Kris Allen will play a benefit concert in support of the Blackbird Academy of Arts, a music and performing arts academy in Central Arkansas on October 27 at the Reynolds Auditorium in Conway Arkansas. The goal is to raise over $100, 000. More information HERE. Tickets available for $25. Also Sponsor VIP packages for $1200.
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Which contestants benefit from ‘American Idol’ changes?
The show’s goals are different now, and so are the faces: Simon’s caustic comments are history — at least until The X Factor launches on these shores — replaced by the criticism of two singers who’ll bring their own, as yet undetermined style of judging.
So which contestants stand to gain the most under the new template, and which will find the road to the finale a harder path than ever before? Let’s take a look.
Read more at USA Today
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Read more after the JUMP…
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American Idol: Reality Rocks’ Season 10 “Lost Auditions” Episode
When I journeyed down to L.A.’s Forum this year to cover the “American Idol” Season 10 auditions, I anticipated the usual freak parade of William Hung wannabes and Tatiana Del Toro tantrums. So I didn’t just bring my camera; I brought earplugs. And mace.
But as I interviewed the “rejects” and asked them to reprise their failed auditions for me, I was surprised. None of these kids seemed too crazy–none of them were flipping off my camera, for instance, or hollering about how the judges were fools for not acknowledging the fact that they could actually sing.
Read more at Yahoo Music
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DeGarmo channels Dolly in ‘9 to 5?
Diana DeGarmo ought to know how to play Dolly Parton — she’s been studying the role since she was a little girl.
The former “American Idol” runner-up (turned Broadway belter) actually performed every day at Dollywood’s Music Mansion the summer she turned 10. DeGarmo even has her own star on the Dollywood Walk of Fame.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Dolly’s as long as I could remember, ” said DeGarmo, who gets to inhabit the size 5 ½ shoes of the Backwoods Barbie when “9 to 5: The Musical” plays at the Fox Theatre Sept. 28 through Oct. 3.
Read more at Access Atlanta
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‘9 to 5’ works well as a musical
Two performers with Nashville connections shine. It’s a pleasure to once again hear the wonderful lyric baritone voice of Mahowald (Jekyll and Hyde, Les Misérables), a founding member of Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s artistic company in the 1980s before New York beckoned, and his acting skills are strong as ever. Music City resident DeGarmo (Hairspray, Hair the Musical), a season three American Idol finalist, is a hoot in the role Parton played on film. Her rendition of “Backwards Barbie, ” arguably a grown-woman sequel to Parton’s 1971 hit “Coat of Many Colors, ” is superb.
Read more at The Tennessean
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David Hernandez, Michael Sarver, Gina Glocksen and Lakisha Jones rehearse
They perform tonight at Folsom Live in El Dorado CA tonight, and in Yuma, AZ Saturday night.
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‘American Idol’ Vocal Coach Debra Byrd Talks Jennifer Hudson, Lee DeWyze and Coaching Stars
Debra Byrd may not be a household name but her work is world famous. She has worked with former American Idol stand-outs Jennifer Hudson and Lee DeWyze, just to drop a few names.
Byrd stopped to talk about her work with future stars and her instructional Star School Live, which will be held at the House of Blues in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 25.
See the video at MyFoxChicago
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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Mark Ballas powwows with Sarah Palin on Alaska trip
t’s still not clear when Sarah Palin will make it to a taping of “Dancing With the Stars” to support daughter Bristol and her partner Mark Ballas, but doesn’t mean she can’t see the couple training. Bristol and Mark flew up to Alaska after the Sept. 21 results show — a trip Ballas actively documented on Twitter.
The dance pro met with the former governor, was greeted by local fans, encountered a grizzly bear and even performed at a local bar in Anchorage. (Ballas, after all, is also a musician.)
Read more at Zap 2 it
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Video: ‘Glee’ Cast Heads to Springfield!
Read more at Extra
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Who Gives John Stamos a Lap Dance on Glee?
According to Stamos, “My first day [on the show] was interesting, because they were shooting in the middle of one of the fantasies, and [I was shooting with] Heather Morris, who plays Brittany. I play a dentist [and] the gag was that I was in the dentist chair, and she was literally doing a lap dance on me in a mesh thing with diamonds. And that was my first day.”
Read more at EOnline
