According to the TV ticketing agancy, OCA, the American Idol semi-final rounds will be live. That is, of course, unless Nigel Lythgoe changes his mind. It could happen! Also, the agency is booking finale tickets for the week of May 21 (via OCA)
Strive for Clive – Music fans have offered industry legend Clive Davis $150,000 for tickets to his pre-Grammy gala in Los Angeles. Saturday’s event is shaping up to be star-studded, with guests including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Diana Ross, Tom Hanks, Serena Williams, Tony Bennett, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Hudson, Sacha Baron Cohen, Neil Young, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones and Sean Parker. But money can’t buy a ticket, as the bash is strictly invite-only. – Read more at the New York Post
Kelly Clarkson Calls Super Bowl Gig ‘A Huge Honor’ – “I have probably sang the National Anthem a thousand times and have never been nervous, but I definitely was last night at the Super Bowl!” she told MTV News in a statement on Monday afternoon. “That was the longest minute and a half of my life ha!” “I was very excited as well because of the drum line and the Indianapolis kids choir that were performing with me,” she continued. “They made the performance stand out a lot more and those kids sounded so ethereal and beautiful! It was a huge honor to get to sing the anthem and I’d be proud to do it again!” – Read more at MTV
Auditions remain ‘American Idol’s’ weakest, sappiest link – “The Voice” picked up a huge post-Super Bowl audience on Sunday night, throwing down the gauntlet in the reality-show race for ratings and making the case that watching four celeb judges turn their chairs around at pivotal moments in auditions is must-see TV. “American Idol” responds this week by moving out of its own audition episodes and into the Hollywood round. And thank heavens for that, because the auditions are the one part of the singing show experience that “Idol” perennially gets wrong. They’re always long and brutal. (Who thought that people would want eight hours of musical job interviews, anyway?) But this year’s tryouts set the bar for unwatchable episodes. – Read more at The Clicker
‘The Voice’ Vs. ‘American Idol’: How They Compare So Far – Is The Voice a stronger show than American Idol? That must be at the top of TV industry observers’ minds as the numbers come in for the second season of The Voice. All told, an astonishing 37. 6 million viewers tuned in to the NBC show, nearly double American Idol’s premiere audience ratings of 21.6 million. Granted, Christina Aguilera and company followed the most watched Super Bowl in history, and its Monday night bow drew 17.7 million viewers — a significant drop but still on par with Idol’s weekly audience. Still, with talk of a third season of The Voice set to air in the fall (against X Factor), it’s safe to say there is confidence in the air. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Claiming Widespread Theft of Reality Show Ideas
– An Australian man has failed to convince a federal judge that his marketing plan was stolen and became the basis for a number of top reality TV contest shows, including American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Got Talent.
The lawsuit was brought in New York by Paul Thayil, who said that in 1997, he created a marketing plan outlining concepts for two projects, “MusicFlow” and “ShyDancer.” The projects contained many of the elements now commonly seen on reality competitions, such as multi-city tours, judges, “going to Hollywood,” talent discovery and rounds of competition. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Nicole Scherzinger Talks ‘X Factor’ Departure: ‘I Have No Regrets’ – “What happened? Well, all I know is that I gave 110 percent to that show,” Nicole told Tim in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “I know everybody’s talking about it, they’re saying good, bad, they love me or hate me, but the one thing you can’t say is that I didn’t give it my all.” “I had a wonderful experience on the show,” Nicole continued. “I loved being a part of my ‘X Factor’ family. Nothing could obviously prepare me for everything I had to go through, all the emotions and stuff, but I have no regrets. I’ve always believed in never looking back and just moving forward and I’ve got an amazing year to look forward to.” – Read more at Access Hollywood
Glee Eyeing Another Madonna Episode, This Time Featuring Madonna Herself – Ryan Murphy is hoping to do another Madonna tribute episode on Glee, and this time around he wants Madge herself to make a guest appearance! Murphy recently dished about his plans during a visit to Bravo’s Watch What Happens After Show. Glee previously tackled Madonna during its first season with the popular episode, “The Power of Madonna.” “I want to do another Madonna episode, but I want Madonna to be on it,” Murphy told host Andy Cohen. “She says she would do it.” – Read more at Broadway.com
