The Voice 10 Top 20 compete for a spot in the finals! The LIVE PLAYOFFS begin tonight. Follow our live blog at 8 pm and make sure to VOTE FOR YOUR FAV. It’s Disney night on Dancing with the RuPaul’s Drag Race airs tonight on LOGO TV at 9 pm.
Keith Urban And Carrie Underwood Announce December Tour – Critically acclaimed country artist Keith Urban has announced he’ll be heading back home at the end of this year for the Australian leg of his world tour, in support of his eighth record, RIPCORD. The Grammy-winning star will be bringing along fellow Grammy-winner Carrie Underwood in what will be a blockbuster line-up of country music’s best and most famous. – Read more at TheMusic.com.au
American Idol and the Evolution of Criticism – Yet in many ways Idol, which took its final bow on Thursday, was ahead of the pop-culture game. It was one of the first shows that understood both the emotional nerve that connects people to music, and people’s innate desire to see others succeed despite enormous odds. It excelled at creating a personal link between artists and viewers, compelling the latter to take action by calling in and voting. The most successful contestants appealed to a wide swath of the American public—Carrie Underwood’s sheer humility may very well have cinched her the title—but that didn’t stop smaller factions of fans from giving contestants like Elliot Yamin respectable careers. In this sense, Idol foreshadowed today’s social media-driven society, where fans have the power to mobilize and impact the pop-culture landscape—take the country vet Chris Stapleton’s bump to fame after a single televised duet with Justin Timberlake, or the resurrection of TV shows like the cult favorite Gilmore Girls and the misguided Fuller House. – Read more at The Atlantic
Idol’s father reflects on son’s 2014 victory – Caleb Johnson released a single, “Holding On,” last month, and will release a new album within months, his father said. “He’s doing great, staying busy,” David Johnson said. “I can’t even keep up with him half the time.” Caleb Johnson has signed a contract with McGhee Entertainment, the same organization that manages the rock band Kiss. Caleb Johnson announced on his Instagram page last week he’s going to tour with the band this summer. “It’s a big outfit,” David Johnson said. “When I was out there in LA, it was right in Hollywood, and you’d think it was one of the Trump Plazas.” Kiss is the namesake for the arena football team Los Angeles KISS, and Caleb Johnson sang the “National Anthem” before the team’s game a week ago, his father said. There is a connection between David and Caleb Johnson in that vein. David Johnson is a former Arena Football League coach. – Read more at Times Daily
Springfield native Shalyah Fearing talks about competing on ‘The Voice’ – The girl with the big “voice” –?? who occasionally makes it back to Springfield — said she has “always wanted to audition for ‘The Voice.'” “I loved the fact that the judges don’t get to see you during your blind audition on television and make their decisions based on only your voice,” she said about one of the reasons she gravitated toward the NBC reality show, as opposed to “American Idol,” which recently ended its long run on FOX. “I wasn’t old enough at the time to audition for ‘American Idol,’ bBt, when I turned 15 and was eligible to audition for ‘The Voice,’ my mom found an open call in Georgia and off we went in February last year,” Fearing added. – Read more at MassLive
Doug & Karina Emotional Week #DWTS & Maks Judging Switch-Up (GMA)
Former pro, Maks Chmerkovskiy is set to guest judge tonight’s DWTS Disney themed episode.
