Idol Bits and Pieces: Jennifer Hudson, Susan Boyle, Carrie Underwood, Glee and More

Jennifer Hudson and Chris Angel are two of the celebrity guests joining the Black Eyed Peas and Oprah Winfrey for her show’s 24th season kickoff party Tuesday, September 8.   The taping begins at 5 pm, and you can sign up on line, HERE.   The show will air Thursday September 10.   This will be the first public appearance for Jennifer since she recently gave birth to a baby boy…

Simon Cowell tells Extra that the new season of American Idol without Paula Abdul is “different” and that he misses her. Using one of his famous meaningless analogies, Simon says comparing the show with and without Paula is “like comparing a carrot to a banana.”   Uhm. Whatever.

Speaking of Simon Cowell, Simon protoge, and Britain’s Got Talent runner-up, Susan Boyle’s upcoming album, I Dreamed A Dream jumped to the top of the Amazon.com chart after it was   released for pre-order a few days ago. Currently, Susan is beating out Whitney Houston and the Beatles for the top spot. I don’t get it. Really, Susan is an average singer. It might help that her album is now listed for only $9.99… I Dreamed a Dream drops November 24.

Carrie Underwood’s wax figure from Madame Tussaud’s in New York City is moving to the Madame Tussaud’s in Washington, DC for the fall and winter. Wax figures = Creepy!

Some Broadway news: Constantine Maroulis will take part in the annual Broadway on Broadway concert, hosted this year by Michael McKean (Spinal Tap, awesome Christopher Guest movies), in Times Square on September 13. And Toxic Avenger’s Diana DeGarmo will be a judge in New York Musical Theater Festival’s Next Broadway Sensation competition, to be held at New World Stages on September 13, September 20, and October 4.

Katharine McPhee joins Lionel Richie for An Evening of Stars, the United Negro College Fund’s yearly televised celebration of excellence in entertainment and education. The program takes place September 12th from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in CA, and will air in January, 2010 on BET, WGN and other cable stations.

Season 4 runner up, Bo Bice will head back to his hometown of Helena, Alabama to help raise awareness and money for local Helena organizations, with a concert and poker run Sept. 26. More information HERE.

President Obama is set to hold a press conference on Wednesday September 9 at 8 pm. NBC, CBS and ABC have committed time to the president. FOX has not, and probably won’t–they declined to interrupt an episode of So You Think You Can Dance back in July for a scheduled conference. No effing way are they preempting the premiere of their hot new show, Glee for the president…