Idol Headlines For 05/06/09

‘American Idol’: On the scene for Top 4 performance night…and chaos

After a series of terrifying events during dress rehearsal, tonight’s broadcast of American Idol somehow came off without a hitch — unless you count Danny Gokey’s Dementor-like inhalation of the big note in “Dream On” — and while I may have given this show a lot of crap over yea these many weeks in the Idoldome, it is with utmost admiration and respect that I congratulate the staff and crew on accomplishing that feat.

There’s nothing funny about what happened, so I’ll give it to you straight: At the start of dress rehearsal, beloved stage manager Debbie Williams stood at the top of the massive glowing staircase. The first three steps are fixed, but the rest roll out from under the band deck; as she followed Seacrest down the stairs, she was caught in the gap when they began to prematurely retract. Observers told me she slipped, then grabbed onto the railing and dangled for a moment before falling the 20 or so feet to the ground. She suffered a severe cut on her leg — amazingly, according to one crew member, no broken bones — and was taken to the hospital by paramedics. My thoughts go out to her in hopes of a speedy return, as she is without question an invaluable member of the Idol family, and has never been anything but kind to me and my colleagues.

Popwatch

Paula Abdul Stays Focused on her Craft

Although it has been widely – and wildly – speculated that the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s producers would use this seasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s addition of the fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, to squeeze out Abdul, sources close to Abdul and the network confirmed that Fox has begun negotiations to renew her contract and seem hopeful an agreement can be reached?before it expires at season’s end.

Fox had no official comment for this story, saying it does not speak about contract negotiations, but the network has publicly expressed hope that Abdul will be back for the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ninth season.
If there is a hangup, it is likely to be the reportedly vast disparity in the starsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ salaries. Last year, former “Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Courier Mail that the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trademark tough judge, Simon Cowell, earns $36 million each season (not including income from his involvement with “Idol” gradsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ records). Cowellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s contract expires after next season, and he has been making noise that he might move on.

Sources close to the show say Abdul earns a fraction of Cowellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s figure, pegging it at around $2 million.

LA Times

More Idol Headlines After the JUMP…

‘American Idol’ recap: Crime-Scream Investigation

If you tuned in for tonight’s episode of American Idol and worried for a second that Fox was running a Cops marathon, who could blame you? In the course of a single hour à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  and, naturally, a few additional minutes designed to boost ratings for Fringe and drive DVR users/fans of The Mentalist to the brink of despair à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  I counted so many heinous crimes that Idol’s newest judge would need to remove her shoes to keep count.

Shall we tally? Danny Gokey garroted a defenseless Aerosmith tune till its tongue lolled purple and bloated from its mouth. Kris Allen was casually hurled under the bus by a band of vicious imbeciles. Simon Cowell repeatedly vandalized his own reputation and hacked away at the last remaining threads of credibility that Idol possesses. Kara DioGuardi committed a lewd act, not to mention multiple counts of first-degree stupidity. And with their flawless, episode-ending duet, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert stole the show.

Entertainment Weekly

‘American Idol’ Rehearsal Canceled After Injury, Raining Glass

As if performance night for the “American Idol” top four weren’t dramatic enough, just hours before Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta took the stage in Los Angeles, TMZ reported that stage manager Debbie Williams was injured in a mishap on the show’s giant staircase during dress rehearsal.

The staircase, which is supposed to retract as host Ryan Seacrest walks down it, reportedly folded too soon on Tuesday afternoon (May 5), and Williams, who was following Seacrest, tried to hold on but instead tumbled down the stairs. She suffered what was described as a “nasty gash” on her leg and was taken to a local hospital.

“We have had an unconventional day,” Seacrest said at the top of Tuesday night’s show. “Had a couple of things happen here on this set. Unfortunately we had an accident earlier here on our stage, but it didn’t end there.”

MTV

Weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re Live-Blogging The Top Four à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Performances!

BREAKING NEWS! LITERALLY! According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  blogs TopIdol and MJsBigBlog, there was an insane amount of drama during tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  dress rehearsal! Exploding sets, falling stage managers! Yowzas! More news to comeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ We now return you to your regularly scheduled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  live-blogà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦and then the Pope says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Poke her? I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even know her!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  HAHAHA. That was a funny joke.

Before tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Rock-themed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  live-blog, I want to say three words: Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m proud of you, America!

MTV

Adam Lambert & 20 More Of Musicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Glammest Guys

With everyone all is-he-or-isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t-he-ing over American Idol finalist Adam Lambertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sexuality, we here at the MTV Buzzworthy Blog are firmly entrenched in Team Glambert and could care less if heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gay or not as long as he keeps keeping his glam gun set to stun.

