Idol Headlines for 04/21/09

Paula Abdul Exclusive: Simon Cowell’s ‘a Bully’

Abdul on Simon Cowell:

ABDUL: He’s a bully, he’s a masterful bully.
MCFADDEN: So of all the egos, is Simon’s the biggest?
ABDUL: Without a doubt. Without a doubt. The first day I went to work on season one I quit seven times. Seven times.
MCFADDEN: Why?
ABDUL: Because I couldn’t believe that that someone was actually getting away with crushing fragile kids. This happens behind your back, [not] in front of your face.

I couldn’t take the pain that I saw, and I think being an artist who has had success, it’s very vulnerable when you are the talent. And when someone attacks you with criticism that isn’t constructive, sometimes it’s hard to take.

Watch the exclusive interview Thursday on “Nightline” at 11:35 p.m. ET

ABC News

‘Idol’ Meter’: Disco week might be the last dance for … who?

Thanks to a heart-rending back story (his wife died in surgery a month before the auditions), an upbeat personality and a strong voice, Danny seemed like this season’s anointed favorite (much like David Archuleta last year). But (much like David Cook) Adam Lambert has increasingly stolen the spotlight with radical, riveting performances, while Danny stagnates with unimaginative song choices and performances that fall well short of knockout status. He’s coasting along with strong fan support and overly complimentary judges’ comments, but his performance grades on WhatNotToSing.com have slid from 79 (out of 100) for his semifinals song Hero to 35 for last week’s Endless Love. A shake-up is needed.

USA Today

‘American Idol’ Power List: Pick your favorite from the Top 7 (part two)!

1. Adam Lambert: (Last week: No. 1) “Born to Be Wild” was a peculiar song choice to say the least — particularly on the heels of his haunting, moving “Mad World” — but once again, the long-standing front-runner hit every note of his Steppenwolf cover. What’s more, whether you love or hate Adam’s unbridled theatricality and manic energy, he’s certainly never dull. Until or unless his competitors start consistently taking big (and successful) risks, the season 8 crown is his to lose.

Entertainment Weekly

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

‘Idolatry’: Inching closer to an Adam-Allison finale?

Is an Adam-Allison final two an inevitability on this eighth season of American Idol? How come Anoop can’t get any respect? Could Disco Night be a chance for a “shock elimination, ” like, say, Danny Gokey? And what have Swedish vampires got to do with Idol? Get the answers to these questions and more by pressing play below on the latest, two-part episode of the Jesse Langseth-approved Idolatry!”

Entertainment Weekly

Idol Worship: Adrianne Curry’s Adam Lambert Obsession

Add reality star Adrianne Curry (America’s Next Top Model, The Surreal Life, My Fair Brady) to the ever-growing legion of Adam Lambert devotees. “Adam is my gay goth Elvis, ” she tells Billboard.com. “He’s Axl Rose, David Bowie and Robert Plant rolled into one, Trent Reznor-style ‘  yum! I f—ing LOVE Adam Lambert.”

Curry’s borderline obsession with Lambert has been a regular topic of intense discussion on her Nowlive.com call-in show, and during Friday’s program, she confessed he’s also been a slight source of tension between her and husband Christopher Knight. “I think Gokey is Chris’ favorite, ” said Curry. “And I think Chris kind of hates Adam a little because his friends’ wives will text me the whole time, and say, ‘He’s so hot, ‘ ‘No, you can’t have him, he’s mine!'”

Jaded Insider

Adam Lambert Got ‘American Idol’ Training At Wild ‘Zodiac Show’

For most “American Idol” fans, Adam Lambert is the wildest, most unusual contestant they’ve ever seen on the show. But to his friends and castmates in Los Angeles’ long-running variety extravaganza “The Zodiac Show, ” the Adam you see on the “Idol” stage every week is nothing compared to what they’ve witnessed back home.

Lee Cherry, “Zodiac” co-creator and director, first met Lambert in Europe in 2003, when the singer was touring with the musical “Hair, ” and he directed Lambert in his “Zodiac” stage debut in 2004. “He did [Sam Cooke’s] ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and as Randy would say, he blew it out the box, dog, ” Cherry said. “That was pretty much the first time in L.A. anyone saw him being Adam in all his full fabulousness, and everybody lost their minds.”

edit: you’re welcome Gil!

MTV

‘American Idol’ Update: Lil is in good spirits

Lil Rounds of …American Idol fame was supposed to hook up with me this weekend, but ‘ as you can imagine ‘ she is really busy and did not get a chance to make the call. I did speak to her mom, Dolline Coburn, though.

Coburn says Lil is in good spirits and has been really busy this week preparing and filming a commercial.

