Idol Headlines for 11/01/07

Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦

Today in History – Nov. 1

Today’s Birthdays: Newspaper columnist James J. Kilpatrick is 87. Golfer Gary Player is 72. Country singer Bill Anderson is 70. Actress Barbara Bosson is 68. Actor Robert Foxworth is 66. Actress Marcia Wallace is 65. Magazine publisher Larry Flynt is 65. Country singer Kinky Friedman is 63. Actress Jeannie Berlin is 58. Pop singer-musician Dan Peek is 57. Rhythm-and-blues musician Khalis Bayyan (aka Ronald Bell) (Kool and the Gang) is 56. Country singer-songwriter-producer Keith Stegall is 53. Country singer Lyle Lovett is 50. Actress Rachel Ticotin is 49. Rock musician Eddie MacDonald (The Alarm) is 48. Rock singer Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 45. Pop singer-musician Mags Furuholmen (a-ha) is 45. Rock musician Rick Allen (Def Leppard) is 44. Country singer “Big Kenny” Alphin (Big and Rich) is 44. Rapper Willie D (Geto Boys) is 41. Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 40. Country musician Dale Wallace (Emerson Drive) is 38. Actress Toni Collette is 35. Actress Jenny McCarthy is 35. Rock musician Andrew Gonzales is 35. Actress Aishwarya Rai is 34. Rock singer Bo Bice (“American Idol”) is 32. Actor Penn Badgley is 21. Actor-musician Alex Wolff is 10.

Thought for Today: “People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.” — Eric Hoffer, American author and philosopher (1902-1983).

Boston.com

City worker tampers with poll to boost Pittsburgh mayor

….”As far as I’m concerned, it was all in good fun, ” Ravenstahl said.

The poll, posted last week, showed 86 percent of listeners believed the media was too harsh in its coverage of Ravenstahl, compared with 14 percent who didn’t.

The mayor’s office later acknowledged that the employee found a way around restrictions on repeat voting, allowing him to bombard the site with votes favoring the mayor.

“He did it as a private citizen. He’s well within his rights as a person, ” Ravenstahl spokeswoman Alecia Sirk said. “People do it privately all the time for ‘American Idol, ‘ and nobody investigates that.”…..

Observer-Reporter

The end of a bad year is off to a good start

…..The Setting

AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long plays – prophetically – as the lights go down and the screams and squeals of pipsqueaks and bespectacled co-eds rise with a ruffled vanilla curtain. Clarkson, in a burgundy ball gown, lies in repose on a set of stairs, recreating her album-cover image, while seven bandmates are frozen like wax figures across a stage strewn with Halloween pumpkins. As the galloping dance-rocker One Minute begins, the players come to life and the Rubenesque star discards her fancy duds for more casual attire.

The Voice

Clarkson’s resourceful cords are as good as there is: gale-force on the Evanescence-styled Never Again; silky on the acoustic soul of Be Still; churchy on a cover of Patty Griffin’s Up to the Mountain; softer in singer-songwriter mode (Addicted); and, unfortunately, pointless on the generic How I Feel. If Simon Cowell can’t find anything wrong with Clarkson’s pipes, who else is to?….

The Globe and Mail

‘5th Grader’ scares away Presidential candidates

…Luckily for viewers, Hollywood celebrities aren’t as cautious as White House hopefuls. So Regis Philbin, Clay Aiken, “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush, Tony Hawk, Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson and “American Idol’s” Kelly Pickler are all ready to prove they know a thing or two about math and science.

Philbin and Aiken get the pencil going tonight at 8, kicking off three weeks of star-studded episodes of “5th Grader” in which the celebs play for their favorite charities…

NY Daily News

A concert for a cause
Former Idol’s show to aid family with ill children

A country music concert tomorrow night will help raise money to build a house for a Plymouth family of six whose youngest child has serious health problems. Josh Gracin, who will be the headliner for the show at Plymouth Memorial Hall, is a former Marine whose career took off four years ago after an appearance on “American Idol.” This will be his first performance in the region…….

Boston.com

Briefs: Nursing students meeting

….Hunt to perform at Arcada

Former “American Idol” contestant and St. Charles native Leslie Hunt will perform on her home turf Nov. 9 to raise money for a health advocacy group. Proceeds from “An Evening with Leslie Hunt” benefit DayOneNetwork, a nonprofit that works with developmentally disabled adults and children in Cook, Kane and Kendall counties. The concert starts at 7:15 p.m. at the Arcada Theater, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles There also will be information booths and a raffle for prizes including a $100 gift card and three-day trip to Las Vegas….

Daily Herald

Sophomore album ‘Carnival Ride’ deserves praise

Carrie Underwood has managed to avoid the sophomore slump with her new album, “Carnival Ride, ” released on Oct. 23, by following age-old advice: Don’t fix something that’s not broken.

Underwood has followed the same format as her tremendously successful first album, “Some Hearts, ” which sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. and won her two Grammy Awards. “Some Hearts” even outsold Kelly Clarkson to become the best selling artist from American Idol…….

The Santa Clara

‘American Band’ is no hit
In their bid to replicate ‘Idol, ‘ show’s creators might want to stick to their day jobs

Tune into the first three minutes of “The Next Great American Band” and you’ll notice the parallels to “American Idol.”

The names Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe are all over the opening credits.

The three judges sit in order of personality: Diplomatic nice-guy (Goo Goo Doll’s well-coiffed frontman John Rzeznik), kind-hearted female (’80s hitmaker and respected percussionist Sheila E.) and caustic foreigner (“Australian Idol” judge Ian “Dicko” Dickson).

The host, Dominic Bowden, who steers “New Zealand Idol” in his spare time, is even like an accented version of Ryan Seacrest, but slightly less metrosexual and slightly more annoyingly enthusiastic.

Yet, two weeks into “Band”‘s run, there is one mammoth difference between it and the Godzilla that is “American Idol.”

No one is watching…………

InRich.com

The Farr Side: Underwood beginning to go over

I cringed when Simon Cowell said Carrie Underwood would become the biggest-selling American Idol, especially knowing he’s not a country music fan.

I liked her, but I wasn’t blown away by her performances. I still feel that way, although my opinion is changing.

It seemed “American Idol” was grooming her to be the winner of Season 4. That didn’t sit well with me, because Bo Bice and Vonzell Solomon were clearly better performers. Bice and Solomon gave show-stopping numbers week after week, when Underwood wasn’t always spot-on.

I guess that’s the beauty of the show, but I always held the opinion she’d need a lot of guidance if she was going to make it.

I’m pleased with Underwood’s success, guidance included. Her debut album, “Some Hearts, ” was the kind of album any new artist would be thrilled to have recorded. I say “thrilled, ” because Underwood was given some incredible songs………

The Sturgis Journal

Hark! The holiday shows arrive
Wynonna Judd and Clay Aiken visit area, Black Keys come home in this year’s offerings

…Also on the holiday concert trail is Clay Aiken, whose 2004 holiday album was given the more creative title Merry Christmas With Love. The American Idol runner-up (as he apparently will be forever known, even as we collectively forget the guy to whom he lost) will be playing at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square on Dec. 17, backed by a 45-piece orchestra. Just as with Judd, the set list will feature holiday favorites and hits. That means fans will get orchestrated Aiken-led versions of Silent Night and other holiday tunes and perhaps a version of Invisible with the strings section sawing away as Aiken sings about how much he’d like to stalk you.

Speaking of Mr. Aiken, I’d like to take this brief moment to be petty and immature and say something to all those crazy, obsessive Claymates (and I’m singling out the crazy, obsessive ones) who a few years ago unleashed vicious verbal attacks on anyone who suggested that Aiken’s singing voice and style would be a perfect fit for the Broadway stage.

Let me tell you, I got e-mails from angry grandmothers, righteously indignant 11-year-olds and overprotective fans in Snake’s Navel, Alaska, assuring me that I and everyone else, who must hate Aiken, were wrong. In addition, I was obviously a deeply disturbed and unhappy person to belittle their Golden Boy by relegating him to the Broadway stage.

No, they raged, not only was Clay Aiken going to be a huge pop star for years to come, but he was also going to change the entire music industry…………….

……So I would like to suggest to all those folks (again just the crazy, obsessive ones) to suck down that giant plate of proverbial crow that several of them swore I and other journalists and nonfans would be enjoying right about now…

Ohio.com

CMA AWARDS AIRS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7, 8-11PM/ET ON ABC-TV

….Artists performing on the CMA Awards include Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Eagles, Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire in a duet with LeAnn Rimes, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Rascal Flatts will open the festivities and also perform with Jamie Foxx later in the broadcast.

Presenters on the CMA Awards include Luke Bryan, Jason Michael Carroll, Bucky Covington, Sheryl Crow, Jewel with Ty Murray, Kid Rock, Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton, Gretchen Wilson and Dwight Yoakam….

American Chronicle

CD Review: “Carnival Ride”
Set the Record Straight

Her innocent demeanor and killer vocals helped gain “American Idol” status when she won the show a few seasons back. Her song about getting revenge on a cheating boyfriend rocked the charts and stole some hearts. As of last Tuesday, her sophomore album was out in stores and will bring her to a whole new level of stardom.

Carrie Underwood is the endearing country singer who stole millions of hearts to take home the gold on “American Idol.” While her first CD “Some Hearts” had a great beat and wonderful songs, which won her a Grammy, her new album has taken her voice to a whole different level.

Underwood’s voice has garnered more strength in her newest album “Carnival Ride.” The powerful vocals set each song apart from the other and each has its own unique beat.

It is obvious to the listener that Underwood has grown a lot as an artist since her debut CD and, as a result, has put together a phenomenal CD that will blow some of her biggest enemies away with how great it is……..

Daily Vidette

OK! Exclusive: Who’s Trying To Break Chace & Carrie Up?

Despite online reports that Gossip Girl hunk Chace Crawford was overheard telling fellow partygoers at Monday’s Angel Ball in NYC that he and new gal-pal, country cutie Carrie Underwood, arent really a couple, a friend of the steely-eyed actor not only confirms to OK! that “Chace is still happily with his new girlfriend, but also reveals the rumor’s source………

OK Magazine

Carrie Rides Carnival Straight to No. 1

Carrie Underwood’s new single might be “So Small, ” but her new album is big, big, big!

With the 41st Country Music Awards less than a week away, several country artists debuted new albums, but it was the season-four American Idol champ who ultimately ruled the rodeo, selling 527, 000 copies of Carnival Ride, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released today…….

EOnline

Scott Hamilton And Friends

Maybe by 2020 everyone short of tracheotomy patients will have been on American Idol and the novelty will have worn off. But for now, alumni of the Fox gong show are still being farmed out to events, and Idols Melinda Doolittle and Phil Stacey are headline guests at this year’s An Evening With Scott Hamilton and Friends………

Free Times