Today’s Idol Appearances:
- Clay Aiken begins his winter tour in Miami FL
- Jason Castro performs at the Second Baptist Church, Houston, TX
- Jennifer Hudson appears on the Oprah Winfrey Show
- Adam Lambert appears on the Ellen DeGeneres Show
- Adam Lambert appears on Extra TV
- Crystal Bowersox visits Rosie O’Donnell on Satellite Radio
- Lee DeWyze will appear on the Billy Bush show live on UStream for an interview and performance at 1 pm PST. Watch it HERE.
***
Download a new song from Josiah Leming for FREE at his website, JosiahLeming.com. “What You’ve Taken” was written and recorded with John Vesely and Tom Breyfogle from Secondhand Serenade. Download it HERE.
***
Songwriter, David Hodges tweets cryptically, “@KrisAllen @SteveMillerRock Let’s do this! (was it 1am or 1pm? I can’t remember)”
***
Sanjaya Malakar hosts the Seattle Superstar Search live finale at the University of Washington on Feb. 26. Watch Sanjaya introduce the contestants HERE.
***
Kristy Lee Cook appears at the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, in Portland OR on 2/11 and 2/12. More information HERE.
***
Danny Gokey performs at the annual KICKSTART KIDS Gala and Auction at River Oaks Country Club on April 15. More information HERE.
***
More Headlines after the JUMP…
***
Preview from Oprah with Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer will perform her new single, “Where You At”. She also discusses, for the first time, the murders of her family members in 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2neUyuuiKjM&feature=player_embedded
***
Taylor Hicks coming to Beau Rivage, working on new songs
“This is a part of my career where I’m comfortable, happy, ” he said. He doesn’t have to be in a hurry about recording, he said, and he’s not going back to Hollywood to cook up his next album.
“I’m writing a brand-new record in Nashville, Tennessee, ” he said. “I’m in Nashville right now.”
“Musically, I’m working with a lot of different songwriters, ” he said. “What’s really great about this part of my career, is that this record is happening organically, instead of being rushed.”
Read more at Al.com
***
Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony: Grammy Presenters!
Jennifer and Marc will be presenting an award together at the Grammy Awards this weekend, JustJared.com can exclusively reveal.
Read more at Just Jared
According to Grammy.com, Ryan Seacrest will also be presenting.
***
Get A ‘Room’! Idol Contestant Clint Jun Gamboa’s Cult-Movie Past
This week, affable dive bar karaoke host Clint Jun Gamboa, one of my new faves this season, tried out for “American Idol” in San Francisco, warbling the familiar modern classic “Billionaire.”
Pretty good, huh? But really, such an audition hardly showcased Clint’s true calling: Belting out treacly slow-jams for Razzie-baiting cult flicks. Yes, “Idol” lovers and haters alike, Clint was involved in what is widely considered to be the worst movie of all time.
Read more at Reality Rocks
***
Carmina’s Idol dream over … for now
Carmina Salcido won’t be the next American Idol. She won’t be following in the musical footsteps of Kelly Clarkson or Fantasia or Carrie Underwood or Jordin Sparks. At least not yet.
Carmina knew a few months ago what we all learned after the airing of the American Idol San Francisco on Wednesday night – her Idol dream ended in a SF hotel.
Idol producers decided not to air her story.
“I was shocked, I thought I was gonna make it through (to the Hollywood round), ” Salcido said. “I was sure I was gonna get a golden ticket. I was disappointed. I felt like crying. But I hate showing emotion on the camera. Ryan (Seacrest, the show’s host) looked disappointed for me. Inside I was holding back tears.
Read more at the Press Democrat
***
‘American Idol’ Hollywood Week Could Be End For Season 10 Early Faves
It always feels like the “American Idol” audition rounds go on forever. But, miraculously, they’re already over, and Thursday night’s (February 10) show will give us our first glimpse of the dreaded Hollywood Week.
We’ve already had some serious ups and downs so far this season, with the joy of new judge Steven Tyler’s unpredictable, wacky personality and winning charm, the seeming bumper crop of stellar talent in Austin and New Jersey, the washout in Los Angeles and a few 15-year-olds who seemed to suggest the lowering of the age limit was a good idea after all.
Read more at MTV
***
Adam Lambert: Grove Guy!
Adam Lambert is interviewed for the television show Extra at the Grove on Wednesday (February 9) in Hollywood.
See the photos at Just Jared
***
Adam Lambert: I Don’t Watch the ‘American Idol’ Auditions
Adam Lambert chats with Ellen DeGeneres while making an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which airs on Thursday (February 10).
The 29-year-old singer told Ellen that he has not started watching the new season of American Idol.
See the photos at Just Jared
***
Adam Lambert Visits with “Extra, ” “Talk Today”
Making for quite the busy day of promotions, Adam Lambert was spotted out for the filming of an interview for “Extra” at The Grove in Los Angeles on Wednesday (February 9).
With his hair slicked back while clad in a dark-toned vest/t-shirt/trouser combo, the “Pick U Up” singer made the TV appearance after visiting CBS’s “Talk Today” earlier in the morning.
See the photos at Celebrity Gossip
***
Exclusive Interview with Adam Lambert
Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert has become an international superstar. With the Grammy Awards this weekend and a live CD and DVD on the horizon, we hopped on the phone with the singer to catch up on all things Adam!
