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 JENNA McGLUSKY begins her rise to stardom on "AMERICAN IDOL" (She never wore those purple shoes again!) |
Follow Jenna's timeline
as we chart her career
By GERALD NACHMAN
of TheColumnists.com
October 2002: Pop singer Jenna McGlusky wins first place on “American Idol.”
November 2002: Jenna appears on “Entertainment
Tonight,” “The Tonight Show,” “Live with
Regis and Kelly” and makes the cover of People magazine.
December 2002: She's featured in O magazine, discusses
her trailer park beginnings in Modesto, California and dumpster-diving
years in New York’s East Village.
January 2003: Records album, “The McBest of McGlusky,”
wins 23 Grammys, is interviewed by Barbara Walters.
February 2003: is photographed with Ben Affleck, Ethan
Hawke, Brad Pitt and Jude Law, but denies a serious romance with
any of them.
March 2003: Announces engagement to Brad Pitt.
April 2003: Leaves Pitt for Hawke, attends Lakers game
with Spike Lee.
May 2003: is caught shoplifting at Wal-Mart, receives
suspended sentence but opts for month in jail. Upon release,
announces conversion to Scientology.
June 2003: Brings out self-help manual, diet book,
and workout DVD.
July 2003: Publishes ghost-written autobiography, “My
Very Own Book,” with details of abused childhood--frequent
spankings, a mother addicted to caffeine and red meat, and an
absent father who flew for Qantas Airlines.
August 2003: Becomes partner in SoSo (South of South
Street) New York restaurant serving Thai-Mex cuisine.
September 2003: Jenna makes film debut in “Girls
`n` Stuff”; it goes direct-to-video that week.
October 2003: Enters rehab for untreated high-carb
addiction to fruitcakes.
November 2003: Announces line of designer sweat socks.
December 2003: Second album is released and rises to
6,941 on the charts.
January 2003: She travels to Iran to entertain the
troops, is shifted to Somalia unit.
February 2003: Jenna stricken with chronic fatigue
syndrome, enters hospital for nap.
March 2003: After two-day stay, tells her exclusive story on “Larry King Live!”
April 2003: Becomes spokeswoman for chronic fatigue
syndrome, appears on telethon with other CFS victims wearing
bedraggled gray ribbon.
May 2003: Guests on “Oprah” to discuss failed
career, marriage, diet, ribbon.
June 2003: Accepts recurring role on “The Guiding Light.”
July 2003: Makes infomercial for cuticle cream, “flex-ercycle,”
and indoor grill.
August 2003: Goes on tour through West Virginia in
“Grease.”
September 2003: After conversion from Scientology to
Judaism, is born again at Lourdes and begins new career singing
at second-unit Billy Graham crusades.
October 2003: Announces she will host 2 a.m. public
access talk show, “Jenna!”
November 2003: Becomes roving goodwill ambassador for
UNICEF, is met with protest signs in Somalia.
December 2003: Moves from William Morris agency to
Harry Feinman Associates, which announces she will star on reality
TV show focusing on her wild, uninhibited daily life--shopping,
getting hair cut, taking cat to vet, screaming at agent.
January 2004: Emerges from the closet as cross-dresser
and is cast as surfer dude on new sitcom “Hey, It’s
Just Me.”
February 2004: Announces retirement and moves to Wyoming
with the new man and woman in her life and their seven adopted
kids from different continents.
March 2004: Appears on cover of AARP magazine with
other early retirees.
May 2004: Debuts on QVC selling mood rings and ankle
monitoring devices.
June 2004: Comes out of retirement for farewell tour.
July 2004: The Star headlines she has mysterious incurable illness.
August 2004: Receives Seventeen magazine’s lifetime
achievement award, special Academy Award, People’s Choice
certificate of merit, Kennedy Center backstage pass.
September 2004: Announces earlier misdiagnosis for
terminal hammertoe.
October 2004: Cuts first country album, opens barbecue pit in Branson, Missouri.
November 2004: Disappears; search party abandons hunt after 45 minutes.
December 2004: Rolling Stone asks, “Whatever Happened to Jenna McGlusky?”
January 2005: Jenna is discovered cleaning bathrooms
in a Chula Vista, California, nursing home and decides to resume
career over loud outcries from agent and public
©2005 by Gerald Nachman. The illustration is from IMSI's
Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael,
CA, 94901-5506, USA. This column first posted April 11, 2005.
You
can comment on this column online. Please address your message
to either "The Editors" or Gerald Nachman. To send
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