Dancing with the Stars Semi-Final round airs tonight on ABC 8/7c PM. The judges mentor The final four! The Voice Top 5 vie for a spot in next week’s finale. Plus, Hometown visits! RuPaul’s Drag Race continues on LOGO 9/8c pm
Empire signs Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Alicia Keys for season 2 – Fox is already signing big-name guest stars for the second season of its mega-hit new series Empire. The network has enlisted actor-comedian Chris Rock, pop star Alicia Keys and singer and Hunger Games actor Lenny Kravitz for roles next season, Fox TV chairman and CEO Dana Walden announced to advertisers in New York on Monday. – Read more at Entertainment Weekly
TORI KELLY TO PERFORM AS “KIA’S ONE TO WATCH” ON THE “2015 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS” – Billboard, dick clark productions and Kia Motors announced today that new music act, Tori Kelly, will perform as “Kia’s One To Watch” on the “2015 Billboard Music Awards.” Kelly will sing her new hit “Nobody Love,” and joins previously announced musical performers Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Hozier, Nick Jonas, Ed Sheeran, Van Halen, along with special duet performances by “Empire” recording artists Jussie Smollett and Bryshere “Yazz” Gray with Estelle, Fall Out Boy featuring Wiz Khalifa, Little Big Town and Faith Hill, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor featuring John Legend. The show will also include a special moment with Molly Ringwald introducing Simple Minds who will pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of “The Breakfast Club” with their iconic song “Don’t You (Forget About Me). The “2015 Billboard Music Awards” will be hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen and broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 17, on ABC from 8:00 PM–11:00 PM ET. – dc productions press release
‘American Idol’ Cancellation: Constantine Maroulis, Taylor Hicks & More Alumni React – American Idol, the defining reality TV singing competition of the 21st century, will end after its next and 15th season, according to Fox. Following the sad but not shocking announcement, Billboard reached out to veterans of the show’s groundbreaking run for their thoughts on what is truly the end of an era. Here’s what they had to say: – Read more at Billboard
Adam Lambert on ‘American Idol’ Cancellation: ‘They Had a Great Run’ – With the announcement of American Idol’s final season making its way to the show’s extended family, alumni, staff, former producers and crew are weighing in on the end of an era. What does one of the show’s favorite sons, season eight’s Adam Lambert, make of the news? “They had a great run,” Lambert tells Billboard. “And thank you, Idol, because I wouldn’t be here without you.” – Read more at Billboard
The End of ‘American Idol’: How Fox’s Singing Phenomenon Changed the Face of Pop Culture – Fox canceled American Idol Monday. The show’s ratings pale in comparison to its heyday, and it hasn’t found a superstar in years. But, for the love of Seacrest, it still matters. In the summer of 2002, a shy Texan girl in an outfit she had made herself entirely out of denim jeans—a joutfit, if you will—walks into an audition room. She tells Paula Abdul that she’s always been a fan of hers, while two music producers most of us have never heard of—one British, one a former session bassist for Journey—look on. She begins singing the most gee-golly adorable version of Madonna’s “Express Yourself” you’ve ever heard. Kelly Clarkson wasn’t the first person to audition for American Idol, but she was the most important one. – Read more at The Daily Beast
The Legacy of ‘American Idol’: It Was Always About the Stars – American Idol is the essential American reality show of the 00’s, and that’s not changing. That speaks to Idol’s monumental impact on culture last decade, as well as to its eroding relevance in this one. By the beginning of the 2010’s, American Idol had started to become the relic that it is today, the old-timey singing show with the type of plummeting ratings that prompted multiple music sites to use the phrase “being put out of its misery” when news broke Monday morning (May 11) that its upcoming 15th season will be its last. Did Idol overstay its welcome by roughly seven seasons? Probably. Did those first eight seasons justify the run that followed? Definitely. – Read more at Billboard.com
YouTube Hosts “Live at The Wildhorse” During Music Biz 2015 in Nashville – April 28, 2015 – YouTube will host a night of live performances at Music Biz 2015 beginning at 9 p.m. CT on May 13 at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. The event will feature acts from all three major labels, as well as Redeye, including Casey James from Sony Music Entertainment, Jana Kramer from Warner Music Group, Mike Posner from Universal Music Group, and Tony Joe White from Redeye. – Read more at MusicBiz.org
‘American Idol’ Alum Han Hee Jun To Release Collaboration With Girls’ Generation Member Tiffany – South Korean male singer and American Idol alumni Han Hee Jun will be coming out with a duet single featuring Girls’ Generation member Tiffany, reports Allkpop. “The singer collaborating with Hee Jun is Tiffany,” confirmed Tiffany’s agency SM Entertainment to news organization OSEN. The unveiling comes a few days after Han Hee Jun teased the collaboration with a Girls’ Generation member. – Read more at KPopStarz
Val Chmerkovskiy Attends Former DWTS Partner Zendaya’s High School Graduation – Zendaya is officially a high school graduate – and she had some star power to back her up on her big day. Val Chemerkovskiy, who danced with the 18-year-old Disney star during season 16 of Dancing with the Stars, shared a snap from Zendaya’s recent graduation. “From the Met straight to set to graduating high school. Proud of my lil Zendayachka. #driven #fam @zendaya,” the 29-year-old dancer wrote. – Read more at People
Lee Daniels, Damon Lindelof, A-List Writers on Race, Ignoring Critics, an ‘Empire’ Axing – Just because the television business has made notable inroads in the realm of diversity this year doesn’t mean the subject is any more comfortable to discuss. So when Lee Daniels, co-creator of Fox’s Empire, recently questioned a table full of drama writer-producers about the racial makeup of their writers rooms, the group grew tense. But doing so ultimately led to an important discussion about the industry’s shortcomings — as well as the challenges of collaboration, their frustration with critics and the day that Beau Willimon, showrunner of Netflix’s House of Cards, danced shirtless on set with Russian punk-rock group Pussy Riot. Daniels, 55, and Willimon, 37, were joined April 28 in Hollywood for a frank conversation about the pressures and rewards of running TV’s hottest dramas by Damon Lindelof, 42 (HBO’s The Leftovers), Alex Gansa, 54 (Showtime’s Homeland), Michelle King, 53 (CBS’ The Good Wife), and Sarah Treem, 34 (Showtime’s The Affair). – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
