Today’s Idol Appearances:
- The Casey James Band will open for Sugarland on the band’s Incredible Machine tour, Verizon Arena, North Little Rock Arkansas
- Carrie Underwood performs at the Grand Ole Opry
- Siobhan Magnus attends the Grand Marshal’s Dinner/Dance at the Irish Village in Yarmouth, MA. More info HERE.
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Brad Paisley hints to a fan on twitter that the duet he just recorded with Carrie Underwood will eventually be released as a single, “who says it’s not gonna be a single? Patience my friend.”
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Paul McDonald tweets, “Good morning…what a day yesterday. Now it’s back to work! Today I’m moving into some fancy big house and hitting the studio. Good times.”
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Nigel Lythgoe tweets, “@RyanSeacrest was brilliant on #AmericanIdol we had no idea what the Judges would do. They constantly changed their minds it was EXCITING. America’s vote was brilliant for the AmericanIdol Top 10 and then the Judges added different flavors to make a great group of diverse talent.”
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‘Idol’ runner-up Bowersox coming to Kuss
The earthy singer-songwriter who grew up near Toledo will play Kuss at?7:30 p.m. April 19.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students, and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday in person at the Clark State Performing Arts Center box office, 300 S. Fountain Ave., or by phone at (937) 328-3874. (That’s in Springfield, OH)
Read more at Springfield News-Sun
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Michael Johns will perform at the Common Threads Black Tie Ball on Sunday March 6 in Chicago, IL.
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More Headlines after the JUMP…
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EXCLUSIVE: Fox Holds Secret Station ‘X-Factor’ Confab
Fox quietly paid to fly one promotion exec from each of its affiliates to Los Angeles earlier this week for an X-Factor confab that featured an appearance by Simon Cowell. The network usually holds an annual affiliates promo conference later in the year (called FPEC: Fox Promotion Executive Conference), but this was a new and separate event that it dubbed “XPEC.”
Attendees say the producers appear to be sparing no expense to make the production values for the performances akin to, as one promotions professional termed it, Grammys-level quality: top-flight backup dancers, lavish sets, pyrotechnics, laser shows.
“You had hundreds of people there who can be pretty jaded, ” said the station staffer. “But we saw the clips and said, ‘Bring it on!'”
Read more at Broadcasting Cable
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Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Idol’ Judging Brings Ex-Boyfriend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs To Tears
He can’t stop… he won’t stop… and he’s taking the Diddy train all the way to “American Idol.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs is heading to the hit FOX reality singing competition, where he’ll perform his latest single, “Coming Home, ” as well as mentor the contestants in the ways of “swagger, ” courtesy of his signature clothing line, Sean John.
“I’m helping [the contestants] with their styles. I’m helping to kind of dress them with Sean John, ” Diddy revealed to Access’ Maria Menounos in an interview on Wednesday on the set of CBS drama “Hawaii Five-0, ” in Oahu, where he was filming a guest spot. “I’m bringing a celebrity stylist to help us this week. We’re going try to get them to have that superstar shine and swagger that I try to exude on a daily basis.
“I’m going to hit ‘em with some musical tips, some inspiration, some motivation, and then I’m gonna show ‘em how to do it, ” he added. “I’m going to hit that stage after I show ‘em how to have that swagger.”
Read more at Access Hollywood
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Bo Bice enjoys writing songs, Nashville life
Bo Bice, runner-up to Carrie Underwood on the juggernaut “American Idol, ” is enjoying a tiny bit of anonymity at the moment.
“I moved to Nashville six years ago, ” Bice said in a recent phone interview. “Everyone there is a singer/songwriter, so when I tell people that’s what I do, they ask if I have a band. I tell them that I have the Bo Bice band and they all say, ‘You work with Bo Bice?’ When I tell them who I am, the response I get is an accusing, ‘You cut your hair!’ ”
BO BICE
Bo Bice is set to play the Cox Capitol Theatre on Saturday night.
Read more at Macon.com
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Ex-‘American Idol’ runner-up Clay Aiken is just … so … nice
t’s been almost eight years since Clay Aiken came in second on the second season of “American Idol, ” long enough that he almost can’t remember his pre-fame life.
In the years since, he’s released six studio albums, including last year’s collection of ’50s and ’60s covers, “Tried and True, ” starred on Broadway, become a UNICEF ambassador and outed himself on the cover of People magazine.
We asked the superbly genial Aiken, 32, about coming out, his rabid-soccer-mom fan base, his strange phobias and a lot of other things we thought he would never tolerate being asked.
Read more at Chicago Tribune
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Sanjaya’s New Role? A 7-Year-Old ‘Jock Hearthrob’
For his latest transformation, Sanjaya Malakar has lost the faux-hawk and wacky outfits of his ‘American Idol’ days and turned to the NYC stage. The singer-actor is a new star of ‘Freckleface Strawberry, ‘ an Off-Broadway musical based on a book by actress Julianne Moore. But while in real life, Sanjaya still exudes that sugar-sweet personality that charmed TV viewers in 2007, in ‘Freckleface’ he’s playing a “7-year-old jock.”
“Yeah, it kinda fit!” he told me. “The character is kinda like the school jock heartthrob.”
