Donât stop believing: 10 Idols get ready to roll to 50 cities
All season, American Idol finalists sang shortened songs in front of a few hundred people, and millions more watched on TV. When their 50-city Idols Live tour starts Sunday at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., theyâll expand the songs and the crowd, without worries about who goes home at the end of the night.
âI didnât know how youâd fit 10 people in one show, but it flows so smoothly, â says Danny Gokey. âAnd the energy of 10, 000 to 15, 000 people will take it up a notch.â
The three-hour concert will be split between songs from the Fox series and material picked for the tour.
A four-song medley will spotlight Michael Sarver, Lil Rounds, Megan Joy, Matt Giraud, Scott MacIntyre and Anoop Desai. âThere are some duets in it, thereâs a group number, there are a couple of solo spots, but each of those Idols is featured, â says tour producer/director Raj Kapoor.
Also planned: a group performance of Journeyâs Donât Stop Believing.
The set boasts a 42-by-18-foot video-screen backdrop, as well as four smaller screens, each receiving separate signals. âWeâve created custom videos for each one of them, â Kapoor says. âWhichever Idol you like, you get to see them in their own light, with their own vibe.â
Paula Abdul Will Drop In On Drop Dead Diva
Paula Abdul will show off her acting chops in a guest role on Lifetimeâs new original series Drop Dead Diva.
âI am very excited to guest star on Drop Dead Diva, â Â Abdul says. âAll of the people are extremely talented and itâs a charming, wonderfully written new show.â Â
Broadway star Brooke Elliott plays the sassy lawyer lead in the dramedy about a shallow model who, after death, finds her soul inside the body of a smart plus-sized attorney named Jane.
In a September episode, Jane will go before Judge Nina Hodge, played by Abdul, in a case about a store that refuses to carry plus-sized clothing.
American Idol finalists get ready to hit the road
BURBANK, Calif. âââŹÂ Face to face at twin pianos, Matt Giraud and Scott MacIntyre strike the opening chords of âDonât Stop Believinâ, â and playing in unison the two âAmerican Idolâ finalists start to sing the Journey classic.
They trade lines about small town girls and city boys, and as the song unfolds the rest of this yearâs Top 10 Idols join in more or less in reverse order of their finish.
Michael Sarver and Megan Joy trade verses, then Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey take their turns.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMPâŚ
Your shot at âIdolâ
It seems like the Adam Lambert vs. Kris Allen competition has barely died down, but âAmerican Idolâ producers have already hit the road looking for contestants for Season 9.
This yearâs Orlando auditions are July 9 at Amway Arena downtown, but you will need to arrive a day or two early. Participants must go to the arena on Tuesday or Wednesday, beginning at 7 a.m., to register for an audition spot. You will need to bring two pieces of ID and, if you are under 18, you will have to have a parent or guardian with you.
âIdolâ puts up bigger numbers now that heâs a Billboard-topping rock star
Two of his four bandmates were with him in Oklahoma obscurity. A few of their current songs are ones they did back then.
âI always imagined them like this, with a crowd singing along, â Cook said by phone. âIt just wasnât the same when there were only eight people listening.â
Now itâs 8, 000-plus. Itâs been like that since Cook â who headlines the Common Ground festival Friday â became the 2008 âAmerican Idolâ champion.
Suddenly, the former Tulsa bartender was writing with Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls), Zak Maloy (Nixons) and his favorite, Raine Maila (Our Lady Peace). âOur first writing session, we did three songs in four hours, â Cook said.
Admit it: You are (I am?) excited about the new Blake Lewis CD!
This just in: American Idolâs season 6 runner-up, Blake Lewis, will drop his sophomore set, Heartbreak on Vinyl, on October 6th via Tommy Boy Entertainment. Also breaking: My voice, because despite my best efforts to suppress it, I let out a schoolgirl-like squeal when said record-release news landed in my inbox.
Yeah, I know, music hipsters would probably prefer to dismiss Lewis as a beatboxing Idol annoyance/the only person other than Jordin Sparks to sing âThis Is My Nowâ to a TV audience of 25 million people. But I say the guy should not be dismissed so easily. Listen to âEnd of the Worldâ (embedded below), an album cut from his debut Audio Day Dream (which sold 308, 000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and tell me that soaring chorus shouldnât have gone directly to the upper quadrants of Billboardâs Hot 100 without passing âGoâ and without collecting $200.
