Idol Headlines for 02/26/09

Paula Abdul: ‘Idol’ Comment ‘Out of Context’

Moments before walking out live on the “American Idol” stage tonight, Paula Abdul told “The Insider” exclusively that a published quote of hers regarding additional “Idol” judges was “taken completely out of context.”

“It is unfortunate that a quote of mine was taken completely out of context today, ” says Paula. “I was actually referring specifically to the use of ‘guest judges’ in seasons past, NOT Kara [DioGuardi] or this season. I am thrilled to have her by my side each week on ‘American Idol.'”

The Insider

Exclusive Interview with SC Idol: Kai Kalama

Local singer/musician Kai Kalama reaches for his dreams on TV biggest stage’ American Idol

It a far cry from playing the karaoke bar at Taka-O Japanese Restaurant in San Clemente, but from those humble local beginnings, 27-year-old Kai Kalama has made it to the biggest stage in America’ American Idol. This week the singer/musician from San Clemente will attempt to move into the final 12 contestants, having made it all the way to the final 36 following his successful audition in San Francisco and subsequent elimination rounds.

San Clemente Times

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

Idol Geeks! Chat with MJ and Jim

Thanks for joining me, MJ and Jim for some Idol Geeks talk on Rickey TV tonight!

Rickey

‘DWTS” Mark Ballas Dating ‘Idol’ Contestant

“Dancing with the Stars” performer Mark Ballas opens up to ET about his romance with former “American Idol” contestant Joanna Pacitti.

“We’ve been together for awhile. I am the happiest I have ever been.” Mark tells ET of his relationship with Joanna. “She is so supportive. She is so fun.”

The two met when Ballas was training Kristi Yamaguchi on season six of “DWTS.” Prior to his relationship with Joanna, Mark was seeing his former dance partner Sabrina Bryan of the Cheetah Girls.

The couple was just spotted at the world premiere of the ‘Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.’

ET Online

Is Norman Gentle ‹Idol’s next Sanjaya?

…American Idol” second semifinal was a little better than the first, as the nerves didnt seem as obvious and the bad performances werent quite as terrible. That will leave a lot of the singers who dont make the finals a little bitter that they were placed in a group without the weak links that were apparent the first week.

Ironically, some of those who faltered were ones who started with an edge. With a couple of exceptions, the judges favorites didnt get it done on Tuesday night, and have to hope that they made enough fans in the early weeks to compensate.

MSNBC

Voice guru trains ‘Idol’ contestant

When Bob Westbrook watches “American Idol” tonight, only one voice will matter to him — the voice that he has carefully groomed to win a recording contract.

As vocal coaches go, Westbrook is something of a guru in the Mid-South. The singers who seek him out are looking for a music career or, at least, are ambitious enough to pay $60 to $115 an hour for lessons.

Jasmine Murray, 17, a native of Columbus, Miss., is one of them.

Commercial Appeal

Were Live-Blogging The Next 12 ‹American Idol Performances!

President Obama through a wrench in …Idol sink last night, what with his …Im so important Im going to talk and talk and talk and ruin Jim Cantiello favorite show schedule and make his whole week feel weird speech thingy, so here we are on a Wednesday night gearing up to watch the next batch of 12 semi-finalists try to melisma their way into the finals. I feel like a dog in a dress, honestly. An …Idol performance show on a Wednesday? But this is the night we normally watch 58 minutes of filler before 2 minutes of results! The sky is falling!!

MTV

Phil Stacey Blog: A rough night for Round Two

Alsioniraheta0225250 Coming into tonight “American Idol” broadcast, I was eager to see Matt Giraud and, of course, find out what Norman Gentle would end up doing. But an hour into the program, I was a little bored and felt bad for all the contestants. In my opinion, it was an utterly forgettable night.

However, as my job here is to give you my input as a former contestant, I would like to rant a little on something. There is a claim that the “American Idol” process reflects that of the real industry. But tonight, which I would like to dub as “night of wrong song choices, ” “Idol” was anything but reflective of the industry.

LA Times

Rushfield Review: the semifinal frontier

It must be said that this has been one of the bumpier preseasons in “American Idol” history. The seat-belt sign has long since been lighted on a run featuring Bikini Girl madness, Tatiana hysterics, a joke contestant making past Hollywood, a new judge, no clear front-runner, a new format with rules that remain mysterious, one expulsion and a couple of weeks of very uneven singing.

But are we so PR-sensitive that we have been conditioned to believe all of the above is bad when, in fact, looking at it from the flip side, those are a lot of conversation starters for a show in its eighth season to put forth into the world, and the fact that all of those topics have dominated chatter for the last few weeks’ shows how much the juggernaut remains the dominant force on the pop cultural scene.

LA Times

American Idol’s Megan Joy Creates Program So Fan-Mail Can Fund Single Parents

Megan recently began receiving hundreds of support cards from members of Utah based SendOutCards.com, a company she and her family have been closely involved with for years. Touched by such an overwhelming response, Megan shortly found herself on the phone with the group helping to spearhead a fundraising effort for single parent programs like the national non-profit, Parents Without Partners Inc.

PR Newswire

Kelly Clarkson Makes ‹Suck Happen

Just in! Another brand-new Kelly Clarkson clip, and in this one, Kelly discusses taking Max Martin song ‘  in this case, …My Life Would Suck Without You ‘  and giving it the Kelly treatment.

MTV Buzzworthy

REVIEW: David Archuleta at The National

Sometimes, it’s not so bad to come in second.

And it certainly doesn’t hurt if you’re a tiny teen idol with puppy dog eyes and hair begging to be ruffled.