Read more at American Idol
***
Tim Urban covers “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cuties
***
Clive Davis talks of projects with Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson
He said he’s also just wrapped up work with one of Franklin’s myriad R&B disciples, Jennifer Hudson.
“I’m very excited about the new Jennifer Hudson album we’ve just completed, ” he said. “I love the idea of showcasing big voices of someone unique like her, who can not only break through with hits but also have a big career.”
Davis will host his annual pre-Grammy Awards bash on Saturday night, and he’ll also be on hand Wednesday night at the Grammy Museum to be the first honoree in the facility’s new “Icons of the Music Industry” question-answer series.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times
***
Valentine’s Day countdown: Constantine Maroulis’ favorite love song
From now through Valentine’s Day we’re sharing the favorite love song from eight musicians who are about to perform in the Los Angeles area. “American Idol” finalist and Broadway performer Constantine Maroulis selects “Heaven” by Warrant.
Read more at the LA Times
***
Constantine Maroulis feels the noise with 1980s homage ‘Rock of Ages’
Say you hit the Top 10 on “American Idol.” Your chances of becoming a pop superstar? Still mighty slim.
It did not happen for Constantine Maroulis, the long-haired blade with the soaring voice and come-hither eyes, who placed sixth in 2005 on the TV singing contest.
But something did: Maroulis was welcomed with open arms by Broadway. And he was nominated for a 2009 Tony Award for originating the lead role in the hit jukebox musical, “Rock of Ages.” A paean to big-haired, big-noise ‘80s rockers (think Journey, Styx, Bon Jovi), the show has spun off a national tour with Maroulis.
Read more at LA Times
***
10 Questions for Kristy Lee Cook
Kristy Lee Cook, the former “American Idol” finalist from Southern Oregon, has a new lease on life after signing a deal with Broken Bow Records late last summer.
By this summer, she hopes to have put out her first single with the label.
“It’s a label I wanted to be with since I was 17 years old, ” says Cook, 27, a native of Seattle who lives in Selma, near the Rogue River National Forest.
Read more at Portland Tribune
***
Brian Dunkleman Admits Leaving ‘Idol’ Was A Bad Move
“Listen, I’d like to say I was just young and stupid, but the truth is, I really wasn’t that young, ” he said. “I mean listen, I was a comedian and an actor… What I wanted to do with my life is be an actor and that’s going great (gives a thumbs up).”
The comedian added, however, that part of the reason he left the show, wasn’t just his career, but that he found it hard to watch the contestants get criticized, which coincidentally, is the same reason Ellen DeGeneres left the program after one season.
Read more at Access Hollywood
***
Why Darren Criss Might be the Next Michael Emerson, and Why That Isn’t a Good Thing for Glee
The unwritten rules for the second season of a hit television series are similar to the ones governing movie sequels: Everything has to be bigger, has to be louder, and has to include at least one major casting addition. In the case of Lost, the second season brought increasingly convoluted stakes (The Hatch! The Others!), some shocking character deaths (Shannon!) and the addition of Michael Emerson to the already bulging cast. What began as a well-received guest role for the veteran New York actor became a three-and-a-half season stay on the devilish island. Emerson’s breakout performance not only forced Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to shift their narrative, but also cemented him forever in the minds of television watchers as Benjamin Linus. Glee star Darren Criss is on a very similar path, and because of that, it might be time for Gleeks to get concerned.
Read more at Movieline
***
Meet ‘Glee’s’ Lauren Zizes, aka Ashley Fink
When TV Squad caught up with the 24-year-old actress last month, she told us she didn’t find out Lauren, the Greco-Roman wrestling state champion, was becoming a full-fledged member of New Directions until the wardrobe department called her for a fitting.
“They were like, ‘You need to come in for your fitting tomorrow because for the big number you have to match everyone, ‘” she said. “And I was like, ‘That’s weird. Why do I have to match everybody?’ Because they called me before I got the script. And they were like, ‘Oh, no! Did we ruin the surprise?’ I was like, ‘There is no way this could be ruined — this is the best news ever.'”
Read more at TV Squad
***
‘Glee”s Dianna Agron on the Guest Star Who Brought Her to Tears
“We had the pleasure of Stevie Nicks being on set yesterday, ” Agron said on Wednesday. “And she kind of made us all cry because she came and she said, ‘If I hadn’t been a musician, I would have been a teacher. And I would’ve hoped to send this message to kids –that although there are very important things like math and science and learning, you know, kind of the things that get you through life, there’s also you need to find joy. And whether that’s through music or dance or things like that, you need to have outlets in your life.'”
Read more at ET
***
Live to Dance: Kids Rule
Fan favorites D’Angelo and Amanda bested mammoth troupes, trained ballerinas and other adorable kid acts to be crowned the winners of Live To Dance.
Paula Abdul was in tears. I was, too. (Don’t you dare judge me.) Sprightly soloist Kendall Glover finished second.
The tween tango duo’s win was perhaps a bit of an upset to fans of lovey-dovey couple White Tree Fine Art (who finished third), all-male outfit Dance Town Chaos and athletic ensemble Twitch.
Read more at Houston Chronicle