B-side: Jordin Sparks hits the dancefloor
With much of the country sweltering under record temperatures, most of us canât wait to hit the park, the beach or the garden to make the most of the glorious sunshine. Of course, no alfresco frolics are complete without a suitable soundtrack, which is where DSâs B-side of the week comes in handy.
Having remixed singles for Girls Aloud, Britney Spears and Pixie Lott in recent months, UK dance producers Bimbo Jones have now worked their magic on Jordin Sparksâs triumphant new single âBattlefieldâ. Dragging this soft rock monster onto the dancefloor with some throbbing beats and trancey synths, theyâve transformed it into a summer anthem almost as scorching as the midday sun.
Idol winner Sparksâ whirlwind continues with Jonas tour
Pop/R&B star Jordin Sparks doesnât want to wait for the inevitable.
As the opening act for the Jonas Brothers on their latest tour, she knows itâs only a matter of time before tabloids and bloggers start linking her to one of the siblings.
So Sparks, 19, is willing to make a pre-emptive strike. âWe can start the rumour that Iâm already dating Nick, â she laughs.
âWe could have so much fun messing with people â it would be so awesome. I donât know if Iâm quite prepared for Jonas mania, but I think Iâll be OK.â
After all, she sparked her own following of rabid fans â the Arizona native won the sixth season of TVâs most popular reality show, American Idol, in 2007.
Former American Idol winner stars in Broadway production at the Kimmel Center
Taylor Hicks stars in Broadway production of Grease
He is surprisingly shy. It comes through the long distance phone wires in his hesitant speaking style and his long pauses.
Taylor Hicks may have been âAmerican Idol, Year Five, â but he is surely not arrogant or self-important.
The âcountry boyâ with the hefty voice will be landing on stage in Philadelphia in the iconic musical âGrease, â from July 7 to July 19, as part of the national tour, after debuting on Broadway in the role of Teen Angel.
âItâs wonderful â I love the show, I love the role, but I canât say that I love the travel, â said Hicks, whose life changed drastically when he swept the âAmerican Idolâ title. âI certainly understand why Susan Boyle felt totally overwhelmed from the experience. Thatâs what it is â overwhelming.â
Analysis: Jackson Frenzy Drowns Out Competition
Sales of Michael Jacksonâs catalog drowned out the competition in the week after his death. Consumers flocked last week to online retailers such as iTunes and Amazon.com to purchase Jacksonâs catalog but the flurry of activity did not help other artists.
Total album sales dropped 8% versus the previous week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. New releases dropped 17% while catalog albums rose 3% and deep catalog increased 8%. A week-to-week change in the -10% range is not unusual, and the week did not have any blockbuster debuts.
Even so, the performance of the countryâs top albums is clear evidence that Michael Jacksonâs death had a negative impact on the rest of the market.
Except for debuts, no album in the previous weeksâ top 100 gained over the previous week. Of the top 200 albums, 149 had double-digit declines, 159 were in negative territory, two were flat and nine sold more units that in the previous week. There were 27 debuts that week.
Michael Jacksonâs Estate: Saved by the Beatles
Will Michael Jacksonsâ three children, Michael Joseph Jr., Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, end up paupers? The answer rests on the value of the performerâs largest asset: his 50% stake of a music publishing company called Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Jackson, who died on June 25, left behind as much as $500 million of debts. That includes a $315 million loan owed to British bank Barclays, as well as millions of dollars of bills. âJackson never paid his bills, â says a lawyer who did work for Jackson over the years. âCountless professionals who worked for him are still waiting to get paid.â In May, the singerâs long-time publicist Raymone Bain sued Jackson for $44 million in unpaid fees.
âEndlessâ Music In Michael Jacksonâs Vault
NEW YORK âââŹÂ Michael Jackson had a mountain of unreleased recordings in the vault when he died _ music that is almost certain to be packaged and repackaged for his fans in the years to come.
The material includes unused tracks from studio sessions of some of Jacksonâs best albums, as well as more recently recorded songs made with Senegalese R&B singer and producer Akon and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am.
âThere are dozens and dozens of songs that did not end up on his albums, â said Tommy Mottola, who from 1998 to 2003 was chairman and CEO of Sony Music, which owns the distribution rights to Jacksonâs music. âPeople will be hearing a lot of that unreleased material for the first time ever. Thereâs just some genius and brilliance in there.â
The releases, Mottola said, âcould go on for years and years _ even more than Elvis.â
Headlines: Rock of Ages Smashes Guinness World Record for Largest Air Guitar Ensemble
Tony Award nominated new musical Rock of Ages shattered the Guinness World Record for largest air guitar ensemble on July 1. The previous record, held by an assemblage of 440 air rockers at a music festival in Donington Park, UK, was smashed by a total of 810 rockers at the Brooks Atkinson Theater after the showâs matinee performance.
