So many stars, so many movies at MTV awards
Like at most MTV Movie Awards, just about every star had a film to promote (Wilson’s The Rocker opens Aug. 1) ‘ and few were shy about it. Host Mike Myers kicked off the show with a joke about promoting The Love Guru, due June 20.
Presenters also had product to push: Smith and Theron (Hancock, July 2); Cruise, Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder, Aug. 15); Will Ferrell (Step Brothers, July 25); Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Get Smart, June 20); Edward Norton and Liv Tyler (Incredible Hulk, June 13); Seth Rogen and James Franco (Pineapple Express, Aug. 8); and a gaggle of gals from The House Bunny (Aug. 22): Anna Faris, Rumer Willis, Katharine McPhee and Emma Stone (who also stars in The Rocker).
Katharine McPhee to star in ‘Storyteller’
Katharine McPhee and Wes Bentley are starring in the indie psychological drama “The Storyteller, ” which Robert Angelo Masciantonio is directing for Feverpitch Pictures. Anita Briem also is on board.
Bentley, repped by WMA and Untitled, plays a writer who goes on a downward spiral when his father dies, causing his assistant (McPhee) to start investigating whether his muse as well as narrator for his stories (Briem) is a figment of his imagination.
Idol Charities Still Waiting For Funds
Sure, there were lights and cameras. But, the charities that signed on for the televised fundraising edition of American Idol, the Idol Gives Back, still didn’t know how much money was going to be donated to them more than one month after the show’s April 9 airing.
And while they will eventually receive cash, they will never know who donated the cash so that they can follow-up for further development.
The charities — Children’s Defense Fund, The Children’s Health Fund, The Global Fund, Make It Right, Malaria No More and Save the Children – were not told how the foundation would divide funds and won’t receive access to donor lists. A spokesperson for American Idol’s public relations firm, BWR Public Relations, said that the fundraising will continue and declined to release the amount raised. The spokesperson, who likewise declined to be identified, said the revenue was comparable to last year’s $76 million.
Some of the benefiting charities didn’t seem to sweat the details. “It was great exposure. It will help us in the long run to get our name out there. That’s what we are most excited for, ” said Ed Shelleby, spokesman for Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), a child advocacy nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. “It’s an opportunity to serve as an introduction to people who might not have heard of us otherwise.”
More Headlines After the Jump…
Aiken Update: Clay-Mation Babymama
“If she’s having a kid now, it’s with a donated egg, ” says one keen observer of the reproductive process. “In other words, she’s simply doing Clay a favor by carrying someone else’s egg fertilized with his sperm.”
Aiken, at this point, is exhibiting Michael Jackson-like characteristics that should not have been seen again. None of Jackson’s children was achieved through conventional means. It’s questionable that he’s even the biological dad of the eldest two, Prince and Paris. The third, known as Blanket, was conceived through IVF with a surrogate mother.
‘Idol’ runner-up Jason Castro shows up at Fort Walton Beach church
FORT WALTON BEACH – Cavalry Chapel got a surprise visit from an American Idol runner-up this weekend.
The dreadlock-wearing Jason Castro popped in for worship Sunday morning, Shari Bruns said.
“He wasn’t there to perform or anything, ” she said. Castro, the fourth runner-up on this season’s American Idol, stopped by just to take part, she added.
Bruns is an admitted “closet” Idol fan. Her sons grabbed a quick picture with the Castro before he left.
Jason Castro: What a day for a daydreaming boy
There were five distinct parts to Jason Castro Day last week in Rockwall: The Dreadhead Express, the parade, the fans, the presentations and the concert. Oh yeah – and who exactly were those two editors in Castro T-shirts and what did they present to the former American Idol contestant to make him smile so broadly and the crowd cheer so wildly? Find out in neighborsgo.com’s photoplay featuring Rockwall’s favorite son and all the hysteria that accompanied his homecoming Thursday.
Ask the Ad Team: Who sings in the Victoria’s Secret ad?
Former American Idol Season 6 contestant Sanjaya Malakar has joined Nationwide Mutual Insurance’s growing roster of B- and C-list celebrity endorsers. Last week, the singer was in India to shoot a series of TV ads that follow Nationwide’s Life Comes at You Fast theme.
In one spot, a wise man tells the 18-year-old that retirement planning is one of the secrets to a successful life.
Sanjaya ‘ who says he’s “honored to follow in the footsteps” of past Nationwide ad stars Fabio, MC Hammer and ex-Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline ‘ already is trying to beef up his financial future. He told the Ad Team that he’s working on an album and looking into modeling jobs.
Based on his coif choices from his American Idol days, we’re relieved he’s not chasing a career as a hair stylist.
Thousands rock out at concert: See if you’re in our photo galleries
FISHKILL – The thousands of music lovers who attended KFEST 2008 at Dutchess Stadium Sunday comprised the largest crowd WSPK (104.7 FM), known as K104, has ever drawn to the music festival.
“The weather is beautiful and everything is falling together, ” K104 disc jockey Bill Beale said, looking onto the more than 7, 000 concert attendees. “We have 10 acts on that stage today.”
