Idol Headlines for 10/22/14

American Idol Season 11 winner, Phillip Phillips, will perform the national anthem before Game 2 of the World Series on FOX 8/7c PM.

Good news for American Idol season 11 alum, Skylar Laine, she managed to fund her $8,000 Kickstarter campaign in the final hours.

Stars from Disney, “Idol,” Broadway and TV Lineup for Panto Sleeping Beauty, With Songs by Jessie J and More – The Pasadena Playhouse and Lythgoe Family Productions will present the Panto at the Playhouse production of Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight beginning Dec. 10. The cast will feature Disney recording artist Olivia Holt (Disney’s “I Didn’t Do It”) as Aurora, Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Spartacus”) as Carabosse, David Engel (La Cage aux Folles, Seussical) as Nanny Tickle, Tamyra Gray (“American Idol,” Bombay Dreams, Rent) as The Good Fairy and Ben Giroux (CW’s “Hart of Dixie,” Panto at the Playhouse’s Aladdin and His Winter Wish) as Silly Billy. Performances will continue through Jan. 4, 2015, at The Pasadena Playhouse. The show will be helmed by the creative team behind last year’s Panto at The Playhouse production of Aladdin and His Winter Wish — director Bonnie Lythgoe (“So You Think You Can Dance”), choreographer Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for “So You Think You Can Dance”) and musical director Michael Orland (“American Idol”).- Read more at Playbill

CMA COUNTRY CHRISTMAS” ADDS PERFORMANCES BY ALAN JACKSON, AND BRAD PAISLEY WITH ROCK LEGEND STEVEN TYLER – Celebrate the holidays with some of the biggest names in music performing holiday classics on “CMA Country Christmas,” a two-hour special hosted for the fifth year by Jennifer Nettles airing MONDAY, DECEMBER 1 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. The special, which tapes in front of a live audience Friday, November 7 (7:30 p.m., CT), at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., is a star-packed celebration of the season with performances by Alan Jackson, and Brad Paisley adding his blazing guitar work to a performance by rock ‘n’ roll royalty Steven Tyler. Artists previously announced include Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Sara Evans, Lucy Hale, Hunter Hayes, Little Big Town, Idina Menzel, Nettles, LeAnn Rimes, Michael W. Smith, and Carrie Underwood. – Read more at ABC

‘Nashville’ Recreates CMA Awards With the Band Perry, Joe Nichols, Trisha Yearwood – In addition to cast members Connie Britton (Rayna Jaymes) and Will Chase (Luke Wheeler), Eric Close, who plays Mayor Teddy Conrad, was working behind the scenes, directing the episode. To lend an air of authenticity to the whole thing (which is one of Nashville’s great strengths), several bona fide country stars were on hand to take part in the filming, including Trisha Yearwood, the Band Perry and Joe Nichols. The episode also utilized 1,130 extras, glammed up just as they would be if they were attending the CMAs, the biggest difference being that the three hours of the real CMA telecast is nothing compared to the number of hours (and days) the cast, crew and extras spent recreating the spectacle for this one-hour episode. – Read more at Rolling Stone

Same old-same old? Not for Kris Allen – While in recovery, Allen, 29, picked up a guitar and came up with “Beautiful and Wild,” a song inspired by his 1-year-old son Oliver, who was in utero during the car crash. “That was the first tune I wrote after enduring that,” Allen says. “The lyrics just came to me and I went to work. It hit me how fortunate we were after the accident that all I had was (the broken wrist), my wife didn’t lose the baby … life could have been a lot worse.”
Life’s been pretty good for Allen ever since he won “American Idol” in 2009. The laid-back singer-songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, has sold more than a half-million albums and is able to focus on his passion. – Read more at TheIntell.com

Jordin Sparks — Ready to Get Pricked … For a New Body Piercing – Jordin Sparks is embracing pain … and this time it has nothing to do with ex-BF Jason Derulo — instead she’s finally worked up the nerve to get a bull ring piercing. Maybe she was celebrating the single life — or just looking for a new look — but Jordin took a trip to T-Man Tattoo in Studio City last weekend to get a hole punched in her septum … one of the more painful piercings you can get. Our sources say it wasn’t an easy decision — in fact, Jordin initially left the shop … and then came back when she felt brave enough. – TMZAccording to a tweet from Jordin, she only had the piercing in for 12 hours: “Soooo…I pierced my septum yesterday & took it out yesterday. I was a rebel for about 12 hours. It was great.”

Fact check: Clay Aiken’s attack ad is off-key – Clay Aiken’s latest attack ad against incumbent Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers hits a couple of bad notes. Aiken falsely claims Ellmers “voted against the payroll tax cut because she thought $1,000 out of your pocket is not that much money.” She voted against a two-month extension because it wasn’t long enough and helped craft a bipartisan bill that extended the payroll tax holiday for one year. Aiken also says Ellmers failed to “stop a Fort Bragg Air Wing from being moved out of state” because she missed a deadline for filing a bill amendment with the House Rules Committee. But that had nothing to do with the amendment not coming up for a floor vote. More important, the airlift wing hasn’t moved, and Ellmers is still fighting to keep it from being relocated. – Theres MUCH MORE at USA Today via FactCheck.org

Pentatonix Talks Holiday Album, Touring Goals and Teaching A Cappella to Teens – “I think this album’s more creative than our last one,” Scott Hoying told The Hollywood Reporter of the new release, in comparison to their 2012 EP, PTXmas. “Our last one is just typical Christmas songs with really pretty a cappella arrangements. But this one, I feel there’s more concepts and ideas.” “It’s always really fun — there’s only really one or two months where you can sing Christmas songs, so we put all this hard work into this album,” added Kirstie Maldonado. “I love singing our Christmas songs every chance we get. It’s really cute.” – Read more at Hollywood Reporter

Why We Have Chris Martin to Thank for Taylor Swift Joining The Voice! – Martin acted as The Voice’s mega-mentor last season, and Swift revealed that was part of the reason she decided to take over the position this year. “I’d seen that Chris Martin had done it and Chris is one of my favorite frontman of one of my favorite bands,” she said. “So I went and researched what he had done…and when [NBC] reached out to me, I thought you had to watch people and tell them whether they’re good or bad and it’s not that at all. It’s much more interesting and fun and kind of freestyle than that. So I’m having the best time!” And ever the hard worker, Swift has also been using her time at The Voice to secure potential collaborations with some of the coaches, including Pharrell Williams. – Read more at EOnline

About mj santilli 34842 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!