SIR ELTON JOHN TO PERFORM ON “IDOL GIVES BACK” ON BEHALF OF ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION
As part of his global effort to raise awareness for and to end HIV/AIDS, Sir Elton John will perform on IDOL GIVES BACK, airing Wednesday, April 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX, on behalf of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, The Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox, Jeff Beck & Joss Stone and Mary J. Blige & the All-Star Band will also perform.
In addition, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has joined IDOL GIVES BACK as a not-for-profit partner on the charity special.
‘American Idol’ welcomes Lady Antebellum
“American Idol” is welcoming one of the hottest groups in country music to its stage — Lady Antebellum, comprised of Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott.
Wednesday, April 14 following the live results show, the trio of country artists pre-recorded a live performance of their smash hit “Need You Now” for the lucky audience.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Siobhan Magnus, Aaron Kelly need a boost in their Idol Meter ratings
Idol Meter has its final grades for the week: Crystal Bowersox and Michael Lynche remain at the top, while Aaron Kelly (“the unnamed member of the bottom three?”) and Siobhan Magnus (“seems to be losing that imaginative side she had at the start”) are the contestants most desperately needing a shift in their momentum.
‘Idol’s’ Top 9 share their favorite Adam Lambert moments
After Tuesday’s performance show, we asked most of season 9’s Top 9 (Tim Urban eluded the question somehow) for their favorite Adam Lambert moment, be it from last year’s “American Idol, ” his career since or their Vegas experience with the season 8 runner-up as their mentor. Read on for some major Adam adoration…
Siobhan Magnus: “Just meeting him was incredible; his presence is really big and he’s just so positive and genuinely kind. He said he would figuratively be throwing glitter at me, and I felt it up there.”
Paula Abdul may be heading back to ‘Idol’
“American Idol” is certainly having a rough go at it this year, and there’s no easy answer about what can be done to keep ratings from sinking farther when Simon Cowell is absent from the judges’ panel next year. One rumor floating around is that the show will bring Paula Abdul back.
Official comment from “American Idol” and Abdul’s rep was a “no comment.” But according to one “Idol” source, “With Paula, anything’s possible. She could come back. She’s not banned or anything, but I’m not even sure that would do the trick.”
Guest blogger Kimberley Locke to Season 9: Sing like a star and look like one, too!
Season 2’s third place finisher Kimberley Locke has hardly stopped moving since that fateful moment in 2003 when she, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard shared the stage along with some 20 millions votes. Right out the gate, Kimberley showed she meant business and signed with Curb Records. Her debut album, “One Love, ” is among the most successful of the “Idol” alumni. After six years on the label, she signed with Randy Jackson’s Dream Merchant 21 Entertainment in 2009. The “Idol” judge produced her debut single, “Strobelight” (out now, check Kimberley’s website for details) and is currently mixing her new album.
‘American Idol’ beats ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in ratings, but ‘Glee’s’ hot, too
Late Wednesday afternoon, Nielsen issued the final numbers.
“Dancing With the Stars” and “American Idol” had tied, with 20.6 million viewers each.
Actually, if you take it out to enough decimal points, “Idol” (20.639 million) barely edged out “Dancing” (20.562 million) by the population of Sandusky, Ohio (pop. 77, 000) — the Roller Coaster Capital of the World.
As usual, “Idol” beat “Dancing” among the 18-to-49-year-olds advertisers target and among the subset 18-to-34-year-olds who are the Hot Blondes of Madison Avenue — ultra-desirable.
But “Idol” did not win the night among 18-to-34-year-olds. The formerly invincible singing competition show got beat in that age bracket by the show that followed, “Glee.”
We Are the Fallen’s Singer Not Watching Much ‘American Idol’ These Days
There have been a few ‘American Idol’ alums that chose rock over pop. Daughtry immediately comes to mind, and now you can add Carly Smithson to the list. The singer is now fronting rock act We Are the Fallen. Her band will release its debut album May 11. While Smithson is definitely looking forward in terms of her career, she’s proud of her ‘Idol’ past but admits it wasn’t all ice cream cones and rainbows after she was booted from America’s biggest television show.
Jason Castro talks ‘Idol’ and his new album
Rockwall’s Jason Castro made it to a fourth-place finish in the 2008 season of American Idol with a combination of laid-back charm, earnestness and inspired song choices. His stripped-down version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was one of the most memorable moments of any season.
Not surprisingly, “Hallelujah” closes out Castro’s new self-titled album, released this week on Atlantic Records. But don’t expect all covers from the set: The 22-year-old singer told us in a phone interview last week that he took his time getting a deal and recording the album because he wanted to showcase his own songwriting.
No diva behaviour from Kelly Clarkson Down Under
Kelly Clarkson, the diminutive US songbird who won the first series of American Idol, flew into Sydney yesterday at the start of her local tour and was looking not one bit the difficult diva as she pulled up at the airport in a smock dress, black tights and flats and looking a little bit lost.
No stranger to controversy after being accused during her time on Idol in 2002 of breaching rules for having a recording contract (later ruled to be a demo contract only), Clarkson has never been a conventional celebrity.
Kelly Clarkson: G’Day, Sydney!
A fresh faced Kelly Clarkson arrives at Australia’s Sydney Airport on Wednesday (April 14) before playing a series of shows down under!
The 27-year-old singer will be performing in Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth while in Australia. Kel did a show in New Zealand, too: “You were an amazing crowd! Thank y’all so much for coming!!” she tweeted. “I can’t wait to come back ….maybe less jet-lag next time :)”
A Day in the Life of ‘Dancing with the Stars” Evan Lysacek
Evan Lysacek doesn’t make it easy for Anna Trebunskaya to teach him his “Dancing with the Stars” routines each week because she has to follow him around the country as he skates as part of Smucker’s Stars on Ice.
“We both like to work hard and we have an understanding of our schedule, so when it is time to start training, we know it is time to buckle down and do our work, ” Evan tells ET. “We have fun at the same time, but we have to be diligent with our schedule.”
Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy Extinguish ‘Hot’ Romance Reports
Erin Andrews and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy tell Ellen DeGeneres all about their rumored “hot” romance on Thursday’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The dynamite dancing duo hip-hopped their way to the daytime talk show synonymous with dancing through the audience.
They spend countless hours rehearsing together day in and day out, so when the lights turn off at the studio, Maks joked, “We divorce every evening.”
Brooke White, Justin Gaston Smolder In ‘Idol’ Duet
They may not have been bathed in smoky green lasers like Adam Lambert, but former “American Idol” finalist Brooke White and underwear model/ Miley Cyrus ex Justin Gaston had some simmering chemistry on their side on Wednesday night, when they performed a duet on the elimination show that served as the finale for Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens.
Gaston, 21, a former contestant on “Nashville Star” and current participant in the Web series “If I Can Dream, ” brought his smoldering good looks to the performance of the Elvis Presley ballad also called “If I Can Dream.”