…Lil feels like she is doing exactly what she is suppose to do and that is just being herself, says Coburn. …This week my husband and I are going there to support her. Lil is excited and is just going to have fun with all of it!

The Memphis singer still survives after she was placed in the bottom two of the seven contestants.

Tri-State Defender

Kelly Clarkson at #1, #9 on this week’s American Idol airplay chart

Kelly Clarkson’s My Life Would Suck Without You retains its top spot this week on our American Idol Airplay chart, but Kelly could be supplying her own competition soon, as I Do Not Hook Up, the second single from All I Ever Wanted, vaults 10 spots into this week’s Top 10, from #19 to #9. Kellie Pickler also makes the Top 10 this week with Best Days of Your Life. Kelly’s and Kellie’s singles displace Daughtry’s Home (#9-#11) and David Archuleta’s Crush (#10-#12) in the Top 10

USA Today

Kelly Clarkson Calls Romantic Fantasies in …I Do Not Hook Up Video …Comedy at Its Finest

Kelly Clarkson video for …I Do Not Hook Up, the second single off All I Ever Wanted, leaked this weekend before officially premiering on MTV today. Like its title suggests, the Bryan Barber-directed clip finds good-girl Clarkson fantasizing about making out with a waiter at a Wedding Crashers-esque garden party and a greaser at a karaoke pool hall ‘  but the hot action is all in her head. Katy Perry and American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi helped pen the song, but the video concept was all Kelly, the singer tells Rolling Stone. (For much more from Clarkson, nab her Q&A in the new issue, on sale now.)

Rolling Stone

Will Kelly Clarkson New Single Hook Up With The Top Of The Charts?

idonotThe ridiculously enjoyable …I Do Not Hook Up has been teed up the second single from Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted, and all systems so far seem to be go. The song is (deservedly) gaining steam on radio (it up to No. 28 on Mediabase Top 40 airplay chart), and a video for the track (after the jump) illicitly premiered this weekend; it also been added to MTV newly re-existent playlist. But will it top the Hot 100 like its pole-vaulting predecessor did?

Idolator

Kelly Clarkson: March For Babies Brave

Kelly Clarkson braves the rain during the March For Babies charity event on Sunday (April 19) in Nashville, Tenn.

Every year, more than half a million babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds raised at the March for Babies supported research that helps to give every baby a healthy start.

Also spotted at the event: Nicole Kidman.

Just Jared

Former American Idols Come Together With Broadway Cares in New York City to Give America’s Talent a Chance at Fame

BOSTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ — GetScouted.com (www.GetScouted.com), the world’s leading private online marketplace for talent and scouts, today announced the launch of its “60 Seconds of Fame” talent search. Singers, dancers and musicians are invited to log on to www.GetScouted.com to enter the national competition. Between April 20 and May 18, 2009, U.S. residents age 13 and older can upload a sixty-second video clip of their performance to www.GetScouted.com to enter a chance to win a starring role in an upcoming GetScouted.com commercial. Winners will also meet privately with Broadway executive producer and director, Richard Jay-Alexander and season three American Idol runner-up and Broadway star, Diana DeGarmo.

ca.sys-con

Catching up with LaKisha Jones

America fell in love with LaKisha Jones, or “KiKi, ” during Season 6 of American Idol. As a fourth place finisher, LaKisha has had a successful post-Idol career which she calls a “whirlwind” experience. LaKisha’s debut CD, “So Glad I’m Me, ” will be in stores May 19!

LaKisha said being on American Idol was much more than she ever thought it would be. Her coworkers in Baltimore had heard her sing and convinced her to try out for Season 6. Singing since she was five years old in church choirs, LaKisha is so grateful to have the opportunities American Idol presented her with- recording in studios, meeting and being mentored by celebrities, and having all kinds of doors open up for her.

American Idol

Nigel Lythgoe Brings ‘Brit Week’ to ‘GDLA’

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) – “Brit Week” began in 2007 is about celebrating the success of British transplants who live in Los Angeles. The celebration includes awards shows and charity fund-raisers, and runs from April 21st through May 28.

On May 21st, the next season of “So You Think You Can Dance” gets underway on Fox. Nigel talks about all of those things with Steve, Dorothy, and Jillian.

My Fox LA

Is Simon Cowell Actually Using His Evil Genius for Good?

Simon Cowell’s empire of televised singing contests ‘  American Idol, The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent ‘  have become rather predictable affairs over the years: The delusional freaks with poor voices come on to get ritualistically shamed early on; the blandly attractive contestants with serviceable voices go on to garner breathless praise and some degree of success as the season comes to a close. However, as the current season of American Idol has followed its typical patterns, the latest round of Britain’s Got Talent has garnered international attention for blatantly defying audience expectations and milking that drama for all it’s worth.

