David Cook
A.I. Winner seeing major spin increases at Top 40 with new single …Light On. Adds this week: KRBE, WBZW, WWWQ, WQAL, WQAl, KMXV, CKEY. Spin Leaders: KMXV, WBMX, WWWQ. Top 10 single on iTunes after one day. Multiple TV appearances mid November. Video filming now; impacting end of October. Tons of press on deck, including Blender and RS, leading up to CD release on 11/18. Mgmt: Simon Fuller and Iain Pirie/19 Ent.
“Idol” Finalist Robinson Will Star in Syracuse Godspell
“American Idol” contestant Anwar Robinson will “Save the People” in Syracuse Stage’s upcoming production of the biblical pop musical Godspell.
Robinson, who also toured as Collins in the 2007 NETworks non-equity tour of Rent, will play Jesus in the Stephen Schwartz musical that will run Nov. 25-Dec. 28 under the direction of Syracuse Stage associate artistic director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj.
Ask David Archuleta a Question!
After winning millions of fans on American Idol and its tour, season 7 runner-up David Archuleta isn’t slowing down. He’s already released his first music video for his song “Crush” and will make his acting debut on Nickelodeon’s iCarly. PEOPLE is sitting down with the 16-year-old before he releases his self-titled debut album next month, but first we want to hear from you. Who’s his real-life crush? What’s it like growing up in Utah? Is there a rivalry with Idol winner David Cook? Send us your question for Archuleta and it could be featured in an upcoming issue of PEOPLE!
More Headlines after the JUMP…
David Archuleta To Guest Star On Nickelodeon ‹iCarly
Archie will guest star in an episode titled …The iCarly Effect, which finds him winning the fictional …America Sings TV contest after he receives a huge spike in votes due to an iCarly Web cast.
According to Nickelodeon, there drama from every angle in the episode as the …America Sings runner up, Wade King, scores a spot on Carly show after telling her a sob story. But after Carly and her friends realize King is rude and arrogant, they help show their fictional TV world that Archuleta is not only the true star, but also a nice guy to boot.
“Idol” finalist at Cuppy’s
“American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook will present an acoustic show at Cuppy’s Coffee, Smoothies & Catering, 6416 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg, from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight.
Listen to BOB 94.9 (WBRT) during the afternoon show to win a pair of tickets or stop by the restaurant to register for a pair.
Country girl Underwood riding high
Carrie Underwood has gone from Checotah, Okla., to the top of the country charts, and Friday she’ll be in the Sears Centre.
The show is bound to be big, with the “American Idol” winner’s powerful voice, a long line of hits with hooks and a parade of costume changes. If country band Little Big Town weren’t opening for her, they’d go to the show anyway.
That’s what Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town says in a call from the road. Her band is the anti-Underwood, building a sound around flawless four-part harmonies instead of a solo singer. Yet she knows a good thing when she hears it.
Kellie Pickler Takes Your Text
With her sophomore album now in stores, Kellie Pickler is launching a text campaign that will bring one lucky winner a free acoustic concert.
Con”text”ants can text the word PICKLER to 66937 through midnight Oct. 13. One randomly selected person will host the concert for no more than 100 people.
“It is great for the fans because it doesnt cost the winner anything, ” Kellie says. “All we ask is that you feed us!”
Kellie has used a text campaign to dole out a concert in the past. She had high-school students in three different cities compete for a show, and more than two million text messages were sent.
Off-Broadway gets a taste of Sunset Strip in ‘Rock of Ages’
Talk about escapism in the nick of time: as the financial world ruptures and jobs on Wall Street fall through the cracks, New York theatergoers can fling away cares and spend a couple of hours on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, circa 1986.
The off-Broadway show is “Rock of Ages, ” and stars Constantine Maroulis, who got lots of face time on “American Idol” in 2005. He plays an aspiring heavy metal idol in the jukebox musical, which premiered early in 2006 in a Hollywood Boulevard dance club, inviting audiences to hold butane lighters aloft and shout along on an assortment of familiar, catchy, head-banging refrains while reliving the glory days of the L.A.-spawned “hair band” scene.
Jennifer Hudson Talks About David ‹Punk Otunga: He ‹Nice And Thick ‘ I Love It!
But to the rest of the world, Jennifer Hudson fiancà © is, of course, …Punk ‘ a.k.a. David Otunga, the former …I Love New York 2 ³ contestant.
Many were surprised when the pair engagement was announced last month. After all, it not often you see a contestant from such a show getting hitched to an Oscar-winning actress. However, Hudson is keeping the whole thing in perspective. …I dont think it fair to judge someone off an experience [like the show], she told MTV News.
Music Review: Mandisa, “It’s Christmas”
It’s Christmas — with lots of rhythm and soul, and American Idol Mandisa gets the party started with an energetic and upbeat “That’s What Christmas Means to Me.”
