Idol Headlines for 11/13/08

American Idol’s Josh Gracin Welcomes a Daughter!

American Idol finalist Josh Gracin is a dad for the fourth time!

The country singer, 28, and his wife, Ann Marie Stevens, welcomed daughter Isabella Sophia Wednesday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee, a rep for the singer confirms Usmagazine.com.

Isabella joins sisters Briana, 6, and Gabby, 23 months, and brother Landon, 3.

US

Chesney, Paisley, Sugarland are winners at Country Music Awards

There was no changing of the guard at the 42nd annual Country Music Assn. Awards on Wednesday night at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Kenny Chesney repeated as entertainer of the year, winning the top prize for the fourth time in five years. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood also repeated in the male and female vocalist of the year categories.

For the third consecutive time in her young career, “American Idol” champ Underwood won female vocalist of the year. She took the stage to receive her award minutes after singing the tragic war ballad “Just a Dream.”

“Mom, it’s real hard to sing when you’re in the second row crying, ” Underwood said from the podium.

LA Times

Country star Taylor Swift set to rule album chart

Country sensation Taylor Swift is on course to earn her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart when data are released next Wednesday.

Universal Music Group, which is distributing “Fearless, ” is projecting that it could move upwards of 600, 000 copies by the close of business on Sunday. That would easily rank as the best sales week for a country album this year.

Other albums set to debut within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 next week include “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta’s self-titled debut, hip-hop star T-Pain’s “Thr33 Ringz, ” the “Now 29” compilation, and Irish singer Enya’s “And Winter Came…”

Reuters

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

2008 CMAs: The Best (ahem, Sugarland) and Worst

Hey, the CMAs happened. It’s country music’s biggest night! Except for that other big night they have in Vegas in May where they rearrange the acronym and do it all over again! And dear god, PopWatchers, was it loooong. Why was it soooo looooong? My esteemed colleague Chris Willman was there in person, and I can only hope that at some point today he’ll weigh in on that question for us. Because from my couch in L.A., it was like a Chevy commercial that wouldn’t end but instead kept bumping up against an ad for Ambien starring Jewel. To misquote an old proverb employed by host Brad Paisley in order to introduce the Eagles in the dullest way possible: When you drink from a well, and that well was dug by the CMAs, don’t operate heavy machinery.

POPwatch

David Archuleta’s Album Debut’s

With the highest-ranking debut single release of any American Idol contestant ever, the expectations for David Archuleta’s newly-released self-titled album, are high, to say the least. But after spending time with David and Jeff Archuleta this summer working on tracks for David’s original songs, my perspective is that as his album battles it out for the top rankings on Billboard’s charts, the battle before the album was even released was arguably far more brutal.

LDSmag.com

David Archuleta’s future revenge: Grammys galore?

Take heart, David Archuleta fans. Just shrug off the ridicule and insults being heaped on your hero by cynical music journalists now that Archuleta’s debut CD is out. You knew it was coming. It doesn’t mean they’re right ‘  or that David Archuleta will not get ultimate revenge.

Music journos tend to be guys with a desperate, inexplicable need to prove their masculinity by trying to assassinate anybody who croons great schmaltz. Remember how they tried to lynch James Blunt just for the audacity of singing “You’re Beautiful” so well ‘  and meaning it? These are the same dudes who have to go into loud gagging fits whenever they hear a Celine Dion song.

All of those chaps don’t whine in their songs about “me, me, me, ” but they enthusiastically sell their adoration for “you, you, you.” As the Vulture blog at New York Magazine points out, 11 of the 12 songs on David Archuleta’s debut CD are addressed to “you.” Smart.

Also, the songs are truly smart, as musical compositions go. “Crush” ‘  the CD’s first single spinoff ‘  is a terrific, well-crafted tune, like other winners on the disc, such as “A Little Too Not Over You” and “Barriers.”

LA Times

Exclusive David Cook Pictures at Sessions

It’s been a wild ride for David Cook since winning ‘American Idol’ in May. The Texas-born singer broke Billboard chart records with a slew of singles, including the aptly-titled ‘Time of My Life, ‘ and has since been in the throes of promotion, landing the big prize last month with the coveted ‘SNL’ musical guest spot.

