Out Music: David Hernandez "Beautiful"

David Hernandez, American Idol season 7 alum, drops his new single and music video, "Beautiful."

In an exclusive interview with OUT, Hernandez says the theme of the track is to remind folks that they are beautiful just as they are. “If you’re missing a leg, you’re still beautiful. If you’re overweight, you’re still beautiful. If you are 75 years old, you’re still beautiful,” Hernandez says.

In 2008, Hernandez made it onto the reality competition series American Idol, landing in the top 12 before being eliminated. Rumors, however, quickly started circulating about the “real reason” Hernandez was sent home. Viewers bombarded Hernandez with comments about his past as a male stripper and soon questioned his sexuality, wondering if it influenced his exit from Idol.

Hernandez has said members of the show were fully aware of his past from the very beginning. But still, the media was relentless. “It was hard to go online and not read something negative about myself.”

People were more interested in rumors and scandals than the music.

Though Hernandez now believes he has the strength and self-confidence to handle a lot of backlash, his younger self did not, and the Idol drama took a toll on himself and his family.

“My dad still knew nothing about my sexuality or my profession. So when it’s plastered all over CNN that’s not how somebody really wants to go down.”

The song is imminently listenable - sexy tribal drum beat with tons of visual diversity lighting up the screen makes this a big, vocally bold anthem for celebrating all dimensions of ethnicity, sexuality, age and whatever flavor you can think of.