Interview with the Artist of the Week: Kimberley Locke
Former American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke is stronger than ever. Besides starting her own entertainment company, she has released a cookbook entitled ‘Cooking With Kimberley’ and a new music video for “Finally Free.” Check out our interview with her below, and click here to see our full featured article on her!
How do you think ‘American Idol’ has helped further your career?
“The great thing about ‘American Idol’ is that it gives you such an amazing platform. Prior to ‘American Idol’, I was working and singing as and artist and was trying to get noticed. After ‘American Idol’ I realized that the exposure was unbelievable. Being on television five days a week and being all over the press is priceless. That is the platform and that’s what you get out of ‘American Idol’.”
Since you’ve been on and hosted many reality shows, do you still watch them today?
“I don’t watch too many reality shows. I’m always working, so it’s hard for me to keep up. The things I do watch I TiVo it, but I’m not huge on reality shows.”
What made you want to start ‘Cooking with Kimberley’?
“‘Cooking with Kimberley’ has been an Idea of mine for about two years. Immediately after ‘American Idol’, I went on to a show called ‘Celebrity Fit Club’ where I started to lose weight. Because of being on ‘Celebrity Fit Club’, I became a Jenny Craig spokes model. Prior to that, I was a model for Lane Bryant. Through the whole process I lost 40 lbs and my fans are always asking me how do I do it and how do I maintain my weight loss. So, I wanted to create something where I could just share my experience with my fans and that’s what ‘Cooking With Kimberley’ is all about. I maintained and continued my weight loss because I really took notice to the things I loved about food and what I craved. I went into the kitchen and tried to create modifications of my favorite dishes and created some things that were new. I want people to know that they can do the same thing.”
Can you tell us about the marathon you are running?
“I’m running the New York Marathon, it’s the first marathon that I’m running. I’m actually running with a team called “Malaria No More.” We have a page for people who want to support and make a donation to the cause. A marathon is one of those things that when you’re running and training, you’ll think that you can’t believe that you ran 13 miles. It makes you think about how strong you are and when you put your mind to it, that you can do it! It’s such a great feeling when you train to hit your milestones. So I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a little nerve-racking, but my goal is to finish and that’s what I focus on.”
You recently released your “Finally Free” music video, and since it’s a lot darker than your past videos, how did you come up with the concept for it?
“It’s a lot darker than what I have done video-wise in the past. The director is a very good friend of mine and he said he wanted to do something different. I try to stay open. I always want to push the boundaries and show people a different side of me. What I loved about it was that the video itself was darker, but he still kept the essence of who I am. Some of the beauty shots in the video I absolutely loved. I believe the video is very tongue and cheek. Kidnapping your boyfriend, we didn’t hurt him, we didn’t beat him up, we just dumped him on the side of the road somewhere. No girl would ever think about doing that! [laughs]. That’s the greatest thing about making a video, it’s fantasy it’s like a movie. It would never happen in real life and it was an opportunity to be expressive and creative.”
Besides “Finally Free,” are you planning on releasing any new music?
“Well, we are actually working on the next single right now, which I am very excited about. It’s going to be really great. We haven’t really started promoting it yet, but stay tuned. It’s an unreleased track that’s not on the EP or anything like that.”