We ask David Cook about touring, recording and coming home
This weekend Cook, a Blue Springs native and this year …Idol champ, returns to his hometown for two shows in the American Idols Live tour, which features performances from this year top 10 contestants. From the road recently, Cook spoke to The Star about the homecoming and the record he has been making during the tour.
Have you been looking ahead to these Sprint Center shows?
From the second I saw the schedule. To be able to come home and have that extra day is huge. Im definitely looking forward to it. To be able to sit down with my family and breathe for a second will be nice.
More Idol Headlines After the JUMP…
American Idol’s Jason Castro: Lost in Oklahoma City
It’s true. My friend, Alli Vaughan, works in downtown Oklahoma City where the American Idols Live! Tour will be tearing up the town tonight. Her co-worker spotted a lost, familiar dreadlocked fellow wandering the streets and exclaimed: “Hey! Jason Castro from American Idol! Are you lost?” Turns out he was, and she escorted him to his destination: Hallmark.
Simon on New Judge: We Had a Pajama Party
Newly selected American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi may have met America most famous judges a few days ago but her colleagues say she is already part of the family.
…It already a big happy family, Abdul said Tuesday at the American Idol season 8 auditions held in New York. …We are so happy to have her.
In fact, DioGuardi has already had quality bonding time with all three judges, says Simon Cowell. …We had a picnic last night. I wore jammies and the girls wore negligees and we kind of broke the ice, Cowell joked. …We had cake until two in the morning.
Is Denver big enough for Sean Penn and Obama Girl?
Chris Daughtry performed with his band at a club called The Church. Daughtry said he’d spoken with Jon Bon Jovi a few days earlier and the rocker hadn’t mentioned a rumored Thursday pre-Obama speech gig (Bruce Springsteen is supposed to play afterward).
OK! Interview: Kellie Pickler
American Idol alum Kellie Pickler absolutely needs her hair and makeup people, but not because she’s a spoiled, demanding diva ‘ because she can’t do it herself.
“Well, I have a team of highly-trained professionals that get me ready because I cant do it on my own, ” she tells OK!. “When Im out on tour, I usually just do it myself but for TV and photo shoots I usually have people that help get me ready because it so stressful anyways.”
Street closing Friday for Downtown Country tribute
Grand Avenue between Goingsnake and the University Center on the campus of Northeastern State University will close at 3 p.m. Friday to prepare for a special Centennial Countdown tribute to Carrie Underwood, featuring NSU Downtown Country.
Downtown Country will perform at 6 p.m. on Beta Field, followed by a presentation to Underwood by NSU President Dr. Don Betz. Underwood, a 2006 graduate, spent two summers with Downtown Country before being named 2005 American Idol.
Chesney, Womack, many others honor Row’s First Family
Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, Ronnie Milsap, Gretchen Wilson, Kellie Pickler and Mandy Barnett were among those who gathered Tuesday to honor the Bradley Family, known as the First Family of Music Row.
Brenda Lee hosted the fifth annual Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award dinner at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel honoring the Bradleys ‘ Owen, the Country Music Hall of Fame producer and label chief who died in 1998; his brother Harold, the Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist and musicians’ union president; Patsy, Owen’s daughter and a retired BMI executive; Jerry, Owen’s son and a retired label and publishing executive; and Connie, Jerry’s wife and an ASCAP senior vice president.
From start to finish, Daughtry show a genuine crowd-pleaser
Maybe it was that he motivated the crowd to mosh, or that he jumped up onto the drummer’s stage to bang the cymbals, or that he threw sweaty rags into the crowd, but Daughtry seemed completely authentic Wednesday night at the Allentown Fair.
Right. ” American Idol” finalist Chris Daughtry’s band, Daughtry, authentic. Of course, as Chris pointed out, it isn’t all about him (and no doubt he’s tired of the ”Idol” fact aaaalways being mentioned).
The five-member Daughtry band is (most of the time) four guitarists and a drummer, and they’re more rock stars first, a popular mainstream band second. And they treated a rowdy crowd of 8, 420 — not far from sold-out — to a high-energy performance in which each performer seemed genuinely excited to be on stage.
WE’RE LOVE RIVALS
AMERICAN Idol Jordin Sparks has revealed she struck up a close bond with X Factor champ Leona Lewis.
