Meek Mill, Fantasia, DaBaby and More Join BET Awards Performer Lineup – As the countdown begins for the 19th annual BET Awards this Sunday (June 23), BET Networks is announcing the final additions to its lineup of performers and presenters. Meek Mill, Fantasia, DaBaby, Jeremih, Kirk Franklin, Erica Campbell, Kelly Price and Jonathan McReynolds have been added as performers. They join a previously announced list that includes Cardi B, Migos, Lil Nas X, Lil Baby, H.E.R. and Lizzo. – Read more at Billboard
Todrick Hall to Join the Cast of WAITRESS as Ogie – Waitress announced today that Todrick Hall (Kinky Boots, Chicago) will join the Broadway cast as Ogie on August 20th. He will perform opposite the previously announced Colleen Ballinger for a special limited engagement through September 15th. – Read more at Broadwayworld.com
‘American Idol’ finalist Wade Cota to sing national anthem at Thursday Arizona Diamondbacks game – PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that Wade Cota, the Phoenix singer who placed fourth on this year’s season of American Idol, will sing the national anthem at Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. Cota will sing the national anthem at 12:25 p.m., the D-backs said. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. Tickets to the game are still available and start at $16 at last check. – Read more at ABC15.com
Chevel Shepherd has been busy since winning ‘The Voice’ – A concert June 23 is just the next stop for Farmington’s Chevel Shepherd, who will share the stage with headliner Chase Bryant and another up-and-coming performer, Lee Brice, at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero. “I had to go with Kelly, even though I wanted to pick Blake (Shelton) at the same time,” she said. Clarkson will assist Shepherd in the recording of her new album. – Read more at Farmington Daily Times
American Idol’s Madison VanDenburg Excited For TU Center Concert – “American Idol” finalist and Cohoes nativre Madison VanDenburg, along with Moriah Formica, are hitting the Times-Union Center stage on Friday, June 28. VanDenburg came in third place in this season’s show. “It’s been crazy. I’m so glad to be back home,” VanDenburg said Wednesday morning on Spectrum News. “It was life-changing, honestly,” VanDenburg said of her “Idol” experience. “I don’t think I’ve done anything more thrilling but more nervwracking in my entire life. And “American Idol” just really gave me a platform that I needed as a musician to kind of just grow and share my usic with others.” The coming show also will feature Delaney Silvernell, from Queensbury, who appeared on Season 16 of “The Voice” in 2018 as the opening act. – Read more at SpectrumLocalNews.com
Adam Lambert on What’s Changed for Gay Artists Since His ‘American Idol’ Run – Talk to me about being an openly gay artist in 2019 versus 2009. The last time we spoke you likened coming out to “being thrown into a pot of boiling water.” It’s a totally different landscape. There is much more visibility so it doesn’t feel like a foreign or scary concept. When I first came on the scene almost everybody that I encountered in the music business was very supportive of me personally, but they were all a bit nervous about how it could work publicly. Now it’s been proven that there is a market and an audience. It’s allowing a lot more diversity to be pushed through. – Read more at Variety
‘The Voice’ Alum Cassadee Pope on Being a Woman in Country Music: ‘It’s Intense’ – Cassadee Pope is proud to be a woman in country music, and not just because of the music she is making. The Season 3 winner of The Voice is honored to call some of her fellow reigning female artists, including Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and Carly Pearce, among her closest friends. “It’s intense,” Pope told PopCulture.com. “I mean we are really, really there for each other, supporting each other. I think we know there’s only so much that we can do to change things, so we just need to focus on those areas. We’re touring a lot, and we’re bringing each other out the most that we can. The rest of it, I feel like all of us are trying to put teams together that really understand the importance of us being heard, so all of us have our teams on it as well. – Read more at Popculture.com
Brooke White Gives ‘California Twist’ to Country Music With New Single, Upcoming Album ‘Calico’ – “It’s been a long time coming,” White told PopCulture.com of the record set to release this October. “It’s the most modern thing I’ve ever made. There’s beats. It’s country, but there’s definitely a hybrid of really interesting elements.” White adds that the 12 original tracks, including the first single and summer bop, “Calico” were written primarily with guitar and veer away from her familiar piano sound. Though she reveals the track, “Be Good” was an exception and includes parts. – Read more at Popculture.com
Julianne Hough and husband Brooks Laich undergoing IVF treatments – “Dancing With the Stars” dancer and “America’s Got Talent” judge Julianne Hough is ready to have a child with her husband of two years, pro hockey player Brooks Laich. And as Laich recently revealed, they’re undergoing fertility treatments to help make that happen. “My wife and I want to have children in our future, and going through IVF was a decision we made to increase the (odds) of that happening,” Laich, 35, told Us Weekly. “I wish people would perceive it (that way instead of with) shame or guilt.” – Read more at Today
