Crystal Bowersox will perform at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on on Saturday February 26.
Crystal Bowersox will play the South By Southwest Conference in Austin TX on March 18. (via @crystalbowersox)
***
via @TooFab: “Just In: Jennifer Hudnson’s “Where You At” video debuting Feb 24 on BET’s “106 & Park” The show airs at 6 pm on BET.
***
Siobhan Magnus will play her first major concert for hometown fans at The Cape Cod Melody Tent on Saturday June 18th. “An Evening with Siobhan Magnus” will feature a short set with Lunar Valve, a fifty minute “showcase” set of some of some of Siobhan’s favorite “songs to sing” and a full performance by The Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra featuring Siobhan as guest vocalist. Tickets will be on sale to the public in early March, details to follow…. (via Smagnus.com)
***
Chris Sligh tweets that his next tour “is with Big Daddy Weave! We start at the end if March! Luminate is out with us, too! Fun tour.”
***
More Headlines after the JUMP…
***
David Cook Defining Moments
***
‘Idol’ finalist to perform Friday at Mohegan
Danny Gokey says his life has been a complete change since appearing on Season 8 of “American Idol” — going from “obscure to the spotlight.”
“But I was excited that I made that choice. I’m very happy that I did that, ” Gokey said. “I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in life, but it was definitely worth it.”
Gokey, who became a favorite of millions of fans nationwide after finishing third that season, will perform a free show at 8 p.m. Friday at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino.
Read more at Norwich Bulletin
***
Crystal Bowersox on FOX 5 San Diego
***
American Idol: The Jig is Up
Flash forward: my group just finished our song, “Forget You” by CeeLo Green, and my four fellow group members & I stand before the judges anxious to hear their criticisms & decision on which of us will be staying or going home. Jennifer Lopez calls three names, none of which are mine, and I’m standing in the back line alongside another girl. ”Front line, you’re staying. Back line…” Before Jennifer could finish her sentence, my microphone was to my mouth.
SIDEBAR: Before Group Round began, we were told “If you don’t agree with the Judge’s decision, you have a microphone for a reason. This is your one & only shot. Fight for it, make it count & show us why you belong here.”
Let me continue: I stepped forward and told the Judges I was not going home & that I was confused as to how they had come to their decision. We were told as contestants, that our fate did NOT solely rely on our group performance, but that our previous performances throughout Hollywood Week would also be taken into account. So hearing that I was going home, knowing that I had made it through Solo Round with ease, didn’t make sense to me. And having seen other contestants completely forget lyrics, perform without a stitch of choreography & stumble through their song and STILL make it through, thoroughly confused me.
Read more at Waynosmith
***
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber are venerated as the team that gave the world hit musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. Little could the two Englishmen have known, when they dashed off a 15-minute “pop canta” for a school choir in 1967, that the resulting Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat would go on to have over 20, 000 productions. Or, for that matter, that it would take over four decades to make it to Japan.
A precursor to the even more famous Superstar, the musical puts a kid-friendly psychedelic spin on the biblical parable of Joseph, son of Jacob. Its long-overdue Japan debut comes courtesy of Minnesota’s Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, with American Idol finalist Anthony Federov in the lead and a chorus of 30 children drawn from Tokyo’s international schools. Metropolis spoke with Federov ahead of his trip here.
Read more at Metropolis.co.jp
***
JASON CASTRO TO HEAT UP THE WINTER JAM 2011 TOUR SPECTACULAR “PRE-JAM PARTY” PRESENTED BY AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY
Jason Castro is ready to heat up the final run of the Winter Jam 2011 Tour Spectacular “American Bible Society Pre-jam Party.” Joining previously announced special guests Fervent recording artists Chris August and Sidewalk Prophets, Castro will be warming up the stage for Christian Music favorites Francesca Battistelli, KJ-52, Kutless, NewSong, RED, The David Crowder Band and The Newsboys and speaker Tony Nolan. He will embark on this nationwide tour beginning on February 17 in Baton Rouge, LA.
