Scotty McCreery, Mariah Carey, Cee Lo Green and Brooke White will perform on the Christmas at Rockefeller Center TV special on NBC at 8/7c pm. Brooke will appear in the 7 pm hour, carried by select NBC affiliates.
Blake Shelton will sing a holiday tune on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Melissa Rycroft and Shawn Johnson–winner and runner up of Dancing with the Stars–appear on The View
Airdate For CMT Artists of the Year – The celebrity line-up for the third annual 2012 CMT Artists of the Year continues to heat up with appearances or performances by Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Sammy Hagar, Hunter Hayes, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Rogers, Thompson Square, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson and more to be announced. Rascal Flatts and Nashville actress Hayden Panettiere will host the 90-minute special honoring the top country acts of 2012. The show premieres Saturday, December 8 at 11:00 p.m., ET/PT. – Read more at CMT Artists of the Year
Scotty McCreery Eyes More Christmas Albums in His Future – Usually, an artist will wait a few years before putting out a Christmas album. But not Scotty McCreery, who has just released the Yuletide platter “Christmas With Scotty McCreery.” In a new interview with Billboard, the singer said he’s “pumped” to have the album out. “A lot of artists have to wait until later in their career before they release one. I’m excited.” He admits he came close to recording the album in 2011 — on the heels of his “American Idol” win. “We had talked about doing this last year, when we released the first album. It got put on the back burner, and started talking about it again for this year. The label was behind it, I was behind it. It’s my favorite time of the year, and my favorite holiday, so it just seemed right. Doing it this early in my career also gives us some options. If I wanted to put out volume two or volume three ten years later, we could.” – Read more at Billboard
Giving new purpose to youth amid desperate need – American Idol’s Kris Allen, host of this year’s True Spirit of Christmas tour, writes about his experiences on his first day in Nairobi, Kenya, as he travels with World Vision to see how gifts donated through our Gift Catalog help change the lives of children and families in need. When I go on a trip like this, I never know what to expect. Yes, there are schedules (which usually get thrown out the window once I get there), and yes, I can always expect to be out of my comfort zone. But there are always things that will happen and people whom I will encounter who will completely blow my mind. This trip has been no different. Yesterday, we went to the slums of Nairobi. It was exactly what you think of when you think of a “slum.” Sandy streets. Small houses made of old tin roofing. Kids playing soccer in a sandy field with a deflated soccer ball caked in mud. – Read more at WorldVision.org
American Idol finalist visits Lafayette Headstart – Bucky Covington and two band members visited Lafayette L.B.J. & C. Headstart on Wednesday morning, November 14. Covington, who was a finalist on American Idol in 2006, has since released one album, which debuted at number one on the billboard Top Country Albums chart and produced three hit singles. His record label folded in 2010, just before the release of his second album, but he recently signed with E1 Music’s Entertainment One Nashville label. – Read more at Macon County Times
Why the Humanization of CeCe Won’t Save Her on The X Factor – CeCe first rubbed viewers the wrong way during the audition rounds when she debuted her leopard-print face painting and huge ego. Not only did she attempt to undermine the competition with catty comments and talk herself up to the judges, but she also “CeCe-fied” (read: mangled) a cover of “Unchained Melody” and had the gall to utter the hackneyed reality TV villain line, “I’m not in this thing to make friends.” Even her coach Demi Lovato cautioned her to check her diva attitude that could read as “unlikeable.” Um, understatement much? Recent attempts at humanizing CeCe — scrubbing her face of animal print, sharing a heart-wrenching story about her deceased sister, hugging a distraught Beatrice Miller — aren’t enough to save her. Here’s why we think that she won’t last much longer in the competition: – Read more at TV Guide
