Idol Headlines for 2/20/13

By On 02/20/2013 · 47 Comments · In American Idol, Headlines

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Tonight, the first group of 10 girls take the stage in Las Vegas to begin the American Idol Top 40 semi-final round. 8/7c FOX. We’ll be live blogging of course.

Survivor Caramoan airs tonight on CBS at 8/7c PM. Check out Eric’s recap later

Nashville airs tonight at 10 pm on NBC, Check out Windmills recap later

Idol performances today:

Constantine Maroulis performs in Jekyll & Hyde the Musical at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
Daughtry performs at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL.
Kris Allen performs at Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, CO.
Adam Lambert performs at Shibuya Kokaido in Tokyo, Japan.
Lee Dewyze performs at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Casey James performs at the Tin Roof in Louisville, KY.
Phillip Phillips performs at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.

Adam Lambert explains why the Philippines Concert Dates Were Cancelled – Via twitter: “Sad bout Manila. Wanted to play show but due to the non-fulfillment of contractual obligations of the local promoter, we had to cancel it.”

Country Music Hall of Fame Admission Is Free Saturday; Josh Turner and Lauren Alaina to Perform – Josh Turner and Lauren Alaina are set to perform and sign autographs for fans at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s sixth annual Ford Community Day on Saturday. Admission to the museum is free to everyone that day, thanks to a partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund. However, passes are required for certain events. Complete details are available at CountryMusicHallofFame.org. – Read more at WWGP1500

Oscars: ‘Les Mis’ Cast, Jennifer Hudson, Catherine Zeta-Jones To Sing Live In Musicals Tribute – EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls and Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago will be performing their Oscar-winning roles on Sunday’s Academy Awards as part of a celebration honoring the resurgence of movie musicals of the last decade. In the same segment revisiting their roles from this year’s Best Picture contender Les Miserables will be several of the film’s key cast members including Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway along with Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tevit, Samantha Barks, and Helena Bonham Carter. This year’s Oscar show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who last month announced the musical tribute would be part of their show, have kept the participants who will be singing a secret until finally first breaking the news to Deadline this morning. (They also produce Smash…so there you go) – Read more at Deadline

‘X Factor’s’ Fifth Harmony Hit the Studio in L.A. for First Sessions – After two months apart, The X Factor finalists Fifth Harmony are back in unison as they hit the recording studio for their first sessions as an official group. “I think we’re definitely going into the pop lane,” says group member Ally Brooke in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, with the other girls adding that they hope to add an R&B edge to their sound. Says Dinah Jane Hansen, “We hope to give them a booty pop madness album, ’cause that’s what we gonna do!” The third-place finishers on the Fox reality competition’s second season made it official with L.A. Reid’s Epic Records (via Simon Cowell’s Syco Music), as THR exclusively reported on Jan. 17, but Lauren Jauregui reveals that Cowell and Reid assured the group that they would have a deal just hours after Tate Stevens was crowned the show’s winner. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Lambert Tweeted a Few Photos from his Japanese Concerts

With ‘Idol’ win and hit record, Phillip Phillips keeps pushing forward – Phillip Phillips is looking for something to do. It’s a rare day off for the singer whose life has been in whirlwind mode since he was crowned the victor of the 11th season of “American Idol” in May. Following his win, he hit the road with the “Idol” summer tour, which launched in Detroit in July and played nearly 50 dates before wrapping up in September. In November, Phillips released his debut album, “The World From the Side of the Moon,” which debuted at No. 4 and sold 169,000 copies its first week. Rather than falling off the charts like some recent “Idol” winners, Phillips’ album has showed impressive staying power, selling nearly 700,000 copies to date. – Detroit News

Nashville Exclusive: The O.C.’s Chris Carmack Moves in as Scarlett and Gunnar’s [Spoiler] – Welcome to Nashville, bitch. Chris Carmack is joining ABC’s country-music drama for the last six episodes of its freshman season, TVLine has learned exclusively. The O.C. grad will recur as Will, a new neighbor who befriends Scarlett and her hunky roommate. (And while there’s no confirmation that Carmack’s neighborino will be a threat to Gunnar and Scarlett’s burgeoning attraction/musical partnership, come on. We’ve seen those abs. We’ve got a good idea of how this song ends.) – Read more at TV Line

 
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  • ADRIANAARG1980

    http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1549372/phillip-phillips-doesnt-watch-american-idol

    Phillip Phillips Doesn’t Watch ‘American Idol’

