Twelve more Top 48 acts perform for your votes on tonight’s America’s Got Talent. Join Eric A as he live blogs! 9/8c PM.
Rock of Ages Star to Perform Live At Staten Island Charity Event – The Carl V. Bini Memorial Fund, a Staten Island-based non-profit, announced today that Tony Award Nominee and Broadway’s Rock of Ages Star, Constantine Maroulis, will headline the Foundation’s signature event, Bikers For Bini, on August 24th at the Staten Island Mall. In addition to the celebrity performance the event will also feature rides and games for the kids, a charity motorcycle run, monster trucks rides, food, classic car show, and live music on two stages. The event will run from 11AM-6PM. – Read more at PRWeb
Wicked Star Justin Guarini and Mary Testa to Cohost Imagine: A Concert of Hope – Justin Guarini, now starring as Fiyero in Broadway’s Wicked, and two-time Tony nominee Mary Testa (Disaster!) will cohost Imagine: A Concert of Hope on Monday, September 8, at Le Poisson Rouge. Proceeds from the benefit event will be donated to the Brian Werbel Memorial Fund at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center to benefit cancer research. – Theater Mania
Colton Dixon’s ‘Anchors’ Releases August 19; Singer Featured on 25 Million Mountain Dew Cans – Colton Dixon’s Anchor will be be released on August 19, and the world is taking notice as positive reviews have been pouring in, including a little support from soda cans. Dixon will be appearing on millions of Mountain Dew cans as the Pepsi company will be distributing 25 million cans at Wal-Mart’s across the country. The cans will also come with a free download from the album. – Read more at BREATHECast
‘American Idol’ Champ Kris Allen Opens Up About New Album; Remembers Michael Johns – “I’ve been playing with my fingers a lot more because of my wrist,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a different way to play and some of those songs were written when my hand was in a cast so all I had was my fingers. I think it made me a bit more melodic than just strumming a bunch of chords.” The first song he wrote in that style, “Beautiful & Wild,” was inspired by impending fatherhood (he’s now dad to one-year old son, Oliver). “He wasn’t even born yet, but it was one of those songs where the lyrics just kind of floated into my head,” says Allen. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Constantine Maroulis on Making Rock “Adorkable” – How have you changed since your first run as Drew? I like to think I’ve grown a lot since first opening the show. Being a dad changes your perspective as an artist and as a man. I’m a little older, but I think I’m a little better too! How does being older change the character? What was a winning combination early on was that I wasn’t twenty, and I wasn’t perfect, ripped, and beautiful. I’m not the traditional freakin’ Brad Pitt look. Who roots for that guy? What worked is that I was twenty-nine, thirty, and Drew was still pushing a broom around and reaching for the stars, keeping hope that he could get his music out there. I think Drew is supposed to be thirty-plus. That’s what makes him so adorkable. – Read more at TheaterMania
Clay Aiken Won’t Sing for Your Vote – But on a recent afternoon, as he sat in his campaign office in a plush red chair that once graced the game room in his old house, Aiken told me he had a confession to make. He had transgressed. It happened on a Friday night a few months earlier. He was stumping for votes at a senior-citizens center that was hosting a dance party. There was a live band. As he walked in, he was mobbed by septuagenarian women. He realized that, if he didn’t sing for them, he’d “look like such a jerk.” So Aiken turned to the musicians and asked them to play “Unchained Melody,” the Righteous Brothers classic he’d performed to great success on “Idol.” As soon as he started up with Ohhhh my love, “It was complete pandemonium.” When the song was over, he tried to slip out the door, but one of the elderly women abandoned her date and asked Aiken to dance. – Read more at The New Republic
Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles, Vince Gill Join Michael W. Smith for Christmas Album
Check out the tracklist and more details on the upcoming holiday album from contemporary Christian singer, Michael W. Smith at Rolling Stone. Smith and Carrie Underwood sing “All is Well” on the album. Bono, Michael McDonald, Lady Antebellum, Jennifer Nettles and more are featured.
Ryan Seacrest Signs Overall Scripted Deal With CBS TV Studios – Ryan Seacrest has closed an overall two-year scripted deal with CBS Television Studios, a studio representative told TheWrap. Under the pact, Ryan Seacrest Productions will develop scripted projects for broadcast, cable and streaming under programming executive vice president Nina Wass. The partnership with CBS TV Studios could provide the expertise that RSP needs to launch a strong scripted department. Its first venture into scripted, the comedy “Mixology,” was canceled by ABC in May after earning very low ratings. It averaged a modest 1.5 rating among the advertiser-coveted Adults 18-49 and only saw a 20 percent bump with DVR playback. – Read more at The Wrap
