Kris Allen on his way to Rwanda with TOMS Shoes:
@krisallen tweeted: “Alright. Off on the Rwandan journey with TOMS and B2R! I’m going to try and keep everyone updated on what’s going on. Ciao for now.”
Kris will be in Africa for a week, helping TOMS deliver 35, 000 pairs of shoes to people in need.
‘Idol’ appearance boosts Ke$ha, Orianthi album sales
This week, the only American Idol-related albums in the Billboard Top 200 that actually saw sales gains were the two non-Idols that performed on the show.
And even Ke$sha’s week-over-week album-sales increase was minimal, according to Nielsen SoundScan: barely more than a thousand units over the previous week, giving her nearly 28, 000 for the week and pushing her close (but not quite) to the half-million mark for Animal.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Ranking the Best 5 Singles from Last Year’s American Idol Contestants
Almost a year after the Kris Allen coronation ceremony that shattered devoted Glamberts and Lamb Skanks across our sparkly nation, we’ve reached the point where seven American Idol contestants from season nine’s Top 10 have released singles. We’re still waiting for entries from Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud (of the popular Twitter hashtag #SignMattGiraud) and Megan Joy Corkrey (whose Myspace singles don’t seem finalized yet) to follow suit. In the meantime, let’s rank what we’ve heard and figure out the whole “Who was the real winner?” thing.
Producer: Miley Cyrus Not Too Young to Mentor on Idol
Is Miley Cyrus too young to be a celebrity mentor on American Idol? Show executive producer Ken Warwick says fans and skeptics alike should tune in to Tuesday’s Billboard No. 1 hits-themed show to see for themselves how the 17-year-old star proves age is just a number.
“Miley brought an amazing, youthful energy while working with the Idol contestants this past weekend, ” Warwick tells PEOPLE. “Her experience in the music industry and her advice in handling fame at a young age proved invaluable.”
On Wednesday’s results show, Miley will return to perform her hit song, “When I Look At You, ” and new couple Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato will sing their duet, “Make A Wave.”
David Archuleta To Perform At Season-Opener
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Blaze are proud to announce that former season seven “American Idol” contestant, David Archuleta, a Murray, Utah native, will provide the half-time entertainment for the Blaze’s season-opener versus the Spokane Shock on Friday, April 9th at 7pm at the E Center.
Archuleta, who emerged onto the music scene through the popular show “American Idol”, will sing two songs during the half-time of the season-opener.
After American Idol with Anoop Desai
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA–Now in its ninth season, American Idol has broken some of the most recognizable names in pop music the world over: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson to name a few.
But when each season ends, there are more losers than winners. Some decide they’ve had enough. Others, like Anoop Desai, decide to keep pursuing their dream and get to experience first-hand what it’s like to be a struggling–and, hopefully, working–artist in Los Angeles.
We hear: Carrie Underwood, Mike Fisher, Kristi Yamaguchi and more…
That country crooner Carrie Underwood, who is engaged to Ottawa Senators hockey hunk Mike Fisher, was asking Olympic ice princess Kristi Yamaguchi for some skating tips backstage at MGM Grand at Foxwoods the other night. Seems Mike gave Carrie a pair of skates and has been attempting to give her lessons. They are not going well . . . .
Underwood is talented, so why the cheesey gimmicks?
The early rap on Carrie Underwood was that her amazing voice and undeniable beauty were sometimes undercut by a somewhat stilted stage presence.
That was understandable since Underwood had hit the music world in one big American Idol whoosh.
Tough crowd: Opening act Lifehouse redeems an otherwise mundane Daughtry concert
Chris Daughtry belted out some of his top hits, hoping to get fans riled up at last night’s show in Syracuse at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena. As soon as he emerged onstage, the lead singer of the band Daughtry pointed the microphone to the crowd, looking for an echo. It would have been the loudest sound heard that night, that is, if microphones could pick up the sound of apathy.
National Inclusion Project Announces over $700, 000 of Support for ‘Let’s ALL Play’
Raleigh, N.C. – The National Inclusion Project (NIP), co-founded by entertainer Clay Aiken, announces over $700, 000 of support to programs nationwide as part of its Let’s ALL Play initiative.
In just three years, the Project has invested over $1.7 million to expand Let’s ALL Play across the country. Let’s ALL Play brings an inclusive recreational experience to children with disabilities by giving them the same experience as children without disabilities. Children with disabilities and their peers without disabilities come together to participate in recreational activities such as swimming, arts and crafts, community service, physical fitness and more. The Project will support over 45 recreational programs in 23 states in 2010.
Kellie Pickler’s No ‘Idol’ Watcher
Just because ‘American Idol’ put Kellie Pickler on the musical map a few seasons ago doesn’t mean she’s keeping up with the show this season.
“I haven’t seen any of it, ” Kellie admits to The Boot. “I’m not a big TV watcher in general, though. I was so blessed to be a part of the show, but I’ve never been a reality show person as far as watching them goes. I just never have been … even though I was on one!”
