QUEEN LATIFAH TO EMCEE ADDITIONAL “IDOL GIVES BACK” CELEBRATION LIVE FROM PASADENA CIVIC AUDITORIUM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, ON FOX
ExxonMobil to Sponsor Second Venue; Tickets Currently on Sale at Ticketmaster.com
While Ryan Seacrest hosts Idol Gives Back from the American Idol stage in Los Angeles, Queen Latifah will join the celebration as emcee live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, an additional venue sponsored by ExxonMobil, Wednesday, April 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. This year, Idol Gives Back will feature performances and appearances by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, The Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox and Jeff Beck.
Tickets are currently on sale for the Idol Gives Back celebration at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and can be purchased by calling 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting ticketmaster.com. Net proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Idol Gives Back Foundation.
Idol tracks: Adam Lambert stays on top, Kellie Pickler tops a million
Adam Lambert’s Whataya Want From Me remains the week’s best-selling Idol track — a place he’ll almost surely hold next week, too, after performing on American Idol tonight. And while Adam is rapidly closing in on a million downloads for his track, Kellie Pickler has finally surpassed that mark for her Best Days of Your Life, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Sting, Lady Gaga to headline TODAY concerts
NEW YORK – For its 15th consecutive year, NBC’s TODAY is bringing some of the biggest names in music to rock the Plaza, including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera and Carrie Underwood. This year’s “Toyota Concert Series on TODAY” kicks off on May 14 with a performance by Sting.
Grammy Award-winning Sting plans to play a full half hour of music on behalf of his upcoming world tour with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Adam Lambert responds to ‘American Idol’ exec producer Ken Warwick: ‘I don’t feel like I’m struggling at all’
EW caught up with Lambert at Idol last night during a post-show press Q&A, and asked him about Warwick’s comments. “It’s so sweet of him, ” Lambert replied lightheartedly. “I don’t feel like I’m struggling at all. I think things are right where they need to be. My single ‘What Do You Want From Me, ’ is just breaking into the Top 10 right now.” The track, which Lambert will perform during tonight’s Idol results show, is currently at No. 13 on Billboard’s Pop chart, and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, having peaked at No. 20.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
‘American Idol’: Expert Bloggers Size Up the Final Nine
MJ Santilli, fellow “Idol” superfan and blogger for the Web site MJ’s Big Blog detailing everything “Idol, ” agreed that Adam did a good job as a mentor.
“They really needed advice from someone like Adam, ” Santilli told ABCNews.com. “He is well-spoken, and he knows how to make a performance come alive and capture the audience’s attention. When you watch Adam on “Idol, ” what he did every week was craft a performance that is vocally, visually and emotionally exciting, and that is what they need to do.”
Adam Lambert on his ‘Idol’ return, mentoring the Top 9 and Elvis
So how did Adam think it went? Judging from his ear-to-ear post-show grin: fabulously. As for the memories it brought back? “It’s nostalgic, ” he told Idol Tracker on Tuesday night. “When Ryan had me come up [to the stage] with the contestants, I was, like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what this feels like — standing next to Ryan, looking at the teleprompter, at the judges, the audience. …’ It puts it all into perspective. I am so thankful for ‘American Idol, ‘ for putting me on the map, for helping me start my recording career.”
Any update on your upcoming tour?
It’s all being formulated — the dates are all being confirmed, I have to come up with a concept, the look of it … the theme, the set list, it’s all under development. It starts in June.
‘Idol’ alumni give back at L.A. food bank
Ten former “American Idol” finalists, including Season 5’s Elliott Yamin, Season 2’s Kimberley Locke, Season 6’s Brandon Rogers, Season 3’s Latoya London and Season 9’s Didi Benami, came together in downtown L.A. on Tuesday to help fill backpacks with food for needy children in the area (Season 7’s Michael Johns also was expected but didn’t make it because he was sick).
Former American Idol “Gives Back”
SALT LAKE CITY – Former American Idol finalists around the country volunteer to feed the hungry for the “Idol gives back” organization. Season 8 American Idol and top contestant, Megan Joy helped out at local food bank in Salt Lake City Tuesday evening. “Charity work is amazing. We’re helping people and in return reap the nice karma, it’s win win, ” Joy said.
