And She Is Telling You She Is Just Getting Started
It been nearly five years since Ms. Hudson, 27, emerged as a sweet-natured, big-belting …American Idol contestant from Chicago. She made it to seventh place, and when she won an Academy Award last year as best supporting actress in …Dreamgirls, she became a symbol of second chances. On Tuesday she gets a chance at yet another kind of fame with her debut album, …Jennifer Hudson (Arista), something she and her fans have had to be especially patient about.
…Everybody like, ‹Oh, weve been waiting for this album forever, Ms. Hudson said in a Manhattan recording studio in July, where she was doing a photo shoot. …But no one has waited longer than me. Ive been waiting since I was 7 years old.
Kellie Pickler’s new album reveals growing pains
It’s been two years since Kellie Pickler released her debut album, Small Town Girl, to country music fans. And in that time, defiant-yet-vulnerable radio hits like “Red High Heels” and “I Wonder” have ratcheted sales to almost 800, 000 copies.
But today Pickler isn’t the same naive North Carolina girl she was in 2006, when, at 19, she was thrust into the spotlight as a finalist on American Idol. She’s grown up. And, she says, like it or not, many of the songs on her new self-titled sophomore album ‘ due in stores Tuesday ‘ reflect that growth.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Just Asking . . . Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson made her breakthrough in music four years ago as a contestant on “American Idol, ” then went on to become known for her film roles, especially her Oscar-winning turn as Effie in the musical “Dreamgirls.” But when it came to recording her debut album, Ms. Hudson felt she had to introduce herself. “Everybody knows the characters I’ve played, but they don’t know Jennifer Hudson as a person, ” she says. On her self-titled album, out Tuesday, she’s chosen to represent herself with varied styles, from gospel to romantic R&B and the hip-hop rhythms of “Pocketbook, ” in which she threatens to wallop an overeager suitor with her purse. In the coming film “The Secret Life of Bees, ” set in 1960s South Carolina, Ms. Hudson plays a fugitive who finds welcome on a honey farm. She co-stars with Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah.
SEBASTIAN BACH’s Country Single Debut Shipped To Radio – Sep. 27, 2008
Host John Rich tapped rocker Sebastian Bach as the winner of the second season of CMT’s hit series, “Gone Country”, in last night’s (Friday, September 26) season finale. Bach is set to immediately release “Battle With The Bottle” to radio, the song he penned with Nashville songwriters Jeffrey Steele and Vicky McGehee while taping the series. The song is produced by John Rich. The accompanying video, directed by Wayne Isham, is currently available on CMT.com and will debut on CMT on Saturday, September 27
Darius Rucker Has Top Album and Song
The former frontman for Hootie & the Blowfish dramatically asserts his hillbilly creds this week by scoring both the top album and top song on Billboard’s country charts. The album, which debuted at No. 1 with first week sales of more than 60, 000 copies (according to Nielsen SoundScan), is Learn to Live and the song “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.”
Four other albums make their first chart curtsy: the Eli Young Band’s Jet Black & Jealous (at No. 5), Kristy Lee Cook’s Why Wait (No. 8), The Imus Ranch Record by various artists (No. 11) and Eric Durrance’s Angels Fly Away (No. 70).
Carrie Underwood takes the REA
The huge crowd in the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks jumped to its feet Saturday night as country singer Carrie Underwood rose through the second level of the stage to greet her fans.
…What up, North Dakota? she yelled just before she began to belt out her first song of the night, …Flat on the Floor.
A little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll
What an unexpected treat.
Take two voices from two different musical worlds — American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and country legend Reba McEntire — and you’ve got yourself a winning combination of vocal prowess, down-home charm and girl power.
While 27 years — and their choice of musical genres — separate the two artists, the two have more in common than we know.
A beautiful blend – Reba and Kelly make an awesome team
Funny, I thought Kelly Clarkson was a pop singer.
Now there she was sharing the stage with Reba McEntire at Rexall Place last night. There was even a Bounce 91.7 van packed outside the arena at a country concert, right next to the CFCW truck. That was weird.
I admit I haven’t been keeping up with the post-American Idol career of Kelly Clarkson as closely as I should’ve been. Was there a radical change in direction somewhere in there?
Cowell ‘furious’ over ‘X Factor’ leak
Simon Cowell is said to be ‘furious’ after the names of the final 12 X Factor acts were leaked on the internet.
Show producers had hoped to keep the identities of the finalists under wraps until they were officially announced on the ITV1 talent series next weekend.
However, an unofficial fan site for Rachel Hylton, who wowed the judges in her original audition, correctly named all of the contestants earlier this week. The site’s owners were later forced to remove the information after the X Factor legal team intervened.