Read more at World Label Group
***
Jordin Sparks Weighs in on New ‘American Idol’ Judges (VIDEO)
Season six ‘American Idol’ winner Jordin Sparks weighed in on new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, and noted with surprise how well the revamped panel seems to be working on ‘Access Hollywood Live’ (weekdays, syndicated).
Sparks recalled Lopez as a mentor from her season and said she seemed to grow into her role as a judge. “J-Lo was actually a mentor on my season when we did Latin week. So, I kind of have a little bit of history there with her … It’s so endearing to see that she … had a hard time saying no during the first couple of episodes, ” she said, adding that Lopez soon grew accustomed to giving contestants bad news.
See the video at AOL
***
Producer Tried to Edit Bible Out of Sony’s ‘Soul Surfer’
Tom Hamilton prayed for the best but expected the worst. He and his family, all devoted Christians, thought they had lost their bid to keep an overt reference to the Bible in the upcoming film Soul Surfer, based on the true story of Hamilton’s daughter Bethany, who, at age 13, had her arm chewed off by a tiger shark in Kauai but returned to her board to pursue her dream of becoming a pro surfer.
When religious leaders were shown an early version of the Sony movie, set for release in April, the words “Holy Bible” had been digitally removed from the cover of the book in a scene depicting Hamilton reading in a hospital where his daughter was fighting for her life. Hamilton says producer David Zelon, an executive at Mandalay Pictures, had lobbied to tone down the film’s Christianity in an effort to broaden its appeal to non-Christian audiences. But the Hamilton family objected, and when they attended a subsequent screening, they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw.
Read more a THR
***
Billboard Music Awards Set for May 22 in Las Vegas
The 2011 Billboard Music Awards will air on ABC live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 22, in partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The announcement was made today by Richard D. Beckman, CEO of Prometheus Global Media, which owns Billboard. The live broadcast will be co-executive produced by Mr. Beckman and Don Mischer of Don Mischer Productions.
The awards will reflect Billboard’s chart rankings based on key fan interactions with music, including album, single and digital sales, touring, streaming and social interactions on MySpace, Facebook and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners. The awards will be based on the reporting period of February 28, 2010 through March 1, 2011. Top artists will be recognized in a variety of genres, including R&B, Rap, Pop, Country, Rock, Latin and Alternative.
Read more at Billboard.com
***
Kara DioGuardi Sets Tour Dates, Talks ‘Idol’ vs. New ‘Platinum Hit’ Show
One year removed from the “American Idol” judges table, Kara DioGuardi is ready for a hectic 2011: the songwriter will perform live, release an autobiography, star in a Bravo reality show, and spend time writing new material with artists like Carrie Underwood.
DioGuardi tells Billboard.com that she has lined up a trio of live dates — April 20 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, April 27 at New York’s Highline Ballroom, and April 28 at Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre — at which she’ll perform some of her biggest songwriting achievements, including Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances, ” Enrique Iglesias’ “Escape, ” P!nk’s “Sober” and Ashlee Simpson’s “Pieces of Me.”
Read more at Billboard.com
***
Cheryl Burke admits to ‘fling’ with Chad Ochocinco
In her new book, Dancing Lessons, Burke, 26, writes that people assumed she and Chad were “an item” last spring because they had great chemistry and were both single. (There was also the matter of that $10, 000 ring he gave her.) And now she tells Lifeline Live that, yes, “We had a little bit of a fling.”
They dated? “We didn’t date. I wouldn’t call that dating, ” she said, calling yesterday between media appearances for the book. “We maybe had a little bit of a fling. I wouldn’t take it to that word dating.”
Read more at USA Today
***
Glee Stars Join PBS White House Special
The President and First Lady are teaming with the network to host the event in honor of Black History Month and the legendary Motown. Viewers can expect performances from both Glee stars as well as Jamie Foxx, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Smokey Robinson, Seal and Jordin Sparks.
PBS’ The Motown Sound will be taped Thursday, February 24, in Washington D.C., and air Tuesday, March 1 at 8/7c.
Read more at TV Line