But friends, Adam Lambert wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t the first man in music to get glittery and glossy, wield an eyeliner pencil, nor keep his skin positively pristine.

And so, to celebrate Adam Lambert, the most glam man (or woman!) on TV, letà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s take a look at some of the glammest guys in music history!

Buzzworthy

The Rushfield Review: Chaos in the Idoldome, chaos in the competition

Allisoniraheta0405-250 Along with every ticket to the Idoldome comes the warning that any seat not filled half an hour before show time will be reassigned. And I have seen in my years on the bleachers that that is no idle threat. Normally I arrive a good 45 minutes before the curtain raises to avoid pressing my luck. On Rock and Roll night, however, perhaps internally the hellfire spirit of the theme, I pressed my luck and strolled over to the Idoldome a mere 25 minutes before 8 pm ET.

LA Times

Idol Worship: Best To Worst Of Rock Night

Is it just us or does this yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Idol feel like the longest season ever? Oh wait, it is! And here we are two weeks away from the finale, with a presumptive winner basically going through the motions, and it all couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t end soon enough. Of course, not before the last four standing desecrated all that is good and pure in rock-n-roll.

Slash mentored the group this week, offering screaming pointers and the like, but it really came down to comfort zone. Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta were clearly in theirs, but for Kris and Danny, the theme was more of a challenge (not to mention the lack of proper run-through due to an earlier set calamity). And there was the duet aspect to kick up the ante.

Billboard.com

The rock gods smile on a few

Let’s not mince words. It’s Rock Week on “American Idol,” so what better time to get down to the nitty-gritty and remember that music is a physical thing?

“Rock” can mean many things — an amplified noise, an excuse for wearing leather, a way that white guys got to play the blues — but on the blank blue stage of “Idol,” it was reduced to this: the gale force of breath that rushes through a singer’s body and becomes a storm that startles the crowd screaming at his or her feet. Rock, in the hands of the Final Four on Tuesday, was an act of seizure by force. The winners would be chosen for the absolute irresistibility of their attacks.

This is not usually the case on “Idol”; Kris Allen’s survival proves that a lighter touch can also sometimes work, if paired with gentle good looks, and Danny Gokey reminds us of the appeal of teddy-bear charm. Rock itself is often nothing like a hurricane. But this week, the mentor — guitarist Slash — the mostly 1970s-era song selections and the musical arrangements pointed toward one place: the arena. And that, my friends, is a world in which sky gods tossing thunderbolts have always ruled.

LA Times

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Expert Jim Cantiello Is Worried Kris Allen Is On His Way Out

Kris Allen Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been well over an hour since Danny Gokey imitated a velociraptor on the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  stage, but my poor ears have not recovered. But I still need to predict my bottom three for Wednesday nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s results show. (I have such a great track record, what with predicting Allison going home last week, I just know youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re all back clamoring for more of my inane à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  musings.)

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not sure if they will even do a bottom three Wednesday night, considering there are only four left, but for the sake of this blog (and my à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  pool) letà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pretend they will.

MTV.com

American Idol News: Adam & Kris Feud? Slash Loves Adam! Paula Sings

What’s up with this rumored feud between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen? Who has more grooming products on the bathroom counter in the mansion? Who doesn’t know how to take pictures with fans? And whose face hurts from smiling for the cameras all the time?

Wonder no further. We nabbed those answers and more when E! News caught up with American Idol’s fab four finalistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta. Check out the video above to get the scoopage. But to get caught up on all of this week’s Idol happenings involving Paula Abdul, No Doubt, Slash and more, read on…

E Online

Idol’s Matt Giraud Dodges Dating Question

“It’s complicated” the 23 year old piano man says, answering reader questions–including a marriage proposal.

People.com

Homecoming set for ‘Idol’ star Matt Giraud

KALAMAZOO–A homecoming celebration is set for Thursday, May 7, to honor Western Michigan University graduate and “American Idol” star Matt Giraud.

The celebration begins with live music at 6 p.m. in the Arcadia Festival Site downtown featuring local band Drop 35 and players from Monaco Bay, one of several Kalamazoo establishments where Giraud has performed in the past. Gates open at 4 p.m. with a tribute to Giraud beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

WMICH.edu

400 greet Chapel Hill’s hometown ‘Idol’

CHAPEL HILL – Being a celebrity can be hard work.

Anoop Desai greeted about 400 fans and signed autographs for two hours at The Franklin Hotel at 311 W. Franklin St. Sunday.

