She may not have won the American Idol title, but finalist Nadia Turner was the clear champion when it came to hair.
Turner’s signature curly ‘fro made her stand out among the tens of thousands of wannabe Idols who auditioned at sites across the country, and she was one of a few hundred to earn a trip to the Hollywood rounds. From there, her hair and sultry rock/blues vocal stylings launched her into the top 32, and she later garnered enough telephone and text-message votes from American Idol viewers nationwide to advance to the final 12.
Her eighth-place finish was lower than she might have hoped, but by making the top 10, she earned the right to go on a nationwide tour this summer with the other Top 10 finishers. After she’s done touring, Turner hopes to continue pursuing singing and acting.
Her first stop of the summer, however, was Charlotte, N.C., where she and the others — minus wavy-haired winner Carrie Underwood and rocker runner-up Bo Bice — sang the national anthem at the Coca-Cola 600, a race on the NASCAR circuit.
NaturallyCurly.com caught up with Nadia as she enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend festivities in Charlotte. She hadn’t lost her highlighted ‘fro — in fact it was bigger and better than ever!
‘I’ve been getting lots of compliments on it,’ said Turner, an 28-year-old Miami native. ‘Lots of celebrities I’ve met have told me they love it.’Turner didn’t have much time to chat about her hair routine and her journey to naturalness, but NaturallyCurly.com tried to get in the important questions. Although I was just one person in the restricted crowd of about 100, she immediately smiled when she saw me. After all, we were members of a natural-haired sisterhood!
The Idols had a packed weekend — the finalists arrived in Charlotte on Saturday, May 28 and were immediately shuffled to a photo opportunity with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip in Concord, N.C., the site of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. That evening, they performed at Speed Street, a downtown Charlotte street festival held in conjunction each year with the race.
The next day it was back to Concord, where the Idols toured the NASCAR garages and met other drivers. They ‘raced’ driver Greg Biffle in a computer simulator and had a few seconds to chat with media and fans before performing the national anthem at the start of the race. I managed to get a quick picture with Nadia though. Too bad we had to take it so fast that I wasn’t given a cue to look at the camera!
Along with Turner, fans had the opportunity to meet Anthony Federov, Constantine Maroulis, Anwar Robinson, Scott Savol, Jessica Sierra, Nikko Smith and Vonzell Solomon. American Idol host Ryan Seacrest also traveled with the group.
Turner said she first went natural when she was in college because she just ‘woke up one day’ and wondered why she was spending so much time and effort straightening her hair.
She spoke about her days as a straightie during an American Idol broadcast as well. During the show’s 1990s ‘theme night,’ Turner said she spent much of that decade with straightened hair. There are pictures of the straight-haired Nadia on the Miami Dolphins website; she was a cheerleader for the football team during the 1996 season.
Turner said she’s had few problems being ‘accepted’ with her natural hair, and believes it worked to her advantage when auditioning for American Idol. On the program, she showed that her natural hair — which is 4A in texture — could be versatile as well. Who could forget the mohawk (or was it a ‘frohawk?”> she showed off on the 1980s theme night?
She said she swears by Paul Mitchell products, particularly Paul Mitchell’s ‘The Cream,’ to keep her hair looking great. The Cream is a leave-in conditioner that both moisturizes and provides styling benefits. Like most curlies,Turner said her biggest hair challenge is maintaining moisture, so she’s always looking for products to keep her hair from becoming dry and brittle.
I made sure to hand her a Curl Ambassador card and told her to check out the product section. Maybe she’ll spend some of her American Idol earnings at CurlMart! The American Idol tour kicks off on July 12 in Sunrise, Fla., just minutes from Turner’s hometown. The tour concludes in Syracuse, N.Y. on Sept. 10.
