Archive for January, 2009

jordin sparks attends the pre-superbowl leather & laces party in tampa 1/30

Jordin Sparks (along with Carrie Underwood) will be featured on the CBS All Access Grammy Special, hosted by Katie Couric, Wednesday, February 4 at 9 pm.

Jordin, with Chris Brown, is nominated for the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammy for her hit single, “No Air”. The Grammys will air on Sunday, February 8 at 8 pm.

This week, Jordin has been busy with Super Bowl activities in Tampa, Florida.

On Tuesday, she co-hosted a charity event with with Roy Yamaguchi at his restaurant to benefit Sparks Charities, Uplift Excellence Founda ­tion, and 1voice (watch some videos HERE).

On Wednesday, she and fellow Season 6 Idol, Chris Richardson performed a concert for her charities at Grace Family Church.

And last night, she attended the Leather & Laces Pre-Superbowl Party and ESPN’s Next Big Weekend Party.

Video after the JUMP…

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The median age of the Idol audience has risen every year–currently it’s 40 years old. In light of the troubling news–the advertisers crave those young eyeballs–the brain trust at Idol have come up with an, uhm, interesting idea to capture the attention of the young ones.

The LA Times’ Richard Rushfield received a press release from the Idol folks:

Loads of Good Clean Fun!

AMERICAN IDOL is cleaning up in the ratings this season and FOX is sending a big thank you to college students across the country with free laundry detergent for loads of good clean fun!   On Tuesday, February 3, college students on select college campuses across the country will receive free AMERICAN IDOL laundry detergent via AMERICAN IDOL street teams.

College students are a big part of AMERICAN IDOLà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success as they make the show a priority time and time again à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ perhaps causing their laundry to suffer!   As if quarter-hungry washing machines and mismatched socks werenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t enough for the starving studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s budget, weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re making things a little bit easier and curing those laundry blues with complimentary AMERICAN IDOL detergent boxes.

Be there as college students receive their free AMERICAN IDOL detergent, and hear what they have to say as they continue to soak up the exciting new season of AMERICAN IDOL!

Do you think free detergent will convince your average college student that American Idol isn’t the lamest lame that ever lamed?   I’m predicting epic fail!

Ha, they’ll be dropping by my neighborhood–Boston College–on February 3rd.

OK, so it turns out Brooke White did NOT sign with Sanctuary Records.   She’s signed with Sanctuary Artists group, and is in the midst of signing a record deal, futher details to be disclosed.

She’s also revealed the name of her album,   High Hopes and Heart Break and is shooting for a June 2 release date–Brooke’s birthday!

She explains it all in her latest blog:

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‘Now That’s What I Call Music!’ Heading To TV?

“Now That’s What I Call Music!,” the long-running series of hit-single compilations, is being shopped as a TV show by Simon Fuller and his 19 Entertainment company.

While still in its early stages — the show doesn’t have an official title yet, although it’s likely to incorporate some variation of the “Now” brand name –details are beginning to emerge.

Fuller, the mastermind behind “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” has the exclusive global rights to negotiate a TV deal based on the property. “This show will be nothing like ‘American Idol’ and definitely won’t be a spinoff,” he says. “It will be a new take on music programming.”

At the center of the show will be the hits themselves, by such acts as Britney Spears, U2 and Jay-Z. “The TV show is designed to take the brand ‘Now’ and bring it to a broader level,” says Bob Mercer, CEO of Now That’s What I Call Music, a partnership involving Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and EMI Music. (Warner Music Group has a competing product called “Only Hits.”)

The program’s final aspect would involve finding the next “Now” artists, Mercer says: “That would be new up-and-coming talent that’s either already signed or just as likely not already signed.”

Billboard

A title for Brooke’s album and other headlines

USA TODAY’s Marco Della Cava tells me that Brooke White’s forthcoming album will be called High Hopes and Heartbreak. A label deal is being finalized, according to management. Brooke described the album’s sound to Della Cava as “part singer-songwriter, part pop — but not Britney (Spears) pop.”