    Last season’s “Idol” winner is too busy on stage to watch TV. He’s
    also just about ready for a new go-to performance song
    As
    season 12 of “American Idol” enters its sudden death phase with its top
    40 contestants tonight on Fox, ratings are sure to boom. But there’s
    one man that likely won’t be tuned in: season 11 winner Phillip
    Phillips.
    “Honestly, I’m not watching the show anymore,” Phillips said Saturday
    (Feb. 16) backstage at Houston’s Toyota Center, where he was performing
    his hit single “Home” at NBA All-Star festivities. “I’ve been so busy.”
    It’s understandable. The Georgia singer’s out on tour opening for
    Matchbox Twenty. But he does have some simple advice for the current
    Idolers.
    “‘Be yourself,’” he said he’d tell them. “‘Be your best self. Don’t
    be rude to anybody. Just go out there and have a good time. And build
    those friendships.’”
    As for how he’s enjoying Matchbox Twenty’s “Changed” tour, Phillips
    said, “Rob Thomas is one of my heroes, one of my favorite lyricists.
    It’s an honor to share the stage with him.”
    When Phillips’ stint with Thomas and co. wraps at the end of March,
    the singer will continue to tour. Expect him to play “Home” nightly,
    too. Though it appears he’s beginning to tire of pulling that card out
    of his back pocket. When asked what he’d be performing at All-Star
    Saturday Night, he jokingly answered, “‘Home,’ for the 2038th time.”
    “But it’s an honor to be here,” he followed up quickly. I never
    dreamed that I’d be in the same building as LeBron James or all these
    other great basketball players. I’m not complaining. People enjoy the
    song and I’ll play it for them.”

  • Axxxel

    Agree that it is *perfect* The way Adam Lambert performed  the song “broken english” is so sexy ! the funny thing is that the content of the song itself is not that sexy ..more about “desperation to get your message accross to a person while you know that the person cannot understand you because he/she only speaks broken english”..

  • Axxxel

    Yeah, I noticed that in the beginning of Adam’s after idol career… people seems to discuss whether he was too gay or not gay enough… sigh… At least now it does not matter anymore -at least not for me-, what matters most is his fabulous voice and his friendly demeanor in interviews…

  • Axxxel

    Nice underwear  ! LOL  really lost in translation !!

  • Caro3278sweet

    I don’t expect him to become a superstar (his current sales don’t suggest that),

    Hmm… well, I don’t think you can say this just because of his current sales. Country is a different animal than pop. There is a long, long list of current superstars who spent many years in the trenches before hitting it big.

    Example? One of my favorite acts for several years has been Little Big Town. They released their first album in 2002. Just months ago, they scored their first #1 and are now a top act (check out Pontoon and Tornado – man, oh,man). For many years they opened for Underwood, Sugarland, etc. and never had huge sales. But their labels stuck with them. 

    Yeah, CJ hasn’t posted numbers we’re used to from an AI alum. Nope. He’s posted numbers reflecting a new artist that’s growing in popularity.

    I’ll take that over other AI numbers in a minute. In a second. 

  • Caro3278sweet

    Interesting. When did you go to this concert, Indigobunting?

  • Axxxel

    Yeah, and I think he will make it totally unsexy (twist !!) … more like a dance song…

  • Axxxel

    Nice words from P2: Be your best self !!

  • Axxxel

    Car Was Adam is so adorkable. I don’t think the Japanese audience caught his joke about “sheet drag”… 

    In an old interview, the interviewer mentioned about that term when he referred to the Muse’s song “Soaked” that Adam covered on his first album. 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3COGfbKHX4

  • MellyPer1692

    I agree about Casey J. indigobunting. I saw him this summer and thought “meh”. Loved his guitar playing, but the vocals were just alright for me. I agree that his sales are more like a new artist, but he’s really not one lol. He had months and months of exposure on Idol and 71k is still surprising to me.

  • MellyPer1692

    Eh, I think the content of Broken English is sexy. It talks of communicating in more than words, with body language and physical and sensual actions.

  • Liteasy

    I went to Casey’s concert last month, and the crowd went wild for him.  people young and old were dancing, and he was great with the audience.  There was a huge line buying merchandise and his album, which I don’t think these sales add on to his actual sales.  Maybe you saw him when he was just starting his tour, but he’s really quite polished now and chatted with the audience from time to time.

  • http://www.facebook.com/esther.macha Esther Macha

    Adam amazes me how he can perform sitting on a stool and still be super sexy..imo

  • LVD

    When I saw him live (very good venue, free with friendly audience of a large group, about 3k at a prime time- 8pm on a Friday night-opening for Kellie Pickler)

    That must have been a while ago, Casey has really stepped-up his live performances of late. All of his latest shows have been sell outs. 
    Most people tend to think Casey sound better live then on his album, but I guess these things are always open to interpretation. Any ways lots of artists sounds better on their albums then live, Taylor Swift being a good example. 

