The American Idol GROUP ROUNDS air tonight on FOX at 8/7c PM. Join our live blog. Or maybe YOU DON’T DO GROUPS! Heh.
Carnival Cruise Line, Operation Homefront, And Seven-Time Grammy Award-Winning Superstar Carrie Underwood Launch Honor. Family. Fun. Initiative To Support Military Families – The year-long Honor. Family. Fun. program will help raise funds for Operation Homefront and culminate in a special private pierside concert for service men and women and their families starring Underwood aboard Carnival’s newest and most family-friendly ship, the Carnival Vista, when the vessel makes its U.S. debut in New York City at the Port of New York on November 4, 2016. In 10 cities along the course of Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour, which kicks off in Jacksonville, Fla on January 30, select military families, chosen in partnership with Operation Homefront, will be treated to a personal meet-and-greet with Underwood before her concerts. A video series highlighting the meet and greets and the families’ individual stories will be featured on carnival.com. “I’m honored to be able to join Carnival Cruise Line and Operation Homefront to lift up these soldiers and their families,” said Underwood. “I am really looking forward to meeting them on my tour and for the opportunity to personally thank them for all they do for our freedom.” – Read more at Carnival-News
Visiting my label @RepublicRecords in NYC today! Head to https://t.co/6tag1I7pnP at 4pm EST, I'll be live streaming! pic.twitter.com/qBLEL5lZZf
— Jordan Smith (@JordanSmithLive) January 28, 2016
Every American Idol Finalist, Ranked From Worst to Best – Only 168 people in the world can currently claim to be American Idol finalists; at the end of February, that number will rise to 178. (Thanks to the variance of talent pools and Fox’s faith in Idol’s ability to pump up its ratings, the number of finalists has varied from season to season; the final run’s finalist-tally of ten matches that of its first year.) As a warm-up for this final run through the Idol choreography, we’ve decided to rank those singers who have reached the almost-winner’s circle. Yes. Maura ranks Every. Single. Finalist. Check out out at Vulture.
Jordan Sasser blames he and his wife’s American Idol tiff on Satan – “Unfortunately, Satan is just as real as God. He wants to bring us down. You know what? He tried to get us. That was back in September. The next day we were good.” – That’s American Idol contestant, Jordan Sasser’s description of the argument he and his wife had after she was rejected at American Idol auditions. Watch the Interview at FOX 5
Stratford High senior details run on ‘American Idol’ – When Chynna Sherrod disappeared from Stratford High School in November, she told people she was going on a mission trip to Africa. When she appeared on national TV last week, everyone figured out she wasn’t quite telling the truth. The 17-year-old was actually in Hollywood, California, competing on “American Idol.” She auditioned for the final season of the show in August, taking home a “yes” from all three judges, meaning she was going to Hollywood Week. “I thought, ‘Why not? The worst they could say is no,'” said Sherrod. – Read more at FOX 61
Memphians head to Hollywood on American Idol – Two Memphians are headed to Hollywood on American Idol.
Both Terrian Bass and CJ Johnson are scheduled to be on the talent show tonight, Jan. 28. Bass sang the popular Pharrell Williams song “Happy” for the judges at her audition in Little Rock, Ark., last August. She told me she started out on the wrong note. Bass said she started out the song on the wrong note. “Luckily, it was in the beginning of the song and I was freaking out,” she said. “They thought it was okay and sent me through.” CJ Johnson got his start in gospel music, too. “I had a choir scholarship,” Johnson said. “I decided it wasn’t for me anymore. I got a couple of gigs that paid and I thought, ‘ I could make some money doing this!'” – Read more at FOX 13
‘American Idol winner, platinum-selling artist, audiences are mad for McCreery – It’s been awhile since your last album. Can fans expect a new one soon? A. “I’m just about finished with it. I’ve got 10 songs cut, still writing a few more songs. Summertime’s the time frame I’m looking at but that always goes back to the label. They want to calculate everything to the nth degree. So we’ll see when it really comes out.” – Read more at CantonRep.com
Billboard Cover: On the Set of Fox’s ‘Grease: Live!,’ the Riskiest Live TV Musical Yet – “This is serious business,” says Carly Rae Jepsen, wide-eyed at the dozens of carpenters and gaffers hammering, sawing and wiring the massive high school gymnasium still under construction at Warner Bros. Studios. “I have to get my Hula-Hoop!” – Read more and see the Photos at Billboard.com
Jussie Smollett on How a Black Gay Man Can Save the World – There was basically full support to say or not say whatever he wanted about his orientation. He was playing a gay character on an acclaimed show created by an outspoken gay man. But there was also Taraji P. Henson’s perspective, per Smollett: “She said, ‘Who gives a fuck? I don’t tell these motherfuckers that I’m straight. Why the fuck do you have to tell them that you’re gay?’ That was so O.G., and it just made me love her even more.” When it came to calling out violence against communities of color, however, there was suddenly serious pushback. “I was told by two executives, ‘You know, maybe just wait. Just wait,’ ” Smollett says. He was planning to travel to Washington, D.C., speak on the steps of the Capitol as part of the March 2 Justice, and then help deliver a legislative package on police brutality to Congress. – Read more at Out.com
