‘American Idol’ tour hits the right notes in Glendale
Talk about fixing what was broken. In previous outings, the annual American Idol tour featured the season top 10 contestants performing a large amount of group numbers. Anyone who has ever watched the TV show can attest to a simple fact: The group numbers suck. Every year, there are a few contestants who display no noticeable dancing ability. Others cant harmonize to save their lives. It doesnt help that the group numbers feature the kind of imaginative choreography that you usually find on Brady Bunch reruns.
This year, the tour producers made the wise move of eliminating virtually all group numbers. There were only two spots featuring the ensemble during the tour opening night on Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena. Winner David Cook did a five-song set; runner-up David Archuleta got four tunes and the remaining cast members each got three. That meant the show moved along at a fairly lively pace and some performers got to display more personality than they showed on screen. The show ran nearly two-and–a-half hours (with an intermission), but felt shorter.
‘Idol’ Finalist Kristi Lee Cook Inks Record Deal
Season seven “American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook has signed with 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville.
The Oregon native, who is preparing for the American Idols Live! Tour 2008, will team with songwriter/producer Brett James (Jessica Simpson) to record her album between tour dates, with a release expected this fall. Her first single, “15 Minutes of Shame, ” will go to country radio in August.
Arista Nashville parent Sony BMG Nashville is also home to “Idol” alums Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. Cook was previously signed to Arista at age 17, but was dropped before any music was released.
American Idol Bo Bice puts Jesus Christ first in his life
Bo Bice, the long-haired Southern rocker who was the first runner-up in the fourth season of American Idol, says that despite his success, he puts Jesus Christ first in his life, reports Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries.
In a recent interview with Bice on the red carpet at the 2008 Hero
Awards sponsored by Feed The Children at the Universal Hilton, Universal City, I did for ANS and Safe Worlds IPTV, I asked him how he kept his feet on the ground with all the recent success he had experienced.
Ace has new album up his sleeve
Ace Young, a Season 5 “American Idol” finalist, called recently from the road. He’s touring with his band and visiting radio stations to drum up interest to a fever pitch for his self-titled debut CD, out July 15.
Young finished only seventh on “American Idol, ” but he points out that the same season, top-selling rocker Chris Daughtry finished fourth. For the record, Taylor Hicks won that year. Young’s good looks and long, flowing hair made him a heartthrob, and his dedication to his craft could make him a rock star.
Phil Stacey releases “Old Glory” single for holiday
Phil Stacey is releasing the patriotic anthem “Old Glory” to country radio for airplay over the Fourth of July holiday. Stacey was inspired to write “Old Glory” while serving active duty in the United States Navy. The song was not on his self-titled debut, which came out in April.
“Phil has been playing this song during radio visits, his live shows and even a few weeks ago at the Grand Ole Opry where he got a standing ovation, ” says Lyric Street Records VP Promotion Kevin Herring. “The song always gets a great reaction and we’ve fielded a lot of calls from our friends in radio asking where they can get the song.”
Support and drive helped former ‘Idol’ contestant reach for the stars
Bucky Covington rose to fame after making it to the final eight during the 2006 season of …American Idol.
The country singer hesitated, though, in 2005 when he heard an …Idol tryout was scheduled in his home state. of North Carolina. Covington was working for his dad at a third-generation family business that he and his brother would be taking over someday.
Covington said he talked about the audition with his dad, who was worried about their auto body shop being short-handed. Covington said he asked, ‹What do you think my odds are?, and his dad answered, ‹I think you stand as good a shot as anybody.
…When he said that I knew I had to go. I cant wake up at 40 years old kicking myself in the tail, thinking, ‹What if? So I went, Covington said in his official biography
Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler to Guest on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance
Tony Award-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler is taking his moves to the small screen, acting as guest choreographer on the hit TV dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance on July 2. Blankenbuehler’s work recently took home the 2008 Tony for In the Heights’ contemporary and Latin influenced choreography.
‹Dance’s format leaves much to chance
If there’s one thing that’s constant on “So You Think You Can Dance, ” it’s Mary Murphy’s stage persona. The judge is known for both grandiose statements and failure to modulate her voice, so it was no surprise to hear her loudly assert before last Wednesday’s performances that the final 16 dancers were all so close that it was impossible to predict who would get voted off each week.
“They are all bunched up in a pack, just getting ready to let loose here. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be our best year ever!” Murphy said.
Country Memories with Ex-Nashville Star Alyson Gilbert
After nearly being voted off of Nashville Star in this season’s premiere, country singing hopeful Alyson Gilbert rebounded to prove herself to both the fans and judges Jeffrey Steele, Jon Rich, and Jewel in the last few weeks. As the competition becomes increasingly tough as the seasons moves toward crowning this year’s Nashville Star, Alyson Gilbert’s time on the show came to end this week. Although all good things often come to an end, we caught up with the former Nashville Star contestant to see what she has planned for the future, how she’s going to make the experience work for her career, and how she feels about Jewel’s comment about needing to find some hurt.
‘Nashville Star’ recap: When judges attack
Before we break down last night’s performances, we need to discuss next week’s double elimination: It couldn’t come at a better time. Despite what NBC seems to think, it’s not fun to watch the judges rip into contestants for not being “country.” It actually undermines the judges, who had a say in choosing the finalists. If you think Coffey (pictured) is faking it, that means he fooled you, John Rich ‘ assuming you put him on the show because you thought he’d actually be a great country artist and not because he’d be good TV. Just like I hope y’all weren’t so desperate to cast someone from the USS Kitty Hawk that you welcomed likable Tommy Stanley to the show, even though you could tell from Day One he had to work too hard to sound country.
Canadian Idol: The top 20 Perform Part I
First off, before we get to the singing, what was with Ben’s t-shirt tonight? Did he forget to put a shirt on top of the white t-shirt? Also, I didn’t really get his joke to Jake, and given what Ben was wearing, I don’t really think he should be the one talking. Jake did give good advice to the competitors: “You have to leave everything on the stage as if its your last performance.” Very good advice. The Idol-wannabes should take heed to it.
First up was Mark. He did an interesting version of I’m in Love with a Girl. It wasn’t the song I would have chosen for him, but he kind of made it work. I think the problem with Mark is his performance style: he sings great, but his stage presence, facial expressions and dancing take away from it just a little bit. It makes him come across as not very sincere in his performance. I think Mark’s a great performer, but doubt he’s going to last to become the Canadian Idol. The judges were mixed on their reviews and Zack suggested Mark be larger in his performance. How? I don’t think Mark can get any bigger than his current performances.
Canadian Idol: The top 20 Perform Part II
Happy Canada Day! I’m a little disappointed no one was decked out in white and red Tuesday night (I’m looking at you Farley). But at least Ben remembered to put on his shirt over his t-shirt, which is more than we can say for Monday’s show. Also, where is Jully Black? She kind of disappeared. Is she waiting until the top 10 to reppear and mentor the contestants? Or is she done? I guess only time will tell. Anyways, on with the show…
Kicking off the show this week was Adam Castelli singing Gone Til November. I agree with the judges it wasn’t his best performance, but I don’t think it was his worst either. I thought he blended his singing with his guitar playing very well, and it was nice to see him dabble into another genre. I do agree with Farley that Adam should have taken more license with the song and made it a little more melodic to show off his singing abilities.
