the Miss Washington Pageant and the Miss Washington Teen Pageant joint--together in one... So there were 2 winners, Miss Washington USA and Miss Washington Teen USA. The winners will go on to the nationals to compete for Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. I sang, 'I Believe I Can Fly' and it was amazing! I had so much fun, because every time I perform I am so happy and in another place… So I can't really tell you exactly what happened because once I'm off stage I'm somebody else and I forgot what just happened... LOL. But my mom said it was really good and the audience responded VERY well. They loved it. The judges who were judging the pageant loved it too. There were many celebrity judges and well-known people in the pageant industry at the event. It was a great experience..."
November 9, 2005 - Tonight Leah will be singing in a benefit concert. The Garfield Foundation will be holding the gala benefit entitled: "Building for Garfield's Future". The dinner and program will be at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 721 Pine Street in downtown Seattle from 6:00-9:00 pm. The Garfield Jazz Band will play under the direction of Clarence Acox, accompanied by Leah Labelle, former American Idol contestant and 2005graduate. The goals of the event are to raise funds for a tutoring program that has been envisioned by Principal Ted Howard, in addition to adding to the endowment, providing an ongoing source of monies for enriching various programs at the school. Nearly three hundred seats have been reserved for the event.
October 25, 2005 - Today Leah had a scholarship audition for Berklee College. (the same college she attended last summer for music classes). So now we wait to see if she got it... We wish Leah the best of luck! Leah has been going from LA, NYC, PHILLY, ATL, and ORLANDO recording and trying to finish a bunch of songs with different producers so her lawyer can start shopping them to labels at the beginning of next year. She has several performances coming up over the holidays!
October 14, 2005 - We received a card from Leah
thanking all the fans for her birthday gift today. In the card Leah
said,
"TO ALL MY GORGEOUS LAFANS!! You are all amazing. I'm sorry this is so late, but I've just been mad busy! Forgive me. I want to thank you all for your wonderful gift and for your kind giving hearts. I am blessed to have you in my life. Take care and I Love you always.
-Leah LaBelle"
August 30, 2005 - Due to a breakdown in contract negotiations, Leah has decided she will seek new management. She had this to say last Monday evening, “Of course I plan on going forward. I will never stop. That is something I refuse to do. I will never give up. Nothing in life happens smoothly and I am fine with that. Every experience is a growth and a lesson. I believe that you must work hard for what you want and the bumps that are in the way on your journey only help to keep you feeling determined and that much more excited when the time finally comes. I wouldn’t appreciate anything I have as much, if it came to me easily. I like the fact of knowing that I had to go through a lot to get what I want and achieve what I want. It’s only better that way.”
Leah has also decided that she will not attend The University of Washington this fall, but has applied to Berklee School of Music and would like to begin there next January. She said, “I can’t wait to get to Berklee, so that I can just be around music all the time and not have work stand in my way…”
We asked Leah about what she has been doing with Raz-B (of B2K) and she had this to say, “Raz B and I are just really, really, good friends. We talk all the time and I just did a little bit of background on one of his songs. We have talked about working together some more and doing some stuff for me… But that’s in the works. He needs to focus on getting his album out and promoting it and all that good stuff.”
Leah has performed a couple places since graduation, she said, “I performed at this celebrity softball game put on by Jamal Crawford and Rashard Lewis. I sang The National Anthem… I sang at this little club with my friends one night but it wasn’t anything too big. That’s pretty much it. I’ve been working too much…”
July 20, 2005 - Leah will be in NYC for most of August finishing her debut album for
Sixthboro Entertainment. Fanatic let us know that many of the recording sessions will be filmed. As soon as the recording is finished, Fanatic will provide some audio clips so we can hear a few samples from the album!
June 20, 2005 - Leah graduated high school tonight and also sang BOYZ II MEN — "It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" at the graduation ceremony. Afterwards the 405 seniors in the class of 2005 took a cruise on the Puget Sound aboard the Royal Argosy cruise ship. The party lasted until dawn. Leah has been given a full scholarship to the University of Washington in the Music Program.
May 20, 2005 - Leah did a phone interview with Scott Meenan and Liberty Feed Internet Radio today. She was on the
web cast for over 40 minutes. She talked about being on AI and all that has come after that. She talked a little about
high school and college next year and all that she has been doing to further her career. Leah said that they will probably complete her album this summer and release it sometime next year, depending on the labels, what deal she can get, etc. Her manager, Fanatic, will be taking the demo she did to all of the major labels. She said that if they produce the album themselves, it will allow her more artistic freedom in the composition of it. Leah sang, "All Is Fair In Love" and said it was one of her
favorites.
May 12-16, 2005 - Leah has been selected by the Garfield Jazz Band to go with them to the national jazz competition in New York. Garfield has won this competition for the last two years. (As a result of their winning last year, they were invited to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland).
April 24, 2005 - Leah signed with NY production company, Sixthboro Entertainment. "American Idol Season 3 finalist (the first of 2004's 12 to be eliminated), Leah LaBelle has found magic with super-producer Fanatic. FANATIC, the multi-platinum producer & Grammy award winner of album of the year for Beyonce’s “Dangerously In Love,” who has also produced for mega-stars such as Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Li’l Kim and rap legend Notorious B.I.G. among others, is now producing the sensational Leah LaBelle, a top-12 finalist on the number one watched TV show, American Idol (Season 3)." Read the entire press release HERE!
April 18-22, 2005 - Leah will be going to NYC to spend a week in the studio with a producer who is very connected in the music business. She is going to be making her demo, which will be shopped to all the major labels. She will also be working with Dr. William Riley, who is also the vocal coach for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Faith Hill.
April 16, 2005 - Leah will be performing at Seattle's Whirligig Carnival for Kids. The event will take place at 1:30 PM at the Seattle Center.
March 15, 2005 - Leah may be doing some studio work with
Raz B ( "You Got Served" ) and has been talking to other members of the
group B2K and Producer/Artist Sir Mix-A-Lot ("Baby Got Back") about doing some recording in Seattle.
January 11, 2005 - Leah sent the LaFANS an email thanking all of us for the
Christmas gift!
I just want to thank you sooo much for my Christmas gift. Thank you to the fans soooo much! It is amazing
how much love you guys have for me. I don’t know how to deal with it!! LOL! It's so wonderful. I love you guys
and I am very grateful. I love it all. Very thoughtful. Much love always and I hope your holidays were great and
I hope the new year brings you all much success and joy! -Leah