Mandisa

Mandisa

Mandisa's birthday is OCTOBER 2ND and in celebration we're throwing a video gift contest party! Which basically means, make a Mandisa-themed video and submit it for a chance to win awesome Mandisa prizes! Sounds like a party, right?? The video can be anything from a karaoke performance of a Mandisa tune, to a real-live performance, to a slideshow, or even a dance! Just start with your favorite Mandisa song, add some creativity, and turn on the video recorder! Upload your video to the web site of your choice (i.e.youtube, myspace, Facebook, flickr, Tangle etc.)

Mandisa will "open" her video gifts on her birthday, October 2nd, and choose her three favorites. Grand Prize winner will receive tickets to a Mandisa concert nearest to them, passes to meet her, and a whole bunch of swag! The next runner up will win a phone call from Mandisa, and a bundle of swag! The next runner up will also win a bundle of swag! Plus, just for entering, you'll receive an autographed thank-you note from the birthday girl. So go get to filming, and remember, please upload your video to a sharing web site and send us the link to mandisacontest@trueartist.org. Please don't send the whole big video file :) Have fun, we can't wait to see what you come up with!

Fortunately, Mandisa’s unwavering faith and activism through music with the Women of Faith conference and 20-city concert tour helped prepare her to let go and experience true freedom through healthy living. Nowadays, the Ashley Stewart spokesmodel and Grammy- and Dove-award nominated chanteuse has made a commitment to healthy living for the long haul. “I still have a long way to go, but this isn’t about looks,” she assures as she continues to promote her album, “Freedom.’” “It’s about letting go and living a healthier lifestyle.”

Mandisa Weight Loss

Mandisa Weight Loss

Mandisa Weight Loss, Simon Cowell should know that some things are worth the weight. Too bad the “American Idol” creator and resident hater couldn’t see that when he made a disparaging comment about Mandisa Hundley ’s plus-size frame after her audition for season 5 of the hit show. “My heart broke when I saw the show and Simon said that they’d need to build a bigger stage for me,” explains Mandisa, who has lost 80 pounds after hiring a personal trainer last August. “I was watching the auditions with my friends and was so humiliated and hurt, but my friends prayed that God would have mercy on him and help me forgive him before I returned to move on to the next competition, and I did.”

Still it wasn’t until a July 2007 trip to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota when a trail hike left Mandisa nearly breathless that she decided to make some changes. The Tennessee native was scared straight and began tackling her issue pound for pound. She knew she needed to break a 20-year cycle of extreme yo-yo dieting and binging. “I was molested when I was a child and then raped when I was older,” she explains. “Subconsciously I associated beauty with danger, so I figured the more weight I gained the less men would find me desirable.”

Fortunately, Mandisa’s unwavering faith and activism through music with the Women of Faith conference and 20-city concert tour helped prepare her to let go and experience true freedom through healthy living. Nowadays, the Ashley Stewart spokesmodel and Grammy- and Dove-award nominated chanteuse has made a commitment to healthy living for the long haul. “I still have a long way to go, but this isn’t about looks,” she assures as she continues to promote her album, “Freedom.’” “It’s about letting go and living a healthier lifestyle.”

Read for the Record

Read for the Record

Scores of schools, retailers and other groups throughout Orange County will participate today in the annual Read for the Record Day, an event aimed at encouraging literacy by trying to break the world record for largest shared reading experience. Throughout the day, firefighters, local politicians and others will volunteer by reading to students from Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Participating schools in Orange County include Hawes Elementary in Huntington Beach, Turtle Rock Elementary in Irvine, Parkview Elementary in Garden Grove and Valdez Middle School Academy in Placentia. Other participants include retailers like Walmart and Barnes and Noble. Organizers say they hope to break the Guinness record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country last year read "Corduroy," a book by Valerie Rene Sheppard.