American Idol News

posted by AINews on Apr 30

No No, get your mind out of the gutter. The Idol alum and mega country star simply teamed up with the superstar rapper for a Vitamen Water commercial.

Enjoy the pictures of Carrie and 50 (click for larger view).

posted by Administrator on Apr 30

Paula Abdul must be hearing double.

On a night when “American Idol” switched up the judges’ format by making them hold their appraisals until every contestant had a turn, Abdul offered feedback Tuesday for two songs by Jason Castro _ except that he’d only sung one.

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Unlike the usual format, in which each “Idol” performance is judged immediately, Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell were made to take notes, then offer individual critiques in rapid succession at the end of each round. The reason, Seacrest explained, was because “this show is so tight.”

So after each of the final five contestants sang one Neil Diamond song, Jackson zipped through his appraisals, offering a few terse words for each before kicking it to a visibly flustered Abdul.

“Oh gosh, we’ve never had to write these things down … fast enough,” she began, shuffling through her notecards. “Jason, first song, I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear, um … .”

And that’s where it started going off the rails.

“The second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn’t _ it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty.”

Indeed.

All six people on stage, including Seacrest, stared blankly (except Syesha Mercado, who wore the furrowed brow of mystification).

“The two songs,” she continued, “made me feel like you’re not fighting hard enough to get into the top four.”

After a smattering of nervous crowd laughter, Jackson finally broke the tension.

“That was just on the first song,” he said sheepishly, pointing up to Castro. “Just on the first one.”

Simon Cowell closed his eyes and shook his head, and began to guffaw as Abdul’s confusion mounted.

“Oh my god, I thought you _ I thought you sang twice!” she said.

She explained that she got confused by looking ahead at the notes for David Cook.

At that point Seacrest, who makes his money by smoothing over situations just such as these, pointed to Abdul, saying: “You’re seeing the future, baby!” before cutting her off and throwing to Cowell.

Even Cowell gathered himself to help patch up the moment, patting Abdul on the shoulder and asking, as if to speed things along, “Paula, who was your favorite?”

Her reply: Cook (the same contestant whose performance she supposedly noted as having left her “empty”).

Pressed for time, Cowell then put an end to the awkward-fest by bursting into his own rapid-fire valuation: “Jason, forgettable; David Cook, just above average; Brooke (White) a nightmare; David Archuleta, I thought it was amateurish; and Syesha, I thought it was old-fashioned.

“So guys … I want to see the performance of a lifetime coming up,” he said, as if to ensure absolute clarity, “the second time around.”

Abdul told “Entertainment Tonight” after the show that she was thrown for a loop when producers apprised the judges of the change “in the dark” at the last minute.

“This was officially the strangest show we’ve ever done,” Cowell said at the conclusion of the telecast, “but I like that. It’s kind of a bit chaotic tonight.”

AP | JOSH L. DICKEY

posted by Administrator on Apr 30

Carly Simon has more than a passing interest in this season’s “American Idol” and leaves no mystery about who’s her favorite remaining finalist _ Brooke White.

Simon was tipped to turn on the television at her home in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., the night White won over the judges by performing her hit song “You’re So Vain” during 1970s theme week.

“I thought, `Oh my God, this girl is so talented and she sings the song so much better than I ever did or ever could,’” said Simon, interviewed during a rehearsal break with her band at a Manhattan studio. “I was so flattered that she chose the song and … more than impressed. I think she should win.”

Simon was preparing for a showcase performance of songs from her new bossa-nova flavored album, “This Kind of Love,” her first album of original new songs in eight years, which was released Tuesday.

The 62-year-old singer confesses that when she watches “Idol” her motherly instincts take over and she just wants to protect the young singers from what she sees as the show’s cruelest part _ and it’s not the comments by judge Simon Cowell whom she likes.

“One thing I don’t like about the show is that it turns truly sadistic when the person is voted off and they have to sing while they’re crying,” Simon said. “I just want to go up …. and carry them off and say, `It’s OK, sweetheart, come with me.’ … I don’t know how the panel can stand that cruelty. … Doesn’t that seem like being thrown to the lions?”

With her legendary stage fright, Simon admits she couldn’t have gone far on “Idol” if she had to perform live before a TV audience in the tens of millions. And she doubts that the other noted singer-songwriters of her generation _ Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and ex-husband James Taylor _ could have gone far because they all had distinctive but untrained voices.

posted by Administrator on Apr 29

Phil Stacey, “Phil Stacey” (Lyric Street): As a season seven finalist on “American Idol,” Phil Stacey stood out for his upbeat personality and openly religious style. His debut as a country music singer follows suit: His songs are filled with breezy pop hooks and positive themes that sometimes cross into spiritual messages.

His faith come natural to him: the Kentucky-born singer’s father, and both grandfathers, preached in Christian churches. Married since 1998, the sunny love songs from his self-titled debut seem similarly heartfelt.

Amid all the paeans to devotion — including the album’s first hit, “If You Didn’t Love Me” — there are some surprises. The opening “It’s Who You Know,” with its familiar religious message about how material success can’t buy eternal life, has a psychedelic edge that would fit on a Cheap Trick album. Stacey also handles the funky “Find You” and the dreamy “You Are Mine” with an easy, earthy touch.

The album does stumble a bit toward the end. Stacey sounds unconvincing on the lost-love moaner, “Still Going Through,” and can’t find the center of the clumsily written closing spiritual, “Identity.” By time he gets to those, however, he’s already proven that he’s continuing to take advantage of every good break he gets.

