The Voice at Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, CT
Bucky Covington at the Grand Ole Opry
Crystal Bowersox at Bloomville Smokin’ Country Concert, Bloomville OH
Diana DeGarmo stars as Penny in “Hairspray” at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
Josh Gracin at The Great Frederick Fair, Frederick, MD
Lacey Brown at Yakama Legends Casino, Toppenish WA
Trenyce in “Thriller – Live” London, UK
Haley Reinhart to appear on Windy City Live this morning at 9 am CDT. Watch her live HERE.
Glee’s Kevin McHale appears on Live with Regis and Kelly
Haley on Windy City Live
Video of this morning’s appearance
James Durbin proving he’s born to be on stage
“I’m trying to do an album, ” he said. “I’m trying to get everything together. The stars are aligning and everything is falling perfectly into place. For a little bit, it seemed like things weren’t going so great. Now things are looking really bright.”
He didn’t elaborate but he did say that believing in himself and “knowing that this won’t all go to waste” helped him through that time.
“I proved a lot and made a pretty big staple for myself on the show and that hopefully people will talk about for a long time, ” he said.”It wasn’t just to get on the show. It wasn’t just to sing. It was to make my mark. I’m looking to be a big player in the game. (For my album, I’m) looking to go kind of a My Chemical Romance sort of feel, 30 Seconds to Mars, heavy and very heavy, dramatic. I think I showed some drama on the show. So I’m really excited. It’s a whole ‘nother path of the journey.”
Read more at MLive
‘American Idol’ contestants’ advice to auditioners: Be confident, be yourself
Now, McCreery, who has signed a record deal with Mercury Nashville, has advice for the more than 12, 000 Western Pennsylvanians and others who auditioned at Heinz Field last month.
“Just go in there, and be confident and unique, ” says McCreery, 17, of Garner, N.C. The high-school senior is one of the top 11 Idol finalists who are coming to the Consol Energy Center on Wednesday for “American Idol Live!”
“You’ve just got to go in there with the attitude that somebody in this room has got it — why can’t it be me?” McCreery says. “Go in there, and be confident.”
Read more at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Playing in Sudbury ‘a cool idea, ‘ American Idol star says
When The Human League was looking for a performer to wrap up its weeklong Playing for Change fundraiser, they considered about 100 artists and bands before settling on Kelly Clarkson.
After putting in the request with Clarkson’s management, Tucker said the response was “almost instant.”
“I was contacted through my management about the Human League benefit and I thought, what a cool idea, ” Clarkson, who plays Sudbury Arena on Saturday, told The Star. “I was totally that kid that could have used the free meals and … that could have used the help with all the extracurricular stuff as well.”
Read more at The Sudbury Star
Haley can’t wait for hometown tour stop in suburbs
When Haley Reinhart was a kid catching concerts around town, she’d look at the stage with the certainty that one day she’d be up there too.
“I’m not gonna lie, that was always the goal, ” the Wheeling native said. “I’d be looking at my favorite pop princesses like Christina and Britney and think that’s going to be me. That’s what I want to do.”
Read more at The Daily Herald
Lunar landing in W. Boylston
Before “American Idol” came into Siobhan Magnus’ life, there was Lunar Valve.
Ralph Bousquet, Matt Kohler and Elliot Sicard, all good friends of Magnus, had been in a band but then got “kicked off.”
“They said, ‘We’re gonna have our own band. We’re gonna do whatever we want, ’ ” Magnus recalled. After hearing that they needed a lead singer, she made her intentions plain: “ ‘I’ll be your lead singer — please.’ ”
They wrote blues-influenced songs together which they liked, and worked on covers (including a couple of reportedly scorching Janis Joplin covers). “We made a CD and sold it to our friends for $5. We’ve been going ever since, ” Magnus said. A new EP came out earlier this year. The current lineup includes Magnus (lead vocals), Nicholas Milewski (rhythm guitar), Kohler (bass), Bousquet (lead guitar) and Drew Gorin (saxophone).
Read more at Telegram.com
Pepsi Takes Active Role in ‘X Factor’
SIMON COWELL has not just switched television shows; he has switched soft drinks.
“The X Factor, ” a British export that will make its United States premiere on Fox on Sept. 21, is the long-awaited competitor to “American Idol” and the new home for Mr. Cowell. The show will also be a marketing centerpiece for its lead sponsor, PepsiCo, whose eternal nemesis, Coca-Cola, is the longtime sponsor of “American Idol.”
Adding a sweetener of its own to the $5 million recording contract offered as the top prize on “The X Factor, ” Pepsi will have the winner star in a commercial to be shown during the Super Bowl on Feb. 5.
The Super Bowl ad — for which the winning contestant will not be paid — will be regularly invoked on the show as one of the ultimate prizes, and Pepsi’s presence on the air is also to include features like a “Pepsi Challenge, ” in which viewers choose the songs that contestants will sing. After the winner is chosen, customers will be able to vote online for some of the elements in the Super Bowl ad.
Read more at the NY Times
Darren Criss will perform for L.A.’s new musicals festival
Before Darren Criss — a.k.a. Blaine Anderson of Fox TV’s “Glee” — heads for Broadway to take over the lead role in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, ” L.A.’s musical theater supporters can see Criss perform at the Sept. 10 closing party for the Festival of New American Musicals. Full details are not yet set, but festival organizers are now taking names for the ticket reservation list at its website. Tickets will be $200 for adults and $100 for 18 and younger.
Read more at LA Times
EMMYS Q&A: Ryan Murphy About ‘Glee’
DEADLINE: Do you think that you’ll have any hold-outs in August among the cast?
MURPHY: No. I don’t think that’s happening here. Listen, I’m always for actors getting as much money as they can get. That’s not my negotiation. There are some people on the show who will be seniors this year and will graduate and who’ve come to me privately and said, ‘I don’t think television is for me, ‘ and ‘I don’t want to be in a series.’ I said, ‘We will write to that. If you want off, great. If you want to stay, great.’ I try to remember the pressures these kids have at 22. It’s difficult. Some of them can’t leave their houses. I try to let them know that I’ll fight for them and I do. But the studio is also incredibly generous to them.
Read more at Deadline
Glee’s Kevin McHale on this Morning’s Live with Regis and Kelly
