Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦
Kelly Clarkson’s New CD Hits Internet Early
More than a week before its scheduled release, Kelly Clarkson’s controversial album, “My December” is available all over the Internet.
I downloaded it quickly last Friday, and have been listening to it ever since ‘ not necessarily because it’s so good, but to evaluate its inherent oddness…
…I still think that RCA will add a couple of tracks to “My December” in a second edition early in the fall. A real hit should emerge then, followed by a tour. But what a long way around to do something fairly simple.
Alaina Alexander’s Gay Pride
In time for worldwide gay pride celebrations, “American Idol” wannabeen Alaina Alexander has written an original song to accompany a video, “Life Interrupted, ” which shows the faces and names of victims of gay bashing and other hate crimes, including two teenage victims recently hanged in Iran.
The victims include heterosexuals who lost their lives to homophobia.
Slim fast spas: A guide to the A-listers’ world of luxury spas
…Birmingham-born Cat Deeley is taking the U.S. by storm. The American Idol host and TV personality even caught the eye of Lothario George Clooney, who allegedly asked her out.
Before she headed over to crack the U.S. she booked herself into a Wildfitness holiday, where she lost more than half a stone…
A passion for property: DiCaprio, Cowell and Cox are sitting pretty and raking in millions
…Sitting pretty with an estimated fortune of R1.4-billion , Simon Cowell, the pop-music and television Svengali, has decided that it time for some home improvements.
Cowell, the man behind talent shows The X Factor and American Idol, has just applied for permission to knock down the conservatory of his mansion in Kensington, west London, and replace it with a new one.
Cowell bought the house, in one of the best streets in the royal borough, for £5.7-million (about R81-million) four years ago, using a mortgage from Coutts ‘ bankers to the Queen….
US viewers to get Paxman treatment
Ready or not, US television audiences are about to come face to face with journalist Jeremy Paxman…
…Executives at BBC America hope that he will emulate the success of Simon Cowell, the British producer whose acerbic and dismissive critiques as a judge on American Idol have helped the talent show dominate the ratings in the US.
…Jeremy Paxman is the sort of person that Americans will just eat up, Garth Ancier, president of BBC America, said in an interview…
Last Night: Jonatha Brooke and Steve Poltz at the Triple Door
…Poltz, who worked in a song from his smart new children’s album, The Barn, closed with his version of “You Were Meant for Me, ” the chart-topping tune he wrote for Jewel, introducing it as “the song that sent my parents on an Alaskan cruise and my niece and nephew to hip-hop dance class.” And mid-song, as he continued to strum, he went off on a brilliant rant about the song being featured in The Office, and how it was also sung (not very well) by a contestant on this past season’s American Idol, who was sent off in tears by mean Simon Cowell ‘ Poltz said he wished he could go back in time “like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five” and not pen the tune so that no one would have to go through such pain, but then, he noted to much laughter, the Idol usage got him some nice publishing royalties, after all…
Classical gets edgy
From DJs to Dvorak, the ‹classical crossover surges in the United States
.…But as its audience greys, public music education disappears from schools and classical programming fades from mainstream television and radio, many ensembles are scrambling to reinvent themselves to court a younger demographic.
Indie pop band The Decemberists will perform next month with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and with orchestras in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago; the Cincinnati Pops is teaming up with funk icon Bootsy Collins, and 2003 American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is planning a summer symphony tour…
Opa Fest tradition continues next week with ‘American Idol’ headliner
He wowed the crowds with his smoldering glances and smooth rocker moves on “American Idol” in 2005.
Now Constantine Maroulis will take the stage twice during Opa Fest 2007, “A Night in Athens, ” on the grounds of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Troy…..
‘Idol’ Creator Goes to the Races
…Fuller has the Midas touch when it comes to foreseeing and capitalizing on the next trends in pop culture. He’s reshaped the entertainment industry through sponsorship deals, with American Idol now the world’s most valuable TV property, worth $2.5 billion. Before the ubiquity of Paris Hilton, Fuller was marketing celebrities such as Victoria and David Beckham as brands in their own right. (He was behind the jaw-dropping transfer of Beckham from Real Madrid to the little-known L.A. Galaxy.) Fuller is now setting his sights on expanding 19 into the sports world…
Old rockers top UK charts
A COMPILATION of songs by ad-hoc supergroup The Traveling Wilburys went straight to the top of the British album chart in a good week for ageing rockers.
The Wilburys, founded in the 1980s, was made up of some of the most famous names from pop music – George Harrison of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty of the Heartbreakers and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra.
The chart topping Collection is a re-release of their two albums which had not been available to music fans for a decade.
US rock band Bon Jovi, which found fame in the 1980s, saw their latest release Lost Highway debut in second place, while reunited British band The Police were in third with a self-titled collection of their greatest hits….
… In the singles chart, Rihanna stayed in top spot for the fifth week running with Umbrella, featuring New York rapper Jay-Z, ahead of Icky Thump from American rock duo the White Stripes.
Spanish crooner Enrique Iglesias jumped to third with Do You Know, with Like This by former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland in fourth, and Real Girl from ex-Sugababes singer Mutya Buena in fifth.
The only new entry in the top ten was Never Again by American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.
Teen magazine addresses challenges of being Muslim girl in United States
…”People think Muslims can’t listen to music, but we do all the time, ” said 14-year-old Noor Bondogji. The girls sitting near her at the Muslim Community Association chatter about bands they like. Chris Daughtry. Fall Out Boy. Somebody whispered Eminem — his cleaner songs, that is. “But you can’t listen to stuff that uses bad language” or has sexual themes, Bondogji said…
HOT DISH: Recapping the CMA Music Festival
Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Alan Jackson Were Part of the Week That Was
…For the opening day’s noon show, Julie Roberts, Jake Owen, Catherine Britt, the great Gene Watson, Blaine Larsen and Danielle Peck took the stage and strutted their stuff under the hot Tennessee sun. Eric Church, cute Bucky Covington, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Trent Tomlinson, Ty Herndon and Whiskey Falls entertained during a two-hour show that began at 2 p.m.
Whew! And there’s more….
