Idol Headlines for 08/26/07

Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦

Richmond County Fair to feature a ‘big’ guest

…If you love “American Idol, ” on Saturday you’ll get a chance to see finalists Kimberly Caldwell and Paris Bennett….

SILive

Shirley Bassey Hates Reality TV

DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY has fired a blistering attack against TV talent shows – insisting talent ranks second to fame for today’s celebrities.

The Welsh singing superstar has no time for reality shows such as American Idol and The X Factor, and is stunned at the lack of ‘real’ talent in modern pop stars.

She fumes, “Today people just want to get on reality TV shows and make money. Talent doesn’t matter anymore.

“Anyone can get on these shows. Tall people, skinny people, fat people – and then someone makes millions out of them and their lives are ruined. I hate it, I really hate it”.

Female First

Thousands line up in Philadelphia for a shot at ‘American Idol’

Hollywood came to town on Saturday as hordes of wannabe superstars waited hours in line for their chance to be the nation’s next “American Idol.”

Nearly 13, 000 had registered for the hit Fox TV show over an eight-hour period , three times as many hopefuls as in other cities where auditions were held this season, said senior producer Patrick Lynn.

“Monster turnout , monster, ” Lynn said. “Monday is going to be a long, long day.”…….

Phillyburbs

‘Idol’ hopefuls line up for chance to be next musical sensation

The Wachovia Center parking lot was crowded on Saturday morning, but the thousands of people who lined up at the entrance weren’t there to see the latest musical sensation.

These folks hope to be the next musical sensation.

“I just want to meet Simon (Cowell), ” Michelle Fisher, of West Deptford, said of the sometimes ruthless judge of the hit television show “American Idol.”………..

Courier Post Online

Standing up for ‘Idol’

…Senior producer Patrick Lynn said the crowd in Philadelphia was three times the size it had been anywhere else. In eight hours, an estimated 13, 000 had registered.

Philadelphia was the last of seven cities on the audition tour and the only one in the Northeast….

Philly.com

Summer filled with ‘Idol’ events

“American Idol” mania has been everywhere lately…..

MLive

‘Idol’ fans marking time until new season begins

It’s coming.

Again.

Who’s ready?

A new season of the highly rated reality TV show “American Idol” doesn’t begin until January, but it’s like we’re in the middle of Paula, Randy and Simon hysteria.

Auditions for the new season already are under way.

Bloggers on the Internet are working overtime, speculating the twists and turns of a new season.

And former “Idol” contestants are making the rounds, doing talk show appearances, special concerts at shopping malls and headlining solo shows to promote new albums………

MLive

Hearts throb for Constantine

With long, wavy brown hair and a ready smile, “American Idol” Top 10 season four finalist Constantine Maroulis looked the part Saturday afternoon at Woodland Mall.

And he warmed up to the hundreds of fans who came to see him perform a few songs at the back-to-school fashion show.

“I want to meet each and every one of you, ” he told his audience in the mall’s food court………

MLive

Watch this!

…Tomorrow Aug. 27

Former …American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis is having quite an effect on CBS …The Bold and the Beautiful. All month, the soap has been running the Boldface Challenge, in which viewers voted on their favorite duet performance by the show characters. The grand prize winner of a trip to the set of the soap is announced at 1:30 p.m. on WBZ (Ch. 4)…

Boston Herald

THE CHANGER

Daughtry

Daughtry

(RCA, 2006)

He’s got a rock sense about him.

He’s had more mainstream success than most rock bands would these days, and I believe that is because of American Idol. He didn’t have to fight the battle of people trying to figure out who he was. He’s got a great voice. It’s more of a bluesy soulful voice, and that’s what I was brought up on.

It’s bluesy, earthy and gutsy, which is what I love.

Guitarist James Young of Styx

Dallas News

Lousy Is the Best They Can Ever Be

….All of which raises the question: Why? Why do people love bad art? Why is there a cult museum near Boston proudly dedicated …to bringing the worst of art to the widest of audiences? And why does history afford a special place for the creatively incompetent, from poets like William McGonagall (the immortal versifier of …The Tay Bridge Disaster) to singers like Florence Foster Jenkins (whose inability to sing packed Carnegie Hall) and, more recently, the …American Idol reject William Hung (whose inability to do anything of artistic note has turned him into a celebrity)? Why, in fact, is so much latter-day TV obsessed with celebrating cultural failure?….

NYTimes

‘Why did you cut me out of your life?’ asks the agent who made Charlotte Church a superstar

….Charlotte’s leap to fame remains an astonishing story, even now. It was the TV producer Nigel Lythgoe ‘ the man behind Popstars and American Idol ‘ who first told me about a precocious young girl he had met.

Charlotte had been on ITV’s The Big, Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross, and although it had been only the briefest of appearances, Lythgoe had been impressed….

Daily Mail