‘No One Is Safe’ on the ‘Idol’ Judge Panel
Everyone’s abuzz not just about the ‘American Idol’ finale coming up, but that something’s off this season and changes need to be made. As Simon Cowell departs the show to do ‘The X-Factor, ‘ we’re left with Randy, Ellen and Kara … all of whom may be casualties of some ‘Idol’ restructuring according to my sources. However, one very important blonde on ‘Idol’ is safe.
With the ratings slump at ‘American Idol’ and Simon’s departure just days away, TV insiders tell me to expect big changes in the format of next season’s show — and no, that doesn’t mean Kara DioGuardi will host in a bikini.
“Everything is on the table, ” an ‘Idol’ insider tells me. “Nothing and no one is safe from change. There have been discussions about moving the show to New York, documenting the contestants living and fighting together in one big house and also eliminating the judges altogether. The only one who is safe is Ryan Seacrest.”
Adam Lambert not performing on Finale – Set to Perform Canada’s Much Music Awards
Adam Lambert tweets the news: He will not be performing on the American Idol 9 finale next week.
Unfortunately not performing on Idol Finale. Guess they have plenty of artists booked. Catch me on Ellen tommorow and Leno on Friday.
Plus, Adam is set to perform on the Much Music Awards on June 20. He’s nominated for two awards: International Video – Artist for “Whataya Want From Me” and UR Fav International Video
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Homeward bound: The Final 3 reflect on hometown visits
On tonight’s “American Idol, ” the Top 3 travel home — Crystal Bowersox to Toledo, Ohio; Lee DeWyze to Chicago; and Casey James to Fort Worth — where each is greeted with a hero’s welcome and the hopes and dreams of their communities. Needless to say, it’s an emotional time for the idols, and hardly a breather after 12 weeks of competition, which represents the apex of all their accomplishments on the competition. A video can hardly do those feelings justice, so we asked Crystal, Lee and Casey to try to put into words the surreal experience that they all just lived through.
Was there a hometown moment when you completely lost it?
‘American Idol’ Experts Predict Crystal Bowersox/ Lee DeWyze Showdown
Our other expert, MJ Santilli of MJsBigBlog.com, couldn’t agree more, though she added that it might just be time to crown DeWyze the champ right now after his bravura performance of the oft-sung “Idol” chestnut “Hallelujah, ” by Leonard Cohen.
“Wow. Simon Cowell manufactured quite the moment for Lee, with the choir, and the horns and strings, ” she said of the dramatic show-closing performance by DeWyze, the former paint-store clerk and high school rabble-rouser.
‘American Idol”s Top Three Get Energized from Hometown Visits
Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, and Lee DeWyze sang their hearts out on Tuesday night’s “American Idol” semi-final. Their lives have changed drastically in recent weeks and their humble upbringings may seem like a distant memory as they live their dreams in Hollywood.
‘American Idol’ Finalist Casey James Was Always ‘A Throwback’
Unlike most of the “American Idol” audience, Danny Ross has had a front-row seat to the Casey James show for years now. As owner of the Fort Worth, Texas, blues club the Keys Lounge, Ross has seen the “Idol” finalist grow from a fresh-faced kid to a full-fledged guitar ace, and no, he’s not surprised that James now stands on the brink of big-time fame. In fact, Ross always thought James was destined for greatness.
“I’ve known him for a while, and I always knew there was something about him, ” Ross told MTV News on Tuesday.
Lee DeWyze’s Early Albums: A Boy And His Guitar Grow Up
The point is, I would probably actually buy Slumberland, or at least download it off some torrent site. There’s an admirable level of growth on display here, in just about every conceivable way — not to mention the level of ambition he shows by releasing what amounts to a conceptual piece. Even the artwork — a drawing of a tree — is much improved this time out.
I don’t know what the future holds for DeWyze, but if the leap he made from one album to the next is any indication, things look bright indeed. Sure, he’s still just a singer/songwriter (a genus I will freely admit to loathing), but there’s something here, to be certain. Now, if only he could find some way to raise his profile. Then the sky would really be the limit.
