Headlines: Happy National Dance Day, Simon Cowell's New Boy Band

Today is National Dance Day – In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t celebrated NDD before, it’s an annual event established by Nigel Lythgoe and the Dizzy Feet Foundation where dancers and non-dancers across the country are encouraged to get movin’. And there’s lots of ways to celebrate. Los Angeles and Washington, DC are both hosting huge events, where participants can take dance classes, watch performances and rub elbows with “So You Think You Can Dance” stars. If you’re located elsewhere, there’s probably an event near you: check out all the events here, or organize your own! – Read more at DanceMagazine.com

Lifetime Greenlights Simone Biles Biopic, Sets Fall Movie Premiere Dates – Lifetime has greenlighted The Simone Biles Story (working title) a biopic about Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles, and set fall air dates for previously announced movies The Watcher in the Woods, Flint, and The Lost Wife of Robert Durst. The Lost Wife of Robert Durst, starring Daniel Gillies and Katharine McPhee, debuts November 4. – Read more at Deadline

Simon Cowell’s Boy Band PRETTYMUCH to Perform at 2017 Teen Choice Awards – We pretty much think this is a legit reason to tune into the Teen Choice Awards this year.
Simon Cowell’s new boy band PRETTYMUCH — which includes musicians Austin Porter, 19, Brandon Arreaga, 17, Edwin Honoret, 18, Nick Mara, 19, and Zion Kuwonu, 18 — is set to perform at the annual awards show next month, PEOPLE confirms. – Read more at People.com

Carson Daly Says Goodbye to Radio for Family and TV – Carson Daly, the TV and radio personality who got his start at KROQ Los Angeles before catapulting to recognition as host of MTV’s “Total Request Live” from 1998-2003, stepped down from his morning slot at L.A.’s KAMP (97.1 AMP) Thursday morning. He joined the CBS Radio pop station in 2010. Daly posted the following message on his Instagram: “Today is my very last day on AMP Radio… The truth is… The reason I’m going to stop doing radio for now is that I just want to have breakfast with my kids… I want to thank you guys. It’s been really incredible.” – Read more at Variety

Scott Bradlee and Vonzell Solomon Join Forces for a new Performance

Amazing vocals all around! New @PMJofficial video ft @VonzellSolomon in the works. pic.twitter.com/M7V5ChozSJ
— Scott Bradlee (@scottbradlee) July 28, 2017

What I Love About Nashville: Carrie Underwood, Randy Travis, Scotty McCreery & More Sound Off – In the latest issue of Billboard — featuring cover star Miranda Lambert — we rounded up the most influential power players in Nashville, the movers and shakers who run the country music business. Below, everyone from Carrie Underwood to Randy Travis to Scotty McCreery talk about Nashville itself, and what makes them love Music City so much. – Read more at Billboard.com

5 Country Artists Currently Thriving Without Major Radio Support – Scotty McCreery / RaeLynn – These two reality competition alums both have found moderate success on FM over the years, with American Idol winner Scotty McCreery’s “See You Tonight” peaking at No. 8 on Country Airplay in 2014 and The Voice finalist RaeLynn’s “God Made Girls” hitting No. 16 in 2015. Support for either artist has been fairly mild in the years since, but they continue to sell well: RaeLynn’s 2017 LP Wildhorse topped the Country Albums chart in April, while McCreery’s latest single “Five More Minutes” hit No. 6 on Country Digital Song Sales this May — his highest ranking on the chart since his debut Idol single in 2011. – Read more at Billboard

Scotty McCreery drops the news his fans have been dying to hear – Scotty McCreery’s current single, “Five More Minutes,” has become a huge hit with fans and paved the way for the country star to finally give them some answers on when he’ll have a new album out. “We’ve got most of the songs,” Scotty tells Rare Country of the new album’s progress. “Half of the songs are cut and half them need to be cut, but we’ve got the songs. I would imagine fourth quarter this year or first quarter next year we should have a new record. I’m pretty positive about that.” – Read more at Rare Country

Interview: David Cook Talks New Single, ‘Gimme Heartbreak’, Touring, ‘American Idol’ – AXS: “Gimme Heartbreak” represents a departure from some of your previous work. How did the song come about? David Cook: I wrote “Gimme Heartbreak” with a guy named Steve Rusch. At the time, the demo was just lo-fi acoustic guitar and a programmed beat and not much else. As I was going though collecting songs for this new EP I had the idea where I really wanted to update the sound a little bit. I felt my last full-length record, Digital Vein was a nice, bookend to my career up to that point. For this one, I wanted it to have its own personality, so I leaned on old standbys. I’ve always been a big fan of rock music and bands like Our Lady Peace, Nine Inch Nails and Massive Attack. I had that bedrock to build on but I also wanted to tune it by adding some cinematic pop elements. I’m a big fan of Halsey’s first record, Badlands and a girl named Aurora, who has this great, really dark, pop record. I tried to lean on that a little bit while still maintaining the integrity of what my wheel house is. – Read more at AXS

Former “American Idol” Finalist Casey James Returns To His Texas Blues Roots On Latest Album “Strip It Down” – “All I want to do is play music,” says singer/guitarist, Casey James. “Stripping it back to just me making a record of music that I love was a huge stepping stone in my life.” Released June 9, Strip It Down, his new album produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge and featuring a guest duet with the legendary Delbert McClinton, does just that. Read more at: https://tr.im/1vfSm – Read more at Top 40 Charts.com

‘Idol’ alum Casey James strips it down – “It was a totally huge part of my life,” he says of the event that changed that his existence forever at age 27, when he became “American Idol’s” eldest finalist for its ninth season (2009-10). “I’m sure some folks are resentful to a certain extent about their experiences there, but for me, it’s a huge blessing … I mean I wouldn’t have the family I have now if it wasn’t for that,” says James, 25. “I wouldn’t have this recording career. It completely changed everything.” – Read more at Pantagraph

Q&A With Dalton Rapattoni – Simon Fuller is the creator of “American Idol” and he was also behind the band IM5. Did you feel extra pressure on “American Idol” because of your history with IM5? Well, it was actually funny because Simon Fuller’s involvement with IM5 was not as direct as the band’s marketing wanted to imply. When I was in IM5 I only met Simon Fuller three or four times. So it was less like there was pressure and like, “Oh, I wonder if he remembers me!” (laughs) … I actually didn’t meet Simon during the “Idol” process until very, very late in the competition. And when I got into the room and sat down with him, I was like, “Hey, man” and he was like, “Hi.” He’s a really quiet guy so I was really trying to gauge, “Does this guy remember me or not?” – Read more at Pollstar

Lee DeWyze: American Idol winner to songwriting giant – I was writing music, and performing for years before making an appearance on the show. American Idol was just my way of getting myself out there because I wanted to write, and make music for a living, because it is my passion. I will absolutely and indefinitely always appreciate the fans that voted for me, and connected with me on the show. It was able to launch my career in a massive way, and for that I thank fans from the bottom of my heart. That said, I am a songwriter above all else. The show is not built to showcase ones “song-writing”, but that is what you sign up for. I think because of that it can make for a difficult transition for a songwriter to make that jump into showcasing their songwriting ability and who they truly are as an artist. I believe what I have done since the show demonstrates far more who I am as an artist and songwriter. – Read more at The Feature Story

Wé Sings in the Street!

Listen to The Voice 11 singer belt it out on the street.