Maddie Poppe’s new song “Peace of Mind” comes out Friday August 12
The American Idol season 16 winner, Maddie Poppe, is dropping a new song on Friday “Peace of Mind”
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Clark Beckham And Danielle Finn perform in Los Angeles
American Idol alum Clark Beckham was plotting a nationwide tour to perform with various season 20 contestants, but this date with Top 20 contestant Danielle Finn might be the only one so far. We’ll see!
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TikTok Artist Jax Calls Out Victoria’s Secret for ‘Making Money Off of Girls Like Me’ in Hot 100-Charting Single – TikTok star Jax’s body-positive anthem “Victoria’s Secret” was written prior to the Hulu docuseries “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons,” which offers a glimpse into the scandalous connection between Jefferey Epstein and disgraced Victoria’s Secret founder Les Wexner. But the timing turned out to be perfect — and warranted — as the singer delivered “Body-insecuri-tea” to her social media audience of 11 million followers. “I would like to take credit for the genius timing of the release but honestly we had no idea the Hulu documentary was coming out,” she tells Variety. “In fact, the producers saw my first Victoria’s Secret TikTok before their premiere and immediately asked me to create one for the show. … Crazy coincidence!’” – Read more at Variety. The song, which debuted at No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, has gone crazy viral. Here’s how I knew it: My niece, who couldn’t care less about singing shows, Tik Tok, or pop music in general RT’d it on her Facebook timeline as she found the song’s message empowering and a great example for her three daughters. It also turned up on my Twitter list feed that is made up of mostly Very. Serious, lawyers and political journalists. It has TOTALLY broken out!
Jennifer Hudson added a perfect first pitch ahead of the Kansas City Royals game on Tuesday – According to Today, an “eephus pitch” is a super slow, high-arcing pitch that is meant to throw off a batter’s timing and is rarely seen in a big-league game.
.@IAMJHUD with the best eephus pitch we've seen this season. ?
(MLB x @SIRIUSXM) pic.twitter.com/ShaKmWrXhL
— MLB (@MLB) August 9, 2022
Jennifer Hudson visits with kids at Kansas City’s Urban Youth Academy
Jennifer Hudson’s visit to Kansas City Tuesday included a stop at the Urban Youth Academy.
Ready for Wolf Trap, Fantasia reflects on ‘American Idol’ win, Simon’s ‘tough love’ – “There was so much talent on stage with me,” Fantasia said. “I had a great group: LaToya London, George Huff, [Jennifer Hudson]. … We spent so much time together, we got to know each other. We were all praying for each other like, ‘Whoever takes it, just take it and go far.’” Her shoeless performance of “Summertime” from “Porgy & Bess” earned praise from Simon Cowell, whom Fantasia said “will always be my favorite.” Why? “Because I like his honesty,” she said. “We live in a world where everybody is patty-caking people and telling them what they want to hear, and he never did that. He reminds me of my father. … Tough love.” “‘Idol’ will always be just a big family,” Fantasia said. “Ruben is married now and has a child. Kelly has her kids; she’s doing her show. … I’m married now with three beautiful children.” My daughter’s birthday [was yesterday], my oldest turned 21, happy birthday to her!” – Read more at WTOP.com
Simon Cowell Teases What’s to Come on ‘AGT’ ‘s ‘More Exciting’ Live Shows: ‘There’s So Much at Stake’ – “We had a ton of great people this year,” explains Cowell, 62. “So trying to get that number down to 36 would’ve been really difficult. In some ways we’ve made it easier by putting more people through. In other ways, we’ve made it harder because only two people per night are going to go through to the final. But I think that’s more exciting.” “Not knowing what’s going to happen until it happens, I think, makes it more exciting,” Cowell says of the new format. “Compared to where we were a year ago, where seven people went through per night, I didn’t feel there was much at stake, if I’m being honest.” “When we had to decide the 55 [acts], it really was difficult because you’ve got a limited amount of time to make the decision. No one can agree,” he adds of narrowing down the talent. “So in the end, we were like, ‘Well, let’s just look at who’s got the most view counts. Who do we think the public want to see the second time? – Read more at People
Simon Cowell Spills Harry Styles & Camila Cabello X Factor Audition SECRETS (Exclusive)
‘AGT’ Standout Avery Dixon Talks Simon Cowell’s ‘Unreal’ Carrie Underwood Comparison: ‘I’m Floating on Air’ – The performance led Simon Cowell to declare the “same thing he said to Carrie Underwood” when she won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005: “You’re going to be a superstar.” “To hear those words from Simon, it’s unreal,” Dixon told PEOPLE backstage after his show-stopping performance. “It’s like, did he really just say that to me? I’m going to go back and replay it over and over and over again.” Dixon received equal amounts of praise from the rest of the judges’ panel, who commended the performer for his energetic display. “I’m still just really floating on air right now because, if you look into the crowd, you can see they’re really feeling it right along with me and it’s a beautiful thing to ask,” he adds. – Read more at People
‘America’s Got Talent’ Comic Shares How Howie Mandel Consoled Her After Simon Cowell’s ‘Unfair’ Rejection – Lace Larabee hit the stage during season 17’s first live show on Tuesday and her jokes left judge Simon Cowell less than impressed, causing him to hit his “X” buzzer in the middle of her set. “It was so shocking,” she said backstage following the show’s conclusion. “That’ll throw off anybody. As a stand up comic, it’s already so difficult to compete against musical acts and animals and fire. I’ve just got to get up there with my little jokes, so it was very difficult.” Mandel, 66, later told PEOPLE he felt compelled to check on Larabee because of his own decades of experience as a comedian. “You are mentally naked out there and you are vulnerable, and as I said to her after Simon gave her the buzzer, humor is subjective,” he explained backstage. “I said to her, ‘You’re not playing to Simon, you’re not playing to me, you’re not even playing to this audience — you’re playing to the millions of people out there and you delivered your humor seamlessly, professionally, wonderfully. And don’t let these little bumps in the road stop you.'” – Read more at People