Laugh fest to return to Chicago
NEW YORK — TBS and Montreal’s Just for Laughs are bringing back their Chicago comedy festival for its second year this summer.
Among performers on the early talent lineup unveiled Tuesday are Ellen DeGeneres, Cedric the Entertainer, Denis Leary, Russell Peters, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Aziz Ansari and Bob Odenkirk.
Steve Lillywhite ‘Idol’ campaign continues with ‘get to know me’ clip
Rock producer Steve Lillywhite has produced another video aimed at better familiarizing the public with his talent-judging credentials. The British sound maestro is still determined to throw his hat into the ring to replace Simon Cowell, and in the latest clip (shot in London), he recounts tales of his early days working with U2, and shows off his table tennis might.
Expect 8 Little Faces if Gosselin Lands in the Bottom 2
A whopping 24 million viewers tuned in for Monday’s premiere of ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ Much of that attention was, let’s face it, due to the curiosity of watching Kate Gosselin do her thing. Among those watching was PopEater’s very own Rob Shuter, who visited HLN’s ‘The Joy Behar Show’ last night to give his take on Kate’s so-called “disaster” of a night. Not only does Rob not think Gosselin will go home any time soon, he thinks “She’s gonna win this show.”
Kate Gosselin kicks ‘Dancing with the Stars’ up a notch
Performing to a bigger, broadcast audience, the TLC reality star showed she has the makings of a true Hollywood star when she catapulted ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” to its biggest opening audience ever — nearly 24 million viewers — Monday night, according to early Nielsen stats.
The ‘American Idol’ Judge Power Rankings: A night of total horror, Billboard No. 1s
t finally happened: This year’s contestants have pushed our four judges over the edge.
They’re just not the smartest bunch of hopefuls, you know? Asked to pick from among all the songs that have topped the Billboard charts, the contestants dusted off such relics as “I Heard It Through The Grapevine, ” Huey Lewis & The News’ “The Power of Love” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing.” And then there was Paige… hoooo boy.
Quite rightly, the judges got frustrated fast.
And that means Simon’s back on top of this week’s rankings. (Note that all the judges are in the positive numbers this time. Being angry makes them — mostly — more discriminating!):
Crystal Bowersox and her ‘Bobby McGee’: Here’s why it’s better than Joplin’s
For a show that prizes excessive emoting as a path to artistry, American Idol had a surprise last night: Crystal Bowersox took one of the most overrated songs in popular music, Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee, ” and made it not just listenable again, but actually enjoyable and revelatory.
Catch a preview of Kim Locke’s new dance single, “Strobe Light”, available on iTunes April 6
David Cook about his trip to Ethiopia for Idol Gives Back
“David Cook, the winner of the seventh season of American Idol, will travel to Ethiopia with the UN Foundation soon. During his trip, David will meet with UN staff who are working with the UN Foundation to empower and educate adolescent girls. The UN Foundation is one of five recipients of the Idol Gives Back special on April 21, 2010.”
Buzzmeter: ‘Idol’ experts pick Paige Myles as Tuesday night’s biggest loser
The “American Idol” expert pool has spoken, and the vast majority of our panelists expect Paige Myles to be sent home Wednesday night, while the rest are placing their bets on Andrew Garcia.
What’s the bigger “Idol” crime — butchering Phil Collins or “sucking the soul” out of a Temptations classic? We’ll find out at the results show Wednesday at 9 p.m., but see how America’s leading ‘Idol’ pundits voted here.
MORE HEADLINES:
Carrie Underwood and Rock Band? Play On
Country fans already know and love Carrie Underwood and her “All-American Girl.” But ever since Rock Band decided to include that track on their latest batch of downloadable content, I wondered what Rock Band fans thought of the tune. The forums on their gaming site are active, to say the very least. One thread devoted to the new content had 350 comments the last time I checked. Most players seemed psyched for the songs from punk band X, British garage rockers Little Fish, original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley and rock band OneRepublic. But since this is Underwood’s debut, a couple of commenters were unfamiliar with her and/or the song. But from what I could see, the overall take on her song was good: “This is super sweet.
Crystal Bowersox rocks the newest ‘Idol Meter’ rankings
fter Tuesday’s performances of Billboard Number One hits, Crystal Bowersox gets her own number-one ranking on USA TODAY’s Idol Meter. She also gets this comment from Ken Barnes: “By far the highest score in What Not to Sing’s preliminary ratings, she seems to be the judges’ favorite and the voters’ choice as well right now. But does she need to break out of her Etheridge-in-the-subway bag?” As far as the bottom three, the Meter says Tim Urban, Andrew Garcia and Paige Miles.
Rolling Stones sales are a gas, gas, gas after ‘Idol’ week
Two nights of exposure on American Idol did wonders for the Rolling Stones catalog.
