David Archuleta Is the Star Attraction at Mormon Conference on LGBT Issues – Singer David Archuleta, who rose to fame as the runner-up on season 7 of American Idol in 2008, will be among the headliners at a conference this weekend on reconciling the Mormon faith with LGBT identity. The conference, being held Friday and Saturday in Provo, Utah, is sponsored by North Star International, which serves those “concerned with sexual orientation or gender identity who seek to live in joy and harmony within their covenants, values, and beliefs as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” according to its website. The church accepts LGBT members but expects them to refrain from same-sex relationships, and it frowns on what church leaders call “elective transsexual surgery.” – Read more at Advocate.com
Trent Harmon’s Cousin Shot and Killed
The American Idol winner reveals the sad news that his cousin was shot and killed earlier this week.
Trent Harmon Talks “Idol” Days, Losing His Hats, Releasing a New Single, Upcoming Album & More
Scotty McCreery soldiers the darkness for “Seasons Change” album – “When you feel the cold metal of a gun on your forehead, you’re gonna wake up pretty fast and realize what’s important and what’s not,” Scotty McCreery talks pointedly about that moment ?? of getting robbed at gunpoint by four masked intruders back in 2014 ?? and despite his usually jovial exterior, there is a solemn inflection to his speech. Amidst his fast ‘n furious press tour this week, in celebration of his first album in five years, Seasons Change, the singer-songwriter stops for a few moments to catch his breath and reflect on how his life flashed before his eyes. “I definitely have a better appreciation for family, friends and living in the now and enjoying every second,” he tells Popdust over a phone call. – Read more at Popdust
‘Five More Minutes’ Could Mean Plenty Of Years For Scotty McCreery – But the clock hasn’t run out. The appropriately titled “Five More Minutes” has extended his run, going all the way to No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart dated March 3. With his first Triple Tigers project — Seasons Change, due March 16 — there are signs that he could spend a long time in the public spotlight. McCreery co-wrote each of the 11 tracks, and the result is an album that’s notably personal in its themes and storylines. Just as important, he delivers the material with greater smoothness and maturity. He has, it appears, found his creative footing. – Read more at Billboard
Life After ‘Idol’: Allison Iraheta on Her Musical ‘Art Project,’ Singing Backup on ‘Despacito’ – On Friday (March 16), Iraheta’s Halo Circus will release their second album, “Robots and Wranglers.” Mixed by Craig Bauer (Rihanna, Kanye West), it’s a departure from the band’s origins as a four-piece rock outfit. Why the change? “It happened naturally,” Iraheta tells Variety. “I tell people all the time that Halo Circus is an art project. … Matthew and I discovered a very cool, interesting electronic sound.” – Read more at Variety.com
Phillips branches out from folk sound on new album – After spending three years in record label limbo, Phillip Phillips is finally getting to where he’s wanted to be — he’s released a new album, “Collateral,” and is on a headlining tour to promote it. “I’m excited. I love being on the road,” Phillips said in a phone interview. “We’ve got new songs to play, all this new music. It’s been a long time coming, so it will be fun.” – Read more at Idaho Stateman
Birmingham Idol pays tribute to R&B hero with ‘Ruben Sings Luther’ – My mom — even when I was a kid, and didn’t care about hearing a Luther Vandross song — my mom was the biggest Luther Vandross fan,” Studdard says. “She went to all the concerts when he came to Birmingham, and she had all the records.” In particular, he can remember spending winter holidays with one Vandross song– “Every Year, Every Christmas” — on repeat. “There are a few songs in my life that signify the holiday season is here,” Studdard says. “This is one of of them.” – Read more at AL.com
Ruben Studdard explains why now is the perfect time for his Luther Vandross tribute album – Ruben Studdard, the American Idol season 2 champ who’s been compared to Luther Vandross, comes full circle today with a new album, Ruben Studdard Sings Luther Vandross While the album has been something that fans have wanted for a long time, Ruben says it’s only now, later in life, that he feels he can do justice to Luther’s classic tunes. He explains, “I feel like I understand who I am musically and what I want to accomplish musically now more than I did when I was 25, or 24 when I was releasing my first three albums.” He adds, “I was kind of really trying to find myself, but every single time I would cover somebody’s song, the excitement for that was really phenomenal.” – Read more at WJBD
Idol Winner Ruben Studdard Drops Luther Vandross Tribute Album: ‘This Was a Long Time Coming’ – But Ruben Sings Luther is his first album dedicated solely to the soulful singer. Why now? “I think that this album for me was just a long time coming,” Studdard tells PEOPLE. “Since I won American Idol, people have been asking for me to sing Luther songs for a long time. I thought, ‘OK. You want to hear it? I might as well do it. I thought it was the perfect time to pay homage to one of the greatest song interpreters of all time.” – Read more at People.com
Chart Beat Podcast: Top 40 ‘American Idol’ Hits, Part 2, From Kelly Clarkson to Clay Aiken, Daughtry & More – This week, Gary and Trevor count down Nos. 20 through 1 of our exclusive look at the top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits by Idol contestants. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Daughtry, Phillip Phillips, Jordin Sparks and more infuse the second half of the list, as we make our way to the top Idol tune since the show launched in 2002. Plus, longtime Billboard Chart Beat columnist and Idol expert Fred Bronson stops by to review the first two episodes of the new comeback season on ABC, which started Sunday (March 11), after a nearly two-year break following Idol’s first 15 seasons on Fox. – Read more at Billboard
Katy Perry’s Kiss and the Regressive Sexual Politics of American Idol – Much credit to Glaze, then, for speaking honestly about the complex feelings Perry’s kiss provoked. Now, he is stuck with half the country treating him like the harassment victim he insists he’s not, and the other half calling him a wimp and wondering why he isn’t thanking his guardian angel for placing Perry’s lips in the path of his. After the heated response to the New York Times piece, Glaze posted on Instagram that he is “not complaining about the kiss from Katy Perry at all,” and that his “true intentions are not accurately represented in every article you read about the situation.” Online commenters have called his masculinity into question by calling him a “beta” and suggested that he will spend some “extra time in the bathroom tonight,” a reference to masturbation this conservative now-20-year-old will surely resent. The past week of cultural processing has proved that American Idol, like most reality shows, succeeds by slurping up what is idiosyncratic, humble, and dear about its characters and puking it out as artificially-sweetened commodity. – Read more at Slate.com