We wanted in on the fun, too. So, in anticipation of the release of Cook’s self-titled album on Nov. 18, we invited the singer to our Sessions studio, where AOL Music freelance photographer Sebastian Mlynarsky said Cook was “a charismatic and an energetic chap. At first he was very guarded and relied on his entourage for support. [But] when we started shooting he immediately relaxed and was up for some good fun. He loves the camera and the camera seems to return the favor.” Get a sneak peek at the event with exclusive pictures of ‘Idol’s’ Season Seven king, and check back next week for his live performance and interview.

Pop Eater

“Idol” David Cook says CD comes out “guns blazing”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A year ago David Cook was a struggling musician with just $30 in the bank, competing for a spot on top-rated television talent show “American Idol.”

On November 18, “Idol” winner Cook debuts his self-titled album that he said was made by his own rules and “comes out of the gates with all guns blazing.”

“The record is different from what people saw on ‘American Idol.’ I was able to make a rock record that to me is eclectic. But I don’t think I have completely alienated the people who supported me, ” said Cook.

Reuters

David Cook (2008)

If you’re expecting Daughtry 2: Post-Grunge Boogaloo, well…you’re about right. Cook is clearly built in the guy-linered mold of that earlier Idol alum, though his debut owes just as much to the expert hands that craft it, including producers Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and Brian Howes (Hinder, Chris Cornell). They give David Cook’s clutch of bombastic verse-chorus- verse rockers an impressive melodic sheen, one well suited to Cook’s husky, expressive vocals. If anything, the series of booming midtempo anthems (most notable among them “Bar-ba-sol” and “Mr. Sensitive”) could use a little sandpapering around the edges. B

Entertainment Weekly

American Idol Daily: Let the giving back begin

With all “American Idol” has given us as a nation, America should feel guilty about taking anything more. But take we must, because “Idol” is giving back once again.

Today, Idol Gives Back, the charitable arm of the “American Idol” complex, announced the disbursements of funds raised in its 2008 telethon. The show, which aired in April featuring guest appearances by a multitude of stars such as Bono and Ben Stiller, raised $64 million to benefit children-centric charities in the U.S. and Africa. In a press release to be issued today, IGB announced it had selected the following groups as this year’s beneficiaries of the telethon: Children Defense Fund; Children Health Fund; The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Make It Right; Malaria No More; and the U.S. Programs of Save the Children.

…The fact that ‘American Idol’ has the ability to inspire millions, create hope and change lives is simply remarkable, said “Idol” creator, executive producer and IGB mastermind Simon Fuller in the press statement. …We are extremely thankful to our viewers, sponsors and outstanding talent who continue to motivate each and every one of us to contribute to those who need it the most.

LA Times

Former ‘Idol’ Stars React to Paula Abdul Fan Tragedy

Former “American Idol” stars Carrie Underwood and Diana DeGarmo took a moment at Wednesday night’s Country Music Awards to reflect on Paula Goodspeed, the “Idol” hopeful who apparently committed suicide near judge Paula Abdul’s house Tuesday night. Do they think fans sometimes take their idols too seriously?

“Nobody knows what was going on in that person’s life, and nobody knows if there were things outside of her fandom that were causing her to want to end it, ” Carrie tells ET, “so it’s really hard to analyze a situation like that and know why somebody did that. The only person that knows is that person. It’s very, very unfortunate.”

ET Online

NBC announces stars for Christmas tree telecast

NEW YORK (AP) ‘  Lots of talent will be present for NBC’s annual “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” telecast.

Hosted by Al Roker, this 76th formal tree lighting ceremony will feature Beyonce, Tony Bennett, the Jonas Brothers, Harry Connick Jr., David Cook and Rosie O’Donnell, the network said Wednesday.

Other scheduled performers include Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts, “America’s Got Talent” winner Neal E. Boyd and singer-songwriter Solange Knowles, as well as the Broadway Kids, students in a performing arts program founded by O’Donnell.

They will perform from Rockefeller Center’s Art Deco plaza in the heart of Manhattan.

The live, hourlong special airs 8 p.m. EST Dec. 3.

Associated Press

‘American Idol’ Alum Josiah Leming Says Recording Album Has Been ‘Humbling’

And it’s in moments like this that you catch a glimpse of the old Josiah ‘  the fresh-faced, slightly cocky kid from rural Tennessee, the one who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, slept in his car and dismissed the band on “American Idol.” It’s a fleeting moment, of course, because for the most part, that Josiah is gone. He was shelved on the day Leming inked a major-label deal with Warner Music Group’s Reprise Records and realized that flying off the handle, raging against the machine and biting the hand that feeds him are no longer options.

