Kris Allen will open for Maroon 5 for 4 dates: Miami FL, 8/19, Atlanta, GA 8/21, Davidson, NC 8/24 and Pittsburgh, PA, 8/29. Check out Maroon 5’s tour schedule HERE.
Carrie Underwood to perform at Nashville flood benefit
Carrie Underwood is a confirmed performer for Nashville Rising: A Benefit for Flood Recovery on June 22 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (the floor of which was covered during the recent flooding). Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are spearheading the event, which will also include performances by the following:
Tickets — which will range from $25 to $75, with VIP packages available and select seats being auctioned — will go on sale Friday. For additional information, visit http://www.cfmt.org.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Idols absent from this week’s Top 40 chart
American Idol alumnae are all over the radio this week, but, according to Mediabase, there’s not a single one in the Top 40. Adam Lambert remains atop USA TODAY’s American Idol airplay chart, with Whataya Want From Me still charting on AC and Hot AC. Kelly Clarkson also has hits on AC (Already Gone) and Hot AC (All I Ever Wanted), and Kris Allen is still on three different AC charts with Live Like We’re Dying. But none of them currently has a place in the 40 highest spots on USA TODAY’s Top 40 chart.
Both Kris and Adam do have new singles climbing the charts, though. Kris’ The Truth moves from No. 85 on the Idol airplay chart (mostly Hot AC play) to No. 64, while Adam’s If I Had You, which goes for impact this week, makes its debut on this chart at No. 86 (mostly Top 40 play).
“Idol” Creator Fuller Marks iTunes Milestone
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller on Monday marked a digital music milestone, and said he was looking to the Internet and other digital platforms for the next big thing in global entertainment.
At a time of crisis in the recording industry, Fuller’s roster of singers which includes “Idol” winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, British singer Annie Lennox and The Spice Girls, have sold 160 million songs on iTunes, his artist management company 19 Entertainment said.
Billboard’s Fred Bronson called Fuller’s 160 million iTunes tally “historic” in a decade which has seen album sales slump and cheaper, digital sales soar.
“He is without question the biggest manager of the digital age, ” Bronson said.
Kara DioGuardi: Tears for Simon Cowell? Don’t count on it
And speaking of the contestants, DioGuardi said she thinks this year’s TV talent competition will come down to Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, but local fave Siobahn Magnus may have trouble spinning her “Idol” turn into music-biz gold.
But DioGuardi said Magnus may have trouble turning her quirky personality and signature shriek into a spot on the Billboard charts. She said the Marstons Mills homegal probably needs to write her own music “to define herself” as an artist.
“She was a quirky bird, ” DioGuardi said. “But I don’t know what kind of record she would make.”
As for Bowersox and DeWyze, Kara sees instant success for two singers who could not be more different.
DioGuardi, who is bringing her one-woman show to the Mohegan Sun Friday night, said the judges were pulling for the ladies this season, because men have won the show the past two years.
‘Idolatry’: A Lee DeWyze surge, a Tyra Banks twist, and a bit of season 8 longing on ‘American Idol’
After 11 weeks of live performances in this ninth season of American Idol, the show and its participants decided to shake things up and offer us some alternatives to the overarching “Crystal! Crystal! Crystal!” story arc: Kara DioGuardi compared Casey James’ vibrato to the sound of a bleating lamb. Simon Cowell gave his best Tyra Banks speech to Lee DeWyze. And Crystal Bowersox herself channeled a little Eric Cartman.
Crystal Bowersox’s Chicago years
The last time Gabriel Chapman saw “American Idol” finalist and former Chicago resident Crystal Bowersox in person, he helped duct-tape the dangling bumper back onto the “beater” she planned to drive back to her native Ohio.
But first, Bowersox — who’d showed up at a video shoot with a bouquet of sunflowers and her infant son in tow — wowed onlookers with her performance in support of Chapman’s young organization, Chicago Street Musicians.
Jordin Sparks plays for 500 students in OEC auditorium
2007 “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks sang from 10 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the O’Shaughnessy Education Center auditorium, which was about 100 people below capacity.
Days Difference opened the concert. STAR organized the event as part of its annual spring concerts. Country singer Phil Vassar started the night off with a show of his own at 7 p.m. on South Campus.
Kimberly Locke: ‘American Idol’ is anyone’s game
Singer Kimberly Locke finished third on season three of American Idol, behind winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken. And ever since, the songstress has always had something to say about the show.
On The Red Carpet’s Rachel Smith caught up with Locke at a recent Capcom/Music for Relief video game event, who told us she thinks this season of Idol is still very much up in the air.
Simon Cowell takes Mezhgan Hussainy to choose a new car… shame the shop was shut
A certain classic car dealer will be kicking himself in Los Angeles today.
The decision not to open up on Saturday afternoon may have cost him an A-list sale, after Simon Cowell turned up, ready to buy fiancé Mezhgan Hussainy a treat.
