Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦
‘Idol’ speculation on Carly return
Pop singer Carly Hennessy could be set to get another chance at fame after her first album was an expensive flop.
The Ballinteer singer, pictured right, who is in her early twenties, won the best Irish Female prize at the Meteor awards in 2003 but then sank into obscurity.
But she may be making a bizarre comeback on US TV.
Internet rumours have emerged that the Dubliner is to take to the stage as part of the ‘American Idol’ reality TV show.
Will A Poster Child for the Music Industry’s Screw-Ups be the Next American Idol?
About five years ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy profile of Carly Hennessy, an Irish pop singer who was signed to MCA Records and who had roughly $2.2 million poured into the making and marketing of her debut album, Ultimate High. Wall Street Journal Article here
Mr. Television: The Wasteland
unlike the typical first Mr. TV column of the new year, when I try to highlight what to look forward to in the upcoming midseason, the prime-time landscape in first quarter 2008 looks like a wasteland. As the eight-week-old battle between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers marches on, production on scripted series has come to a standstill, the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour has been canceled, and the networks are scrambling to fill slates.
While Fox, of course, could ultimately fill up the majority of its schedule with the returning American Idol (which opens season No. 7 on Tuesday, Jan. 15), the other networks are not as fortunate.
The Role TV Knows Too Well: Inane Asylum
Let’s face it — the television industry will never again rise to the heights of ridiculousness achieved in 2004 with just one breast, a breakaway bustier and the prying fingers of Justin Timberlake.
Still, by all accounts, 2007 was one of the industry’s more spectacular efforts. Here’s a look at the best:
Sanjaya Malakar’s Hair. Millions of little girls and middle-aged women are irresistibly drawn to the “American Idol” contestant’s gorgeous, faux-hawked tresses, a reaction that threatens to bring down the country’s most-watched television program, the backbone of the No. 1 network’s ratings. Major papers weigh in with op-ed pieces on the cultural crisis. “Idol” producers search frantically for things that the competition judges can say on air about Sanjaya’s awful performances that will not mobilize those millions of preteens and 24-to-54-year-old chicks to vote for their pet.
‘Idols’ continue their reign
No, this isn’t just a nod to hometown heroine Jordin Sparks. Glendale’s sweetheart actually had the worst-selling debut album by a winner of Fox’s reality-TV juggernaut. (We love you anyway.)
On the other hand, Billboard’s No. 1 album of the year was Daughtry, the self-titled debut from the band fronted by Chris Daughtry, who finished fourth in Season 5. That year’s winner, Carrie Underwood, went platinum with her second album, Carnival Ride, which was released in October. Combined with continuing sales of her debut, Some Hearts, it was enough to put Underwood in second place for “album artist” of the year.
It was a weird year, but then aren’t they all
The year …American Idol breakout was one of our own. Close enough, anyway. True, Sanjaya Malakar lived in Federal Way for only a year or two and few seemed to remember him. But he claimed the place as his own and the city was more than happy to oblige.
Some found him annoying and lacking talent. But even after his fall from …Idol, the 17-year-old was welcomed home with open arms. Six hundred or so screaming Fanjayas flocked to The Commons at Federal Way to see the bopper on May 9, what will henceforth be known as …South King County Sanjaya Malakar Day.
King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer summed up the sentiment: …Were recognizing that he using his celebrity status not only to benefit himself but also the community ¦ He going to have his 15 seconds of fame.
American Idol predictions for 2008
I made a few timid predictions a year ago and actually got a couple sort of right. Let see how I do for 2008:
Lewis living the Dream
To critics and haters, the American Idol machine comes across a bit like Rasputin — it continues to take shots but somehow still carries on.
And while some contestants were chewed up and quickly spat out by the program, such as tabloid topic Jessica Sierra, performers such as Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry are making the show work for them. Such is the case with this year’s runner-up, Blake Lewis, who recently released his debut album, Audio Day Dream.
What to do, where to go for New Year’s Eve
You can tune in to a slew of musical happenings ranging from our own …American Idol Vonzell …Baby V Solomon to area clubs offering a countrified New Year Eve party or an indoor/outdoor gathering in downtown Fort Myers.
