Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦
The ELLA Awards tribute to Gladys Knight ‘Legends ruled the red carpet.’
From the red carpet area guests were then escorted into a reception room where cocktails were served and everyone had a chance to chit chat and mingle, meet and greet. Then it was off to dinner and the entertainment. Guests were served a delicious orange mandarin salad sprinkled with blanche almonds, followed by filet chicken stuffed with spinach, whipped potatoes and vegetables. A delicious chocolate mousse inside a milk chocolate mold shaped like a teacup topped off the dinner with freshly brewed coffee. Kimberly Locke came along and fired up the crowd with Gladys Knight and the Pips hit “Heard It Through the Grapevine” After that it was one upbeat moment after the next as Bubba Knight (Ms. Knight’s brother) came out and sang a tribute to his sister. Melissa Etheridge pulled out all the stops and belted out from deep within her gut a surprising soulful rendition of “Neither One of Us.”
WOW GOSPEL CHRISTMAS 2007: CD features gospel greats singing popular holiday songs.
The widely popular WOW Gospel compilation synonymous with today’s hottest gospel music continues to build it’s brand, launching the first holiday album-“WOW Gospel Christmas 2007, ” which is slated to release September 25. The 30-track collection features sublime holiday songs and inspired renditions from industry chart toppers Aaron Neville-The First Noel, CeCe Winans-Do you Hear What I Hear, Smokie Norful-O Holy Night, Israel Houghton–O Come, Fred Hammond-His Name Is Jesus, Richard Smallwood-O What A Night, Hezekiah Walker-Born To Die, Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers-In The Presence Of A King, Donnie McClurkin-Agnus Dei, Kirk Franklin–Now Behold The Lamb and Yolanda Adams-O Little Town Of Bethlehem. In addition the project features, next generation of gospel stars Kierra Sheard-This Christmas, Myron Butler-Give Love This Christmas, American Idols Mandisa-God Speaking and many more.
Chris Richardson of American Idol Discusses Technology
Chris Richardson and American Idol. Hearing those words, most people think of the harmony, talent, singing and adoring fans. When hearing the words, …Chris Richardson and American Idol the last thing a person thinks of is technology. But, ya know, I AM the Tech Crusader. So, I imagined that people want to know what one of the most popular names in entertainment, Chris Richardson, have to say about technology.
Christmas with Clay Returns to the State
It may not be a white Christmas but it will be an intimate one when Clay Aiken returns to Easton’s State Theatre with the Chelsea Symphony from New York. The show is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, as part of Aiken’s Christmas in the Heartland Tour.
Review: America Idols Live tour
GREENSBORO — There is a delicious irony in the fact that the sponsor for the American Idols Live tour is Pop-Tarts, the toaster pastry treat.That is exactly what was served onstage when the top 10 Idols from the 2006 season performed at the Greensboro Coliseum Tuesday night. One well-coiffed tart after another took turns exhuming pop nuggets from across the stylistic spectrum, creating a virtual iPod jukebox for the eyes and ears.Don’t mistake any of this for serious musical artistry.It was glorified karaoke, well-staged and well-performed, by singers possessed of varying degrees of vocal talent, if not yet much in the way of originality or vision.On its own terms, however, it was entertaining and even a bit endearing.
CharityBuzz Auctions Celebrity Hookups For Good Causes
CharityBuzz is hosting hosting auctions for two incredible benefits: The Fourth Annual Chevy Chase Green School Auction (a national resource center and clearinghouse for environmental education) and The Christie Brinkley Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools, Environment to benefit the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food and Wellness in the Schools. What being offered to raise the cash?The beauty of these auctions is that theyre so informal and interesting, that there may actually be someone out there not at all interested in doing the whole …lunch thing, but all about the yoga with Simmons. You could even hook up with Ruben Studdard and get in a duet. All for a good cause. Hit the site for more information ‘ and get your bid in. Most of these end in the next week or two
‘Idol’ concert provides lots of family fun
GREENSBORO ‘ If you havent been to a concert in a long time, be prepared for some obvious changes. Instead of lifting cigarette lighters high into the air to signify a good performance, youll now see a blue hue emitted from cell phones glowing throughout the auditorium.And that not all ‘ during the Pop Tarts presents American Idols Live tour Tuesday night at the Greensboro Coliseum, fans could send text messages to their favorite performers or to fellow audience members. This was quite a change for someone who has been attending concerts since the early 80s.The good thing about holding cell phones up is there no risk of burning your hands with the cigarette lighters. And allowing the fans to …correspond with the stars and each other creates a more fan-focused show. That could definitely be said of the American Idols tour Tuesday night.