The pair were left peering in through the window, trying to distinguish the vehicles, when they found the doors firmly bolted.
With his multi-million pound income Cowell is not a customer anyone wants to miss.
Lea Michele Covers ‘Women’s Health’ June 2010
Lea Michele is pretty in pink on the June 2010 cover of Women’s Health, on stands this week.
The 23-year-old Glee starlet is part Italian, part Jewish. Lea proudly proclaims, “[I’m] the only girl in my high school class not to get a nose job [but] I love myself, the way I look, my body but sometimes I can’t help but feel insecure here. It plays with your head.”
Earlier this week, Lea was spotted smooching her boyfriend, Broadway star Theo Stockman.
Lea Michele never stopped believing
NEW YORK — Lea Michele won’t let you rain on her parade.
Michele, one of the breakout stars of Fox’s musical comedy Glee, is a tiny, petite wisp who speaks in soft, dulcet tones. But in person, she’s formidable.
“I always knew what I wanted to do, ” says Michele, 23. And that was being on stage.
As a kid growing up in New Jersey, Michele began auditioning for and booking theater gigs, appearing in Broadway productions of Les Miserables, Ragtime and Fiddler on the Roof. It was her turn in the December 2006 hit musical Spring Awakening that earned her a Tony nomination and led her to Glee.
‘Dancing with the Stars” Evan Lysacek Gets a Special Visitor During Rehearsal
The student becomes the teacher when Evan Lysacek gets a visit from skating buddy and Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen during his “Dancing with the Stars” rehearsal.
Lysacek teaches Cohen a bit of the Cha-cha and reveals that he’s dancing to win. “I’m starting to bring my competitive fire to the competition, ” he tells Cohen.
Lysacek and pro partner Anna Trebunskaya will be dancing the Cha-cha and the Viennese waltz tonight. The Gold medalist disclosed to ET that the Cha-cha performance will have a futuristic theme while the waltz will bring some romance to the dance floor.
Evan Lysacek “Sacrificing Sleep and Eating” for Dancing
Evan Lysacek has to do a futuristic cha-cha on Monday’s Dancing with the Stars, but he doesn’t want to look too far ahead after that. “I’m having the time of my life. I’m already starting to dread the morning I wake up and I don’t have a new dance to learn and I don’t have a performance that night on the ice, ” the Olympic champ, who’s simultaneously touring with Stars on Ice, tells TVGuide.com. “It’s really like a family here and it’s something I never really had in skating because it’s such an individual sport. I’m so glad I’m doing both.” Lysacek, who got the season’s first perfect score of 30 last week, is doubling up on dances too, as he must also perform a waltz. Does he feel pressure to maintain perfection?
Erin Andrews Wants to Win ‘DWTS’ to Spite Elisabeth
Erin Andrews was never the favorite to win ‘Dancing With The Stars, ‘ generally always trailing behind Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and Olympic Gold Medal winner Evan Lysacek. However, all that changed last week when ‘The View’ host Elisabeth Hasselbeck made some very controversial comments regarding Erin’s costumes and her stalker.
“The irony is that Elisabeth has single-handedly united everyone in America behind Erin, ” said a ‘Dancing’ insider. “Elisabeth’s comments have not only made Erin more determined to win, but have also given every woman in America who has ever been made fun of because of what they wear or how they look a champion.”
Burnett, Trifecta Shopping ‘One in a Million’
Trifecta entertainment is teaming up with reality maven Mark Burnett to create, produce and distribute One in a Million, a reality-themed singing competition developed for daytime TV for fall 2011.
Each day, the half-hour strip will pit four contestants against each other in a singing competition. Each day’s winner, which will be decided by three judges, will go on to a Friday competition where a weekly winner will be determined. Each month, the weekly winners will go on to a semifinal competition. One winner from that group will go on to the finals, which will air the last week of the 33-week season. The show’s overall winner, which will be determined on the season’s final Friday, will take home $1 million.
Contestants would perform in front of the show’s judges and a live local audience. In addition, the show will feature video packages that introduce each contestant to audiences.
“We’ll hear their stories and learn more about them through these profile packages, ” Cohen says. “We’ll learn what this means to them and what their personal story is. That’s what makes this show so suited for daytime.”
As Cohen puts it: “We’re not necessarily looking for the next great recording star. We’re looking for the next great story.” via Reality Blurred
Idol Dream Date With…Aaron Kelly
This “American Idol” season, Reality Rocks is visiting the “If I Can Dream” house every Friday night to break bread with that week’s eliminated “Idol” contestant. It’s an “Idol dream date” of sorts, and the most recent dish session was with charming and polite fifth runner-up Aaron Kelly, who called everyone at the dinner table “sir” and “ma’am, ” offered to help clear the table and do the dishes, and seemed genuinely excited to visit the Dream House. Clearly, this boy’s aunt and uncle raised him right.
