American Idols Live tour recap in Atlanta at Gwinnett Arena
In past years, the pre-show audience would be tortured by incessant advertising, especially by the likes of Pop Tarts.
But Pop Tarts has finally dropped its sponsorship. And reflective of the economy, they were replaced by’ ¦ nothing. As a result, the pre-show consisted of more than 90 minutes of ‘Idol’ videos by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Kellie Pickler, David Cook and Carrie Underwood, underscoring how many hits the ‘Idols’ have generated the past seven years. The only ads were for T-shirt merchandise and an iTunes pass for Kris Allen. Plus, they replayed a few of the Ford ads from the show. Any image of Adam elicited cheers far greater than that of Kris, like some weird concert referendum.
Anoop Desai will perform at State Fair
Anoop Desai of Chapel Hill, who found fame on “American Idol, ” will fill the final open spot for performers at this fall’s N.C. State Fair.
Fair officials announced late Friday that Desai will perform on Oct. 22. Desai was in the top 10 on the most recent season of “American Idol.”
Tickets will go on sale at www.ncstatefair.org on Monday. Tickets for Desai’s show are $5.
He will join a lineup of performers at the State Fair that includes Kellie Pickler, Blake Shelton, The Temptations, Third Day and Julianne Hough. The fair is Oct. 15-25.
More Idol Headlines After the JUMP…
Michael Sarver: Backstage At L.A.’s Staples Center
My final interview shot backstage at the recent Idols Live Tour concert at Los Angeles’s Staples Center is with 10th-place contestant Michael Sarver, but ironically, Michael is the man who kicks off the Idols Live concert every night, performing first and setting the tone for the entire evening. That’s a high-pressure position for any performer to be in, especially at a gigantic arena like the Staples, but judging from Michael’s laid-back demeanor during our talk that day, he’s handling his duty like a pro and totally enjoying himself.
For Rent: “American Idol” Winner’s Apartment
If you ever dreamed of sleeping in “A.I.” champ Kris Allen’s bed, here’s your chance … and his wife is totally on board to let it happen.
Kris and Katy are currently sub-leasing their fully furnished apartment in Cabot, Arkansas for $600 a month, because the young lovebirds will be spending the next couple of months holed up in Hollywood.
Considering there are only around 20, 000 people in Cabot … you don’t have to worry about a long line to apply.
American Idols Perform in Gwinnett
The American Idol Tour has come to metro Atlanta. This year’s American Idol winner and runners-up are playing to thousands of fans at the Gwinnett Arena Friday night.
American Idol Contestants, including this year’s winner Kris Allen and others in the top 10 are on a 50 city U.S./Canadian tour, got into metro Atlanta Thursday.
“Last night, for the first time, I went to a place everyone knows about called The Varsity. ‘What ya have. What ya have.’ It was very cool, ” said Idol Michael Sarver.
‘American Idol’s’ 10 finalists converge on Charlotte Saturday
About this time last year, Kris Allen was getting ready to move into a new apartment and start another year of college. Now, the 24-year-old Arkansas native is playing arenas across the country.
But that’s how life can change when you, well, win ‘American Idol.’ After a surprisingly engrossing eighth season that concluded with Allen’s victory over glamtastic, superhumanly voiced Adam Lambert, the Fox TV juggernaut is again hitting the road with a live show.
American Idol review and rare photos
The highly anticipated American Idol Tour came rolling into Tulsa last weekend for a quick stop at the BOK Center on Friday as part of their incredibly successful 2009 summer tour.
Fans inside the standing room only show, which started promptly at 7p.m. and lasted for a good two and a half hours, filled the arena stadium with an eager excitement as they waited for a glimpse of their favorite idol performers.
Singer-Songwriter and Grammy-Award Winner David Hodges Nabs Sold-Out Chris Daughtry Tour
BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Newly signed singer-songwriter and Reprise recording artist David Hodges is set to embark on a national promotional tour with Chris Daughtry beginning August 2nd in Orlando. David is teaming up with Daughtry, one of his many song-writing partners, to play a series of intimate live shows in major cities. He will be performing songs from his new ‘The Rising’ EP, including the single ‘Hard to Believe.’ The EP will be released August 11th, .
Hodges is the first artist signed to Reprise by multi-platinum songwriter and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, who is a Senior Vice President of A&R at Warner Bros. Records. The pair originally met as songwriters, penning a number of tunes together in 2007. DioGuardi called Hodges shortly after hearing some new songs Hodges had been writing. ‘She said, ‘You should be the one singing these songs, ” Hodges recalls. ‘I definitely have scars from other artist projects that haven’t turned out the way I had hoped, but there’s something that keeps drawing me back to being an artist and not just a writer.’
Jordin Sparks talks about her new album ‘Battlefield’
Jordin Sparks is living a high-decibel life. She’s traveling across the country as a special guest on the Jonas Brothers’ tour, performing at arenas packed with girls who, as Sparks puts it, “scream way up here, and they just hold it for four hours straight.” And even away from the stage, resting in her downtown Chicago hotel room on a weekend afternoon, the 2007 “American Idol” winner is met with the shrill yelps of yet another fan. This time, it’s her dog, Maggie. These days, Maggie serves as Sparks’ main companion on the road.
Now 19, Sparks has grown up a bit, and she says you can tell from listening to her sophomore CD, “Battlefield.” She spoke recently with Melanie Sims of The Associated Press.
