Today’s Idol Appearances:
- Crystal Bowersox performs at the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Day concert in Washington DC
- Taylor Hicks appears on the Wendy Williams show. (repeat)
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The Top 13 performance show will be taped tonight at the CBS studios in Los Angeles, for broadcast on Wednesday night. Stay tuned for song spoilers!
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Adam Lambert will premiere his new mix of “Aftermath” on the Ryan Seacrest KIIS Radio show tomorrow morning. You can listen live HERE.
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Jordin Sparks is shooting a music video for the song “The World I Knew” for the new Disney movie African Cats. (Via @Katie_Krause)
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Anoop Desai to sing National Anthem on March 16 at Golden State Warriors Bollywood Night (vs. Mavericks). More information HERE.
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Nigel Lythgoe tweets, “It’s been a tough day trying to get the sound right. With a mix of live band, Jimmy Iovine’s amazing producer’s tracks and live vocals.”
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More Headlines after the JUMP…
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David Cook Video for Runway Magazine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfR7iqk4BoU
Via CougarsLoveCook
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’Idol’s’ Chris Medina’s recording dreams come true
AP: Are fans stopping you on the street?
Medina: Yes, I have been recognized a lot. We just discussed this _ when I have my hair back I don’t really get stopped. But when I have my hair down I get stopped quite a bit. I still don’t consider myself famous .unless I have my own magazine and until I walk into a bar and people’s eyes open real wide and they pop with positivity.
AP: How does Juliana feel about being famous?
Medina: She loves it and you know, I can understand why. I can see why she loves it so much, you know, strangers walking up to her and giving her words of encouragement going, “You’re going to do this. You’re going to get better. I pray for you and you inspire me.” It makes her try harder. It makes her want it, you know. I’m glad that this all turned out the way it did.
Read more at KAAL
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It’s time for ‘American Idol’ judges to get mean
“American Idol” has its 13 finalists, who now will be whittled down one by one until the champion is crowned in May. A trio of judges are supposed to help the viewers make that decision, and with two newcomers arriving and the legendary Simon Cowell departing, they’ll be under as much scrutiny as the singers.
Read more at MSNBC
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New band leader blames contestants for sound – Idol May Be Pre-Taped Next week
New musical director Ray Chew told TV Guide, “What happens, especially during a live show, is that a lot of the contestants don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to mike technique. And so they will change the level themselves. But we will make sure that we pay attention to that, because we want to make sure that America can hear them. I’m gonna go in and make sure they turn those vocals up.”
Also, according to TV Guide, Idol may be pre-taped next week also.
Read more at Reality Blurred
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The David Archuleta/Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert CD/DVD will be released on August 23, according to ArchuletaFanScene.
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Paul McDonald’s ‘American Idol’ Rhinestone Suit Cost $4, 500!
The showy rhinestone suit that Paul McDonald wore for American Idol’s top 24, and again on Thursday night when he was put through to the top 13, cost the once struggling musician a whopping $4, 500! “It broke my bank, ” he tells THR’s Idol Worship. “But it was an investment, like a guitar.”
Inspired by an original Nudie suit worn by country-rock troubadour Gram Parsons in 1969, when after a stint with the Byrds, he joined the Flying Burrito Bros. (future influencers of Wilco, Ryan Adams and the entire alt-country genre), McDonald’s homage was created by Manuel Cuevas Jr., whose father, Manuel Cuevas, apprenticed under Nudie Cohn, who designed similar pieces for the likes of Elvis Presley and George Jones.
As for the hefty price tag, McDonald says he paid for it the old fashioned way: He saved. Of course, now that he’s on Idol, he can afford such extravagances without feeling so guilty. Not only does he pocket as much as $2800 a week in fees just for performing on network television, but the album he recorded with his former band The Grand Magnolias, recently shot up to No. 3 on the iTunes rock chart.
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
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Karen Rodriguez tweeted, “@SLangoneAI10 is cooking chicken tenders for everyone! Ain’t that sweet! He’s a keeper ladies!” Plus, Karen made some sweet tea for Scotty, who had been missing his Southern food!
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Interview: Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part One
I find that it’s hard to ignore talent. The main reason I continue to watch American Idol after all these years is to see what each season’s crop of talent brings to the table. This season we were introduced to 23-year-old Tim Halperin, a singer-songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas. After making it through to Hollywood Week, Halperin moved on to the Vegas round where he had a stellar, standout performance, which helped take him through to the Top 24.
After falling short of making the Top 13 this past week, Halperin headed home to Omaha, Nebraska to be with his family. He graciously took the time to chat with me over the phone this weekend about his American Idol experience.
Read more at Blog Critics
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Halperin’s next step is releasing a new CD
When Tim Halperin walked off the stage Thursday night, the “American Idol” machine was already at work, getting ready to send him home.