‘American Idol’ Top 3 talk about the end — they’re ready for the next phase
We caught up with the Top 3 “American Idol” contestants backstage after they performed Tuesday, May 18.
We couldn’t help but ask — with the finale in sight, the end almost here, is a part of them relieved to be almost done? To be able to take a breath?
Casey James leaps right in with a resounding, “YES!” “I’m ready to start playing music, like full songs with guitar solos and no judges and, ya know … not having to cut a song into a minute and a half, ” the blonde rocker tells Zap2it.
Why We Shouldn’t Count Out Casey James On ‘Idol’
Everyone seems so sure that next week’s “American Idol” finale will come down to Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, neither of whom have ever landed in the bottom three and both of whom have been hyped frontrunners all season long. But I say don’t count out Casey James just yet. Remember, last season’s viewers were equally certain that Adam Lambert would face off with Danny Gokey in the finale, but on the top three results show, Kris Allen swooped in and surprised us all. Anything can happen on “Idol.”
Carly Smithson: Life after American Idol
Carly Smithson wants to make it clear: she has nothing against American Idol.
“I fully respect and enjoyed my experience 100 per cent, ” says the Season 7 finalist, who finished in sixth place. “I learned so much and made great friends.”
But what people saw on the TV screen wasn’t the real Carly.
For one thing, out of the wish list of some 200 songs she brought into the competition with her, she only got to sing one: Heart’s “Crazy on You.”
Jordin Sparks joins local school initiative
Former American Idol winner Jordin Sparks has joined the Super Bowl Host Committee’s SLANT 45 initiative for elementary-school children in North Texas. Everyone who
registers for the project — which encourages students to perform community service — by June 15 will be entered to win a chance to meet Sparks and attend her sound check at House of Blues in Dallas before her June 29 concert.
From brutal to beloved, Simon Cowell heads to “Idol” farewell
Simon “I don’t mean to be rude, but..” Cowell bids farewell to “American Idol” next week, leaving a litany of stinging put-downs, an assortment of black and white T-shirts and big shoes to fill on what began in 2002 as a summer talent contest and became America’s most watched TV show.
“Simon’s departure is the end of an era on ‘Idol.’ Everybody knows the show is going to lose something big and irreplaceable when he goes, ” said Todd Gold, managing editor of Fancast.com.
Cowell’s exit as a judge from “American Idol” is more an “au revoir” than an “adieu” for American TV viewers. (He plans to return with his own “X-Factor” show in late 2011).
But the abrasive Briton and his one-liners have established a trend that has been widely imitated on U.S. television.
DWTS “Underdogs” Reveal Their Secret Weapon
Question: Can Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy go all the way on Dancing with the Stars?
Answer: “Are Evan [Lysacek] and Nicole [Scherzinger] still participating, or is it just us?”
So says the always adorable Erin as we chatted her up backstage tonight. But if Maks as anything to say about it, his three-time finalist losing streak will end next week, thanks to a ‘lil sumpin-sumpin he’s got up his sleeve…
‘Glee’: Neil Patrick Harris talks guest spot, working with Joss Whedon again, and why Finn is his favorite character
I was on set for the filming of tonight’s episode of Glee, which was directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon and featured Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Will’s old rival Bryan Ryan. In between takes of Bryan and Will’s dynamic cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On, ” Harris sat down with me to talk about guest-starring on the Fox series, working with Whedon, and the Glee character he finds “dreamy.” (For those of you who haven’t seen the episode tonight, a mild spoiler alert warning!)
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Lee DeWyze’s Atlanta connection and his night at Eddie’s Attic
Chicago resident and “American Idol” finalist Lee DeWyze does have a modest Atlanta tie. His mentor and former teacher Amy Coleman has a sister Lisa who splits time between Cumming and Decatur and he has visited a few times over the past eight years.
His last trip was notable a year ago when Lisa and Amy convinced him to do Monday night Open Mic Night at the famed Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. The Indigo Girls, Jennifer Nettles, John Mayer and Edwin McCain are among the artists who toiled there in their early days. The Colemans wanted to make it special so they even got him a limousine, which they took in from Buford:
