Fox Reality Channel to shut down next year
The all-reality cable network, Fox Reality Channel, is expected to end its four-year run next March, according to the Los Angeles Times (and originally reported by The Wrap). News Corp. launched Fox Reality Channel in May 2005 during the height of primetime reality programming, but the channel, which was available in approximately 50 million homes, never caught on.
Fox is considering launching a new channel in its place. ‘With the changing cable landscape, we’ve made a strategic decision to shift some resources and refocus on emerging channels, ‘ said a Fox spokesman in a statement. ‘However, Fox Reality Channel will remain on our lineup for at least the next several months.’ The channel aired original content as well as reruns of reality programs such as The Amazing Race and So You Think You Can Dance.
Leona Lewis ‘punched’ at signing
Police have arrested a man over an alleged assault on 2006 X Factor winner Leona Lewis at a book signing.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police were called to Waterstone’s book store at Piccadilly, London, but Lewis did not need hospital treatment.
Lewis’s spokesman said the singer had been signing autographs for around 90 minutes when “a guy came up and punched her to the side of the head”.
The spokesman added that Lewis was “understandably badly shaken”.
More Idol Headlines After the JUMP…
Your weekly Idol sales fix: The album numbers
The top-selling American Idol-related album this week comes from the contemporary Christian music field. The WOW Hits 2010 compilation, which made its debut selling more than 14, 000 copies, features Mandisa’s My Deliverer and Phil Stacey’s You’re Not Shaken.
Blake Lewis’ Heartbreak on Vinyl also makes its debut this week, coming it at #135 on Nielsen SoundScan’s Top 200 and selling a little bit more than 4, 000 units. Blake did proportionally better on the digital side: Downloads accounted for more than a quarter of his sales, and Heartbreak came in at #89 on the SoundScan digital albums chart.
Who Is Max Martin? A Hitmaking ‘Beast’
Max MartinSure, it was Katy Perry who kissed a girl and Britney Spears who sang “Livin’ in sin is the new thing, ” but the words are actually those of Max Martin, a 38-year-old Swedish producer that some would argue is the biggest pop songwriter in the world.
“He was the guy who ushered in teen pop being more like a form of creative expression, ” Ann Powers, pop music critic for the L.A. Times tells PopEater. “Look at [producers] Stargate, Ryan Tedder — they wouldn’t exist without Max or the success he had. There’s been a huge shift in the 21st century towards appreciating mainstream pop and I would base that as a shift to when Max Martin started
Adam Lambert: The Jewish Mother Interview
‘There are thousands of women of a certain age out there who are just one Adam Lambert Google search away from crashing their computers, ‘ Newsweek’s Joan Raymond wrote in a June blog titled Why Cougars Crave Idol Runner-Up Adam Lambert. ‘The good news is that people who know about these things think that our little Lambert love-fest is downright mentally healthy.’
David Archuleta: Country Music Man
David Archuleta hangs out with CAA rep John Huie backstage at the ‘We’re All For The Hall’ benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame held at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday night (October 13).
The 18-year-old singer also met up with good pal and former costar Jennette McCurdy plus Lady Antebellum lead singer Hillary Scott.
Carrie Underwood’s holiday special: I vote for more duets, fewer skits. You?
Happy holidays, PopWatchers, and don’t tell me it’s too early for dropping yule bombs, yo! You can already smell the imminent death of Halloween ‘†and the chemical scent of fauxflakes ‘†at my local Duane Reade, which means that Santa’s on his way. (He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.) (Sorry. Had to go there.)
Anyway, since you’re going to be waking up Saturday morning to find your next-door neighbor out on her front lawn setting up her Nativity scene, we might as well discuss Fox’s announcement this week that Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special is coming to the network on Monday, Dec. 7, featuring living legend Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, and (yes, yes, y’all!) David Cook. Generally, I’m pretty excited by this news: Much like garlic, the addition of Dolly Parton makes almost every dish a little tastier, and of course, anyone who’s seen the epic duet of ‘Go Your Own Way’ embedded below knows the kind of magic Carrie and Cookie can generate when they pass the mic.
Season 5 top 12: A closer look
In our continuing American Idol interviews with the top 12 from season five, finalist Kevin Covais checks in with a first-hand account of life as part of what many consider Idol’s best top 12 ever.
From Daughtry, Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks — the Soul Patrol man who won the season five title of American Idol — the fifth Idol go-round ‘had something for everyone, ‘ Covais proudly stated.
My Interview with Dreamgirls Star Syesha Mercado
I interviewed Syesha Mercado over the phone today! She was so nice!
Syesha is currently rehearsing for the touring production of Dreamgirls where she plays Deena Jones (played by Beyonce in the film). The show opens at the Apollo Theater on Nov. 7 and will tour around the country until June 2010.
I was quite nervous leading up to the interview because as I understand it, Syesha had some issues with some stuff I had written about her in my blog last year. I started off by apologizing to her for anything I had posted that may have offended her, and she responded that ‘we have no drama.’ She said that she didn’t even know what the fuss was about even when people were tweeting her about it. As far as she’s concerned, she loves everyone. Yay! We love you too Syesha!
Sleep Eating Disorder? Paula Abdul Says Kara DioGuardi Raided Her Fridge
Kara DioGuardi has become a household name since becoming the fourth judge on “American Idol” last year, but her former co-star Paula Abdul wants us all to remember one thing – she was the one who discovered the songwriter-turned-reality star ten years ago. But having lived with DioGuardi, Abdul also discovered the musician suffered from an interesting eating issue.
“I literally discovered Kara and believed in her, we had lunch together and I told her that if she wants to give two weeks notice, I would move a stranger into my own home. She lived with me and we became the best roommates, we never fought, except she would sleep walk and eat, ” Abdul told Tarts after announcing the AMA nominations on Tuesday morning. “I’d wake up in the morning and I thought ‘did my dog do this?’ There was food on the ground. ‘What the heck?’ I thought. But she would have no recollection that she did it.”
‘Ballroom With A Twist’ At Warner Oct. 17
The Warner Theatre presents “Ballroom with a Twist” on Saturday at 8 p.m., which features “Dancing With the Stars” dancers Edyta Sliwinska and Jonathan Roberts (pictured).
Past dancers from “So You Think You Can Dance” and “High School Musical” also perform. Former “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Louis van Amstel choreographs and directs the show, which also includes singing by previous “American Idol” contestants Mikalah Gordon, Treynece Cobbins and David Hernandez.
DWTS’ Aaron Carter: Better “Energy” on Set Without Maksim
Now that Maksim Chmerkovskiy has been voted off of Dancing With the Stars, which of his colleagues miss him the most? Not Aaron Carter.
Since Chmerkovskiy’s departure (along with partner Debi Mazar) from the show last week, “the energy has definitely gotten a lot better, ” Carter told Usmagazine.com at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
X Factor’s Dannii Minogue draws almost 4, 000 complaints to Ofcom
The media regulator Ofcom has received almost 4, 000 complaints from members of the public about The X Factor judge Dannii Minogue’s comment about contestant Danyl Johnson’s sexuality on Saturday night.
Ofcom has received a total of 3, 885 complaints about the incident.
Johnson changed the lyrics of Jennifer Hudson’s song I’m Telling You, in which the lyrics refer to a male, so that the song from the point of view of a man singing to a woman. Minogue subsequently made a “joke” with Johnson, who has been the subject of tabloid stories suggesting he is bisexual, saying that “there was no need to switch the gender reference in that song”.
‘Dancing With The Stars’ To Honor Michael Jackson With Tribute
‘Dancing With the Stars’ will honor The King of Pop with a ballroom dance tribute on next Tuesday’s show, Access Hollywood has learned.
The Jackson ‘Dancing’ tribute will star all the professional dancers strutting their stuff across the ballroom. Cheryl Burke has been tapped as one of the choreographers.
Access Hollywood spoke with La Toya Jackson on Tuesday as she was working as our guest correspondent for ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and we told her the exciting news.
