Idol Headlines for 05/18/10 – The Evening Edition

‘American Idol’: E! News looks at life after the show

E! News looks at “Life After American Idol” in a five-part series that starts at 7 and 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

E! Chief News Correspondent Ken Baker talks to Kris Allen, last season’s victor; wild-haired Sanjaya Malakar, who is working as a model; William Hung, whose performance of “She Bangs” was widely ridiculed; and Corey Clark, who alleged that he had a sexual relationship with former judge Paula Abdul.

Orlando Sentinel.com

Crystal Bowersox’s Hometown Fans Say Her ‘Idol’ Run Gives Them Hope

TOLEDO, Ohio — Like its neighbor to the north, Detroit, Toledo has been hit hard by the Great Recession and the shrinking American auto industry. Downtown is littered with the hulks of giant factories that used to help supply parts and materials to the Motor City’s car industry, but which now sit fenced off, their broken windows and weed-choked parking lots a testament to better times in this industrial city.

But despite areas with some of the highest double-digit unemployment rates in the state, these days there are plenty of reasons for hope thanks to the unlikely championship run of the area’s new favorite daughter, “American Idol” top-three contestant Crystal Bowersox.

MTV

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

Casey James’ High School Teacher Remembers His ‘Quiet Confidence’

Before he became the most unlikely of “American Idol” finalists, Casey James was just another student at Millsap High School, a tiny cluster of buildings located some 30 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas. He was, by all accounts, a quiet, well-mannered kid who played on the school’s tennis team, excelled in the theater program and absolutely, positively loved music.

A decade later, James is still the same silent, polite guy with the winning smile. The only difference these days is that he may very well end up being crowned “Idol” champion. Which, for those who knew him back in his Millsap days, wouldn’t be all that shocking. The Casey James they remember was certainly a nice guy, but he was also fiercely independent and determined to succeed in the music industry his way.

MTV

Lee DeWyze Spun Teenage Rebellion Into ‘American Idol’ Gold

MT. PROSPECT, Illinois — You wouldn’t think so by looking at him on “American Idol, ” but there was a time when Lee DeWyze was a teenage rebel. Though he’s shown a quiet, respectful demeanor in his climb into the “Idol” top 3, like many teens, DeWyze struggled with authority in high school and, according to those who knew him at the time, his headstrong determination might be responsible for setting him on a path to potential musical stardom.

“Lee was the first student we had, and maybe the only student, who said, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this high school the way it’s set up, I need to go somewhere else, ‘ ” recalled Dr. Patricia Tedaldi-Monti, dean of students at Prospect High School, where Lee attended from ninth grade until halfway through senior year.

MTV

Lee DeWyze Worked At Paint Store Right Up Until ‘American Idol’

MT. PROSPECT, Illinois — On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Mt. Prospect Paint owner Bill Lagattolla was selling considerably more Lee DeWyze T-shirts than primer or brushes. And that was just fine with him.

“He was our top sales guy, ” Lagattolla said proudly, referring to the “American Idol” finalist’s skill at selling paint, though he might as well have been talking about T-shirt sales, since the store had already sold thousands of the neon-green “Be-Lee-ieve” keepsakes over the past few weeks. “[Very] personable … he was really good.”

MTV

Catching up with Blake Lewis

Why this tangent in an article about Season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis? Because while I was bopping along at the Club Nokia concert on Saturday night, I couldn’t help thinking about Seattle’s little-beatboxer-that-could as an example of someone who also set his sights on a big market — the dance world. Through conviction and really good songs, he’s riding a No. club 1 hit with “Heartbreak on Vinyl.” And also because, outside of the “American Idol” producers, “Back to the Future”-era Michael J. Fox and yours truly, there are few people with such sentimental attachment to all things ’80s as Blake.

His debut album, “Audio Day Dream, ” sold well over 300, 000 copies. “Heartbreak on Vinyl” has moved a 10th of that number, but like “Scoundrel Days, ” it’s a follow-up that not only shows musical maturity, but real artistry. Read on for Idol Tracker’s recent chat with Blake, in which he bemoans the current season’s failure to engage and his own side job as an “Idol” blogger. No sympathy there, pal.

