NEWS

Jackson native Thigpen a finalist in BET competition

Rachel James-Terry
Clarion-Ledger correspondent

Jackson native Dathan Thigpen, 34, a Gospel singer, actor and musician is one of the top 3 finalists of the all-star edition of “Sunday Best.”

The nationally televised singing competition is hosted by Kirk Franklin. Contestants are mentored by vocal powerhouse Kim Burrell, and their performances are critiqued by legendary Gospel artists Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin plus newcomer Kierra Sheard.

Thigpen, who initially made it to the top 10 of Season 3 before being eliminated, was chosen by fans to return for the eighth season of the BET network program.

The sole winner of the competition will receive the highly sought-after “Sunday Best” crown, a recording contract with Franklin’s record label, Fo Yo Soul Recordings, and cash prizes. The winner will be chosen by viewers and announced Aug. 30 during the live finale of the show.

Thigpen, who now resides in Atlanta, is incredulous at the amount of support from his hometown and state. He hosted a watch party Sunday at Duling Hall with free food and live performances to show his gratitude. He also wanted to encourage his fellow Mississippians to vote for him.

“The people in Mississippi have the power to put me back on stage as that winner of this competition, and it means so much to me to represent Mississippi that way. We don’t get an opportunity like everyone else all the time, and I was afforded this opportunity. And with this platform, I could do so much — not just for myself but others,” he said.

“I want to encourage the people. It’s really up to us in Mississippi to rally around and vote and vote like crazy. Vote until your fingers fall off,” Thigpen said laughing.

Full-time musician, 23, Kendrick Hart was as the Duling Hall event Sunday evening and said he planned to take Thigpen’s directive to heart.

“I’ve known of Dathan for a minute,” Hart said. “I’ve been following his music. He’s a real cool guy, and I just wanted to show my support. I’ve already voted for him and I’m going to keep voting for him.”

Kelli Young-Hart, 33, of Jackson also was there to show her support for Thigpen.

“When Dathan lived in Jackson he had a group called Holy Nation,” said Young-Hart, who is the assistant administrator at New Hope Preschool. “I was a part of that group, and I was excited to see him taking his next steps and I wanted to come and support. Plus my 3-year-old son is totally obsessed with ‘Sunday Best,’ and this is the closest we would get to the actual show so I had to bring him out.

Hailing from a family of singers and musicians, Thigpen was grateful for a second shot at the “Sunday Best” title. “I get the opportunity to do all that I should’ve done, and then it’s the fans voting you back on. So it was overwhelming and yet very exciting to know I could be back on the show and to actually really go for it this time,” he says.

Thigpen decided to implement what he learned from his previous experience on the show. “I knew going in what to expect from this type of show,” he said. “And so everything was thought out this time: This is the type of song I want to sing. This is what I want to do. … I want to bring energy this type of way.

“I want to show people a side of me that they didn’t get to see last time. I went in with all these ideas instead of going in cold and not knowing much. This time, the difference is I have the edge of going on the show and knowing what to do and knowing how to make it work.”

The praise and worship leader for Faith Christian Center in Atlanta also understood he needed to entertain and keep viewers guessing. It is this mindset that led to his “Whip for Jesus Challenge,” an idea spawned from Thigpen doing the Whip doing a recent “Sunday Best” performance.

“One of the judges, Kierra, noticed it and was like ‘Oh, my God. When you did the whip, I was like Ahhhhh!’ But the judge was not the only one watching. The internet was all abuzz over Thigpen doing the “Whip”— a dance move made popular by secular rapper Silento.

Soon, Thigpen had the young and old uploading “Whip for Jesus Challenge” videos.

“People would come up to me and say, ‘I’m trying to get my Whip video together,’ ” Thigpen said.

“It was really cool and really great to see people having fun like that. And that’s the type of person I am. I’m spontaneous, and I like to do fun stuff like that because I’m usually doing other people’s challenges. … I thought it was really cool that I came up with a challenge and people responded to that.”

The ability to grow from his past experience is proving successful for Thigpen.

“Iinitially the idea was to get back on the show, do very well using all the knowledge that I know but my expectation wasn’t actually winning. I was working on a project already when I got invited back,” he said.

“I wasn’t one of those people like, ‘This is all I have.’ I just wanted to do well on the show and then continue doing what I was doing, … but now the reality is, I’m at the end and I could possibly win this competition. But I believe that’s what gave me the freedom to be myself and really shine.”