LA Reid will appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Check your local listings.

Billboard’s 21 under 21 ListScotty McCreery comes in fourth, Demi Lovato comes in third, One Direction comes in second and Justin Beiber is Number 1.

Glee star, Lea Michele tweets, “Just had a very exciting music meeting and am proud to announce that im officially on the road to making my first album! I’m so excited!”

David Cook tweeted yesterday, “Spent all day recording demos. Had to stop for the night, though. Why? Because Sons Of Anarchy, that’s why.”

The Grand Ole Opry tweeted last night, “The beautiful Kellie Pickler smiling on the Opry stage.”

Rocker Adam Lambert to headline Maryland same-sex marriage benefit – Adam Lambert, the glam-rocker who rose to prominence on television’s “American Idol,” is the latest celebrity to be enlisted by the campaign to uphold Maryland’s same-sex marriage law. Lambert has been booked next week for a benefit concert at the 9:30 Club in the District, with proceeds to go to Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group leading the campaign for November’s ballot measure known as Question 6. – Read more at The Washington Post

Taylor Hicks marks return to Las Vegas, but not (yet) to Bally’s – While we await word by our city’s greatest SEC football tailgate rocker and his possible return to Bally’s, we can report that Taylor Hicks will be back in town this week. He won’t be at Indigo at Bally’s. Not yet, at least. Instead, Hicks is the featured entertainment at the Las Vegas Hospitality Association’s 2012 Distinction Awards dinner gala Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The emcee is Las Vegas author Jack Sheehan. The most recent convention-style event Hicks played was the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., where he sang “Takin’ It To the Streets” just before Clint Eastwood took the stage. – Read more at The Las Vegas Weekly

Jennifer Hudson adds some glamour to Hearst’s 125th anniversary celebration – A 125th birthday celebration deserves a dose of star power.

And Jennifer Hudson certainly gave that as she helped the staff at Hearst publishing celebrate its milestone with a performance at Hearst Tower in New York on Tuesday. Looking stunning in a skin toned thigh length gown Jennifer entertained guests in her inimitable soulful style.

Is Nicki Minaj’s ‘American Idol’ Move A Win For Hip-Hop? – There is no doubt about it, Nicki Minaj scored a huge win this week when she was announced as one of the new judges on “American Idol,” but what does Nick’s new gig mean for hip-hop as a whole? Well, Wiz Khalifa told MTV News that if the YMCMB Barb could judge “Idol,” then the weed-loving MC himself could judge another singing competition. The notion doesn’t sound so far-fetched to Karen Civil, who runs her own blog at KarenCivil.com and oversees the social networking accounts for Lil Wayne and Dr. Dre’s Beats by Dre headphone line. “I can see Wiz hosting one of those shows, even though he smokes a lot,” she told MTV News. – Read more at MTV

Steve Harvey’s Got Talent – Watch Haley Reinhart as a talent judge on the Steve Harvey Show – Access Hollywood

‘X Factor,’ ‘Idol’ and ‘The Voice’ Judges Banking Bigger Paychecks as Ratings Sag – How many singing competition shows can viewers handle? Perhaps just one at a time. With The Voice airing in the fall for the first time since it premiered in April 2011 and The X Factor kicking off its sophomore season with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato joining Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid as judges, both shows are suffering ratings erosion. X Factor was down 23 percent (3.3 versus a 4.3 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic) compared with its first week last year, while Voice (excluding a post-Super Bowl episode that drew nearly 38 million viewers) was down 35 percent (4.0 vs. 6.2 rating) compared with its first week in the spring (it jumped 10 percent Sept. 17 but was still down 23 percent compared with the fourth episode of the previous cycle, which aired during mid-winter, when viewership tends to spike). – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

 
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Li-Wright/100001622678180 Li Wright

    RE: XF, IDOL and the Voice, Salaries and sagging wages….I mentioned this before….that these shows could get a stranger off the street to judge and pay them $1Mil and they would be better off.  Why not bring back Paula for Idol?  I’m sure the fans would love it and she would too.

  • girlygirltoo
  • shell29

    Good for Taylor-so happy for him!

  • http://twitter.com/LexieONeill Lexie O’Neill

    Congrats to Scotty for being on that list!  Hope he’s able to bring radio around:))

  • Goodvibes27

    Taylor just made it official on twitter!:

    It’s official! Thrilled & blessed to perform @ballysvegas and working with Caesars for another year! http://bit.ly/QmMYIW 

    So happy for him! He deserves this!

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    Good for Hicks! Since he’s going to be in Vegas for a year, I hope he does some appearances or something with the various celebrity chefs who have fine-dining restaurants there — I gather he’s interested in foodie stuff, so it’d be fun for both him and foodies.

