Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦
SOHH Exclusive: J Records Drops Ruben Studdard
After a promising start as winner of the second season of “American Idol, ” Studdard seems to have fallen short of expectations and has been dropped from J. A rep from his label has confirmed the artist’s departure to SOHH.
Studdard’s first J Record release Soulful, released in 2003, is RIAA certified platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel also fared well – reaching gold status. However sales of his 2006 project The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235, 000 copies.
Studdard has been putting in work to strengthen other aspects of his career. In November, he spent time touring alongside Robin Givens in a play called “Heaven I Need a Hug” and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is currently preparing to play jazz great Fats Waller in a national theatre tour of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” …………………
An Enlightening Experience
….Among the entertainers were three-time Grammy Award-winner Trisha Yearwood and the popular recording artist and actress Katharine McPhee.
Yearwood, who is one of country music most successful artists with more than 10 million albums sold, drew plenty of attention with her energetic singing, which was punctuated by the rhythms of her accompanying acoustic guitarist.
Working through difficulties caused by a malfunctioning second microphone, Katharine, who rose to stardom as a runner-up on television …American Idol, and her mother Peisha McPhee nonetheless presented a performance, which drew much applause and cheers.
Following her performance, Katharine expressed to The Union how much it meant to her to be a part of the event.
…There is nothing more special than singing with my mother this Christmas season, Katharine said….
Bucky Covington of …American Idol fame to perform Jan. 25
Tickets are on sale now for country artist Bucky Covington in concert on Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at Penn State York Pullo Family Performing Arts Center. Covington, an “American Idol” season five finalist, adds a new twist to the notion that winning is everything. The eighth-place finalist on the hit TV show has now parlayed his “Idol” experience into a burgeoning country music singing career………..
Posters people need in deed from postergods.com
December saw a reurgence in Chris Brown Posters on postergods.com. With his debut with Jordan sparks in her hit single “No Air”, Chris has been our american idol of poster sales. His two posters on our site have been blowing up like a balloon with lots of air!…
Album Reviews
Blake Lewis, Boys Noize, Cam’ron
….It’s disappointing, then, but not entirely surprising, that his debut album, Audio Day Dream, washes out whatever stylistic quirks or ambitions Lewis may have hinted at on the show in favor of predictable, vanilla pop. Audio Day Dream casts Lewis as a budget Justin Timberlake, only without JT’s blown-out personality or the considerable muscle of Timbaland’s futurist production (again, Audio Day Dream gets the budget version; most of the album is produced by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, whose current radio monster, “Apologize, ” is itself a Timbaland joint)…..
Vivid Entertainment Launches Website Previewing Sex Video Featuring the Fallen American Idol(R) Finalist Jessica Sierra
Vivid Entertainment, the world’s leading adult movie studio, will launch a special website, jshardcore.com, to preview footage from a sex video featuring Jessica Sierra, a final contestant on AMERICAN IDOL(R) and a star of the VH1(R) Celebrity Rehab program. The site will go live on today, December 19th at 3pm PT/6pm ET.
The “Jessica Sierra Hardcore” DVD is scheduled to be shipped on Wednesday, January 23rd and will go on sale in stores nationwide on Wednesday, January 30, 2008. In the meantime, it can be pre-ordered for mail or VOD delivery on the website.
The preview website shows “teaser” snippets from the video that catch Sierra driving her car while talking about sex, flashing her breast, in the bathtub, taking a shower, having sex with an unidentified person and starting to comment on other Season Four contestants………
Take a Clay ride for Christmas
….Q. How did your role as Sir Robin in “Spamalot” on Broadway come about?
A. They started asking me last year if I’d consider “Spamalot, ” and I didn’t know anything about it. So I got tickets to see it in November of last year, and I thought this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We were busy at the time so I didn’t have the ability to do anything with them. So they asked again this summer, and I went and saw it again and I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen in my life. It’s not traditional Broadway at all, which is why I think people enjoy it. That’s why we decided to give it a shot; it’s something completely different than anything that I’ve done or people would expect us to do. We’re excited about it….
Rep: Fantasia Barrino Is Not Pregnant
Fantasia Barrino is “not pregnant, ” a rep for her Broadway show, The Color Purple, tells Usmagazine.com…………….
….”Fantasia is not pregnant and the Internet rumors are entirely untrue, ” Barrino’s rep confirms to Us………
‘American Idol’ producer talks about seventh-season format changes
American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe believes being successful doesn’t mean you have to be stagnant.
“We always stick to the Idol formula, but we never sort of rest on our laurels. I think you’ve seen every year we try different things and see how it works. We’ve never stopped fiddling around with the format, ” Lythgoe told reporters during a conference call last Thursday. “We’re always looking at what to do and how things work, because we want to try and keep it as fresh as possible. Even though the new talent freshens it up every year, there’s still old things that we would like to change.” ………
‘Idol’ Star Sings For Local Students
Former “American Idol” star Kellie Pickler put on a private show for some lucky students who won a texting contest.
