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ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was Nov. 19, and Jordis Unga had just performed at the grand opening of the Muhammad Ali Center for the Advancement of Humanity Worldwide.
In an evening when the 23-year-old "Rock Star: INXS" contestant from St. Paul met James Taylor, B.B. King, Jim Carrey and Evander Holyfield, one more famous face wanted to meet the dreadlocked performer.
"Right before the finale, I was told, `You need to go down to the green room right away,'" Unga says. "Bill Clinton wanted to shake my hand."
She pauses.
"Which was rad - he was really sweet. But, I mean, it was insane, especially when I think about what I was doing at this time last year. I really couldn't be happier."
The past six months have been filled with such surreal moments for Unga, thanks to her participation on the CBS reality series that sought to find a new lead singer for the Australian band INXS. Unga didn't win the competition, but she quickly emerged as one of the show's most popular performers - her version of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" was one of the most downloaded tracks from the series. And she left the show with an Epic Records contract.
So instead of going back to life as a bartender in St. Paul, she has spent the past several months holed up in Los Angeles, writing songs and recording demos for her debut album, which will likely come out this spring. The label has paired her with various collaborators, including Evanescence's David Hodges and the duo Anne Previn and Scott Cutler of Ednaswap.
"I've been writing with a ton of different people, but it's starting to come together now," she says. "Ideally, I'm going to find a couple of people I really work well with and record the majority of the album with them. But the last thing I want to do is rush myself. I have no intention of stressing myself out over this."
The majority of reality-TV stars stumble when it comes to post-show careers, but thanks to the modest ratings of "Rock Star: INXS," Unga isn't suffering from overexposure. And those who did watch the show - including plenty of music industry vets - left with a stellar impression of Unga, who was known for her voice, not for being a drama queen or troublemaker.
"I really lucked out," she says. "It wasn't a smash hit, and I don't have to deal with all that `American Idol' baggage. I still get to come in under the radar."
As for INXS, Unga says she's happy for winner J.D. Fortune: "Personally, I think he was the best choice, and he makes those guys look good." But she hasn't gone back and caught up on tapes of the show.
"I don't know if I'll ever watch it," she says. "First of all, there's a lot of it to watch. But I don't know that I'm interested. Everybody got along really well, and it was totally a bonding experience, but it was stressful. We only had each other - we didn't even get to call home much, and when we did, we couldn't talk about the show.
"For the elimination episodes, they'd get us up at 5 in the morning. And whoever got eliminated wouldn't go back to the mansion - they'd get flown back home almost immediately. When I was eliminated, it was shocking not to be in that environment anymore. I booked a flight to New York and went and hung out there for a week. I don't think I actually really chilled out and came down from the whole thing until after the finale. And I've been working pretty much ever since."
Unga laughs with relief, though, when she brings up her new vocation.
"My perception of work now involves absolutely no physical labor," she says. "Yet, I'll still finish a day's work and come back exhausted. But it is my job now. And it's what I've always wanted my job to be."
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(c) 2006, St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.). Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