    Casey works his way up from the bottom. He isn’t opening for any of the big country stars. That might be part of the reason why he hasn’t sold that much albums. But in truth apart from big the country stars, in general the middle and lower artists dont really sell that much albums. Casey may come from idol, but he never started with the big opening numbers you would usually expect from idol contestants. Anyways there is also single sales, COAS has sold 317k to date which isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it also isn’t too bad. To date COAS has sold double the amount of Casey’s first single so I guess that might be seen as encouraging. 

  • Miz

    Mandisa performed her hit ‘Stronger’ for Robin Roberts’ return to Good Morning America today. She was fantastic and it was a tearjerker watching Robin and her sisters. Mandisa had given her CD to Robin to help her get through her transplant and treatments.

    http://gma.yahoo.com/video/music-26594262/mandisa-performs-stronger-to-celebrate-robin-s-return-31730313.html

  • Indigobunting

    I saw him last July, so he was well into his performing gig post album release.

    Re album #’s- Of course like most fans I track his sales/charts, etc) the album #’s are low and still presently low at 1k per week with a top 15 hit-which just seems odd adding in his Idol fanbase and good promotion.  His second single #’s are decent I think but either no one is checking out the album or he isn’t selling from live gigs.  Idol’s are pretty lucky-they get better billing at concerts consistently than other newbies who already have more sales/success  because they have a ready made fan base who will buy tickets. He’s been able to be the closer or second to closer after many with more country experience. And also vote, vote, vote for online surveys, Rate the Music and competitions.  We all know we are mostly responsible for getting him a lot of exposure there, let’s be honest. 

    Like I said, it was a nice concert (although Poke Salad Annie was an odd choice for his last song I thought-it was good, but not the way you should end a concert and it definitely didn’t excite the crowd).  I just was surprised with all his prime TV experience and prior performing that he didn’t have more rapport with the audience-and he didn’t even mention that COAS was his current single.  Perhaps he is better in small venues like many Idols.  I’m looking forward to his second album-like all Idol alum, it will be interesting.

  • Nadine_Bitch

    I just love the way he sings it. So sexy.. it’s almost like he’s making love to the song.lol *idontknowwhatimsaying* I need my morning coffee fix! hahaha

  • LVD

    Re album #’s- Of course like most fans I track his sales/charts, etc) the album #’s are low and still presently low at 1k per week with a top 15 hit-which just seems odd adding in his Idol fanbase and good promotion.  His second single #’s are decent I think but either no one is checking out the album or he isn’t selling from live gigs.  Idol’s are pretty lucky-they get better billing at concerts consistently than other newbies who already have more sales/success  because they have a ready made fan base who will buy tickets. He’s been able to be the closer or second to closer after many with more country experience. And also vote, vote, vote for online surveys, Rate the Music and competitions.  We all know we are mostly responsible for getting him a lot of exposure there, let’s be honest.

    Other idols might get better billing, but Casey certainly does not. His idol ties does not really get used. When he is on the bill with other country acts, he is always the one who opens, just last week he played before Edens Edge, he has old more then Eden’s Edge and he is doing better on the charts then they are and he still opened for them. He is really working his way up from the bottom. Casey is really working like a newbie. 
    Casey does have the support of his label, but that isn’t necessarily the same thing as getting big promotional opportunities. For example unlike all of the other idol contestants who are singed on major labels Casey never got a chance to promote his album on idol. He is also not touring around with the big country stars. He took two years to release his album after idol (from a very unpopular season), by that time most of the idol audiences are gone. We’ve have seen how the core idol audiences erode after contestants wait two years to release their second albums. The same principal applies here. And as a result Casey certainly does not always win polls and surveys, he just doesn’t have that big of a core idol fanbase.
    COAS was obviously a top 15 song, but it has been about a year since his album was released so the instant connection between the album and the single isn’t that immediate. Of course album sales is important and I would like to see Casey sell more albums, but single sales are also something to be looked at.  Casey is really going at it like a new artists. 

    I saw him last July, so he was well into his performing gig post album release.
    Like I said, it was a nice concert (although Poke Salad Annie was an odd choice for his last song I thought-it was good, but not the way you should end a concert and it definitely didn’t excite the crowd).  I just was surprised with all his prime TV experience and prior performing that he didn’t have more rapport with the audience-and he didn’t even mention that COAS was his current single.  Perhaps he is better in small venues like many Idols.  I’m looking forward to his second album-like all Idol alum, it will be interesting.