Fans of varying ages, and species, stood in 85-degree heat to give the singer a heroà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s welcome. Most wore Carolina-blue pins with slogans that said what the large crowd made clear: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Chapel Hill Loves Anoop.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Even a Bedlington terrier attended the meet-and-greet, wearing a Carolina-blue bandana labeled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“An Anoop Dog.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Chapel Hill News

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -

Chapel Hill Town Council honored Anoop Desai with a special ceremony at its meeting Monday night.

Fans gathered in council chambers to watch as Mayor Kevin Foy presented Desai with a key to the town. Earlier in the afternoon, UNC gave Desai a homecoming reception in his honor. He almost made it to the top five on season eight of American Idol.

“It’s amazing,” Desai told the crowd at the council meeting. “I’m glad to be home for a little while and this is the certainly the highlight of being home so far, so thank you.”

MY NC.com

Kris Allen’s Friends Say ‘He Was Ready’ For ‘American Idol’Before Susan Boyle, there was Kris Allen.

Strip out the bit about being a middle-age spinster who’s never been kissed, and you have the story of an unexpectedly powerful voice inside a shy, modest kid from a small Arkansas town who never tried to make a big deal about his impressive singing talent.

To hear Allen’s best friends tell it, if they hadn’t prodded the 23- year-old “American Idol” finalist to pick up his guitar and sing (and later to try out for the show), America might never have met the top-four finisher who is making an unexpected bid for the winner’s circle.

MTV

Paula Abdul remakes, improves on Kylie’s ‘Here for the Music’

On her new single, “I’m Just Here for the Music,” Paula Abdul’s singing voice is little more than an electronic squeak, Auto-Tuned into submission behind a thumping bass line that sounds inspired by Indeep’s disco classic “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.” And yet while the track, which premiered this morning on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show and is streaming at PaulaAbdul.com, is the musical equivalent of a Funyun — wholly unorganic, void of nutritional value, likely to leave behind a trail of chemical flavoring — I cannot lie: I thoroughly enjoyed tilting my head backward and pouring every last worthless crumb down my gullet.

Interestingly, “I’m Just Here for the Music” is actually a remake of a leaked (but never released) recording from Kylie Minogue’s 2003 Body Language disc, and a definite improvement on the original

Entertainment Weekly

Adam Lambert’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’: The Story Behind The Cover

Imagine a freight train speeding toward you at midnight. Or a rockslide barreling down a hill as you try to outrace it. That’s the feeling of the ominous, chugging Jimmy Page riff that kicks off Led Zeppelin’s 1970 Stonehenge of rock, “Whole Lotta Love.” And that’s before singer Robert Plant leans into one of the nastiest, ecstatic rock screams this side of the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

MTV

Danny Gokey’s ‘Dream On’: The Story Behind The Cover

There’s a very good reason the “American Idol” top four didn’t mess around very much with the arrangements of the classic-rock songs they performed on Tuesday night: a) they probably weren’t allowed to and, more important, b) these songs are really, really hard to sing as is.

Take, for example, Milwaukee native Danny Gokey’s choice of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” The prototype for all hard-rock power ballads that followed, the song is from the Boston-bred band’s 1973 self-titled debut album. It mixes sensitive piano playing with a string section and fuzzed-out, distorted guitars for an emotional roller-coaster that made then-25-year-old lead singer Steven Tyler sound like he’d already lived the life of an 80-year-old blues originator.

MTV

Top 9 Best American Idol Finalists (Who Didn’t Win)

You guys! There’s only three weeks left till the American Idol finale! Which means there’s only three more weeks until Adam Lambert is our country’s first, um, truly fabulous Idol! (Right? Right!)

After seven seasons, we all know that it doesn’t really matter who winsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ just as long as they make it to the finals. Past finalists have won Oscars, conquered song charts, and stormed Broadway, while winners like Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks are belting power ballads at county fairs.

Eonline

Cobra Starship Make New ‘American Idol’ Connections

Cobra Starship are already honorary members of the “American Idol” family, having worked with judge Kara DioGuardi on a track called “Good Girls Go Bad.” While the band steadfastly denies that they are loyal “Idol” fans à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  “Hell, no!” frontman Gabe Saporta cries à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  they did share some strong opinions about the show and its contestants during some downtime on the set of their upcoming music video.

MTV

Paula Abdul Reveals Struggle with Prescription Painkillers

Dealing with Simon Cowell on live TV may be a challenge à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ but Paula Abdul says it’s nothing compared her struggle to kick her dependence on painkillers.

“I could have killed myself,” Abdul, 46, tells Ladies’ Home Journal in its June issue. “Withdrawal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ it’s the worst thing.”

