American Idol: Why Chikezie Dropped His Last Name

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American Idol: Why Chikezie Dropped His Last Name

March 30, 2008 09:01:14 by Joe Reality

It was one of the biggest mysteries of this season of American Idol. Why did Chikezie Eze become just plain Chikezie? Did he think he had become a big enough star that he could go the Madonna route and become known only by one name? Was there some mysterious secret that Chikezie was trying to hide?

It turns out that the reason Chikezie stopped using his last name was pretty simple. During a conference call with reporters Chikezie was asked why he stopped using his full name Chikezie Eze, Chikezie replied, “The last name is actually, I dropped it for that exact reason because it was constantly mispronounced.”

The reporter had pronounced Chikezie’s last name as rhyming with “easy,” but in reality Chikezie’s last name does not rhyme with “easy.” When asked if he had any regrets about ditching the last name, Chikezie said, “Basically no regrets.”

Now, here’s some additional Chikezie name trivia that makes Chikezie’s explanation of why he dropped his last name all the more unusual. It turns out that Chikezie’s first name doesn’t really rhyme with “easy” either, even though that is the way it has usually been pronounced on American Idol.

Before one of his American Idol performances, Chikezie talked about the original pronunciation of his first name. Chikezie said that his first name meant “something well created by God” in the Nigerian dialect of Igbo. Chikezie also talked about how all his teachers were constantly mispronouncing his name, so he just kind of let it go and it stuck with him. Chikezie said, “I decided that it would just be easier this way.”

So if Chikezie dropped his last name because it was constantly mispronounced, and his first name is also being mispronounced, then why doesn’t he drop his first name as well? Maybe, Chikezie should take the Prince route and change his name to an unpronounceable symbol. At least that way, no one would be able to mispronounce his name.

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Photo Credit: Frank Micelotta/FOX

Topics: American Idol |

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