LA Times

Bo Bice bumps into Big Mike at Sirius XM Studios

Facebook

Who to Blame? The 5 Biggest Culprits in American Idol’s Worst Season

Even if Crystal Bowersox ranks among American Idol’s finest talents (and I believe she does), something’s rotten in the state of Seacrest this year. Last season, Idol rejuvenated itself with a blend of personalities — from subtle craftsman Kris Allen to sparkle sorcerer Adam Lambert. This season’s Idol cast is dogged by a number of distracting elements — and worst, the Idol-consuming populace is confused over the true culprits in this fiasco. Thus, we’re ranking the five biggest contributors to Idol’s weakest year. Hopefully number one will start to garner the skewering it deserves. Daggers ready!

Movieline

How To Save ‘American Idol’ Next Year

This week it was announced that, despite the imminent departure of Simon Cowell and the overall lukewarm reception to Season 9, “American Idol” will be back for a 10th season in 2011 in its regular Tuesday/Wednesday timeslot, albeit with some programming changes. Auditions won’t start up until this September (presumably so producers can search for a permanent Simon replacement); the Tuesday one-hour competitive shows will be extended to 90 minutes (presumably so the judges’ critiques won’t be frustratingly cut short); and the usually filler-filled Wednesday results shows will go back to being a cut-to-the-chase 30 minutes instead of an unnecessarily dragged-out hour.

Yahoo.com

Anoop, Hunt team up for educational PSA

Raleigh, N.C. — An unlikely pair of North Carolina names are teaming up in the name of education.

Former Governor Jim Hunt and “American Idol” finalist Anoop Desai have released a public service announcement calling on lawmakers to maintain their investments in early childhood education – one of Hunt’s projects as governor.

The message was recorded in Raleigh at the Learning Together Child Care Center.

WRAL.com

*BOSSIP Exclusive* Asia’h And “The Lotus Project” Part 2

Asia’h The Lotus Project – Last week BOSSIP.com officially presented Asia’h Epperson (Babyface’s newest protege) and now we’re bringing you part 2.

Flip the script to have a listen and a gander…

Bossip

Idina Menzel Offers Up ‘Glee’ Finale Details

It was rumored that Menzel would be playing the mother to Lea Michele’s character Rachel Berry because of their resemblance. However, the actress is keeping mum about that gossip, but does confirm that the two are singing Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” together. “When they say I look like her, I take that as a compliment. When they say I could play her mother, I’m not so sure, but I’ll take what I can take.”

Menzel’s character stays on the show up till the end of the season. She says of the season two ending, “I think it’s a really beautiful finale, really poignant. It’s a great resolution for the characters.”

ETOnline

Exclusive: On Tour with ‘Glee’

ET is behind the scenes as the cast of the FOX mega-hit “Glee” takes their show on the road, kicking off their four-city Glee Live tour in Phoenix, AZ on Saturday.

Cory Monteith (Finn) said before the show, “You know, what I’m really excited about is that we’re finally performing this in front of a live audience, because we’ve been pretending to perform it in front of a live audience for too long, for a couple of weeks at least now.”

ETOnline

Joss Whedon on Directing Neil Patrick Harris in ‘Glee’

Tonight’s episode of ‘Glee’ is definitely a must-see viewing extravaganza. First, Neil Patrick Harris guest-stars as Bryan Ryan, Mr. Schuester’s former high school nemesis who causes trouble for the glee club. Second, it’s directed by Joss Whedon, who also directed Harris in ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.’ Thrilling on many levels.

I sat in on a conference call and got the scoop on tonight’s episode. And no, Whedon wouldn’t talk about ‘The Avengers, ‘ but he had plenty to say about the wonders of ‘Glee’ and how much fun he had directing this episode.

TV Squad

Glee Spoiler Alert: Matthew Morrison Reveals He Gave Jane Lynch a Lap Dance!