“It’s definitely taken a personal re-evaluation, ” he said. “I’ve had to grow up. I’m not a kid anymore. I can’t be running around, sticking my hands in sh–, you know? I’ve got to be a bit more mature about things, and handle things the right way. Because I’m not only in the public eye, I’m in the eye of a lot of people who are putting a lot of effort, time, passion and money into me. If I f— up, it makes my label look bad, it makes the management look bad, it makes the fans look bad. So, really, a lot of responsibility has been added.

MTV

Ruben Studdard Stops By WETM

Elmira, N.Y. (WETM-TV) – A celebrity’s in town, and we’re a little bit star-struck here at WETM-TV.

American Idol winner (2003) and Grammy nominee Ruben Studdard joined us live in our studio Thursday morning during WETM 18 News Today to talk about his big stage debut in Elmira.

Studdard, along with two other former American Idol contestants (Frenchie Davis and Trenyce Cobbins) are among a cast of five in “Ain’t Misbehavin, ‘” which premiers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Clemens Center.

WETM

‘Just me being Chris’ For Chris Sligh, it’s not so bad being voted off ‘Idol’: ‘There’s a relief, and you can sleep.’

Imagine being kicked out of Vanderbilt University in Nashville for liking Alan Jackson or getting the heave-ho from Jack Black’s School of Rock for seeing AC/DC.

That’s pretty much what happened to Chris Sligh, the former “American Idol” finalist who’ll perform tonight in Erie at Forward Hall. He was thrown out of Bob Jones University, a Protestant fundamentalist school, after he saw Christian rock band 4Him.

Go Erie

Programs like “Meal or No Meal” and “My Street 16” Promote National Homeless Youth Awareness Month

Viewers can go to www.homelessyouthTV.com and “sponsor” their favorite program on the network for $1, the proceeds of which will be donated to various Virgin Mobile USA charity partners supporting homeless youth, such as Green Chimneys and StandUp For Kids. Viewers who sponsor a show will have their names listed in the show’s “credits” and have the opportunity to promote the program to friends. Virgin Mobile USA will match the first $10, 000 in total donations.

In addition, two winners (and their friends) will be selected at random from a text-to-win campaign to participate in the HYTV’s first-ever “real” reality show: an opportunity to spend “24 Hours on the Street” with former reality TV star and 2006 “American Idol” contestant, Ace Young. Interested contestants can text “REAL” to 99464 for the opportunity to win (standard text messaging rates apply). The video project, examining the world of homeless youth, will debut at www.VirginMobileUSA.com/regeneration in 2009.

Earthtimes

Cheryl Burke: My Partner “Made Me Forget About” My Weight Scandal

Maurice Greene – the latest Dancing With the Stars casualty – tells Usmagazine.com his time on the ABC show has been “a rollercoaster ride.

“It’s a lot of ups and downs. But at the end of every rollercoaster, you always feel good!” he told Us Tuesday after his elimination.

The 34-year-old Olympic gold medalist and partner Cheryl Burke received a total score of 48 out of 60 from judges for their quickstep and paso doble routines Monday.

US

Marie Osmond’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Prediction!

In a whirlwind of excitement, Marie — the Las Vegas star and “DWTS” self-proclaimed “fourth unofficial judge” — takes a quick break from performing on stage with her brother Donny, to watch the hit ABC series with ET. The always bubbly Marie gives her backstage “DWTS” tips that viewers at home might not know!

“As you get into the semi-finals you make more money. That means a lot to the pros so they get tougher and tougher on the celebrity, ” the mother of eight reveals. “And it’s important to the celebrity because all the extra money that we might make goes into physical therapy, ” she jokes.

ET Online

Tour brings reality dancers to Tampa

The great thing about reality TV contests is that it creates a cult phenomenon out of a simple concept while turning ordinary people into stars.

For instance, the hit show …So You Think You Can Dance, has surged a large interest in dance while making people like 26-year-old Stephen Boss ‘  better known as Twitch ‘  a household name in the industry. …The exposure is incredible, said Twitch, who was runner-up to 19-year-old Joshua Allen last season. …It one of those life experiences that is like nothing else. It a good time for dancing with the media giving it attention. I just hope it still remains authentic.

Authentic as in not too commercialized. Not too watered down for television. True dance is inspired from the heart.

Bradenton.com

About mj santilli 34832 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!