Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Natalie Cole called being left out of the finale of "American Idol" "very offensive," in an interview that was broadcast live today, June 24, 2013 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM) on the CBS Television Network. Check out the appearance below!
Cole told co-hosts Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell of the snub, "They had Aretha on satellite. They couldn't find me? I live right down the street."
Cole also discussed the life-saving kidney transplant that inspired her latest album, "Natalie Cole En Español," as well as the legacy of her father, Nat King Cole.
Excerpts from the interview are below.
Gayle King: I happened to be watching American Idol when Jennifer Hudson –
Natalie Cole: Oh –
Gayle King: Let's go there, Natalie.
Natalie Cole: You would go there, Gayle, my friend.
Gayle King: Yes, let's go there. She was singing the song, and they were saying that it was Jennifer's song, and you immediately got on Twitter and said "oh no." I was surprised they didn't ask you to sing it. Did they ask you and you said no? What happened there?
Natalie Cole: The whole thing about that situation was they say that this young girl – each contestant had a chance to sing their song with the original creator of the tune. So this girl comes out to sing "Inseparable" and walking down the stairs, here's Jennifer Hudson. You've got a young audience sitting there who may not know that Jennifer Hudson is not the originator of that song. So all I would ask of "American Idol" would be to just do a little shout-out, by the way, this was a Natalie Cole song, not a Jennifer Hudson song. And I just felt that it was very offensive and disrespectful that they did that. I'm not mad at Jennifer, she's cool.
Videos