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Jennifer Hudson appears on Live! With Kelly and Michael

Crystal Bowersox Single Available for Download Soon. She tweets, “Crystal’s new single Dead Weight wlll be available on @iTunesMusic and @amazonmp3 Tuesday 2/12.”

Alabama A&M band, pop star Kelly Clarkson part of Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans – HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — So what do the Alabama A&M University marching band and pop star Kelly Clarkson have in common? Both will be in New Orleans on Saturday to take part in the Krewe of Endymion parade at Mardi Gras. For the third year in a row, the Alabama A&M “Marching Maroon and White” band will be leading the Krewe of Endymion parade — which is the largest of about 80 Mardi Gras parades. – Read more at AL.com

Scott MacIntyre Moving to Nashville – I have some exciting news to announce. My wife and I are making the move to Nashville, TN. As you may know, Nashville is referred to as “Music City” for a reason: it is home to many of today’s top musicians, songwriters, producers, and recording artists. Since American Idol, I’ve enjoyed working with many talented people from the area, and I am looking forward to the creativity and opportunities for networking that this move will encourage. – Read more at ScottMacIntyre

Phillip Phillips hopes to move beyond ‘Idol,’ ‘Home‘ – There have been several seasons where a better title for “American Idol” would have been “Fleeting Idol” – particularly in recent years, where sensitive, good-looking guys such as Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze were announced the winners, only to see their popularity peter out after their seasons ended. Phillip Phillips seemed like another affable, attractive “Idol” star with decent talent but uncertain star potential. It still is, a fact the season 11 “Idol” champion, opening for matchbox twenty at a sold-out Riverside Theater Saturday, is all too aware of. “Yeah, I’m definitely concerned about the future,” Phillips said in a phone interview. “I don’t want to be known for just one song.” – Read more at JS Online

Kelly Clarkson: Award Shows Are ‘Painful, Not Fun’ – Kelly Clarkson has won two Grammys, and she’s up for three more this year: Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” and Best Pop Vocal Album for Stronger. She’ll perform at this Sunday night’s Grammy telecast but she doesn’t really like to go to award shows featuring big pop stars, even though she’s one herself. “No one talks to each other,” Clarkson said of most big music award shows. “Everyone shuts their doors. Everyone’s too cool for school. Not everyone but for the most part. And you have to sometimes drag me to those events, just ’cause…it’s so painful. It’s just not fun.” – Read more at ABC News

‘American Idol’ Vet Didi Benami on the Difficulties of Hollywood Week – Having gone through Hollywood Week myself, I can say that it was the most intense experience ever, even more so than American Idol itself. Everybody loses their voice, you’re singing all the time, it’s where you prove yourself. It’s insane, and it’s just the beginning. This year, they separated the guys and the girls for separate weeks in Hollywood. But the real twist is that the producers assigned people to groups rather than having them pick their own. I have no idea why they did that — I wonder how they ended up grouping everyone together. It seemed like it was pretty fair, and it actually was more of an advantage to the singers. It’s really difficult when you’re trying to choose somebody so fast and you don’t know anybody there. You just form a group and sometimes there are no similarities whatsoever. – Read more at Hollywood.com

Kelly Clarkson: I’m ‘Going to Be the Opposite’ of a Bridezilla – Kelly Clarkson doesn’t sweat the small stuff, even when it comes to prepping for one of the biggest days of her life. Although the engaged superstar, 30, tells PEOPLE her upcoming wedding with Brandon Blackstock, 36, has been “a lot to plan,” she’s “not going to be a bridezilla.” – Watch the Video at People.com

‘Idol’ finalist Jason Castro tours with Winter Jam – “My dad, five uncles, and my grandfather played guitar,” he says, “and some of my oldest memories are of them pulling out their guitars.” He didn’t start playing until college, when he taught himself how to play. Music, however, wasn’t always an option. “I started off in the college of engineering,” he says, “but in my first year the music was distracting, and my grades started to suffer.” He calls quitting his college band, which he describes as “a very heavy rock band,” the hardest decision of his life. In his second year, he tried his hand at architecture, but that only lasted a
semester. “I was being a poor steward of what God had given me,” he says, knowing that music was his calling. – read more at Group State

Survivor premiere’s last 30 minutes replaced by Big Bang Theory repeat – The first episode of Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites will no longer be two hours, but has been cut back to 90 minutes. CBS will now follow it with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory from last November. That episode is “The Habitation Configuration,” which guest starred Wil Wheaton and LeVar Burton. A press release announcing the change didn’t specify the reason, nor even mention that it was a change, instead referring to Survivor’s debut as “a special 90-minute premiere.” A January 11 press release referred to “a special two-hour premiere.” – Read more at Reality Blurred

Jim Cantiello’s Idol in a Minute

Adam Levine Debuts “Anti-Cologne” Line of Fragrances: “I Want to Compete With Dior” – Ah, the sweet smell of success! Adam Levine is hoping to nose his way into the fragrance market with a new eponymous line of scents for both men and women. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the Voice coach debuted his brand at a private party in West Hollywood (complete with Veuve Clicquot champagne!), where he talked to Us Weekly about why his products are different from the perfumes other stars endorse. “I thought it would be nice to have something real and long-lasting and something that can compete with any fragrance, let alone celebrity fragrances,” he told Us at the bash. “I’m not a fan of celebrity fragrances.” – Read more at US Magazine