Teens at Merion Mercy Academy usually sing her hit “Red High Heels” at lunchtime.
On Wednesday afternoon, they were singing along with Pickler in their auditorium.
The kids won the concert by getting more than 450, 000 hits on their Web site….
Whatever Happened to ‘American Idol’ Season One?
With the writers strike still in full bloom, the networks have relied on their reality show repertoire to get them through the holiday season. After the new year, the mother of all reality shows, American Idol, will once again light up water cooler conversations as millions of fans tune in to see who is going to be the next great music sensation. Or, at least, to see the horde of untalented wanna-be try to impress perennial judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and the ever doped up Paula Abdul.
As the seventh season of Fox most popular show prepares to get underway, we thought we would take a look back at the contestants who started it all and see where they’ve landed now that fifteen minutes of fame is up. This is, whatever happened to ¦ Season One of American Idol? …………
Hospital fundraiser to feature Rob Thomas, John Mayer
Artists Rob Thomas and John Mayer will perform in a live radiothon this morning to benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital.
The hospital’s annual holiday concert is closed to the public but will be broadcast on 95.5 WPLJ FM from 6 to 10 a.m. today. In addition to Thomas and Mayer, the concert will feature Pat Monahan, Elliott Yamin from “American Idol” and the Christmas-themed group Holiday Express……..
Fox Searchlight drawn to ‘Bees’
…. Hudson has a role in the upcoming big-screen version of “Sex and the City”; the Oscar winner and former “American Idol” contestant also is set to star opposite Fanning in Columbia’s drama “Winged Creatures.” Okonedo, who had a breakout role in Terry George’s “Hotel Rwanda, ” recently was seen in “Martian Child.” ….
FOUR DAYS IN THE CITY
DAUGHTRY
Often performers who dont reach the finals of the popular American Idol competition are quickly forgotten, but finishing fourth in 2006 has provided the vocalist and bandleader Daughtry (Chris or Chris Adam) with the right foundation to launch what since become an impressive career.
Unlike some of the winners whose debut releases took a long time to get some chart traction, Daughtry self-titled band CD not only set a first-week sales record for a new rock date, but by the ninth week it had topped the Billboard charts.
If your measure of success is strictly numerical, then Daughtry done better than any other male contestant except Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, and finished just behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood……
Goofier By The Dozen: A Top 12 List Of Why This Critic Loves Job So Much
….4. Jordin Sparks wins “American Idol”: The former plus-sized model became the youngest winner ever. She was 17 when she took the prize in May. Thank God and America’s voters, her victory spared us from having Blake Lewis as the sixth Idol….
The Salvation Army Bell Ringers’ an Enduring Christmas Tradition
….In addition, the Army’s faithfulness to its core values, “giving hope today, ” attracts citizen and celebrity alike. American Idol star Kelly Clarkson, sang at halftime at this year’s Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Game, ringing in the 2007 Red Kettle Christmas campaign.
Clarkson is not the only singer connected in some way with The Salvation Army. The Beatles song, “Strawberry Fields Forever” was inspired by the Army’s Strawberry Field Children’s home in Liverpool, now a retreat center. John Lennon, who wrote the song with Paul McCartney in 1967, used to play in the home’s garden and attend an annual music fete there with his Aunt Mimi.
Today, the Sallyann bell ringers continue to remind us that we can make a difference. The sum total of the coins tossed in the kettles around the world nourishes millions. And this, one might say, is the true spirit of Christmas.
Fire up for AI
In just a few short weeks, FOX will fire up it …American Idol machine for the 7th time giving the network king status until the end of May. But, before we tune in to see who the next Sanjaya will be, let rewind back to January of this year and see just how much of an impact the show has had on the entertainment industry.
January kicked off what was just the beginning of a banner year for several …AI alumni, including Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks. Hicks self-titled debut album entered the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart at No. 2 and his single, …Do I Make You Proud, was honored by Billboard magazine as the Top Selling Single of 2006. His album would go on to reach platinum status by the end of January. Chris Daughtry (Season 5) and Jennifer Hudson (Season 3) fought over the No. 1 album spot when their albums’ …Daughtry and Hudson …Dreamgirls soundtrack ruled the charts.
Hudson was making waves for her role as Effie on the box office smash …Dreamgirls. She earned the coveted Screen Actor Guild award and the Golden Globe, which got the ball rolling for a magnificent year for the former Idol finalist.
While the charts screamed Idol madness, so did fans as Season 6 got underway.
Carrie Underwood (Season 4 winner) took home two Grammy awards in February including Best New Artist and Best Country Female for …Jesus, Take The Wheel, while Katharine McPhee (Season 5) debuted at No. 2 on the album charts with her debut effort…..
….Ace Young (Season 5) signs with Virgin Records and co-writes several tracks with Diane Warren for his debut album….
