‘Thank you, Birmingham’: World Games closing ceremony celebrates athletes with music – The event marked the closing of the World Games in Birmingham, which began July 7 and featured 233 events in 34 sports. Former “American Idol” Ruben Studdard was the first musical performer to sing as the lights dimmed, at about 8:29 p.m., singing “Alabama, You Belong to Me,” Another “American Idol,” Taylor Hicks came onstage to sing “Do I Make You Proud” at 8:44 p.m., accompanied by an acrobat shown on the video board and punctuated by some fireworks.The country-pop trio Worth the Wait, from season 19 of “The Voice,” sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 8:58 p.m., followed by more fireworks. Another former “American Idol” contestant, Bo Bice, made it to the stage at 9:48 p.m. and sang “Coming Back Home.” Studdard and Hicks joined him onstage mid-song. Hicks accompanied on harmonica. The three former Idol contestants finished at 9:51 p.m. Lionel Richie took the stage at 10:57 p.m. and sang “Dancing on the Ceiling.” He then addressed the crowd. “I have been away from performing, not away from the state,” Richie said. “My house is still in Tuskegee.” – Read more at AL.com
Scotty McCreery, American Idol Season 10 Winner, to Headline Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship Opening Ceremonies – The 41st running of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship makes its return to storied Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, on July 31st through August 6th. As the world’s largest and most prestigious amateur racing event nears, MX Sports, producer of the AMA Amateur National, and Monster Energy are excited to announce the star-studded lineup of musical entertainment for Sunday’s opening ceremonies and the Monster Energy Country Music Festival, headlined by American Idol Season 10 winner and platinum-certified artist, Scotty McCreery. – Read more at American Motorcyclist.com
The Voice season 21 Top 8 alum Lana Scott is engaged
She competed last year on Team Blake Shelton “I said WILL I EVER to my best friend and soulmate!!” Lana wrote on Instagram. “I can’t wait to explore the rest of life together with God at the center. As a girl who’s always loved life, I love it 1000x more with you. xoxo” Her fiance is fellow musician, Sean Beck. She has an original song, “Country Girl Guarantee” coming out on July 26.
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Fritz Hager III has hometown performance at Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q in Tyler – Hundreds came out to Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q on Saturday night to hear “American Idol” Top 5 finalist and Tyler’s own Fritz Hager III perform. “I was still used to playing for like four people in a room when I started out, so seeing that many people, it’s always really emotionally overwhelming sometimes, but I’m just so grateful,” he said. – Read more at TylerPaper.com
American Idol alum Avalon Young kicks off new GoFundMe campaign
The season 14 alum continues her brain cancer treatments. And as she has no health insurance, she needs to raise more funds.
Her mother posts an update on her new fundraiser: “In 2021, she underwent three brain surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, and a trial drug CB839. The doctors removed 98% of the peach-sized tumor from her left front temporal lobe. The remaining cancer cannot be removed without taking healthy brain tissue. The radiation, chemo and trial drug reduced the cancerous tumor, leaving a slight amount attached to the brain. This year, her cancer treatment consists of monthly chemotherapy in pill form. This monthly treatment will continue through January 2023. Avalon has been tolerating this reasonably well, with minimal side effects, including nausea, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Avalon was without insurance at the time of the surgeries last year, as she was dropped from my health insurance when she turned 26. During the past 18 months, we were grateful to pay her doctors with money raised from her first fundraiser. We were able to negotiate the balance of the $2.2 million medical bill. – Donate at GoFundMe
Christian Guardino Talks Debut Album, His ‘American Idol’ Journey & His Motivation To Keep Making Music – In 2017, you were on America’s Got Talent. How did that experience relate to that of Idol? So for me, it was a different experience, a completely different feeling. I was 16 years old at the time when I was on America’s Got Talent and that’s crazy to think about. At the time, I don’t feel that in my opinion, I was close to the performer I am today. I feel that I’ve grown a whole lot since America’s Got Talent. The difference for me was American Idol. We really got into the nitty-gritty of the music aspect of it. How to perform a song, really getting a crowd to connect with you and getting people to connect with what you’re saying. So I feel like I got to grow as a performer and as an artist more on Idol than really I ever have anywhere in my entire life. – Read more at Music Mayhem Magazine
