Carrie Underwood performs at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC.
Mandisa performs at Women of Faith Celebrate in Hartford, CT.
Phil Stacey performs at Scarlet Chord in Laurens, SC.
Jason Castro performs at the Proof of Your Love Tour in Waterville, ME.
Adam Lambert performs at Live in the Vineyard in Napa, CA.
Lauren Alaina performs at CMS Country Christmas in Nashville, TN. Via AmericanIdol
DeWyze sees silver lining: ‘Idol’ winner’s new album more folk-rock – Think Mumford and Sons or Ben Harper, a musician who DeWyze has long cited as a huge influence in his career. There are hints of Chicago blues and — because some of the album was recorded in Nashville — even a bit of country flavor. “It’s a fingerpicking, boot-stomping, banjo-playing affair,” he said. Dewyze said he’s shopping the record around to labels and hopes it will be released late this year or in early 2013. He’d also like to get back in the studio to recut and release an acoustic album of his favorite tracks from each of his four albums. – Read more at Daily Herald
Live at 35: Casey Abrams – The Live In The Vineyard Live at 35 concert series surprised Customers onboard Flight #459, from DEN to MKE, with a concert by American Idol finalist Casey Abrams. Casey performed two of his songs, Stuck in London and Get Out, to a sold out crowd at 35,000 feet. One Customer was overheard saying, “This is why I love Southwest!” Just like that Customer, Casey has always been a big fan of our airline. Before taking flight, Casey performed a song he wrote specifically for Southwest.
Hicksville USA – Deep into his summerlong run at Indigo at Bally’s, one of Taylor Hicks’ new friends in the Las Vegas entertainment community offered a suggestion: Make Indigo a real roadhouse saloon. Stack some hay bales around the room. Sprinkle crushed peanut shells across the floor. You know, for the authenticity of it all. “We’re not going to have peanuts on the floor, at least not yet,” Hicks says, “and you can subtract the roadhouse brawls.” – Read more at Las Vegas Magazine
Jordin Sparks at the USO Gala Last Night
Carrie Underwood: ‘It’s a fun time for country’ – With country-pop sweetheart Taylor Swift sitting at the top of the Billboard charts, a soapy ABC drama anchored in Nashville and Underwood’s tour itinerary expanding – this year included her first dates in Europe and Australia and she extended the regularly sold-out trek well into 2013 – Underwood boasts, “It’s a fun time for country.” When we caught up with Underwood ahead of her recent “Blown Away” tour stop and CMA gig (CMT will re-broadcast the ceremony Nov. 19 at 9 p.m.) she weighed in on all the attention Nashville has been getting. – Read more at the LA Times
J.Lo, Jennifer Hudson Enlist RedOne For New Music – RedOne is a busy man these days. He’s jet-setting across the globe, working on tracks with Lady Gaga for ARTPOP and nabbing studio time with two of the music industry’s biggest Jennifers. The producer told MTV News that he’s working on smashes for Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Lopez with one motto in mind: Go big or go home. “I’m the executive producer of [Lopez’s] album, and we already have songs that are just incredible. It’s just amazing. It’s mixed [styles]. It’s everything about Jennifer Lopez,” he told MTV News about once again creating tunes for the singer/actress. – Read more at MTV
‘X Factor’ on-the-scene report: How Britney interacts with her fans, more Emblem3 moments – 1. Even though Thursday is results night and not the Wednesday night of wild performances, that stage is still quite the sensory overload for anyone witnessing the show in person. It seems like a demure, light, family-friendly place when you first walk in 45 minutes before the show starts, and dozens of teenage girls in the pit (it really did look like it was all teenage girls down there — I saw no guys in the pit) are singing along to “Oops!… I Did It Again.” (Though they are teens today, so far more of them sang along to Demi Lovato’s “Give Your Heart a Break.”) But when the overhead lights go off, that place turns dark and sleek. And then the spotlights, flashing lights and giant panels of black, blue and pink turn on, and the studio starts to feel far less American Idol, far more VMAs. Read more at Entertainment Weekly
Simon Cowell on ‘X Factor’s’ 1432 Name Change: ‘It Was Just Crappy’ – Simon Cowell is completely enamored by his groups category, specifically Emblem 3 and Lyric 145, but there is one act whose numbers just don’t add up. 1432, formerly known as LYLAS, is in the hunt for a new name, and this time Cowell wants the public to choose it. “It was just crappy, the name. And I just couldn’t say it week after week,” Cowell said in a postshow interview. “I think the public will get it right. It doesn’t have a natural flow to it. Emblem 3, Lyric 145, 1432 — just too many numbers.” – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
‘Nashville’ Enlists ‘True Blood’ Alum for Rockin’ Role (Exclusive) – The competition for Deacon’s services may have just added another player on ABC’s Nashville. True Blood alum Daniel Buran has booked a recurring role on the freshman musical drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. Buran will recur on the Connie Britton/Hayden Panettiere series as Cy, the lead singer of a Bon Jovi-like rock band that’s selling out concerts worldwide who’s shopping for another guitar player to add to their sound. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
‘X Factor’: Jason Brock Leads in Twitter Followers – The next night, Cowell wrote off Brock as one of two ponies racing to finish last in the race, but if Twitter is to be believed, L.A. Reid may have the dark horse on his team as Brock leads all 12 remaining acts with an impressive 143,981 followers. As of Nov. 2, Brock was leading California surfer dudes Emblem3 by 16,000. So what is it about Brock that is resonating with the public? Speaking after Thursday night’s broadcast, Reid said it comes down to one thing: pure fun. “Jason Brock makes me smile,” said Reid after the elimination show. “I like genuine fun and I like it when people lose themselves in their little moment instead of thinking it through about how they’re going to look and walk. It’s just too mechanical for me. … I like it when people are footloose and free and that is Jason Brock.” – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
