TONIGHT! The remaining Top 40 girls hit the staqe at the Mirage in Las Vegas to earn a spot in the Top 20! We’ll be live blogging at 8/7c pm FOX. Also, the remaining GUYS will tape their episode tonight, so watch out for spoilers!
Not in the mood for American Idol? Watch the Survivor at 8/7c PM on CBS. Watch for Eric’s recap.
Plus, Nashville returns to NBC – tune in at at 10/9c ET and check out Windmill’s recap.
NOTE: Today, I officially begin daily concert appearance posts. ALL CONCERT VIDEOS, TWEETS, REVIEWS BELONG IN THIS NEW POST. I’m going to keep TV appearances in Headlines, though. As a reminder: Numbers go in the daily chart threads. What remains: TV appearances, interviews, future concert announcements, general news. Thanks.
Now on ‘Idol,’ Viewers Can Tweet While Contestants Sing – Witness “American Idol,” which on Wednesday will start to use Twitter to take instant polls of the audience. Graphics on this Fox singing competition will include questions like “Do you agree with the judges tonight?” and two hashtags (words or phrases preceded by a # symbol, making the comment easy to find) with differing answers. Viewers with Twitter accounts, if they want to participate, will post a comment with one of the two hashtags, and the network and its production partner, FremantleMedia, will update the graphic almost instantly as the results come in. They say it will look like an online tug of war. – Read more at The New York Times
‘American Idol’ producer Nigel Lythgoe loves Mirage theater for recording Fox hit – The new “sudden death” eliminations in last week’s “American Idol” shows recorded at “The Beatles’ Love” theater at The Mirage had viewers — and the judges — in disbelief. Two more episodes will be taped at the Cirque du Soleil stage tonight and Wednesday for broadcast Wednesday and Thursday. Next week, the three shows are live, with the last one back in L.A. Executive Producer and Las Vegas regular Nigel Lythgoe said he chose the Mirage theater for the trip away from L.A. because he fell in love with it. “There is a unique production value added when a show is done in the round. It requires the contestants to raise their level of performance because there is no place to hide.” – Read more at The Las Vegas Sun
‘American Idol’ Judges: Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban on Saying ‘No’ to Contestants – THR: You must have had a picture in your head about what being a judge on Idol would be like. How does that image compare with the real thing? Carey: I didn’t realize how many truly talented people there would be, both the guys and the girls, and I really have gotten attached to certain people. To have to let them go is sometimes very hard for me. I have my producer hat on sometimes and [think] this girl could immediately go and get a deal and have a chart-topping record. And then sometimes this person needs some work but they’re an incredible singer that I would look up to and I want to go to their show. Minaj: I pictured it being a little scarier then it is. I didn’t expect it to be this much fun. I didn’t expect to be able to speak off the top of my head about people I never met before a day in my life and be spontaneous commenting on their performances. It’s definitely surprised me – for the better. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Kree Harrison and Paul Jolley Fox Nashville News Interview
Q&A with Adam Lambert – American Idol this season has seen a slew of unconventional contes-tants. Do you think, having been one of the more flamboyant and outspoken contestants, that you’ve opened up a new market for the show? Yeah, I noticed that, too… It’s a diverse group. There are all types (of people on the show) this year. Sexuality has been treated as more of a non-issue, which makes me think that we are moving forward as a society, as far as acceptance goes. I applaud the producers for being so progressive. What do you think of the Nicki Minaj-Mariah Carey “feud” on the show? I think it makes for good TV. It’s quite entertaining. – Read more at Asia One
Kitchen Spotlight: ‘Book of Mormon’ actress cooks from the soul – Mercado is currently starring as Nabalungi in the popular Broadway in Chicago production of “The Book of Mormon,” which has been extended to Sept. 8 at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago. (FYI: (800) 775-200 or visit BroadwayInChicago.com). The singer/actress was a finalist on season seven of “American Idol.” She’ll also perform a solo concert March 18 at City Winery in Chicago. (FYI: citywinery.com). While Mercado said she’s a fan of her mother’s recipes, she said she never indulged too greatly in her cooking as a youngster. “Growing up, I was a vegetarian and what everyone in my family called a picky eater,” she said.
‘I had a lot of food allergies and environmental allergies,” she said. And because she’s now very conscious of her vocal health and nutrition, in general, Mercado watches what she eats. – Read more at NWTimes
Mandisa talks unity, tour and ‘American Idol’ – Mandisa has done countless TV appearances in her six-year career as a soul-gospel singer, but just recently came one of her more memorable invites. In August, Mandisa helped send off Robin Roberts as the “Good Morning America” co-host embarked on a daunting medical trial by singing her uplifting anthem, “Stronger.” With Roberts’ return on Feb. 20, Mandisa was again called upon to offer her inspirational song. – Read more at Access Atlanta
Carrie Underwood Blown Away Tour, American Red Cross Work for ‘Change’ – Carrie Underwood has a big heart when it comes to helping others. During the current leg of her Blown Away tour, the songstress is donating a percentage of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. “We kind of started something like this on the [last] tour, when there was a reference to 36 cents in the song ‘Change,'” Carrie told The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. “After seeing what a big difference that made, we decided to do something different on this tour, and we chose the Red Cross. It is such a wonderful organization to help people when they need it.” Being here [in Nashville] with the flood, and then when [Hurricane] Sandy happened, we made that deal and it is a great time to be with them. It seems like weather-related accidents happen all the time, and then with the tour being called Blown Away, it was a great tie-in. They are appreciative and I’m excited to be able to present a giant check to them at the end of the tour.” – Read more at The Boot
Speaking of Blown Away. CHECK OUT THE GOAT EDITION
And poor Harry Styles Hit In the Nuts by a Flying Shoe
It happened at a concert in Glasgow
OUCH!