“American Idol Gives Back” has now gained national attention as a multi-million dollar donation telethon for charities across the country. Former Idol contestants volunteered at their local food banks to shine the spotlight on them. “I want to help people, ” Joy said.
Justin Gaston ‘Very, Very Happy’ to Perform on Idol
When Brooke White makes her return to the American Idol stage on Wednesday, another artist will make his debut along side her — singer-songwriter Justin Gaston.
If the long-haired, seemingly shy, skinny-jeaned guitarist looks familiar, it may be because the 21-year-old has garnered a bit of fame as a model, a contestant on Nashville Star and ex-boyfriend of Miley Cyrus. Now, Gaston is one of the featured aspiring talents on the Web show If I Can Dream, seen on Hulu.com and Ificandream.com, and he can’t wait to show off his musical chops to a wider audience in a duet of the show’s theme song.
First photos: Elvis night on American Idol with Adam Lambert
Tonight is a big night for the American Idol Season 9 contestants, so it’s only appropriate that they drew inspiration from one of music’s biggest icons, Elvis Presley, right here in Las Vegas. The Top 9 contestants traveled to the Strip last weekend to set up camp in the home of the newest Cirque du Soleil production, Viva Elvis at Aria in MGM’s CityCenter.
Anoop Desai, along with his band, will perform for Sessions At Studio B at 4:00 PM on Monday, April 19.
Catch the performance at: http://Music.MyNC.com. The performance will also be recorded and the video will be available later in the week.
Sessions At Studio B are weekly, 30 minute-long live studio performance shows.
For more information, go to http://music.mync.com/schedule/.
Going Post Idol Solo with Jason Castro
After stepping into the singing spotlight as the fourth place finalist on Season 7 of American Idol, Jason Castro has been honing his talent in the studio for the April 13 release of his self-titled debut album, Jason Castro. After breaking out of Texas and breaking into the music business with American Idol, Jason Castro had the perfect launching pad to begin his solo career.
Kelly Clarkson: Cranky Down Under
Taking her rock-infused pop music all over the globe, Kelly Clarkson was spotted arriving in Sydney, Australia earlier today (April 14).
The “My Life Would Suck Without You” songstress looked a little jet-lagged and cranky as she made her exit from the Sydney International Airport terminal – yelling at a member of press waiting to ask a few questions.
‘American Idol’ alum Elliot Yamin voting for Aaron Kelly
He may be American Idol season nine’s youngest finalist, but at just 17 Aaron Kelly has a fan in one successful Idol alum.
On The Red Carpet’s Rachel Smith caught up with Elliot Yamin at an Idol Gives Back event Tuesday in LA, who told her that Kelly has his vote.
“My favorite this year is Aaron Kelly. I really like him, ” he said. “I think he epitomizes what Idol is all about. Taking a young kid who probably otherwise wouldn’t be heard on this level, and watching him grow and evolve.
Atlantic Recording Artist and Former ‘American Idol’ Finalist Jason Castro Gives Back To Support ‘Id
“American Idol” finalist Jason Castro, a native of Dallas, TX, will tour the Children’s Health Fund’s Dallas program, a partnership with Parkland Health & Hospital System, in support of “Idol Gives Back, ” the Emmy Award-winning television event and musical celebration raising awareness and funds to benefit various U.S. and international charities, airing Wednesday, April 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Children’s Health Fund (CHF), one of the “Idol Gives Back” beneficiaries (for the third time), is the nation’s leading pediatric provider of mobile-based health care of homeless and low-income children and their families — regardless of their ability to pay. Each one of CHF’s 24 programs across the country received support from “Idol Gives Back.”
Castro will visit The Family Place, one of the Children’s Health Fund’s Dallas Program’s service delivery sites for the mobile dental component of the program, the program also provides medical and mental health care to homeless children and families. He will see how “Idol Gives Back” funding is helping some of Dallas’ neediest while visiting the clinic and performing for the families, many who benefit from these essential services.