Pop Quiz: Jordin Sparks
While you’re sitting on the couch stuffing your face with cupcakes, Jordin Sparks is out on the front lines of the summer touring season. To get the word out on her second album, “Battlefield, ” the sixth-season “American Idol” champ is supporting the Jonas Brothers across the United States, which means facing hysterical tweens, eardrum-shattering shrieks and a galaxy of personal rumors everywhere she goes. Fortunately, the bubbly 19-year-old Arizona native is taking it all in stride as her latest single, “Battlefield, ” climbs the charts. Sparks joins the Jonas Brothers on Monday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
Country’s New Face: It’s Young and Blond
Together, Ms. Swift and Ms. Underwood began clearing huge swaths of brush out of Nashville’s clogged pathways. The duo, along with their fellow blond country singer Kellie Pickler, 23, the former ‘American Idol’ contestant and Ms. Swift’s best friend, were photographed together at a December 2007 Nashville Predators hockey game, making a public show of unity. In July 2008 the three appeared on the cover of Country Weekly magazine under the headline ‘Girls Rock!’
In 2007 Ms. Swift and Ms. Pickler were both opening acts for Brad Paisley; they also appeared in his video for ‘Online.’
Don’t vote off ‘Afghan’
Is ‘Afghan Star’ just a tool for Simon Cowell to build a bigger empire? Or is this documentary about Afghanistan television’s version of ‘American Idol’ a study in exporting democracy to countries where human rights, much less civil rights, have long been curtailed?
We see footage of Afghanistan in the 1980s, where women dressed in Western clothes and sang in rock bands. By 1996, under Taliban rule, music, TV shows and dancing were banned.
Cowell’s record label says Shaheen will not support Leona
Simon Cowell’s record label SyCo has denied that Shaheen Jafargholi will appear with Leona Lewis on tour.
Reports surfaced in various tabloids yesterday that the Britain’s Got Talent star would support Leona on her forthcoming tour.
But a spokesperson for SyCo said there was no truth in the rumours whatsoever.
‘Glee’ Cast Hits The Road With ‘The Gleek Tour’
This summer eight members of the “Glee” cast will be traveling the country on “The Gleek Tour” to meet fans, sign autographs and give a sneak peek of the new fall comedy on Fox.
“Glee” actors Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Dianna Agron and Mark Salling will be those on tour. Starting August 17 in Boston the cast will stop at select Hot Topic stores in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, Denver and Washington, DC. With ten stops the cast will close the tour in Los Angeles on August 28.
‘Dance’ stays on top for Fox
“So You Think You Can Dance” was judged the winner by Thursday primetime viewers ages 18-49, according to Nielsen preliminary nationals, enabling Fox to score a victory in the demo. CBS topped the night in overall viewers.
“Dance” (2.5 rating/8 share in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall) appeared to decline slightly from its previous-week numbers but still came in above CBS’ “Big Brother 11” (2.0/7, 6.4 million).
CBS nonetheless had the most-watched program of the night overall in “The Mentalist” (1.8/6, 8.3 million), which aired after “CSI” (1.4/4, 7.5 million).
So You Think You Can Dance Results: Melissa Down!
Thursday night’s “So You Think You Can Dance” results show opened with the top six dancing to “Send In The Clowns, ” but the song proved to be most meaningful to 29-year-old ballerina Melissa Sandvig and contemporary dancer Ade Obayomi, who the ones eliminated from the competition by the end of the tense hour.
Here’s where I rant.
‘So You Think You Can Dance’ recap: Charm School
So what did I miss? I know I’ve been away for a while, off amid the Comic-Con throng and then fighting a wee bit of the nerd flu that has also overtaken our beloved Ausiello. (Thanks to my colleagues Mr. Stransky, Ms. Barrett, and Mr. Slezak for filling in so expertly in my absence, too.) But by now, I’m sure, Brandon, Kayla, Ade, and the clear frontrunner Janette are well on their way to the So You Think You Can Dance fina’ ¦what? She what?! I’ ¦I’ ¦what happened?! Sigh. Well, I guess three out of four ain’t terri’ ¦wait, WHAT? Evan?! Seriously?! I step away for three shows, and Janette and Ade are out, Brandon and Kayla made the bottom two, and Evan is now the only dancer who’s never been in the bottom two and must be officially cyber-slanged as “Evan FTW”?! (That’s “For The Win, ” btw.) Has the world gone completely mad triple-question-mark-and-exclamation-points?!?!?
Kasprzak Advances to Final Four on “So You Think You Can Dance?”
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Having proven that he can dance, there is only one week of competition left for Illinois Wesleyan University senior Evan Kasprzak, of West Bloomfield, Mich., before he finds out whether he is “America’s Favorite Dancer.”
Kasprzak, a music theatre major at IWU, has spent the summer competing with other dancers from around the nation on Fox TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance?, ” an American Idol-style show where contenders dance on live TV for phone-in votes from the audience. Kasprzak and his brother, Ryan, both auditioned for the show in the spring, but Ryan was cut right before the top 20 dancers were established. Since then, Evan Kasprzak has performed every week for a live audience in Los Angeles, and viewers from around the U.S. have phoned in their votes on Wednesday evenings.
New book on Theo Tams gives fans an inside look
Canadian Idol fans can now get to know their winner even better with new book “Theo Tams: Inside the Music.”
Ironically enough, Tams learned a few things from it as well.
“My first read through of the book was just so, so eye-opening. I really had no idea that these people knew me so well, ” Tams says with a laugh.
With interviews and rich colour commentary from the Idol judges, fellow competitiors and host Ben Mulroney, among others, the book features personal stories and insights from some of the people who knew Tams best during his Idol journey.
