EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: Kellie Pickler’s New Pixie Cut
First Kellie Pickler shocked fans by debuting new auburn hair at the CMA Awards, and then just a month later she was back to her signature blonde. Now the country star is giving PEOPLE readers a first look at an equally bold new do — a short crop! So what prompted Kellie to try a pixie cut? “My hair started falling out!” Pickler explains. “It was so damaged I looked like a scarecrow so I chopped it off!” During her recent USO trip to the Middle East, where she entertained and visited with troops in Iraq and Kuwait, her hair began falling out as a result of transitioning from blonde to red and back again. “I had two choices — look like a scarecrow or cut it, ” she says.
Carrie Underwood: I “Had a Baby Pig Poop on Me”
“I have officially decided that I’m giving up the music business, ” the country singer wrote Friday on her blog (to which fans must subscribe). “I’m going to become a professional sitcom actress!”
“LOL! Just kidding, ” she said. The star simply got carried away filming her guest starring role — her sitcom debut — on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother. (Show regular Neil Patrick Harris shared an on-set snapshot with Underwood, 26, on Thursday.) “The show was so much fun!” she gushed, adding that she had “a blast, ” and that the cast and crew “made me feel right at home and were super nice and great with me and my lack of experience.”
Her HIMYM stint sounds like a blast. “I got to hang out with the whole cast, dress up like a flight attendant, play a cavewoman, and had a baby pig poop on me…jealous?”
Blake Lewis challenges Season 9 beatboxer to a battle
It was the beatbox dis heard across the “Idol” world. Orlando contestant Jay Stone, who auditioned for the judges with a left-of-center version of the Beatles’ “Come Together, ” told judge Randy Jackson he deserved a golden ticket to Hollywood just as much as Season 6’s Blake Lewis because he can beatbox and sing at the same time — snap!
So, of course, we reached out to Blake for a reaction, and he responded with a good-natured challenge. “This week on ‘American Idol, ‘ I got called out by a fellow beatbox contestant, ” he told Idol Tracker. “I was so glad to see someone really going for it in the art form I love so much. If Jay ends up making it to the top 12, I’ll be sure to challenge him to a battle of skills.”
More headlines after the JUMP…
Note to Simon: Here’s your ‘Idol’
Bakersfield has produced another contestant on the hit talent search “American Idol.”
The Los Angeles audition by local singer Jim Ranger, 27, will be shown Tuesday night, according to Mike Cornett, a friend who handles publicity and graphic design for Bakersfield band Soulajar. Ranger sings with the band, which is preparing a full-length album for release this year.
1/23: Jordin Sparks to visit Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale
Glendale-based “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks
will make an appearance Saturday at the 39th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale to promote a charitable project and meet fans.
Sparks has teamed with automobile manufacturer Shelby American to raise money for programs benefiting young people.
The singer will preview the Jordin Sparks Special Edition 2010 Shelby GT500 Super Snake, which will be auctioned off during the Super Bowl festivities in Florida in early February.
Gala speakers, award recipients announced
RALEIGH — The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Carolinas Gala Committee has announced that singer Clay Aiken and actress Meredith Baxter will be guest speakers at the 15th Annual HRC Carolinas Gala on Feb. 27 at the Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury St.
Since coming to national attention on the second season of “American Idol” in 2003 — where he was the unexpected runner up, only to become the biggest selling male artist the show has ever featured — Raleigh native and resident Aiken has toured nine times, authored a New York Times bestselling memoir, sold more than six million albums, produced and hosted television programs, starred on Broadway (Monty Python’s “Spamalot”) and devoted considerable energy and resources to improving the lives of children all over the world.
STAGE TUBE: ROCK OF AGES’ Kerry Butler, Lauren Molina & James Carpinello Raise Money for Haiti
The stars of Broadway’s ROCK OF AGES have banded together to raise funds for World Vision, a humanitarian organization that has been in Haiti for 30 years, in an effort to contribute to the country’s relief. Stars Kerry Butler, Lauren Molina and James Carpinello introduce the fundraiser in the video below. As part of the campaign, the production will be auctioning off items, the first of which is a backstage tour with Butler. For more information on the fundraiser and how to participate, watch the clip below.
Cowell Really Is Minted
SIMON Cowell doesn’t like to have bad breath when judging Britain’s Got Talent – if the goodies spotted in his car are anything to go by.
A huge tub of Extra breath-freshening gum and four packs of his favourite Kool menthol cigarettes were included in a box of goodies on the passenger seat of his Rolls-Royce yesterday.
So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe wants you to shut up
Hundreds of aspiring dancers invaded Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center this week, many of them not able to legally drink, hoping to be selected among the top 20 dancers in the country by an esteemed panel of elite judges. The event marked the first stop on the Season 7 audition tour for So You Think You Can Dance, the hit Fox series. Being taped, as it was, for national television, no dancer could speak to us on record for fear of spoiling the upcoming broadcast, and reporters were ushered around the Arsht Center under the constant scrutiny of a public-relations envoy.
Still, in the chilly confines of an upstairs wine bar in the James L. Knight Center, we managed to secure a one-on-one with Nigel Lythgoe, the show’s executive producer and chief judge. He spoke to us on his lunch break, midway through a full day of praising (or, more, likely, cutting down) dozens of fleet-footed hopefuls.
Susan Boyle May Retake Top Spot On Billboard 200
Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” may make a return engagement at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week, as industry prognosticators suggest her set could sell around 80, 000 copies by week’s end on Sunday, Jan. 24.
The set is reaping the benefits of Boyle’s chat and performance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Jan. 19. Boyle’s segment lasted for the first 20 minutes of the show, while fellow reality TV contestant Adam Lambert took up the the rest of hour-long broadcast. Expect Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment” debut album to also see a big gain next week.
However, Boyle’s climb back to No. 1 isn’t a done deal. The as-yet-recorded charity album “Hope For Haiti Now” could make a splashy debut on the tally next week, depending on consumer reaction to the set over the weekend. A No. 1 debut isn’t out of the realm of possibility and would mark the first No. 1 digital-exclusive set on the chart.