‘Idol’ Can Transform Ya: Biggest ‘AI’ Makeovers Ever
Most American Idols are made, not born. Sure, their singing ability may have been there from the start, but they walked into that audition room looking like just any boy- or girl-next-door. It was only after they were manhandled by a 19 Entertainment-supplied dream team of stylists, hairdressers, makeup artists, personal trainers, and cosmetic dentists that their superstar transformations were complete.
And of course, some less fortunate Idols end up going through changes on their own, both good and bad, once they leave the show and are left to their own devices.
Dancing With The Stars Recap: Sweet Taboo
After Week 4 of season 10 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, Aiden Turner, former All My Children actor and a smash-hit on one moderately populated cruise ship, was voted out of the competition. He was FOILED! by his partner, you might say, if only because half of her body (generous estimate) happened to be draped in crinkled aluminum. Aiden, whom DANCMSTR Len Goodman referred to as his son because both of them are British, will be remembered best for his pixelated puke in Week 3, saying it with flowers, and playing an eye-patched card shark villain in the coming-soon 007-inspired film Dance Another Day.
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Elimination: Aiden Turner Sent Home
There’s been enough drama on “Dancing With the Stars” this season to fill a soap opera, and this week one of soap’s most charismatic leading men, Aiden Turner, and his vivacious partner Edyta Sliwinska rumba’d their way off the dance floor.
“I feel I got robbed, ” the actor said on “Good Morning America” today.
“The judges really hated us, ” Sliwinska added.
‘Glee’: You had me at ‘hell-o’
We here at Show Tracker had a tough time resisting talking about the episodes that were sent over to us, but alas we can let the cat out of the bag about what we thought of the premiere episode. We’re warning you in advance though, if you don’t want any spoilers wait until after the episode airs Tuesday night after “American Idol” – our West Coast readers should also avoid Twitter, Facebook and generally the entire Internet as every critic will be offering their reviews early (if they haven’t already). FYI: Speaking of spoilers, Fox is premiering Sue Sylvester’s (Jane Lynch) “Vogue” video for those fans who can’t suffer another week of waiting for the Madonna episode.
‘Glee’ Star Jane Lynch Says She ‘Terrorizes Everybody’ In New Season
The upcoming season of “Glee” is set to pay tributes to the work of Madonna and Lady Gaga, but fans are also excited to see just how the relationships will change when the latest episode premieres Tuesday (April 13). Jane Lynch, who plays the tough-as-nails gym teacher Sue Sylvester on the hit show, assured us that Sue will be back to her old, mean tricks.
“She terrorizes everybody, still. She gets inappropriate with a bunch of guys. There’s a lot of sexual blackmail, ” she told MTV News at the premiere party. “She does a little singing with Olivia Newton John. She gets put in her place in a very interesting, cruel ways by Mr. Will Schuester himself. He gets kind of rough with her and he really hurts her feelings.”
Glee Recap: The Way We Were
What??? Winter Break is over already??? I kid. In fact, that hiatus was so flippin’ long, I was beginning to worry that by the time we returned to the halls of McKinley High, our Glee gang might have already graduated — or at least that Puck’s mohawk might have grown out. But as it turns out, it’s show business as usual for New Directions. In our rather promising welcome-back episode, we saw a triple slushee facial within the first 30 seconds, a Sueper-sized helping of Sylvester, two fresh faces from rival Vocal Adrenaline, a slightly sluttier Will, and only a small amount of screen time for bump fraud Teri! Stuff explored this week: Introductions. Fear of intimacy. Fear of being alone. Self-confidence. Self-awareness. Jerry Bruckheimer. Before you say goodbye to last night, let’s recap the action of ”Hell-O.”
‘Glee’: Jessalyn Gilsig talks Terri’s new love interest, vows to return next season
What’s a girl to do when her estranged husband moves on to a new girl a nanosecond after they break up?
Well, if you’re Terri Schuester on “Glee, ” you’re going to get yourself another man.
Korbi TV tried to uncover the identity of the (un?)lucky new dude when we last spoke with Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri), but as you’ll see in the video below, we weren’t all that successful.
