American Idol News

Jordin Sparks is set to sing during the “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular” show in New York, NBC said Monday.

Also slated to perform at the event, which is to be televised on NBC, are Kenny Chesney, Natasha Bedingfield and Katharine McPhee.

Natalie Morales, NBC’s “Today” national correspondent, and Tiki Barber, “Today” correspondent and “Football Night in America” studio analyst, are to preside over the Independence Day festivities.

“Macy’s 2008 Fourth of July Fireworks will kick off a season of special events nationwide celebrating Macy’s 150th Birthday. The nation’s biggest fireworks show begins with a resounding musical fanfare accompanied by a dazzling pyrotechnic salute to the world’s largest store,” Robin Hall, Macy’s Fireworks executive producer, said in a statement. “Macy’s Fireworks is always rated the No. 1 show in America by the American Pyrotechnic Association, and we’re convinced the 2008 show will be no exception.”

Nigel Lythgoe won’t question David Cook’s vocal prowess but thinks the American Idol seventh-season champ could use a personality pick-me-up when performing.

“He can certainly sing, and I’d like to see a bit more personality when he’s singing,” the Idol executive producer told OK! Weekly in a Wednesday report.

If the 25-year-old winner does find that charisma, Lythgoe said he might someday rival the success of former Idol fifth-season finalist Christ Daughtry.

“[Cook could be] enormous for a long time,” Lythgoe told OK!.

Lythgoe added Cook wasn’t the only seventh-season finalist who could use a boost of character.

“That was the only thing that I think our finalists lacked a little bit this year, was more charisma,” Lythgoe told OK!.

Idol finalists weren’t the only people Lythgoe apparently has a problem with, as he also took aim at President George W. Bush.

Lythgoe claims Bush’s “people” insisted the President participate in Idol Gives Back for the second year in a row despite producers being disappointed at Bush’s lack of effort in fighting poverty.

“The President is always saying ‘I want to be on [Idol Gives Back],’” Lythgoe told OK!. “We didn’t ask the President this year to say anything because we are all a bit embarrassed about him, and the office insisted that, because the [primary] candidates were on it, the President would like to come on and say ‘Thank you.’”

Lythgoe said he plans on continuing to help those in need through his capacity as a So You Think You Can dance judge and producer by having audience memebers donate canned goods before entering.

“So if you want a ticket for So You Think You Can Dance, all you have to do is bring a can of fruit or vegetables or something,” he told OK!. “And I’ll come and collect it each week and just take it away.”

“American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta signed with 19 Recordings/Jive Records and is expected to cut his debut album later this year, the U.S. label said.

Archuleta, 17, is gearing up for the “American Idol” tour, which kicks off July 1 in Glendale, Ariz.

“Signing a record contract with 19 Recordings/Jive Records is truly a dream come true,” Archuleta said in a statement. “Being a fan of ‘American Idol’ since season one and admiring the alumni, I am honored and humbled to be a part of that group. I’m really excited to start working on everything.”

Simon Fuller, creator of the popular singing competition series and chief executive and founder of 19 Entertainment Label Group, added: “It was fascinating to watch David’s journey through ‘Idol.’ He is a genuine pop star, and is a gifted singer who instantly won over a huge audience when he first appeared on the show. Since then, he has dealt with the pressure and the high level of expectation with real fortitude; he’s given us some of the best performances of the season. Without question David Archuleta has a great future ahead of him.”

The former American Idol sixth-season finalist — who was known more for his creative coifs than his actual singing ability — has been tapped to star in a new “Life Comes at You Fast” commercial for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

“I’m thrilled to star in one of Nationwide’s ‘Life Comes at You Fast’ ads, because I really love the campaign,” said Malakar in the company’s announcement. “My experience on American Idol was is a great example of how life really does come at you fast. The ad is a funny take on the serious subject of planning for retirement.”

The commercial will feature the former Idol finalist visiting a monastery in India to seek advice and is told to both work on his hair and arrange a retirement plan.

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“The Life Comes at You Fast concept was created to remind people that they need to think about preparing for tomorrow,” said Steven Schreibman, Nationwide’s vice president of advertising and brand management. “Sanjaya’s ad reminds consumers that they need to be prepared for life to change, because change is inevitable.”

The spot is one of six new Nationwide commercials specifically targeted at the South Asian market.

“The rapidly growing South Asian market is very important to us,” said Tariq Khan, Nationwide’s vice president for market development and diversity. “The creative work in these print ads and TV spots reflect traditions and situations that South Asians can relate to.”

Malakar recently moved to Los Angeles and is currently working on his debut album.

Josiah Leming, a would-be “American Idol” contestant from Tennessee, reportedly has landed a record deal with Warner Bros.

Leming, 19, was living in his car when he auditioned for the singing competition show with an original tune.

Although he didn’t make the cut for the top 24 contestants last season, his MySpace page, which features his music, has since gotten 2 million hits. He also was invited to appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

USA Today said that his most recent success is bittersweet, however.

Leming, who began work on his debut album for Warner Bros. last week, is hoping the CD comes out before his mother Sharon succumbs to terminal cancer.

“It’s a difficult balance between moving forward with my career here in Los Angeles, which makes my mom really happy, and trying to be with her as much as I can,” Leming told USA Today. “I want her to be here when the album comes out.”

With the advance he got for the album, Leming bought a truck for his father, a construction worker who quit his job to care for his wife. Leming also rented a house for a week so his family could enjoy a trip to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the newspaper said.

“American Idol” Love: David Cook Goes Out With Kimberly Caldwell.