Honestly…no words could possibly describe how hilarious a certain upcoming scene of Fox’s Glee sounds, and here’s the supersexy reason why:

Mr. Schue (Matthew Morrison) apparently gives Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) a lap dance!

Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, on behalf of the fans: We heart you.

Matthew and Jane talked to me about the lap dance—and how Matthew “reeks of sexiness”—when I caught up with them yesterday at Fox’s upfront in NYC.

EOnline

‘Glee’ Star Matthew Morrison Doesn’t Want To Bash Newsweek Writer

There has been much debate since Newsweek’s website posted a column in which Ramin Setoodeh argues that openly gay actors can’t play straight well. It has caused an uproar in the gay community, as well as with the cast and crew of “Glee, ” since the article calls out actor Jonathan Groff for not being convincingly straight as Jesse St. James on the show. “Glee” star Matthew Morrison spoke to MTV News about the controversy.

“I think [show creator] Ryan Murphy kind of summed it up best, ” Morrison told MTV News on Monday at the Fox upfront presentation. “He actually invited the writer to come hang out with him and the writing team on ‘Glee, ‘ and I think that’s a great approach.”

MTV.com

‘Glee’s’ Matthew Morrison on Will’s wandering eye, sexual tension with Sue Sylvester

So, will Schuester get a chance to truly sow his wild oats?

“I’m down for the cause. If they need me to do that, I will oblige, ” Morrison insists.

Probably not with Menzel’s character though. Apparently, Menzel wasn’t exactly a fan of their kissing scenes. Watch the clip to learn why not. Morrison is also spilling on whether he thinks Will and Emma belong together, what was so cool about working with Neil Patrick Harris — whom he affectionately refers to as “Doogie Howser” — and what NPH’s character, Bryan Ryan, was originally supposed to be called.

Zap2it

‘Glee’: Harry Shum Jr. says the cast learned a lot from Neil Patrick Harris

Korbi TV caught up with actor Harry Shum, Jr. to get his take on working with NPH.

“I actually met him when we did the Oscars, and I met him there with [film director/”So You Think You Can Dance” judge] Adam Shankman, ” Shum tells us in the video below. “So it was really cool seeing him [on the “Glee” set], getting to know him better. That guy is a character, man, He plays it so well and we learned a lot from him, because after he finishes a scene, he always does something differently in the end. So it was real fun seeing what Neil Patrick Harris was actually going to do.”

Zap2it

‘Glee’s’ Idina Menzel says there is definitely more to Shelby than what we’ve already seen

“Glee” fans have seen very little of Idina Menzel’s Shelby so far, but on Tuesday (May 18), that will change.

What can you expect?

“There’s a couple secrets going on there [that] I’m not allowed to talk about, ” Menzel tells Korbi TV. “But she’s definitely influential with [Mr. Schue’s] character and she definitely has more to her than what you see in the first episode.”

Zap2it

Evan Lysacek: Dancing With Twilight and True Blood!

Don’t be surprised if Evan Lysacek’s smile includes a couple of fangs when he dances the paso doble again on tonight’s Dancing With the Stars.

The Olympic gold medalist says the routine was inspired by Twilight and True Blood, but he and partner Anna Trebunskaya had to lose some of the bloodsucking details from last night’s performance. Hear what Evan told me in our exclusive chat this morning…

EOnline

Kate Gosselin’s Flying Return to Dancing With the Stars

Love her or hate her, you know you’re going to be tuning in to see Kate Gosselin’s big return to Dancing With the Stars next week.

She and pro partner Tony Dovolani are expected to start rehearsing today. What kind of fancy footwork is Gosselin hoping to redeem herself wow us with? Read on for the scoop along with some “hot” talk from Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy…

“She’s definitely going to be flying, ” Tony said of Gosselin’s last dance when E! News caught up with him last night at Derek Hough and Mark Ballas’ joint birthday party at H-Lounge. “It’s going to be a paso doble with a little bit of freedom dancing.”

EOnline

About mj santilli 34831 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!