  • Larc

    Almost anybody more interested in being a good judge than in using one of these shows to push his/her own career would be a huge improvement, IMO.  There’s always a lot of static about how these shows aren’t about the judges, but not a shred of truth is in it.  As often happens in politics, it’s said for no other reason than it sounds good.  Some idiots may even believe it.

  • Trina

     

     One Direction comes in second and Justin Beiber is Number 1. 
     

    OH NOES! Are the 1D fans bombarding BB with hate mail??

  • http://twitter.com/cochem cochem

    Taylor’s 1 year extension with Caesars is not only limited to Vegas..

    “Hicks will have an exclusive commitment to Caesars Entertainment, taking his talents to other Caesars properties across the country throughout the year with specific dates and locations to be announced at a later date.”

    Now I will be able to see him in Atlantic City since I didn’t get to Vegas..

  • SaSa8

    Pretty impressive list for Scotty to be on, especially being behind the names of Justin, One Direction and Demi Levato and how big they are in the pop music right now.  Congrats to Scotty!  Keep it up! 

  • jdanton2

    Some Idols nominated for Soul Train awards . Idols Jordin Sparks, Leah Labelle and new Judge Nicki Minaj.

    http://blogs.centrictv.com/music/soulsessions/announcement-usher-leads-the-nominations-for-the-2012-soul-train-awards/

  • elliegrll

    Well this isn’t a surprise, Kris Allen is no longer with RCA. 

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/idol-worship/kris-allen-american-idol-deal-dropped-371658

  • wordnerdarchie

    The numbers were very clear, there was no other way regarding Kris.

  • HermeticallySealed

     No surprise, but maybe this (along with the new management) will allow him to find a better label fit. RCA didn’t seem too concerned with those brought in from Jive, unless they were well established.

  • wordnerdarchie

    My big question:  Who will be the next to get the axe?

  • tigervixxxen

    I guess they can give up the ruse now that a single is forthcoming.

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    My big question:  Who will be the next to get the axe?

    Haley Reinhart, and I say this with the sadness of somebody who loved her album so much that I dedicated pistachio cupcakes to it. But if Interscope thought a second single could be a hit and revive her album sales, Oh My! would have been released as soon as her first single fell off the charts.

    Lambert’s safe until Christmas, by which time we’ll know if Trespassing has gotten a real single push, become a hit, and goosed his sales, or whether it was thrown out there as a “single to tour with.”

    Lauren Alaina’s prospects depend on whether Mercury Nashville thinks it can do a lot better on radio with her singles on the next album. 

    Jordin Sparks’ status with RCA baffles me, but they may be waiting to see how her song(s) from Sparkle cycle through UAC radio play before making a real yeah-or-nay decision on trying to do a third album and launch her as a grown-up singer.

  • shell29

    Not surprising news regarding Kris but still sorry to see it.  But on the bright side it looks like he has quite a few shows coming up so that’s something his fans can look forward to.

    Who will be the next to get the axe?

    If Trespassing (the single) fails, then I’d say Adam’s days are numbered at RCA.  It’s not looking too good for Haley right now over at Interscope but maybe they’ll be more patient than RCA has been with some of the Idols? I don’t know…

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/6IU265ORQXZ2Y73CMAMCZ72KV4 Stinglikeabee

    How much are Adams sales,  including International?  I know Trespassing is charting in a few countries..Do you have the total sold, if so please share…thanks!

  • fuzzywuzzy

    That’s not unexpected news about Kris. I’m expecting Haley to be dropped as well. I think that the only thing that could save Adam from being dropped is if he’s doing pretty well internationally.

  • shell29

    Jordin Sparks’ status with RCA baffles me

    The sales for her last album weren’t that great but she did have a platinum selling hit single from it so that (along with Sparkle) probably helped her keep her deal.

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    The sales for her last album weren’t that great but she did have a platinum selling hit single from it so that (along with Sparkle) probably helped her keep her deal.

    Yeah, that’s why I wasn’t surprised when she was talking about working on a third album in fall 2010. Then in spring 2011, RCA released that “I am woman, hear me wear uncomfortable shoes” single that went nowhere… and it’s been over a year while Sparks does other projects. So it’s “baffled” in the sense of “none of the info adds up to anything clear” rather than in the sense of “what’s RCA smoking to keep her around?”

  • shell29

    Yeah, I see what you’re saying..it is a little bit of a head scratcher.  I can only guess that since Jordin has been a pretty good singles seller and because she’s still young, RCA is willing to be more patient with her than they have been with other Idols.  If she does end up releasing another album with RCA and it doesn’t produce the desired sales I don’t think they’ll keep her around.