    Last July is quite a while back, I think Casey really learned a lot on his Taste of Country tour. As I said all of his shows of late have been sell outs. In any event as a new artist most of your gigs will usually just be acoustic gigs, and Casey is really good at acoustic gigs. You are the first person I ve seen who does not really understand Polk Salad Annie, it is a crowd favorite, it is a chance for the whole band to really jam together and really show off their instrumental skills. Casey has actually changed the format of Polk Salad Annie since you have last seen him. Here is Polk Salad from a gig last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLW7Cej17WY&feature=youtu.be

    Of course everyone has their own taste, perhaps Casey live just isn’t quite your thing.

  • Axxxel

    Babe, *youknowverywellwhatyouaresaying* and I totally agree with you !

  • Caro3278sweet

    I saw him last August in Co. Springs. I saw him a couple of weeks ago here in Denver. He’s growing in showmanship, Indigobunting, he really is. 

    The Co Spgs show was on a fair ground. People were milling about – he had some fans, but he was playing to a bunch of peeps who had no idea who he was. They stopped – most of them – and listened. No huge screams or thunderous applause, but they clapped and they stayed. CJ was sweet and low-key and focused on his music – all of it (if I remember correctly) was original.Grizzly Rose was a whole ‘nother animal. Casey and band are really tight and they know how to jam. They’ve been touring for a year now together – and it shows. Casey was much freer and louder than he was in the Springs. He bantered alot – made some sexy jokes, got the girls screaming. Lots of fans jammed the room, but there were a bunch of peeps who didn’t know him at all. I think he converted many to fans. By the end, he got huge applause – much louder and more sustained than the Springs.I do think that a new act – who’s playing mostly originals that have not been heard on the radio – is going to have a tougher crowd to win over than a Blake Shelton striding on the stage with his #1 hits. It’s just something new acts have to go thru. Casey and crew play almost straight originals so he’s willing to pay the price. All that said, he still needs to grow. He’s not Brad Paisley or Keith Urban yet. He doesn’t have to be. The label is letting him get his feet wet in these small venues, building his fan base, building his skills, letting him try out new tunes to see what is liked – it’s all good. He’s got time.Like the article said, 2013 will not be CJ’s breakout year. He’s got some time to grow and mature – as a songwriter, singer, and entertainer. i really do believe he’s go the makings of star material. He’s certainly got the looks. He’s got the geetar skills. He’s shown he can write good material. And his voice is unique. So…we’ll see. 

  • windmills

    Caro3278sweet: Example? One of my favorite acts for several years has been Little Big Town. They released their first album in 2002. Just months ago, they scored their first #1 and are now a top act (check out Pontoon and Tornado – man, oh,man). For many years they opened for Underwood, Sugarland, etc. and never had huge sales. But their labels stuck with them.

    You left out the part where their sophomore album yielded 2 t10 hits and another t20 hit and went platinum. They also released their 1st 3 albums through a medium-sized indie label. Their momentum was definitely declining though until they had a big breakthrough again with Pontoon.

    Honestly, CaseyJ’s album sales aren’t great even by new country artist standards. Not horrendous but they could be better. His download sales are OK for where his singles have charted. COAS could go gold by the end of the year, which would be nice. It’s not a small thing that he has had enough radio support to score a t20 MB single and a t15 MB/BB single. But the next level for him is songs that get that radio support AND reflect his skill set better. I was surprised by the direction of his debut and while it’s not a bad album, there are only a few songs on it that reflect what makes his skill set interesting. None of those songs has been a single yet but I think if one of them were to be, the sales would naturally follow at a higher level than they are now.

  • Caro3278sweet

    You left out the part where their sophomore album yielded 2 t10 hits and another t20 hit and went platinum. They also released their 1st 3 albums through a medium-sized indie label. Their momentum was definitely declining though until they had a big breakthrough again with Pontoon

    LOL. Okay, okay. I thought everyone would get bored if I went into great detail on LBT’s career. But I do remember thinking a couple of years ago – well, I was worried. So to me, the Pontoon and Tornado era are vindication for a long term fan. 

    My bigger point prevails, however. Country will let acts simmer for awhile and labels tend to be a bit more patient. I think it’s pretty clear Sony Nash is going to give CJ another shot at recording some new songs and they are supporting his journey. 

    But the next level for him is songs that get that radio support AND reflect his skill set better. I was surprised by the direction of his debut and while it’s not a bad album, there are only a few songs on it that reflect what makes his skill set interesting

    ITA. I think Drive would be a great way to set the stage for the next set of songs. I heard Woman’s Touch at the Grizzly and man. That is one scorching hot song. There are other new songs too, that I think have potential. What I find fascinating about following CJ so closely is to watch him take a song, work with it, put his touch on it, work it again, change it up. And then to see what he chose to record. He and Chris Lindsey played it a bit safe, I admit. But they do have 2 t20 songs with another one (hopefully) on it’s way. That’s not a bad start.

    CJ is a work in progress and he’s smart. So I have hope.

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