Tonight, it’s the PREMIERE of Big Brother 17! Join Steven as he live blogs the show! CBS 8/7c pm.
The American Idol 15 audition bus heads to Tucson, Arizona today.
15th ANNUAL “BET AWARDS” TO AIR LIVE SUNDAY, JUNE 28 – LOS ANGELES, CA – The highly-anticipated 15th annual “BET Awards” will air LIVE on Sunday, June 28 on BET from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Viewers can tune in to BET for all the star-studded performances and presenters at 8pm ET (tape delayed to Pacific and Mountain Time Zones). The full list of “BET Awards” 2015 performers includes Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar, Smokey Robinson, Big Sean, Ne-Yo, Ciara, Jason Derulo, Tinashe, Tyga, Robin Thicke, K. Michelle, Janelle Monae, Jidenna, Jussie Smollett, Yazz, and Serayah from the hit show “Empire,” Donnie McClurkin, Silento, Fetty Wap, Future, Omarion, E-40, Gary Clark Jr. Tori Kelly and Anthony Hamilton. – Read more at TVByTheNumbers
Taylor Hicks, ‘roadhouse’ singer – Hicks’ sound is similar to that of the Doobie Brothers and Darius Rucker, who also have gone country in recent years. Hicks says he has recorded a couple of new songs, but is “waiting for the right time and place to release an album, and I’m making sure that it’s right. “It’s funny,” he adds. “Some of the music I’m creating, it’s like Jackson Browne and Zac Brown had a kid, it’d probably be me. ‘Idol’ was more soulful than what my live show is. My live show is very roadhouse and rootsy.” – Read more at South Florida.com
How American Idol predicted the death of TV – Unfortunately for shows like American Idol, television is a rather passive medium. By helping us to expect a back-and-forth with our entertainment, American Idol, once the symbol of American television supremacy, foresaw the end of television altogether. The level of fan participation in American Idol was fairly astonishing at the time. In a 2003 report, AT&T reveals the show’s role in not just familiarizing viewers with text voting but with texting at all. According to the carrier, one third of AT&T customers who voted in the singing competition through texting had never actually sent a text before. In an astonishing study last year, Variety found the most well-respected celebrities among kids 13-17 were more likely to be YouTube stars than traditional celebrities. In fact, the top five entertainers with the best reputation among teens were all YouTubers. – Read more at The Week
JUSSIE SMOLLETT UNITES WITH SISTER JURNEE SMOLLETT-BELL IN WGN AMERICA’S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DRAMATIC THRILLER – ‘UNDERGROUNDLOS ANGELES, June 24, 2015 – WGN America announced today that Jussie Smollett (“Empire“) has signed on to guest star in the cable network’s pulse-pounding thriller “Underground,” in which bravery, ingenuity and power take center stage as slaves band together in the fight of their lives – for their families, their future…and their freedom. Smollett will play Josey, a wild-eyed runaway who doesn’t trust anyone, not even those stationed along the way who would try to help him. Hailing from Sony Pictures Television and Tribune Studios, “Underground” is currently in production on a straight-to-series order in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a 2016 premiere on WGN America. “Underground” is the first TV project to which Smollett has been attached since his smash debut on “Empire.” This role also marks the first time in twenty years that Smollett will appear on screen with his younger sister Jurnee Smollett-Bell (“Friday Night Lights,” “True Blood,” “The Great Debaters”). The Smolletts appeared alongside their four other siblings on the series “On Our Own” (1994-95). – Read more at TVByTheNumbers