Idol Chatter

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

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Fast overnight ratings from Marc Berman:

-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox rose to a rare Thursday victory, with another edition of American Idol at a healthy 24.27 million viewers and a 9.1 rating/25 share among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m. While that is actually below average for Idol, it was a major improvement for Fox in the hour. And it lifted the season-premiere of lead-out Hellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Kitchen to a second-place finish in both total viewers (11.08 million) and adults 18-49 (4.9/12) at 9 p.m. Once again, American Idol was by far the top-rated show of the evening. Next week, relocated Bones returns to the Thursday anchor spot.

24.27 isn’t bad for a Thursday night. Generally Thursday night Idol shows tend to be lower-rated than the regularly scheduled Tuesday/Wednesday shows.

Carrie Underwood is interviewed by CBS for their All-Access Grammy special to be aired Wednesday, February 4 at 8 pm. Carrie is nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy for “Last Name,” and will be performing at the Grammys, airing Sunday February 8 at 8 pm.

Watch the video after the jump. Carrie talks about having to keep her vegetarianism to herself to keep from getting her ass kicked–the cattle producing states in particular aren’t likin it…

She’s also a big David Cook fan.

Check it out after the jump…

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Taylor Swift a headliner come April 23

Taylor Swift, last year’s best-selling recording artist, will kick off her first major headlining tour April 23 in Evansville, Ind. (No ticket sales date released yet.)

“I’ve been working really hard to make this show as multidimensional as possible,” says Swift, 19, who will include multiple costume changes and a fairy-tale castle in her three-act set. Kellie Pickler will open all dates of the 50-city Taylor Swift Fearless Tour.

USA Today

Bucky’s CD is Top-Selling Country Release

With album sales totaling 400,000 units, according to Nielsen Soundscan sales reporting, Bucky Covington’s self-titled first CD is the best-selling country debut release of the 2007 class. The singer’s debut album, Bucky Covington, delivered three consecutive top 10 hits at country radio – “A Different World,” “It’s Good To Be Us” and “I’ll Walk”. He’s also the best selling debut artist of the 2007 class, and is one of only three male country artists since 2005 to have three consecutive top 10 singles from his debut album.

Bucky is currently in the studio with producers Mark Miller and Dale Oliver recording new music for his sophomore CD. The first single from the new project is expected to release in the coming weeks. Fans can also see Bucky make his big screen debut on April 10 in Hannah Montana The Movie.

American Idol

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

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Y’all saw Jackie Tohn in the New York City audition episode (watch her audition).   She has quite the long history of show business experience behind her.

Check out her Wikipedia page.   She’s got a list of credits for small TV and film roles, including The Nanny, The Sopranos, Strangers with Candy, Angel, Veronica Mars and Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s done musical theater, released an EP in 2005, and performed acoustic shows in and around LA and NYC. Her MySpace   and Website.

And of course, a pile of You Tube videos, right HERE

In 2007, she co-starred in a B-movie called “Postal”. Watch the trailer and interview below. (Uhm. OK!) Here’s Jackie performing at Wizard Finger ‘06 HERE. Another interview about “Postal” HERE. Video for her original song “A Little More Far” HERE.

Video after the JUMP…

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**Update**   Now, with audition links! Also, I’ve got a page devoted to the rumored Top 36 HERE.   It’s a work in progress, I’ll be filling in more detail over the weekend

ETA: Dave from VFTW received an email tip, he and Joeplace did a little more research and Joesplace is calling it legit…

The American Idol Top 36 list may have leaked.

Check out Vote for the Worst for the list, right HERE.

I’m also going to post the list after the jump.   Felicia Barton is NOT on the list. Damn.

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UPDATE: Recap and thumbnails added