CHECK THIS OUT: While most of the album thrives on energy, Stacey shows the breadth of his potential by how persuasively he handles the stripped down “Be Good to Each Other,” a beautifully simple commentary written by the album’s producer, Wayne Kirkpatrick.

posted by Administrator on Apr 28

Carly Smithson said she wasn’t the only seventh-season finalist thinking Wednesday night would be the end of his or her American Idol journey.

“I think at this stage — we’re in the Top 6, and I feel that everybody was kind of thinking that they were going to go home. Not one person feels safe anymore,” she told reporters during a Thursday conference call. “We’re all just so grateful for the experience. I know I feel like American Idol has given me such a gift, such a platform to be able to launch myself off of. And no more theme songs.”

While Smithson still has to deal with theme songs since she’ll be part of this summer’s annual Idol tour, the 24-year-old from San Diego, CA was eliminated from the show’s seventh season after “over 38 million” home viewer votes were cast immediately following Tuesday night’s live performance broadcast that saw the Top 6 finalists sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs.

Read the FULL ARTICLE @ RealityTVWorld.com

posted by Administrator on Apr 25

Multiple award-winning country artist Carrie Underwood is preparing for her induction into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

The former “American Idol” and reigning ACM and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year will receive one of country music’s highest honors on May 10. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Great American Country, or GAC, the cable TV network announced Thursday.

Prior to the induction ceremony, GAC will premiere its documentary, “Road to the Opry: Carrie Underwood.”

posted by Administrator on Apr 24

Carly Smithson lost another chance to be a superstar.

Smithson, the 24-year-old Irish bartender from San Diego, was the latest cast-off on “American Idol” as the field was narrowed to five finalists during Wednesday’s results show.

Smithson had won rave reviews from judges — but apparently not votes from viewers — after performing “Superstar” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Tuesday’s Andrew Lloyd Webber-themed performance show.

Judge Randy Jackson told host Ryan Seacrest: “It must be a bit of a popularity week in the vote.”

Controversy had swirled around Smithson at the start of the seventh “Idol” season because of her previous experience in the music industry. In 2001, MCA Records released Smithson’s debut “Ultimate High,” which flopped on the charts.

Syesha Mercado, who sang “One Rock ‘n’ Roll Too Many” from “Starlight Express,” joined Smith in the bottom two on Wednesday’s results show.
Brooke White was visibly shocked she wasn’t one of the show’s lowest vote-getters.

White caused a stir Tuesday when she stopped singing a few seconds into “You Must Love Me” from “Evita” and asked “Idol” music director Ricky Minor to start over, a first for the Fox singing competition. Jackson and Simon Cowell praised White’s decision to reboot, but Paula Abdul was upset about the do-over.

“You must never start and stop,” Abdul told White.

During the results show, Seacrest announced the top 10 finalists will visit 49 cities during the next “Idol” summer tour.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush also appeared in a taped message to announce the “Idol Gives Back” charity event had raised more than $65 million for underprivileged children.

posted by Administrator on Apr 23

The vocal ailment that has silenced “American Idol” champion Jordin Sparks will take discipline to overcome, a New York doctor says.

Sparks, 18, dropped off the Alicia Keyes tour due to what a spokesman at 19 Recordings/Jive Records described as acute vocal cord hemorrhaging.

“Sparks has been going nonstop over the past two years, and now she’s going through the normal course of learning how to manage and care for her voice,” the spokesman told Tuesday’s New York Post.

The same ailment nearly ended Frank Sinatra’s career in 1950s, the newspaper noted.

New York vocal cord specialist Dr. Jeffrey Libin said silence is a “non-negotiable” for the young singer.

“You have to cancel (concerts), I don’t care if you’re singing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden,” Libin told the Post. “If you have vocal cord hemorrhaging and it’s caught early, the great majority will resolve completely.”

posted by Administrator on Apr 23

“American Idol” hopeful David Archuleta is going to miss his high school prom in Murray, Utah, TMZ.com reports.

In an exclusive report Tuesday, the Web site and TV show said “American Idol” producers refused the youngest contestant’s request to break the rules to attend his prom.

Competitors remaining on the FOX TV talent show are not allowed to leave their Los Angeles compound, TMZ.com noted.

Competitor Brooke White missed her sister’s wedding earlier this month because of the show’s strict rules.

posted by Administrator on Apr 22

By DARLA ATLAS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

ROCKWALL – The crowd that gathers on most Tuesday nights at the new Hilton Hotel in Rockwall is on a mission.

Sure, they’re surrounded by balloons, large TV screens and much laughter, but this is serious business. The 350 or so people are there to watch local Jason Castro perform on American Idol – and then to get him through to the next round.

“Everybody gets on their phones like crazy at the end of the show,” says Jennifer Wasserman, the hotel’s sales and marketing director. “There are people who have two phones going at once.”

Rockwall has become the center of Castromania as its native son has made it into the final six on America’s most-watched television show, which airs tonight at 7 and Wednesday night at 8 on Fox (Channel 4). And with his puppy-dog eyes, distinctive dreadlocks and laid-back demeanor, there are high hopes that he could become North Texas’ second American Idol champion, following in the footsteps of Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson of Burleson.

Rockwall Mayor Bill Cecil may not be double-dialing himself, but he’s definitely become a fan. Ms. Wasserman says he stopped by a recent watching party because he happened to be in the hotel.

“He watched the show, and at the end it was so cute – he had a little Jason Castro shirt on,” she says. Since then, the city has put up a large banner at a major intersection, and the Chamber of Commerce has begun putting up its own posters. Carol McMillan, who helps organize the watch parties, says the singer has earned his hometown support “just because of the kind of person he is. There are enough people in the area that know him and know the family, and they all say positive, good things.”

READ the Full ARTICLE @ DallasNews.com