In the aftermath of Rolling Stones Week, overall album sales for the band went up 34 percent over the previous week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, with top-seller Hot Rocks 1964-71 increasing 79 percent week-to-week. Hot Rocks, the Stones’ biggest seller so far this year, includes nine of the 13 songs (including Jumpin’ Jack Flash, which David Cook performed) covered last week on Idol. Digital sales of Hot Rocks increased 116 percent over last week.
Nielsen SoundScan also says that overall Stones digital-track sales for the Stones rose 73.3 percent over the previous week, and overall digital tracks sales of the 13 performed songs increased 149 percent.
Adam Lambert leads ‘Idol’ track sales for second week
For the second consecutive week, Adam Lambert had the best-selling track of any American Idol alumnus, as Whataya Want From Me sold nearly 51, 000 copies. None of the Idol’s tracks on either Nielsen SoundScan’s Top Digital Tracks or Top Country Digital Tracks charts saw percentage gains in their week-to-week sales, however.
Tim Urban Won’t Go Shirtless For ‘American Idol’ Votes
Shirtless photos of “American Idol” finalist Tim Urban are spreading around the Internet, and MTV News recently caught up with the “Idol” hopeful to find out why he was caught parading around a catwalk wearing nothing but a bathing suit and a smile.
“I was involved in a competition — it was for acting, modeling and singing, ” Urban explained. “One of the competitions was a swimsuit competition. And, obviously, I entered a swimsuit competition and obviously there are photos from that. And they’ve definitely gotten out there.”
Exclusive: Idol’s Kimberley Locke Rates Miley Cyrus as Mentor
Kimberley Locke came in third place on second season of American Idol (behind Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard). Since then, she’s appeared on Celebrity Fit Club, and will release her newest single, Strobe Light, on which she collaborated with Randy Jackson, April 6.
Tuesday night was interesting because of the song choices — they were not the best and maybe that’s because they are just getting into themed nights. I remember in Season 2, we struggled with some of the categories too.
Evanescence Offshoot Debuts New Songs Live
We Are the Fallen chose to debut new songs Tuesday night in a tiny London, England, student union before barely 200 people, the vast majority of them male, comfortably over 30, and as fond of leather and tattoos as they are of extended axe solos.
You may remember that We Are the Fallen is made up of the original members of multi-platinum Arkansas goth rockers Evanescence, minus singer and co-songwriter Amy Lee, who split over creative differences, retaining rights to the name Evanescence. Lee has been replaced by big-voiced 2008 American Idol finalist Carly Smithson.
OnMedia: The specs on Danny Gokey’s glasses
When Danny Gokey returned to Fox’s “American Idol” a few weeks back to mark the release of his first album, he was wearing glasses from Wisconsin Vision.
In a way, that was the culmination of an effort Wisconsin Vision president and CEO Darren Horndasch began a year ago with a phone call to the Milwaukee singer when he was just starting his run to the finals.
Guest blogger Anoop Desai discusses song choice
Season 8’s Anoop Desai, the only contestant to snag a 13th spot in “American Idol’s” nine-year-history, is Idol Tracker’s guest blogger this week. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native, whose debut single, “My Name, ” was released on Tuesday, breaks down some potentially fatal errors made with this week’s song choices and offers the Top 11 his advice for going forward.
From Michael Lynche to Casey James, Idol’s Stylist Shares His Male Makeover Secrets
Miles Siggins has styled everyone from Brad Pitt to Ice Cube to Michael Bublé — and is in charge of making the male American Idol contestants look good. His secret? It’s all about the fit!
“A $250 suit tailored can look like a $2, 000 suit, ” Siggins tells PEOPLE. Even his 2-year-old son Alfie is picking up on the father’s influence. “Alfie’s sleeves and pant legs have to be a certain length, ” says the London native. “And I actually bought him a suit last week. Since I wear a suit to work he wants to wear a suit to school.”
OK! Blog: Anoop Desai’s ‘Idol’ Dish!
Of the more than one million people across the country who have auditioned for American Idol, only a few dozen know what it’s truly like to live the Idol life. And that’s why OKmagazine.com brings in the experts, where this week, former finalist Anoop Desai shares his insights on the new season!
Before tonight’s results show, we wanted to know — how did the contestants rank up covering the iconic The Rolling Stones last week?
‘American Idol’ Eliminations: Is Paige Miles Headed For A Long Trip Home?
Yet while Miles tanked, so did a slew of others contestants still hanging around the “Idol” stage. If there were any justice in the world, Tim Urban would have packed up his dimples and left us long ago. But he, Aaron Kelly and Katie Stevens seem to have deep fan bases devoted to keeping them on the show. And has there ever been a faster fall from front-runner to has-been than the rollercoaster plummet by Andrew Garcia?
That being said, I can see no way around it this stance: Miles will be the one packing her bags after Wednesday night’s elimination show. Two of our “Idol” experts — MTV’s Jim Cantiello and MJ Santilli of MJ’s Big Blog — are in agreement.