Seacrest handles Emmys, end to end
LOS ANGELES ‘ Think of Ryan Seacrest as a full-service Emmy host, with duties starting on E!’s red carpet show Sunday at 6 p.m. and shifting to the Fox main event at 8 (both live ET/tape-delayed PT).
“I guess I’ll be the first host to actually know who everyone is wearing by the time the show starts, ” he says. “You can call it research.”What the first-time Emmy host hasn’t researched is how and when he moves from the red carpet into the Shrine Auditorium, reconfigured as a theater-in-the-round to get more stars close to the stage. “We’ll figure that out (Sunday). I plan on taking it as far as I can (on E!) to the top of the (Fox) show.”
Give DAUGHTRY the benefit of the doubt
I’m not sure what to make of the reaction to the announcement of DAUGHTRY (all caps when referring to the band, please) as the 2007 Homecoming concert headliner. The reactions I’ve heard from people I know range from “Hey, that’s a pretty good choice I guess, but I’m not paying for that concert, ” to “Who the heck is DAUGHTRY?” I had that second reaction when I heard the news, but soon rectified that with a bit of research.”Hmmm, ” said I upon listening to DAUGHTRY’s music. “This immediately strikes me as ‘Diet Nickelback.’ Nickelback itself was ‘Diet Creed.’ And to deepen the soda analogy, Creed was like ‘Caffeine-Free Diet Coke’ of rock-and-roll.”Following this further, I concluded that DAUGHTRY, therefore, is the Diet Tab soda of rock, if Diet Tab was cut heavily with water.In short, I am not much of a fan of DAUGHTRY. But hey, it seems harmless and far less annoying than Nickelback at its worst (or, hell, even Nickelback at its so-called “best.”)
Welcome to my world!
Yesterday, we expressed our deep sadness that Ludacris will not be appearing at the Big E this year due to low ticket sales. Yet the discussion in the comments has turned into a discussion about the mertis, demerits, and sweatiness of Taylor Hicks and the Nickelbackian qualities of Chris Daughtry.
People. Let focus on what really important here.
BO TAPS HIS ROOTS
Fans of Huntsville native Bo Bice, who finished runner-up to Carrie Underwood in the “American Idol” competition two years ago, are eagerly awaiting his newest release, “See the Light.” It’s due Oct. 23 as the first release from his newly formed $ugarmoney/StratArt Records. Bice teamed with producer Frank Liddell, and the CD offers “a fresh and soulful take on Bo’s Southern Rock roots; it’s the album he was born to make, ” according to his MySpace page. Fans might remember that Bice performed with the band Sugarmoney when he was on the club circuit in Huntsville during the late ’90s.
Lightning Crashes’ in Dewey Beach
Post-grunge bands of the mid-’90s were numerous, but few saw the chart-topping success of Live.
Q: “American Idol’s” Chris Daughtry says you’re his favorite singer. He’s so huge now; he even had the No. 1 album in the country its 15th week out. How does it feel to have inspired Chris?
A: It’s really fun to watch him grow. We became friends last year when he did a cover of (Johnny Cash’s) “I Walk the Line” on “American Idol” that we originally performed. It was kind of like a cover of a cover. I think Chris Daughtry might have been the only one who heard us do it; it was pretty obscure (laughs). But being a huge fan of us, he did it on the show. So we got to know each other.
Q: What were you thinking when you watched Chris perform the cover?
A: Honestly, I had never watched “American Idol” until he did that and someone told me to check it out. I thought, ‘Wow, he really nailed it.’ And then I have to admit that I watched the show a few more times to keep up on how he was doing.
Pop Tarts: Britney Spears’ Management: ‘American Idol’ Judges?
LOS ANGELES ‘ The days of Britney Spears as a “Toxic” train wreck may finally be over. While most of the world is begging Britney to “Gimme Less, ” Simon, Paula and Randy want her to “Gimme More.”
The “American Idol” judges announced to FOX that they have decided to take the Britster on board, issuing an open call to the pop princess to let them manage her crumbling career.
“We have decided we can bring Britney back, ” the normally caustic Cowell confirmed. “We are serious. We plan to buy her underpants, get her bigger shorts to perform in and get her away from her stupid friends.”