7 service members set to become citizens at Statue of Libertyâs July 4th crown opening
They defend our countryâs freedom, so thereâs no better place for seven members of the military to become U.S. citizens than Lady Liberty.
The seven soldiers, sailors and Marines â all from New York â will gather at the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4 for a naturalization ceremony, right before the statueâs crown reopens to the public for the first time since 9/11.
The seven service members will then lead the Pledge of Allegiance as new U.S. citizens.
Former âAmerican Idolâ contestant and Broadway star Constantine Maroulis will sing the national anthem, accompanied by the Albany Marine Band. The French national anthem will also be played.
Karaoke Kate Mossâs a hit with Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell is not famous for his unbridled praise of amateur singers, but he was clearly taken with his latest protge last night â a 35-yearold mother of one from Croydon. The X Factor judge was on his feet and cheering after listening to an enthusiastic rendition of Michael Jacksonâs Billie Jean.
Perhaps it was because the song was a tribute to the late entertainer. More likely, however, was that the amateur singer in question was Kate Moss.
Exhausted Cowell may dump one TV show
Big bucks may not be the deciding factor in Simon Cowellâs âAmerican Idolâ Â contract negotiations. Shortly after reports surfaced claiming Cowell could command as much as $144 million if he agreed to continue his ruthless judging routine, ex-girlfriend and current best friend Terri Seymour said the famed workaholic needs a break.
In an interview with the Daily Star, Seymour claimed an exhausted Cowell canât go on juggling three high-profile talent competitions. Between his work on âAmerican Idolâ Â and U.K. shows âX Factorâ Â and âBritainâs Got Talent, â Â one show has to go.
Ratings: Another Cowell Hit Brewing?
Summer television may finally have a hit; and Simon Cowell has a hand in this one, too.
NBCâs talent competition, âAmericaâs Got Talent, â Â got stronger in its second week on the air this summer, leading the network ratingson Tuesday night with almost 13 million viewers. That is the biggest audience for anything on television â- other than sports Ââ this summer.
âAGT, â Â as it is known, also attracted a 3.7 rating among the advertiser preferred group of viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, the best number for any network show this summer.
NBCâs âAmericaâs Got Talentâ surges
After weeks of summer reality shows steadily dropping in the ratings, NBCâs âAmericaâs Got Talentâ pulled off a surprising reversal Tuesday night.
The second week of NBCâs competition series surged in the Nielsens and was watched by more viewers than any non-sports program so far this summer (on broadcast or cable).
âGot Talentâ earned 12.9 million viewers and a 3.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, up 16% from its premiere.
One reason for the rise may have been the showâs lead-in, a âGot Talentâ repeat (8.2 million, 2.3) that drew far more viewers than âIâm a Celebrityâ brought to the time period in recent weeks. Or since the premiere was the lowest âTalentâ opener ever, the gain could simply be due to some fans returning late to the show.
Katie Holmes to Show Her Dance Moves on TV!
Katie Holmes will be showing off her dance moves on an upcoming episode of âSo you Think You Can Dance.â
ET has confirmed that Holmes will appear on the 100th episode of the Fox reality competition show. The actressâ performance will be an homage to Judy Garland, and she will dance and sing to Garlandâs classic song âGet Happy.â
Holmes has teamed up with âSo You Think You Can Danceâ co-creator Nigel Lythgoe, âDancing with the Starsâ judge Carrie Ann Inaba and director and choreographer Adam Shankman to create the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
âSo You Think You Can Danceâ: Chains, aliens and ballet shoes
Caitlinjason This has been the episode of âSo You Think You Can Danceâ that Iâve been waiting for all season. While I liked some performances more than others, I really enjoyed parts of every dance, which means Iâm growing closer to the contestants, which means eliminations will be more difficult, which means the dancers are going to have to step it up more and the show can only get better. Thank goodness.
I knew it would be a good episode with Mia Michaels sitting on the judgesâ panel. Cat Deeley (wearing a fun, flirty fuchsia dress with a black studded belt) asked Mia if she had anything to say since the last time she was on the show, and Mia rubbed her hands in anticipation and said, âWithout naming names, my opinion has changed for the better.â She was obviously talking about Brandon Bryant, who she took to task last time she was on the show for his âattitude, â but Nigel Lythgoe egged her on by saying, âWould this be for a small male dancer? Were the initials Brandon?â