NY Magazine

‘Britain’s Got Talent’ child star Shaheen Jafargholi: Exclusive EW Q&A

Yes, we all love Susan Boyle. But the charming Scot might have some competition in the form of 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi. The young singer, who auditioned in Wales, took the stage and began singing Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie, ” and was quickly halted by Simon, who asked him to sing another song. Jafargholi rebounded with the Jackson 5’s “Who’s Loving You, ” and earned yet another standing-O from the cranky British judge. (“I felt physically sick when Simon stopped him, ” Jafargholi’s mother, Karen, tells EW. “It was so scary.”) But how does he think he compares to Boyle? Jafargholi talked to EW about his experience, and how things have changed.

Entertainment Weekly

A Cynical Read of the Susan Boyle Phenomenon

The popular response to this youtube clip has been a sort of group catharsis. As Maureen Callahan writes so brilliantly in her recent article on the topic, “There is something disturbing about the collective rejection-embrace-elevation of Susan Boyle. There is [a] self-congratulation [and] the idea that we, the secondary viewers, the judges of those who are judging, are…more evolved.”

There’s a Shakespearean purging here. We see an auditorium full of shallow people reject someone ugly. Then, we see her perform well. Then we, by way of independent judgment, embrace her. We feel proud of ourselves.

The set up (the ugly loser, the powerful man’s false judgment, the ethical correction) was a way for superficial T.V. or for Simon Cowell to feel a little less guilty about himself. Or said again, this show served as reputation-control for Simon Cowell as much as it served any pure purpose for Susan Boyle. Sensational TV shows (American Idol, The Bachelor, Rock of Love) have gotten rich off of pummeling the quiet or the ugly with an aggressive spirit–with an exaggerated judgment on nuance. Powell is famous for his ability to cut people down without an appreciation for their effort; he’s become king because of his unapologetic simplicity of judgment.

Psychology Today

Back to Bacharach and David

During the decade of their pop collaborations (1960-70), composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David tapped into a transcendent melodic and rhythmic sophistication that’s impressively honored here by a quartet of vocalists led by American Idol finalist Diana De Garmo. Helmed by co-creator Kathy Najimy, “Back To Bacharach and David” puts the spotlight on the tunes with just a touch of comedic zaniness for accent. The lack of a thematic throughline causes the momentum to falter in places, but the musical output is delicious.

Variety

Melissa and Tony grab top spot on ‹Dancing

The field is down to seven on …Dancing With The Stars, so were about done with the part where you can fake it. At this point, if you cant dance, youre in big trouble. Based on recent weeks, this would seem to spell problems for Ty Murray and Lawrence Taylor, though even one-time frontrunner Gilles Marini, who once seemed untouchable, had a less-than-perfect showing in his last outing.

MSNBC

‘Dancing With the Stars’ recap: Control Group

First, DANCMSTRs, a confession. As ridiculous and right-up-my-alley as week 7’s group dance finale was, my absolute favorite part of last night’s performance show was actually the incredibly lame teaser for it that popped up right after Lawrence and Edyta’s waltz. The low-rent, pastel-hued graphics that just said ”Group Dance” and ”60’s Tribute” had me convulsing in giggles. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. (Well, I kind of do: I’m way too easily amused and that’s why I recap Dancing With the Stars.) I just couldn’t get enough of the over-the-top cheesy composite shots of the stars and then the pros. I’m a moron and thought ”Oh, how clever, they used a still image of Shawn because the Brady Bunch logo doesn’t move on the screen. Neither does Alice, I guess, for the split second she’s in that middle square.” Not one of my finest trains of thought. You can just go ahead and consider this entire intro a parallel to that awful teaser. Minus the laughter!

Entertainment Weekly

ETA:

‘Idol’ Yamin goes independent route

(CNN) — How does a Jewish guy from Richmond, Virginia, end up mining for gold in the genre of R&B music?

“I know, right, ” laughed Elliott Yamin. “And don’t forget the two Christmas albums I’ve done.”

Yamin, the third-place finalist in season five of “American Idol, ” is not what you would expect from someone who has achieved fame and success from the hugely popular show.

Years after he wowed judges with his soulful sounds, the independent artist remains humbled by the attention and grateful to the show and its fans for a shot at stardom.

“I still have a sizeable fan base from being on the show, ” Yamin said. “To get a toenail in the door of this business is hard enough and to sustain your success is even harder.”

CNN

About mj santilli 34829 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!