EXCLUSIVE: Interview with American Idol Winner Maddie Poppe – What’s it like touring VS being on the show? Is one more exhausting than the other? I think that the tour has been harder. It’s the same thing, you’re repeating it every night and every night you’re comparing your performance to the best one you’ve done so far. I’m never happy when I walk off stage, I’m never like “wow that was perfect” because it’s doing it night after night after night, it’s like you’re not even thinking, you’re just going through the motions. On the show it was something different every week. I think the routine has been kind of exhausting, but the show was something new everyday and you never knew what the next week was going to bring. – Read more at CelebMix
Adam Lambert Explains Why Rami Malek Is the Perfect Freddie Mercury for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (Exclusive) – “I don’t look like Freddie. I don’t sound like Freddie. I sound like me,” Lambert explained when asked why he didn’t land the gig. “Rami looks amazing. He’s a great actor. From what I understand, they used pieces of actual studio recording of Freddie and Marc Martel, who is an impersonator of Freddie Mercury, to do some of the other vocal stuff. So it’s really about recreating Freddie. So no, it wouldn’t have been me.” – See the Video at Entertainment Tonight
10 Questions with … Cassadee Pope – How did the process differ in creating this album now that you’re working with your own, independent team? It has definitely opened up a corridor in my brain, and creatively, it just makes me feel much more confident. I had to go through the situations of being told no and being rejected time and time again, over and over, to appreciate this place. I know I had to take the path I took, but this is so much better. I go in to session – or even meetings – with a new outlook and so much more confident now. I feel so much more like myself now. I think I’ve really learned not to take things so personally – which is hard in this line of work, because what we do and the music we make is a very personal thing. – Read more at All Access
Chris Daughtry Shares His Beats for the Heat: See His Playlist! – Beats for the heat: American Idol alum Chris Daughtry shares his ultimate seasonal playlist with Us. – Read more at US Magazine
Snakes on a stage: What goes on behind the scenes at an ‘AGT’ live show? – Young rapper Flau’jae, who has just finished a dress rehearsal with 11 other acts competing in the NBC reality competition (Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT/PDT), sits at one of 16 makeup tables getting touch-ups; 16-year-old singer Amanda Mena is just a few seats away. She observes the professional artfully blending color on her eyelids, picking up makeup tips she can use later. Nearby, magician Shin Lim contemplates a nerve-soothing catnap after a quick meal, salad in a plastic container, while comedian Vicki Barbolak takes a selfie video with two members of The PAC Dance Team in front of an “AGT” photo backdrop. – Read more at USAToday