That despite the fact that the Brit star stopped her from getting a No 1.
Now Jordin ‘ whose duet with 19-year-old Chris Brown, No Air, has been in the US charts since its release in February ‘ wants to capitalise on her UK success by hooking up with 23-year-old Leona.
FOR CHRISTIAN PERFORMER AND FORMER ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ CONTESTANT CHRIS SLIGH, THE LONG ROAD TO FAME WAS ALL PART OF A GREATER PLAN ‘IDOL’ SLIGH NOT FALSE IN HIS FAITH
Former “American Idol” finalist Chris Sligh says it is always fun when he gets a chance to do a show for teenagers.
The contemporary Christian musician will be entertaining in the Fredericksburg area when he performs at Fredericksburg Christian High tomorrow in a back-to-school concert.
“Kids are a huge part of where my music connects, ” Sligh, 30, said recently in a phone interview.
“It’s always nice to do a show specifically for the teenagers.”
His hit “Empty Me” was written about his “Idol” experience. It talks about how a little bit of spotlight can be seductive enough to draw someone away from his faith.
Dancing With the Stars’: Early read on Season 7
This time around, we’ve got not one, but two Olympic gold medalists — Misty May-Treanor and Maurice Greene — but neither beach volleyball nor track would seem to present as big an advantage as ice skating did for Kristi Yamaguchi, the Season 6 winner. That said, of course, Olympians certainly know how to be disciplined in their training and how to handle adversity. And May-Treanor signaled a willingness to do absolutely anything when she presented her bikini-clad bottom for the president to slap. (He declined.)
In the category of athletes, there’s also Super Bowl champion Warren Sapp. Will he do as well as fellow NFL star Jason Taylor did last season? And what matters more, athleticism or deep experience with the reality genre, as represented in chef Rocco DiSpirito?
‘America’s Got Talent’: Zooper job, guys.
Welcome back to America’s Got Talent with elimination/performance night. I’m not entirely sure how this is going to work, but I’m excited nonetheless. I hope my favorite acts from last night stick around, but I didn’t cast any votes so I guess I can’t be too mad if they are sent home. As long as Ronny B, Britney Spears and the DC Cowboys are all eliminated, I’ll be reasonably okay with any combo of five out of the remaining eight acts.
America’s Got Talent: Episode 310
Disappointment. That’s the right word to sum up how I felt after watching this two-hour episode of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. The performances were so not up to standards that it was difficult to decide which five acts should move on. After reading a comment written by TV Squad visitor Mitch, I also paid attention to the editing and directing of the live show and I must say that it also was disappointing. The silver lining? Viewers used common sense when voting for Episode 3.09’s performances.
NBC renews ‘America’s Got Talent’
NBC has renewed “America’s Got Talent” for a fourth season.
“The production team has stepped up their game creatively as proven by the strong ratings, ” said NBC’s president of alternative programming Craig Plestis. “This is the only show where truly unique and talented performers can achieve their ultimate dream.”
“Got Talent” is the most-watched show of the summer and ranked third among programs in the adults 18 to 49 demographic. The series took a break during NBC’s presentation of the Olympics, then resumed Tuesday at 8 p.m. and easily led the night.
Canadian Idol: Goodbye Earl
For the record, Earl Stevenson did not pull a Jacob Hoggard. Or so he says.
Earl left many Canadian Idol viewers scratching their heads after his performances on Monday’s show, both of which were a steep departure from the Earl of a week ago who sang With A Little Help From My Friends. It left a lot of people wondering if he purposely did a bad job to get voted off, similar to Hoggard’s tactics in the second season of Idol, where he posted a message on his Web site asking people not to vote for him (looks like it worked out alright for him).
When asked if he purposely performed poorly Monday night, Earl is silent on the other end of the phone for a second. It’s almost as if he wasn’t expecting that question to come, even though judge Jake Gold wondered if Earl still wanted to be on Idol after his second performance.
“No I was just kind of, you know, I was kind of, I don’t know, ” he starts, before the answer comes to him. “You’re as scared to win as you are to lose in a way, too. There’s a lot of things that come with winning, too. So my intention wasn’t to throw anything, no.”