The angelic David Archuleta might have lost last season’s “American Idol” to sultry rocker David Cook. But don’t forget Archuleta still nabbed about 44 percent of 97 million votes, so obviously, the kid has a rabid following.

About 1, 500 of the devout jammed The National tonight during Archuleta’s sold-out show — the second date of his first headlining tour. Though the 18-year-old crooner bopped on stage about 30 minutes later than planned after dealing with inflamed vocal cords backstage, the restless crowd was instantly forgiving at the first glimpse of his sneakered feet and the opening notes of “Touch My Hand.”

Times Dispatch

David Cook: “Don’t try to be, just be…”

It hard to believe that it been a year since we first met David Cook. But if you think it hard for us to believe, think what it like for David himself.

Several times during our conversation, when I asked him about his experiences, he used the word, …amazing and I could almost see him shaking his head in disbelief through the phone’ especially when I told him that the tickets to the Shawnee State University concert Friday night sold out in less than five hours.

…Were really looking forward to you coming here, I told him.

…Well, I am looking forward to coming there, he told me. …That amazing.

Herald-dispatch.com

ROLL CALL: Jordin Sparks Eyes Movie Roles

Former …Idol Eyes Movie Career: Jordin Sparks is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow …Idols who have made the leap to the big screen ‘ and were not talking about something like …From Justin To Kelly. The Season 6 …Idol champ told AccessHollywood.com Dish of Salt Laura Saltman that a movie role might not be too far off. …Im looking at some scripts, she said on the red carpet at the …Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood Tuesday night. …Im just looking for the right one. As for who she rooting for on this season of …Idol? …I voted for Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey, and I really like Cassie Carlson.

Access Hollywood

ROCKER HAS KEPT COMPANY WITH EVERYONE FROM LYNYRD SKYNYRD TO MICKEY MOUSE EX-‘IDOL’ CONTESTANT BO BICE STAYING BUSY

If Bo Bice were a novel, you’d likely be hooked after breezing through the first few pages.

Since placing second behind Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of “American Idol, ” Bice has continued to inscribe the pages of a promising musical and personal journey.

Among his proudest chapters is being a great dad to his sons, Aidan, 3, and Caleb, 6 months.

“My son [Aidan] now thinks I’m cool because I got to hang out with Goofy and Mickey Mouse, ” said Bice in a phone interview from Nashville. “Only after I met Mickey did he think that, ” he laughed.

Fredericksburg.com

VIDEO: Idol Confessions with Mikalah Gordon

Check out our first in a series of videos featuring confessions from “Idol” contestants from years past. Season 4’s Mikalah Gordon reveals what is was like on the “Idol” stage, her new album and her secret crush!

LA Times

JOHN MAYER – MAYER TO DUET WITH SPARKS AT SEA

JOHN MAYER and AMERICAN IDOL winner JORDIN SPARKS are to duet at an upcoming benefit concert. The duo will headline One Splendid Evening, a concert to raise funds for VH1’s Save The Music Foundation, onboard cruise ship Carnival plendor, docked at the Port of San Pedro in Los Angeles. Gavin Rossdale and Sara Bareilles have also been lined up to perform.
Proceeds from the show will help restore instrumental music education in America public schools.
The morning after the floating gig, Mayer will set off on his second annual Mayercraft cruise.

Contact Music

Injured Jewel Worried About Dancing Future

Could Jewel Dancing future be over before the competition even begins?

With the premiere of Dancing with the Stars less than two weeks away, the singer has already been sidelined with this season first injury.

…I guess I really over did it on the rehearsal front! the singer wrote on her blog (in an entry titled The Bee Knee) posted on Wednesday. …My knees have been hurting so badly that I finally broke down and talked to [husband Ty Murray] knee doctor yesterday.

And the prognosis wasnt good: …He said I have tendonitis in my knees and that I have to start a course of medicine to try and bring the swelling down, she writes.

People.com

Dancing With the Stars: Karina and Maksim Wedding Plans Underway

The real life Dancing With the Stars couple, Maksim Chmerkovskiyand Karina Smirnoff may be spending a lot of time preparing for their first dance with their competitive partners on Dancing With the Stars which premieres March 9 on ABC, but the recently engaged duo are also taking time out to plan their wedding which will take place sometime this year. The couple spoke to Hollywood Scoop this week about their plans for the big day.

Reality TV Magazine

ETA:

Review: ‘Grease’ in Tucson lacks energy, attitude

Then there was Taylor Hicks, …America Idol winner and Teen Angel in this production. He gets top billing, which must annoy the others to no end ‘  Hicks sings only one song, …Beauty School Dropout.
But he hams it up beautifully, shows off his voice and brings some distinct delight to a kinda tired production. There something that endearingly geeky about Hicks, so it hard not to like him.
Hicks entrance ‘  from a giant soft ice cream cone ‘  drew cheers from the audience, as did his surprise ‘  after the curtain call, he performed a song from his new album, coming out March 10.

AZ Star Net

‘American Idol’ recap: There Will Be Blood

It may not be as overtly violent as the death-matches portrayed in the 1985 classic Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but there’s a certain brutality to the structure of American Idol’s semifinals this season. As a dozen contenders take the stage each performance night ‘  some hinting that they might be future singing superstars, others betraying the fact that they can’t hack the pressure of appearing before a televised audience of 25 million ‘  I’ve been half-expecting Tina Turner’s Aunty Entity to pop out from behind Paula’s massive weave and repurpose the movie’s ”Two men enter, one man leaves!” tagline into, ”Twelve singers enter! Three singers advance!”

Entertainment Weekly

About mj santilli 34833 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!