Jordin reportedly had some help to win ‘Idol’

Plus: $10 million doesn’t buy much of Michael Jackson’s time

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‘Idol’ crowns a champ
“American Idol” Jordin Sparks and some of the singers she bested along the way in season six.

By Jeannette Walls

MSNBC

updated 2:50 a.m. ET June 7, 2007

Jordin Sparks says that she can’t take credit for her fabulous voice because it’s a gift from God. Apparently, the “American Idol” winner also had a little more earthly help: she reportedly had a vocal coach. That may come as a surprise to Sparks’ fans because on her official bio on the “Idol” Web site, when asked if she ever had formal training, Sparks answered, “No.”

“Jordin was just 14 years old when she studied with me in 2004,” vocal coach Melissa Black told Star magazine. “Her mom, Jodi Sparks, and her grandmother, Pam Wiedmann — who acts as her manager — found me on the Internet. We were together for nine months of intense vocal work, with Jordin taking one 30-minute class a week at $25 per class … I knew she wouldn’t take long to perfect her craft because she was so good.”

Black says they haven’t spoken since Sparks stopped taking the classes, and she said mostly good things about her alleged former student. Nevertheless, Black admits, she was “hurt for a week” when the “Idol” winner said that she hadn’t had any formal training. “Jordin didn’t have to mention my name, but at least acknowledge you had training,” she told the tab. “But I’ve moved on, and I hold my head up high.”

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Michael Jackson for sale
How much Michael Jackson does $10 million buy?

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Thrilling times
Click to see pictures from the highs and lows of Jackson's career.
Not a whole party’s worth, it turns out. That’s the princely sum Wacko Jacko was reportedly paid by a Prince of Brunei, who wanted to have the once-hot “Thriller” singer attend his 25^th birthday. But Jackson beat it early, according to reports, leaving the party well before it was finished, because he said he wasn’t feeling so good.

The moonwalker didn’t look that great, either, according to reports. “Michael seemed a shadow of his former self,” an onlooker told the London Sun. “He was white as a sheet.”

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Notes from all over
Gwyneth Paltrow is renting her childhood home. The “Proof” star was beside herself when her mother, actress Blythe Danner, sold the four-bedroom Santa Monica house where Paltrow lived until she was 11 for more than $8.6 million, according to Us. “Gwyneth couldn’t talk about it. She was very upset,” and insider told the mag. So she rented it from the owner while she’s filming “Iron Man.” Says the source, “They just had (her daughter) Apple’s third birthday party there.” ... “Filth and Wisdom,” the film Madonna’s directing, is about the music biz and is inspired by the Material Girl’s own experiences, says a source. ... Did Nicole Richie really send an e-mail invitation to a Memorial Day party, suggesting friends “celebrate our country by drinking massive amounts of beer”? In Touch Weekly says she did, and reports that Richie claims that she was only trying to be funny. But some found no humor in the booze reference, nor in the “joke” from the super-skinny starlet that warned: “there will be a scale at the front door. No girls over 100 pounds allowed in. Start starving yourself now.”