After months of auditions and performances and flying back and forth between Fort Worth and Los Angeles — Tim’s “Idol” adventure was over.
“Where are you flying to?” someone with the show asked him.
“Can I go to Omaha?” Tim asked. “I was like a little puppy dog. I wanted to come home.”
Read more at Omaha.com
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‘American Idol’: Scott McCreery Promises He Can Do More Than Country
t’s hard to imagine this deep-voiced singer belting out anything but country music, but “American Idol’s” top 13 finalist Scott McCreery says he’s got more up his sleeve than we’d expect.
“People don’t know, but my first couple auditions that were preliminary before the judges, I sang Frank Sinatra and John Mayer. I do different stuff and I’m in a classically trained choir in school, ” McCreery told us at a recent “American Idol” top 13 event.
Read more at Fancast
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Ousted ‘Idol’ Chris Medina gets $45K van free for injured fiancee
Oak Forest’s Chris Medina may have been booted from “American Idol, ” but his newfound celebrity continues to come to the aid of his brain-injured fiancée — this time in the form of a new wheelchair-friendly van.
While Medina did not make the final cut, judge Jennifer Lopez was so moved by his story that she cried about having to let him go on the Feb. 23 episode. In October 2009, Medina’s fiancée, Juliana Ramos, suffered a traumatic brain injury when her car hydroplaned on a wet road and slammed into a pole.
Read more at Chicago Sun Times
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CRYSTAL BOWERSOX ON ALBUM, IDOL AND SXSW
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You’ll definitely get another Vogue cover looking like that! Now slimline Jennifer Hudson really is a Dreamgirl
The first time she appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine four years ago, Jennifer Hudson looked very different.
But after losing 80 pounds and looking dazzling in a blue dress last night, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the singer landed another cover.
The Oscar winner, 29, looked stunning as she joined U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour at a party in honour of designer Michael Kors in Paris.
Read more at the Daily Mail
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Jennifer Hudson: My Son Charmed Sandra Bullock!
“He’s such a little entertainer, ” the Oscar and Grammy winner tells me of 19-month-old David Jr. “Everywhere he goes, he charms everybody.”
Including a fellow Oscar winner…
Hudson and David met Sandra Bullock at rehearsals for this year’s Oscars. “She and my son became the biggest buddies, so they hung out the entire time, ” Hudson gushed. “When I came back into the room, Sandra’s like, ‘Oh my god, he kissed me. And he was kissing my hand!’ ”
Read more at EOnline
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‘American Idol’ judge Jennifer Lopez’s new single ‘On the Floor’ struggled to get radio airtime
Jennifer Lopez’s new single almost landed “On the Floor” at many radio stations, without any airtime.
The luscious Latina has her first Billboard top 10 hit in eight years with the controversial track, but a music-industry insider says J.Lo’s new label, Island Def Jam, initially had a tough time convincing stations to play it.
At New York’s Z100, for instance, the source says a programmer was reluctant to take a chance on the single because of Lopez’s “down period” and wanted the “American Idol” judge’s song to “prove itself” on the charts to earn airtime.
Read more at the New York Daily News
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WORLD VIDEO PREMIERE ON AMERICAN IDOL SETS 4-YEAR RATINGS RECORD FOR ANY TV NETWORK
LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — International icon Jennifer Lopez has stormed the music charts, online video viewing channels, dance clubs around the globe, the world radio airwaves and has become the television superstar of 2011.
With the convergence of two major beauty endorsement agreements launched this year (Venus / Gillette Goddess and L’Oreal campaigns), a world video premiere on the weekly #1 most watched TV series (FOX’s “American Idol”) and global radio and dance club play of the new single, “On The Floor” lands at #1 on iTunes single download chart and the video surpasses a staggering 13 million views on YouTube. The single is the “Hot Shot Debut” on Billboard’s Hot 100 at # 9 and jumps to # 7 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart.
Read more at PR Newswire
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‘Glee’ Scores Gwyneth Paltrow Beyond ‘Sexy’ Episode
Gwynnie’s baaack! And we don’t mean just for this week’s much-talked about “Sexy” episode.
Yep, according to Matthew Morrison, aka Will Schuester, substitute teacher Holly Holliday will be back for at least one more episode after the one where she belts out Prince’s “Kiss” and Joan Jett’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me?”
Read more at Fancast
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X FACTOR bosses launched a probe amid fears GARY GLITTER yesterday joined queuing wannabes – and got an audition.
The loathed pop paedo was said to have mingled with thousands who flocked to London’s O2 arena.
Dozens standing near a man sporting a Glitter-like goatee swore it was him.
“I Googled pictures of him on my Blackberry phone – and saw a couple of moles on his cheekbone, and a line of scarring on the right side of his face.
“When I tried to take his picture he kept turning away.”
Read more at The Sun