Admittedly, it’s tough to get into the Christmas spirit when you’re still stocking up on your trick-or-treat candy and picking out a pumpkin to carve, but I’m already on my fourth such holiday album this year, and Mandisa’s is certainly proving worth a listen. Following her vocal workout on “That’s What Christmas Means to Me, ” the singer moves into a mostly traditional rendition of “Feliz Navidad, ” with an interesting segue into a bridge of “Joy to the World” in midsteam.
Beatbox the night away with ‘American Idol’ star
On the sixth season of the popular reality show, “American Idol, ” finalist Blake Lewis rocked the studio crowd and millions more via television screens with a novel musical approach: beatboxing.
Lewis says it emanates from his days of listening to hip hop electronic music.
“I was a junior in high school and saw these accapella groups doing it and my eyes lit up, ” says Lewis, who finished on ‘Idol’ as a runner up to champ Jordin Sparks. “I thought, ‘Wow, you can get paid to do that?’ I had been doing that kind of thing my whole life. But honestly, I’m an all right beatboxer. There are at least 500 others way better than me.”
Local radio station concert showcases tons of talent
Finally, it was time for the big stars to come out. First up was Sparks who, by far, was the most personal with the fans. After singing …One Step at a Time, Sparks took a second to greet everyone, and said that she wanted to see every single person on their feet, moving to the music. After singing the song …Just for the Record, she announced how inspired she was by Alicia Keys, and went right into a cover of Keys song …Fallin. Sparks also covered the Stevie Wonder hit …Superstition. During the song, the band took over and played for about 30 seconds as she danced around the stage, trying to rally the crowd.
‹American Idol star to play in area Thursday
TULSA ‘ …American Idol favorite and gold-selling album country music artist Josh Gracin will perform hits such as …Nothin to Lose at 7 p.m. Thursday at Osage Event Center.
Gracin is the only male solo country artist in recent years to release a debut album with three consecutive Top 5 country hits. Josh Gracin sold more than 750, 000 copies and the first three singles, …I Want to Live, …Nothin to Lose and …Stay with Me (Brass Bed), all reached Top 5 on the Billboard charts in 2004.
Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson blend 2 worlds, 2 voices
If the tour combination of country entertainer Reba McEntire and “American Idol” groundbreaker Kelly Clarkson seems almost as weird as that time Garth Brooks tried to pretend he was a grunge singer, you wouldn’t know it listening to the ladies.
In a taped video interview provided by management, McEntire and Clarkson sound giddy about gigging together. (Neither singer was made available for a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman.)
Redefining ‹out Is People Clay Aiken cover the death knell of the public proclaiming of gayness?
Time was, you werent officially out (especially if you were a celebrity) until you declared it in public. You had to stand before a microphone and say, …Yes, Im gay, or …Yes, Im a lesbian.
Or you had to speak to Barbara Walters. Or become a spokesperson for a gay organization. Or you had to give an exclusive magazine interview, where you declared ‘ as Ellen DeGeneres did in 1997 ‘ something like …Yep, Im gay.
Clay Aiken did exactly that late last month with his People magazine interview. The cover line? …Yes, Im gay.
Replay for local ‘Idol’ contestant
Not all “American Idol” contestants from yesteryear are disposable. Some get recycled.
“American Idol Rewind, ” a syndicated edition of “Idol” airing on TV Guide Network, is bringing back the auditions from the singing show’s third season from 2004 that feature Lindsey Kulp of Towamencin (referred to as “Lansdale” on the program).
A conversation with ‘Dance’ winner Joshua Versatile performer wants to branch into singing.
For months, he was simply “Joshua.” So it’s time for an introduction: Meet Joshua Allen, winner of the fourth season of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
You might be surprised, however, to find out just what Allen wants to be known for in terms of a professional career.
“Overall, I want to be a recording artist, ” he says in a phone interview. “I want to be singer.”
Catching Up with ‘So You Think You Can Dance’s’ Season 4 On Tour!
The So You Think You Can Dance season four tour hit Los Angeles last night and if you know how obsessed I am with the show, it’ll come as no surprise that I was front and center at the Nokia Theater watching my favorite numbers — Chelsie Hightower and Mark’s “Bleeding Love, ” Katee and Joshua’s “No Air, ” Katee and Joshua’s Bollywood dance and Katee and Twitch’s Door routine (uh, yeah, I’m a Katee fan) — performed up close. But I wasn’t alone. The loudest audience members in L.A. were no doubt judge Nigel Lythgoe and choreographer Adam Shankman who gave standing ovations like nobody’s business, God bless ’em. Also spotted screaming in the crowd? Choreographers Tabitha & Napoleon, Tyce Diorio, season three stars Anya, Pasha, Lacey and Lauren, and season four’s Kourtni Lind.
Helio Castroneves indicted on tax evasion charges
Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and TV ” Dancing With the Stars” champion, was indicted Thursday on tax evasion and tax fraud charges, accused of using offshore accounts to hide millions of dollars in income from the Internal Revenue Service.
The 33-year-old driver is charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
