American Idol Headlines for 12/30/11

Brook White will join 2010 Grammy Award winner Steve Vaus for a benefit concert at the Mesa Arts Center, Mesa AZ

Blake Lewis will host a New Years Eve event at Share Nightclub in Las Vegas on December 30. New Years Eve.

Lauren Alaina’s brand-new video, “Georgia Peaches,” and a behind-the-scenes look at its filming will premiere on CMT January 6 at 8 am. Plus, see what this American Idol star has to say about the second single from her debut album, Wildflower, in her charming interview. (Via CMT)

Carrie Underwood blogged at her fan club this morning with a sad but heartwarming story. She was driving back to Nashville from Oklahoma (she’d gone home for a couple days) and saw 2 dogs injured and abandoned on the median of the interstate. She was able to turn around and save 1 dog (a labrador) but the other dog had already passed away. She’ll be taking care of the lab until she can find a good home for it. (Via Windmills in comments)

Chris Daughtry will appear on The Price is Right on Thursday, January 5. He’s playing for the Alzheimer’s Association. Chris’s appearance is a part of a week of celebrities, including Neil Patrick Harris, Snoop Dogg, Jenny McCarthy and Heidi Klum playing to benefit their favorite charities. (USA Today)

Jennifer Hudson interview excerpts from NBC’s Dateline, airing Jan, 9 – In a “Dateline” exclusive airing on Sunday, January 8 at 7pm/6pm Central, Lester Holt interviews Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson. Monday, January 9 – the day before her new book I Got This, hits shelves – she will appear live on “TODAY.” – Read excerpts at M&G

Scotty McCreery Shares Family’s Holiday Traditions – Though the family has had to spend a significant chunk of the past year apart, they haven’t lost any of their consistency and unity when it comes to the holidays. McCreery says when they built their house six years ago, the family even included a space on the second floor that they call their “Christmas closet,” where they can store all of their decorations and necessities (they put up 12 Christmas trees each year, as well as hundreds of lights). Plus, McCreery’s mom admits one of their favorite traditions, which fizzled out as McCreery and his sister grew older, was getting them matching pajamas for Christmas morning. – Read more at Taste of Country

From American Idol to Mormon Missionary – Mr. Archuleta will join more than 52,000 Mormon missionaries serving in 340 missions, or geographic areas, world-wide. Eighty percent of them are young men who begin serving at age 19. The remainder are mostly young women age 21 and older, along with a small number of retired couples. It is estimated that roughly a third of eligible young Mormon men elect to serve missions. – Read more at the Wall Street Journal

X Factor star Chris Rene’s sister, Gina, has a muse of her own – “Chris is my hero,” said Gina Rene, who at 36 is nearly eight years older than Chris. “And he has always said that I inspire him. Now it’s his turn to inspire me.” Gina’s muse resides largely in the same arena as her brother’s. She’s a soul/R&B singer with a deep love for hip-hop. She’s the co-writer of the song her brother made famous on “The X Factor,” “Young Homie.” Inspired by Santa Cruz’s James Durbin and his similar odyssey on “American Idol” in the spring, Chris Rene first told his sister that he wanted to audition for “Idol.” – Read more at Mercury News

Ouch, did you forget to use the suncream, Simon? Cowell sports a bright red chest during a visit to a charity event in Barbados – He holidays there every Christmas, so you’d think Simon Cowell would be better prepared for the sizzling sunshine in Barbados. However, the music mogul appeared to be in dire need of some aloe vera judging by the the bright red hue of his chest during a visit to a charity fund raiser for The Hope Sanctuary – an organisation which saves abused, abandoned and neglected dogs in Barbados. With his shirt unbuttoned in typical Cowell-style, the 52-year-old revealed a painful looking chest area but maintained a gleaming smile throughout his time at the event. – Read more at the Daily Mail

Ryan Seacrest Talks ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ Surprises – “You will see Beyoncé on the show,” said Seacrest. “I can’t tell you too much because they don’t tell me too much, but if you’re a Beyoncé fan — and man, is she looking good these days — you’ll want to see Beyoncé.” “Yes, Dick Clark will be back,” said Seacrest, laughing, “Some of those moments are him freezing outside and he still kind of wishes that I’d be very, very cold outside. – Read more and see the Video at ExtraTV

Turning tweets into gold – “It’s not a one-for-one exchange,” says Heather McBee, vice president, artist development/marketing & web initiatives for Sony Music Nashville, label home for Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley and others. “A tweet does not equal an album sale.” “When you have an artist with millions of fans on one social media site and that artist posts that he/she has a new album out, there is no way to specifically correlate sales derived from the social site. – Read more at the Nashville Ledger

Darren Criss Gets Ready for Broadway

Darren rehearses for “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. His 3 week stint begins on January 3.

He’ll be missing the Ricky Martin Glee episode while he’s in NYC.