See the Video at AOL Popeater
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Simon Cowell Reveals Secrets of The X Factor
Our own Giuliana Rancic just sat down with Simon Cowell to discuss his highly anticipated new series, The X Factor, and in about 30 seconds the former Idol judge convinced us that this new reality talent competition is a serious contender to the best new TV show of this year. (And we’re only demoting X to “contender” status because of our wild obsession with HBO’s Game of Thrones.)
Read more at EOnline
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Simon Cowell will see you now for Fox’s ‘The X Factor, ‘ but don’t ask about those judges
“You’ve got to see as many people as possible. Simple as that, ” he said, adding that contestants will be able to audition via YouTube as well, as they have on Cowell’s “America’s Got Talent” on NBC. “The idea that record companies [have], that if you’re of a certain look, a certain age, you can’t sell records -– it just doesn’t apply anymore.
“Suddenly pop music’s become interesting again, ” he added, citing performers like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. “I think it went through a very drab phase … something happened over the last two years where artists are interesting again and it’s become much more about a show.”
Read more at the LA Times
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Julianne Hough Joins Tom Cruise for Musical Movie
I just got word that the former Dancing With the Stars beauty has nabbed the female lead in director Adam Shankman’s movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages…
Describing Hough’s audition as “jaw-droppingly good, ” Shankman said, “She came in and when she left everybody stood around looking at each other with chills and said, ‘We found our girl.'” I was the first to tell you last month that Hough was on the top of Shankman’s list of possibilities.
Hough will play Sherri Christian, a girl from the Midwest who moves to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actress.
Read more at EOnline
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The Backstory on ‘American Idol”s Surprise 13th Pick
More changes for this season’s “American Idol”! Last night the judges were meant to pick an additional two wildcard card contestants to progress to the finals along with 10 other singers voted in by America, but the judges just couldn’t narrow it down.
“They didn’t make a final decision to make it 13 until the end, ” said Ryan Seacrest, referring to the improvised expansion of the list of “American Idol” finalists.
See the Video at ET
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‘American Idol’ Finalist James Durbin Over Adam Lambert Comparisons
New “American Idol” finalist James Durbin is more than familiar with frequent comparisons to former “Idol” Adam Lambert and frankly, he’s over them. “It’s flattering, but I’m different, ” he said at Thursday night’s party for the show’s top 13. “I’m not him. I think I have my own thing. I think they say it because we get those high screams, but that’s it.” He was flattered earlier this week following the men’s top 12 performances when Lambert himself tweeted “Durbin sounded badass tonight!” But how is the 21-year-old engaged, father of one contestant from Santa Cruz, California with Tourette’s Syndrome – the one who can scream real high in key – going to separate himself from Lambert? “More metal, ” he explained.
Read more at Fancast
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‘American Idol’ Wild-Card Choice Was ‘Awful’ For Jennifer Lopez
The first elimination show of the new season of “American Idol” has come and gone in history-making fashion. Host Ryan Seacrest announced on the show Thursday (Mar 3) that around 40 million votes were cast, narrowing the field of 24 hopefuls to 10 contestants, the biggest cuts in the show’s history. Three more wild card contestants sang for their lives and were later added by judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson to make a top 13.
When MTV News caught up with the involved parties at Fox’s afterparty to celebrate the “Idol” finalists, there were feelings of relief, joy and, for one judge, discomfort.
“Ugh. It was awful!” Lopez said of the deliberation that went on between the judges to select the three wild cards at the end of the show. “It was so tough. It was so hard, even up until the very last second. It was like, wait a minute, we really didn’t know who to choose at the last minute. It could have gone any way. Even when we did it, when we announced it, we were like, ‘Did we do the right thing?’ I don’t know.”
Read more at MTV
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Meet Idol’s Top 13: Karen Rodriquez’s Celebrity Fan, James Durbin’s Glambert Fatigue
It only took a Transformer, a shotgun Las Vegas wedding and a Jennifer Lopez emotional breakdown, but American Idol now has its top 13 finalists for Season 10. Hours after the country picked its top 10 and the judges picked their three wild cards, the Idol class of 2011 walked their first red carpet and discussed everything from their secrets for calming the nerves before a performance to their ideal celebrity duet partners.
Read more at TV Guide
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A peek inside the ‘American Idol’ party, where the top 13 soak in the spotlight
A blizzard of white strobes flashes in a room already blindingly bright. Some finalists start posing like they’re taking profile pictures for their Facebook pages. Some stand cautiously toward the back of the cluster.
James Durbin, a faux-hawked Adam Lambert lookalike, blossoms before the cameras, strutting, smiling a broad, cheeky grin. Paul McDonald, the sensitive type with a colorful wardrobe that caught Steven Tyler’s eye, wilts at first. In a rapid-fire of group shots posing next to a Ford Focus, he squints his watering eyes and scrunches his reddening face, overwhelming by the publicity blitzkrieg.
These artists are billed as a normal young men and women, hailing from Hometown, U.S.A. And here they are being courted by reporters dressed like models at a boat show, asking what it’s like to be living their life. There are a lot of ‘This is absolutely amazing’ and ‘I can’t believe I’m here’ responses.
Read more at LA Times
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