Youngstown singer plans for a busy 2008

Look for the Chaney High School graduate’s album
early next year.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — It looks like 2008 will prove to be a very good year for LeShawn Tucker Jr., with a nationwide tour and album to kick things off.

Tucker, 23, of Youngstown, was part of the winning 20-member choir that appeared last week on the four-day NBC competition show “Clash of the Choirs.” The winner was announced Thursday and had been decided by viewer voting.

Tucker was one of the 20 out of roughly 600 people, many from the Cincinnati area, to land a slot in the choir.

His was one of five choirs on the show, with one of each having been put together by celebrity singers Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton, Blake Shelton, Kelly Rowland and Nick Lachey.

Tucker, a 2002 Chaney High School graduate who attends Wright State University in Dayton, was in Lachey’s choir, called “Team Lachey.”

“I was jumping up and down, going crazy when we won,” Tucker said Saturday while supervising a dance audition at Studio D, 5234 Southern Blvd. “I couldn’t believe we beat Patti LaBelle’s team.”

Tucker didn’t have a lot of time to jump up and down, however. A day later, he found himself celebrating during a cruise around New York City on a boat Lachey rented. The Statue of Liberty was one of many landmarks he got an up-close-and-personal look at, Tucker said.

After celebrating his victory, Tucker will be preparing for the release in early 2008 of “Stuck in Love,” an album on which he wears the hats of singer, producer and writer.

In late January or early February, Tucker will add traveling to his long itinerary. He will be going on a Live Nation tour that will take him to at least nine cities.

The tour will make stops in Youngstown, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City, noted Linda Weaver, owner of the LeModeln Model & Talent Agency in Boardman. The agency has represented Tucker for about three months, Weaver said.

Accompanying Tucker on the tour will be six dancers, all of whom were at Studio D for tryouts.

One was Kristen Bickel of Cuyahoga Falls, who has danced for 14 years, including three with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I’m extremely proud of him; he’s an honorable guy and a hard worker,” said LeShawn Tucker Sr., Tucker’s father and manager. The elder Tucker, who also owns T Mobb Records of Youngstown, added that his son began singing in a church choir at 5.

The younger Tucker praised the city of Youngstown for its support and thanked those who voted for him.

“I plan to return the calls of every single person who called, and return every text [message] and e-mail so people know I appreciate them,” he added.

Tucker’s accomplishments also included performing for the Youngstown Connection throughout high school, dancing with the Archangel Dance Theater and appearing in plays at the Youngstown Playhouse.

He performs with the Wright State University Gospel Choir and is majoring in mass communications and theater studies.