Abdul says she checked herself into the La Costa Resort and Spa, in Carlsbad, Calif., last Thanksgiving to help beat her use of medication. “I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating,” she says. “But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.”

People.com

Fans Gaga for Lady

Fans got a lot more than they paid for at the House of Blues on Monday night.

As part of the Grammy Celebration Tour, co-sponsored by T-Mobile, House-goers were treated to free performances by chart-topping divas Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson.

Grammy winner and original à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  champ Clarkson delivered an hourlong performance featuring no wardrobe changes, no props and standard rock-pop fare including à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Behind These Hazel Eyes,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Breakawayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and material from her latest record, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“All I Ever Wanted.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

As if the diva duo wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t enough to give fans their free tickets-worth, spike-haired à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  finalist Blake Lewis served as the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s emcee, working his renowned beat-boxing game between sets.

Boston Herald

Clarkson and Lady Gaga are entertaining contrasts

Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga ruled the roost at the House of Blues Monday night, offering a piping-hot slice of the current pop charts.

The free show – part of T-Mobile’s Grammy Celebration Concert Tour, which features different artists at every stop – was an amusing study in contrasts. Where Clarkson’s sartorial choice was flared jeans and flip-flops, Gaga went for multiple fashion statements, a few involving bubbles and breastplates. The winner of the made-for-TV talent contest “American Idol” was loose and natural fronting a live band, while the one who fancies herself an “artist” mainly performed robotic dance moves to DJ’ed tracks. And Texas homegirl Clarkson good-naturedly goofed on her attempts at sexiness in her recent “I Do Not Hook Up” video after the New York glitter-grime queen intoned playfully and portentously about truth and art.

Boston.com

Constantine Maroulis on his Tony nomination: ‘It’s very surreal’

The cast of Broadway’s Rock of Ages have reason to break out the Aqua Net and Long Island Iced Teas tonight: The 1980s rock spectacular garnered a whopping five Tony nominations today. But the musical’s nominated star, Constantine Maroulis, is staying humble amid all the accolades. “[I was] very surprised,” Maroulis, the first American Idol alum ever to nab a Tony nom, tells EW. “I [popped] up around 8:33 or so this morning to turn on the TV, and they were on my category right there. And sure enough, they mentioned my name. It’s very surreal.”

Perhaps more surreal for Maroulis is the mainstream success of the hair-metal-centric musical. The actor, who starred in the Off Broadway version as well, says he remembers discussing the play in its early form four years ago in an L.A. bar (he wasn’t able to appear in Rock’s early variations, due to his post-Idol obligations). And Rock is poised to get even an bigger audience: Rights to the musical were optioned by New Line in December. Maroulis, however, isn’t ready to write his Oscar speech just yet. “I’m not a movie star,” he says. “I’ll probably sing the track for Zac Efron or something and he’ll play the role. I’ll pull a Natalie Wood, where I just get to sing the track for him.”

Entertainment Weekly

Another celebrity goes home on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Dancingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢

The yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s first shocker: The first celebrity to be safe was a surprise to no one: Gilles Marini. The second was Melissa Rycroft. Next to be safe was Shawn Johnson. So far, nothing to even raise an eyebrow. But when it was announced that it was not the low-scoring Ty Murray but the talented and substantially higher-scoring Lilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Kim going home this week, the entire audience gasped. Ty, while very personable, is entirely out of his depth going up against Gilles and Melissa, while Lilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Kim still had the potential to pull out some surprises. A disappointing result.

MSNBC

‘Dancing With the Stars’ Recap: Booted Booty

Here lies Lil’ Kim’s patented Bionic Booty à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  beloved punchline, shaker of salt, wonder of world. Felt most comfortable when encased in full-length bodysuits. R.I.P. For future reference, DANCMSTRs, when the Dancing With the Stars Tuesday night verdict is exactly what you’d expect (see: Chuck and Julianne last week), Tom will tease it throughout the episode as the most shocking elimination of the season. But when the results are legitimately bewildering? Not a peep from the devilish man who’s hosting as fast as he can. Very sneaky, Mr. Bergeron.

Last night’s ouster of Lil’ Kim and Derek was truly the WTF? moment of season 8. The rapper, baby seal impersonator, and proud owner of 800 wigs did not deserve to go home, talent-wise, but her fan base couldn’t pull her through once she’d fallen from the top according to the judges. Cowboy cutie Ty Murray, the more obvious choice for elimination (and you could tell he felt horrible after the announcement) stays another week thanks to his endearing aw-shucks personality and serious work ethic. Actually, the real reason he stays à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  as Dance Center informed us à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  is that Ty is a robot sent to destroy mankind.

Entertainment Weekly