David Cook says he’s dating an “American Idol” alum. The newly crowned “Idol” winner said Tuesday on “Live With Regis and Kelly” that he recently had a dinner date with former “Idol” contestant Kimberly Caldwell.

Cook, 25, said he met Caldwell through the show. When asked if he had a good time, Cook replied: “I did. We’ll probably hang out again. So we’ll see.”

Caldwell, 26, appeared on the second season of the top-rated Fox singing competition.

Cook, from Blue Springs, Mo., defeated 17-year-old David Archuleta last week in a landslide victory. The rocker became the heartthrob of the seventh season around the time he restyled his hair and displayed more confidence onstage.

David Cook never thought he’d make it past his impromptu American Idol audition last summer, never mind defeat David Archuleta to take home the seventh-season title.

“I just figured I’d go in, sing a song and they’d say I wasn’t what they were looking for. I’d go back to Tulsa to work on my record some more,” Cook told reporters during a Friday conference call. “Apparently, somebody had another plan.”

Apparently indeed. The 25-year-old Blue Spings, MO native won Idol’s seventh-season after “97 and a half million” home viewer votes were cast immediately following Tuesday night’s live performance broadcast that saw Archuleta and Cook each sing three songs.

READ THE FULLARTICLE @ Reality TV World >>>>>

While Simon Cowell thought David Archuleta scored a “knockout” over David Cook after American Idol’s final seventh-season performance episode on Tuesday night, Archuleta still felt Cook was more worthy of the title.

“I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that he deserves to be the American Idol,” Archuleta told reporters during a Friday conference call. “My main priority wasn’t to win the competition. It was just to do my best, because you can suck and people can vote enough for you to win. That wouldn’t feel very good.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE @ Reality TV World >>>>>

David Cook was fully expecting David Archuleta to be crowned American Idol’s seventh-season winner.

“I thought that [Archuleta] did amazing [Tuesday] night,” Cook told Access Hollywood following last night’s live Idol finale. “I had my mind made up that I was taking second. I had it in my head. ‘Alright, they’re going to say his name, I’m just going to make sure that I congratulate him properly.’”

However it was Cook who would be receiving the congratulations, as the 25-year-old Tulsa, OK resident became Idol’s seventh-season champ during last night’s live two-hour finale.

“When they said my name, I heard Archuleta, so I turned, then it processed as I was turning,” Cook told Access Hollywood about the moment when host Ryan Seacrest revealed him to be the seventh-season victor.

Cook defeated Archuleta, a 17-year-old from Murray, UT, after Seacrest said “97 and a half million” home viewer votes were cast immediately following Tuesday night’s live performance broadcast that saw both finalists each sing three songs. Cook bested Archuleta by a 56% to 44% home viewer voting margin, or roughly 12 million votes.

“I just told [Archuleta] that I loved him,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “I’ve definitely got big brother syndrome with him. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of what he was able to do — from start to finish. He was the front runner from the get go. So to be able to carry that torch all the way through, my hats off to him. I couldn’t have done it.”

While Cook and Archuleta were largely considered to be equals during the more recent weeks of the competition, judge Simon Cowell awarded all three rounds of Tuesday night’s performance episode to Archuleta and said the teenager scored a “knockout” over Cook.

“I honestly thought that he had been more consistent,” Cook told Access Hollywood about Archuleta. “For a 17-year-old kid, never mind, for a performer he’s amazing. And it was an honor just to share the stage with him. I kept catching myself almost crying tonight through out the whole process because it was just like, ‘What am I doing here?’ But you know, it was a trip, it was heavy.”

Cook found himself auditioning for Idol’s seventh season last summer in Omaha, initially attending the open casting call to instead support his brother.

“This is the last thing I could have anticipated when I was pushed into auditioning by brother Andrew,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “So to be here now, it’s such a trip.”

While his Idol experience may be in the books, the residual affect of winning the show has only just begun.

“I haven’t celebrated in four months,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “I’m gonna do all this fantastic press, and then I’m going to go hang out with my friends and family, and hopefully let it sink in.”

The upset “American Idol” victory by rock singer David Cook drew nearly 32 million U.S. television viewers Wednesday night, up 3 percent from last year’s finale, Nielsen Media Research reported Thursday.

The two-hour broadcast on News Corp’s Fox network marked the second-most-watched episode of the smash hit talent contest this season, behind only the 33 million-plus viewers who tuned in for the debut of the show’s seventh installment in January.

The Nielsens rally came after weeks of record low ratings. And “American Idol” finished its latest run down year-to-year for the season as a whole in both overall average audience size and in ratings for viewers aged 18 to 49, the group most prized by advertisers.

It was the second straight year of season-to-season declines though the finale’s ratings could be adjusted when the final Nielsen data comes in.

“Idol,” which generally airs twice weekly, averaged about 28.1 million viewers per broadcast for the current season, compared with 30.8 million at the height of show’s popularity in 2006. But it remains by the far the most watched show on U.S. television.

The unexpected triumph of Cook, 25, who was tending bar and playing in a band before he auditioned for the singing competition, marked one of the more surprising outcomes of the series.

His rival, 17-year-old David Archuleta, went from being the contestant widely dubbed “The Chosen One” to runner-up after a record 97.5 million votes were cast by fans of the show on Tuesday night, final performance episode.

The show is produced by 19 Entertainment, a unit of CKX Inc , and by FremantleMedia, a division of British-based RTL Group., which is controlled by media giant Bertelsmann AG . (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: Reuters North American News Service