‘The Voice’s’ Christina Aguilera on the Elimination of Her Final Contestant – “I think I’m the most relaxed and confident I’ve ever been because I know that this competition does not define this guy,” she said. “I lost one myself earlier on in my career, I’ve gone on to do much bigger and better things. Some people don’t even know what Star Search was.” Duron sang Justin Bieber’s “U Smile” on Monday’s episode of the show. But appealing to his many female fans didn’t seem to be enough, and he was voted off Tuesday, along with Cee Lo Green’s contestant Cody Belew. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Louis Walsh receives €500,000 damages from the Sun – Louis Walsh has accepted €500,000 (£404,000) in libel damages from the Sun after it published a false story claiming he had sexually assaulted a man in a Dublin night-spot. Walsh, the X Factor judge and Westlife manager, sued Sun publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) – part of News International – in the Irish high court, seeking aggravated and exemplary damages for the story published on 23 June 2011 with the headline “Louis probed over ‘sex attack’ on man in loo'”. NGN will also pay Walsh’s legal costs of €180,000. – Read more at The Guardian
Former ‘Smash’ Showrunner Reveals Why She Exited – According to Rebeck, things took a turn for the worst on Smash — about the making of a Broadway musical — when producers started urging characters to behave in ways she thought didn’t make sense. “One of the points of contention last year was that the network thinks they have the right to say to the writer of the show, ‘We don’t want her to do this. We want her to do this,’ ” Rebeck said in an interview with the New York Observer. “And I would sometimes say back to them, ‘She would never do that.’ And they’d look at me like I was crazy, and I’d be like, ‘Nope, it’s not crazy, it’s just who the character is.’ ” – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani on surprise win: ‘We thought we’d go home in Week 1!’ – When Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani were named the champions of “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars,” no one was more surprised at the upset than the underdogs themselves. “My mind went blank for a minute,” Melissa told us on the ballroom after the show. “I’ll be honest: When we were standing there and it was us and Shawn [Johnson] and Derek [Hough], I assumed it was Shawn and Derek [who would win]. “When it was our name called, I just went, Oh my God, how did this just happen?” “We thought we’d go home in week one,” laughed Tony. “We never thought we’d be champions or be the last ones standing,” agreed Melissa. “I wish we hadn’t underestimated ourselves — but at the same time it kind of makes you more proud of what you’ve accomplished.” – Read more at Zap2it.com
Dancing With the Stars Backstage Scoop: Melissa Rycroft Assumed Shawn Johnson Won! – Melissa Rycroft is the last woman standing—with Tony Dovolani and a mirror-ball trophy, that is! The former Bachelor contestant was named the winner of the all-star season of Dancing With the Stars, beating Shawn Johnson and Kelly Monaco in the process, and she was positively glowing backstage. “This is heavy,” Melissa said as she walked over, referring to the glittering trophy in her hand. Get all the scoop from tonight’s finale right here! “It’s official and it’s unbelievable. My reaction said it all,” Tony, enjoying his first win in 14 seasons, told E! News. “I lost my marbles.” – Read more at EOnline
“DICK CLARK’S NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN’ EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2013” Fergie and Jenny McCarthy Host a Two-Hour Celebration of Dick Clark at 8:00 PM – Ryan Seacrest hosts the year’s biggest celebration at the crossroads of the world when Carly Rae Jepsen and Neon Trees join headliner Taylor Swift performing live in Times Square, on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013,” MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 on ABC. Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas returns to host the west coast party, featuring performances by Brandy, Flo Rida, Karmin, OneRepublic, Pitbull and even more artists to be announced at a later date for both east and west coast parties. The New Year’s festivities kick off at 8:00 p.m., ET with a two-hour celebration of Dick Clark, hosted by Fergie and Jenny McCarthy, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark.” The special celebrates, through clips and reminiscences, the legendary television personality and producer who rang in the New Year for four decades and launched and nurtured the careers of countless artists. Ryan Seacrest makes a special appearance.Read more at TVByTheNumbers
Randy Travis I’ve Given Up Booze … FOR GOOD! – Randy Travis is officially ON THE WAGON — this according to his lawyer who tells TMZ the singer has “eliminated alcohol from his daily life.” You know the history … the troubled 53-year-old wound up behind bars several times in the past year after multiple booze-related arrests (naked DWI, public intoxication, assault). Now, Randy’s lawyer, Larry Friedman, tells TMZ … Travis has acknowledged the problem … and decided to 86 the liquor from his life so he could focus on improving his health. “[Randy] works out 3 hours every day and is in the best shape of his life,” Friedman says … adding, “He has a high protein diet and takes a lot of vitamins.” – Read more at TMZ
