Rising Star premieres TONIGHT on ABC at 9/8/7 pm and we WILL be live blogging! Make sure you’re ready to VOTE in realtime. (Only if you live on the east coast and mountain time zone. SORRY!) Click to download the voting app to your smartphone.
If you have no interest in Rising Star – NBC has scheduled a NEW audition episode of America’s Got Talent at 9/8c PM in an attempt to cut ABC off at the pass. I’ll have a discussion post up and will post videos. Eric will add his thoughts later.
J-Lo joins Aussie X-Factor as guest judge – The Latin American songstress will appear on three episodes of The X-Factor, the latest series of which begins in July. She’ll be a guest judge during the `home visits’ bit, where coach’s teams visit a star for mentoring. The X-Factor’s main judges will again be Redfoo, Dannii Minogue, Ronan Keating and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. – Read more at the News Daily AU
Christina Grimmie goes on the road with ‘Voice’ tour – “There are a lot of big things coming up,” said Grimmie, who is currently performing on “The Voice” tour. “I am hopeful of releasing a single possibly in the next month or so. I’ve met a lot of great people over these past few months and the potential leaves me wondering what’s in store as well. It’s an exciting time.” – Read more at Burlington County Times
Here’s Christina with a Rep from Island Records
She tweeted the photo a few weeks ago. “Hangin w the maaaan from Island Records yooooo!”
‘Rising Star’ host Josh Groban isn’t just another talking head – “We wanted a host who was really, really involved and who was going to be an advocate and a mentor,” executive producer Nicolle Yaron tells Zap2it. “Not only is he the funniest, nicest, most charming host out there, but he’s also one of the best singers in the world.” Groban’s role will encompass many things — not just host. “He’s basically [the singers’] vocal coach, their mentor, their advocate,” Yaron says. “He’ll stand up for them when America or the experts might not necessarily agree — he’s there to help them all along the way.” Says Groban, “I’m gonna have a chance to really sit with them, to go through what their songs are. That was one of the selling points for me, too. I didn’t want to just be a talking head. Before I send them out to their terrifying, giant wall of doom, I want to make sure that they’re bringing out the specialness that they have.” – Read more at Zap2it
Jennifer Hudson takes Chicago Pride Fest stage Saturday – It’s during Pride Fest that Boystown will get a taste of her new sound. “Almost every song will be a new song. I can’t wait,” Hudson said. “I’ve created a playlist of all the songs I’m going to do and I can’t stop listening to it [laughs]. That’s how excited I am. … I don’t want to give anything away. There will be a few [old songs]. For the most part, it will definitely be new songs from the new album for sure.” – Read more at Chicago Pride
From ‘The Voice’ to Firefly: a conversation with Caroline Glaser – Q How has your life changed since you appeared on “The Voice?” A Oh my gosh, it just took a 180 in an awesome way. I was going to school at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I kept trying to find people to play music with and nothing was happening and I was totally discouraged. And The Voice kind of happened randomly, actually. [And since] I’ve just been keeping busy with music and writing and touring. It’s been amazing. I have a six-song EP that I’m getting ready to release and I hope people love it. – Read more at Milford Beacon