The performers at the annual KFEST included Wyclef Jean, Sean Kingston, Pitbull, Ray J, Enur, Cherish and more.
Fans got a special treat when many of the artists stuck around after their performances, signing autographs and dancing to the acts that succeeded them – including “American Idol” sensation Blake Lewis, the 2007 season’s runner-up.
“The fans are amazing, ” Lewis said after his performance. “They were really receptive to my music.”
Fans Show Support for Clay Aiken
The “Claymates” are showing an outpouring of support after a rep for producer David Foster confirmed to PEOPLE that Clay Aiken is fathering a child with David’s sister, music producer Jaymes Foster.
“OMG Clay Aiken is my Hero, ” writes one fan on claymaniac.com. “I love him and wish him the best of luck!”
Adds another on the same site: “Now today I almost choked on my sandwich, Clay is going to be a father? And in three months? It blew me over. All I can say is ‘Congratulations!’ That is going to be one handsome and talented baby.
On Music Row
Country sales were positively impacted last week by several factors including the ACM Awards, a No. 1 debut from Dancing With The Stars Julianne Hough and the American Idol TV finale which included a performance by Carrie Underwood.
Underwood, who enjoyed performance slots on both Idol and the ACMs, saw her week-over-week CD sales leap 58 percent.
…Idol Power drove fans to download almost 942, 000 digital tracks from winner David Cook. His …Time Of My Life single contributed 236, 000 sales to that total. Fans of runner-up David Archuleta clicked their way to 358, 000 downloads, including 71, 178 of his most popular track, …Imagine.
Rock ‘n’ roll lives on in Idol’s reigning champ, acerbic judge and would-be stars
Rock ‘n’ roll lives on in “Canadian Idol” as the popular singing contest kicks off a sixth season Tuesday on the heels of “American Idol”‘s surprise coronation of a scruffy-haired emo-rocker.
Executive producer John Brunton says the slow burn of 26-year-old David Cook, who triumphed over baby-faced 17-year-old David Archuleta in the “American Idol” finale two weeks ago, has resulted in more men turning out for Canadian auditions of the show.
“More guys came out than had ever come out for the show before, ” notes Brunton.
“We’ve had a lot of really, really seasoned performers that have come out for the first time that, I think, has said, ‘OK, based on what I’ve seen now I’m going to give this a try.”‘
“They’re going: ‘Well gee, that’s not some stereotypical idea of a corny TV show.”‘
‘Idol’ owner Fuller marries in California
LOS ANGELES, June 1 (UPI) — Simon Fuller, creator of the “American Idol” TV series, has gotten married in California’s Napa Valley, “Idol” executive Nigel Lythgoe says.
The “Idol” executive producer confirmed Fuller married his longtime girlfriend, interior designer Natalie Swanston, in a lavish ceremony attended by numerous celebrities, FoxNews.com reported Sunday.
Lythgoe said Saturday’s wedding was attended by such “Idol” alum as singers Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, along with members of the Spice Girls.
Simon Cowell Launching World’s Got Talent
Los Angeles, CA (CNS) – After the success of his U.S. and U.K. shows, music mogul Simon Cowell is now set to conquer the world with his global version of “America’s Got Talent.”
Cowell is taking his talent search on a much bigger scale with “World’s Got Talent.”
He is quoted by contactmusic.com as saying, “This global show will unite the best acts. It’s going to be great.”
He compares his next ambitious project to the Eurovision Song Contest saying, “The Eurovision’s not perfect – that’s why we want to have a go at doing something that rivals it. There will be some countries’ acts that make you laugh and cringe. They won’t be to everyone’s liking, but that’s the whole point – it gets people talking and arguing.”
“But I think we can get genuine talent.”
Simon Cowell to sign up Britain Got Talent losers
How he will do the same for George Sampson, the teenage dancer who was crowned the winner of Britain Got Talent, is something that may be troubling the music mogul as he begins to map out the boy career.
So much so that he is likely to waste no time signing up at least three of the other finalists who he believes will add to his multi-million pound empire, his representatives said yesterday.
Throughout the contest Cowell made no secret of his desire to work with Faryl Smith, the 12-year-old opera singer, whose voice he described as …one-in-a million.
On the American Idol News Front: Paula Abdul’s ‘Stalker’ Paul Marturano Giving Back to American Idol with His New Single!
Paul Marturano, the off-the-wall comic/accomplished pianist from Philadelphia who recently appeared on American Idol and caught the nation’s attention as Paula Abdul’s ‘Stalker’, is reaping the benefits. Marturano’s company, Off The Edge Productions, LLC, which also manages No Sex Allowed singer, Milo Turk, has generated thousands of dollars on the internet, CDbaby, and iTunes with CD and digital song sales through its website http://www.offtheedgeproductions.net.
Marturano has signed a ringtone deal that will make Stalker and No Sex Allowed available on most major carriers and has released new audio and video versions of Stalker (Stalker 08) and No Sex Allowed (No Sex Allowed 08) on iTunes with the help of producers that have worked with several major artists. The songs will be released to over 450 radio stations nationwide and a portion of sales will be donated to IDOL GIVES BACK!
