The American Idol Small Town Bus Tour holds auditions at Hubbard Park in Iowa City, IA
See the Season 11 Top 10 on the American Idol LIVE! Tour 2012 at the Consol Energry Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
Daughtry performs at Ives Concert Park in Danbury, CT.
Kelly Clarkson performs at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, OH.
Bo Bice, Ruben Studdard, Vonzell Solomon, Katie Stevens and RJ Helton perform at the Andy Williams Moon River Theatre in Branson, MO. Via AmericanIdol.com
America’s Got Talent returns from Hiatus – Twelve Contestants from the You Tube auditions perform tonight. NBC 8/7c pm.
‘American Idol’ hopefuls wait in Hubbard Park – Over 100 “American Idol” hopefuls lined up by 7 a.m. today around Hubbard Park to audition for the 12th season of the show. Iowa City is the second stop in Iowa as part of the show’s Small Town Audition bus tour. The bus stopped in Rock Rapids on Saturday and will be in Joplin, Mo.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Dodge City, Kan.; among others, according to “American Idol’s” website. The idea is to reach out to the folks who can’t make it to the major cities. The show’s senior producers — not its celebrity judges — are in Iowa City for the auditions. – Read more at Press-Citizen
Sparks finds new light in ‘Sparkle’ debut – BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When most singers make the leap from recording artist to movie star, it’s usually a well-calculated career maneuver that requires show-business acumen from an army of agents, acting coaches, managers and publicists. However, for bubbly sixth season “American Idol” champion Jordin Sparks, the jump from stage to screen just, well, kinda happened. The way Sparks tells the story of how she became the title character in a remake of the 1976 musical “Sparkle” is that her music career was unexpectedly in flux last year while she was parting ways with her management and her label was undergoing a shake-up. Unable to record a new album and uncertain of her future, Sparks looked to another passion – acting. – Read more at Huffington Post
Jordin Sparks meets Nicki Minaj: Jordin tweets, “The Queen Barbie herself! It was great to finally meet you @nickiminaj!! Hope to work w/ you soon! :D http://instagr.am/p/OT1jL9ytxk/”
Jennifer Hudson To Help Grade School Students In Honor Of Late Nephew – In honor of her late nephew, actress/singer Jennifer Hudson will be helping grade-school students in Chicago Tuesday. As WBBM Newsradio’s Brandis Friedman reports, Aug. 14 would have been Julian King’s 11th birthday. His mother, and Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia, says her son loved school and promised to one day become Dr. King. In Julian’s memory, the sisters are hosting their second annual Hatch Day celebration at the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, 1250 W. 119th St., where they will donate school supplies to 5,000 low-income Chicago school students. – Read more at CBS
Exclusive: Jordin Sparks Talks Teaching Whitney Houston How to Dougie – American Idol winner Jordin Sparks—who plays Houston’s daughter in the film—recalled an off-camera duet with the singer. “There was one moment where I told her I’d sang one of her Christmas songs on tour,” she says. “It was her ‘Joy to the World’ version. I sang a little bit of it and then she sang some back to me. I was like, ‘This is the best moment ever.’” But it wasn’t all serious and reverential. From the sound of it there was also a lot of on-set fun, including an impromptu lesson in Dougie-ing. “One of my favorite memories would have to be the time we all taught her how to Dougie,” says Sparks, laughing. “That was definitely really crazy and unexpected. It was so fun. She walked in and was like, ‘What is this?’ We were like, ‘This is what it is,’ and she jumped right in.” – See the Video at FUSETv
Chris Colfer Dishes on Glee Project Finale and Sarah Jessica Parker! Plus, an Exclusive Sneak Peek – How do you feel being chosen as a mentor and for such an important episode? “I was so honored and um, what’s another word for honored? [Laughs.] I think I was honored and surprised that they chose me to do the finale. It’s so funny because all the contestants are either my age or older than me, so I really told myself when I go in there I’m not going to try to give them any advice because I’m sure the last thing they want to hear is advice from someone younger or their age. I’m just going to go in and tell them to do their own thing and figure it out along their way in their own careers. And I tell you, I got there and I wouldn’t shut up! [Laughs.] I did the absolute opposite of what I told myself I was going to do.” – Read more at E News
X Factor UK Courting the WGWG? – Amid a big number of slightly older performers, the show has redrawn the age lines for its traditional “Overs” category. Instead of people 25 and older, the age limit for that group this year 28-plus. “This year, the level of talent has been amazing,” Barlow said in a statement. “In particular, there was an overwhelming amount of amazing singers in the “Overs” category, so we have raised the age limit of that category to spread the talent around.” Some observers are hoping for a winner from this category this year. Also, expect to see some people with guitar and song writing skills on the U.K. show. “We are also letting acts perform original music, and they can play guitar too, which is really exciting and has brought different talent to this year’s series,” Sidaway said. (Hmmmmm) – The Hollywood Reporter