• Adeola Adegoke – Age 19 – Bronx, NY – Bank Teller – “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Hudson – NO – VIDEO
• Jorge Nunez – Age 20 – Carolina, Puerto Rico – Student – “My Way” (in Spanish) “What a Wonderful World” (English) – YES – VIDEO
• Jessika Baier – Age 20 – Jackson, MK (PR) – Waitress – “I Surrender” By Celine Dion – NO – VIDEO
• Melinda Camile – Age 21 -Â   Stratford, CT – Unemployed – “Feeling Good” – YES – VIDEO
• Jackie Tohn – Age 27 – Silver Lake, CA – “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz – YES – VIDEO
• Joel Contreras - Age 23 – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Street Performer – NO – VIDEO
• Nick “Norman Gentle” Mitchell   – Age 27 – Brookfield, CT   – “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Hudson – YES – VIDEO
• Ashley Hollister – Age 21 – Hasbrouk Heights, NJ – Receptionist – “Baby It’s You” – YES -
• Kenny Hoffpauer -Â   Age 16 – Havertown, PA – Student – “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz – YES
• Kendall Beard -Â   Age 23 – Austin, TX – Student – “The Ashes” by Martina McBride – YES – VIDEO (with Ashley and Kenny)
• Monique Garcia Torres – Age 16 – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Student – “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes, “I Turn to You” – YES – VIDEO
• Alexis Cohen – Age 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Student – “Like a Prayer” by Madonna – NO – VIDEO
• Patricia Lewis Roman – Age 20 – Caguas, Puerto Rico – Singer – “I Want to Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Huston – YES – VIDEO

Advanced to Hollywood: Nine from Puerto Rico, 26 from New York City

“For the first time ever,” says Ryan “We bring you two cities in one show.” Uh Ryan, back in the days when the audition rounds were only a couple of weeks long, y’all doubled up on audition cities all the time.

Those were the days. Sigh.

At any rate, the producers use West Side Story as a reference for welding New York City and San Juan together, but it’s tenuous at best. Really, these two cities are lumped together because the PR auditions were so lame (300 people showed up to audition, by accounts) it didn’t deserve it’s own episode.

And I suppose, in order to distract from the lameness that is the Puerto Rico auditions, the producers choose to cut back and forth between the two cities. It’s awkward, at best, and a bit hard to keep straight. Palm trees behind the judges? We must be in Puerto Rico right now!

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David Archuleta is set to appear in an episode of iCarly plus, he’ll be hosting and performing during Nickelodeon’s “Crush Night” February 7 and 15.

From the teen magazine, Tiger Beat. Seriously!!111!

So I seriously had the best time on Sunday! I was invited to Nickelodeon studios to watch Miranda Cosgrove and David Archuleta film promotional segments for their super crush-tastic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crush Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  special on Nickelodeon Feb. 7th and 15th! Not only is David guest starring on the episode in his acting debut, but I got to witness him sing his new single à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A Little Too Not Over You,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  which you can see during à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crush Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  on Feb. 15th! After a couple hours of filming i got the chance to sit down and chat with Miranda and David who had a blast working together. Miranda said David is a natural at acting and David said he felt like he was just hanging out with Miranda for a few days, he had so much fun!

OMG!!11!eleventyone! Lolz.

David shot the episode back in early October.

Watch David perform a snip of “A Little Too Not Over You” on the set of iCarly, after the jump. Warning: Swaybots ahead!

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American Idol spoiler, Joesplace just added two more names to her list of rumored Top 36 contestants.

The Top 36 will compete live in the Semi-Final Rounds starting Tuesday, February 17.

The additions are:

Danny Gokey -   He’s the Kansas City auditioner who had lost his wife four weeks before his audition.   His singing, however, is good enough to stand without the OTT backstory.   Check out his audition HERE.

Mishavonna Henson – Her audition in front of the judges was not featured in the Phoenix, AZ episode.   Hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s her Myspace music page. Sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s got a good recording/pop voice, and looks like she might have some personality. She made it to Hollywood Season 7.

They join, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert, Felicia Barton and Kendall Beard on Joesplace list.

Jennifer Hudson on the set of her music video

Jennifer Hudson went “quietly” back to work yesterday according to EOnline:

Production on the 27-year-old singer’s new music video, “If This Isn’t Love,” quietly kicked off in Los Angeles yesterday. The shoot marked the first step in Hudson’s professional comeback in the wake of the deaths of her mother, brother and nephew last October.

The video shoot was already postponed once before, in the aftermath of her family tragedy.

The video is set for official release the week of February 9.

Jennifer will make her first public appearance since the murders when she performs the National Anthem before the Superbowl this Sunday.

She’s scheduled to appear at the Musicares Person of the Year gala in LA on February 6, followed by a performance at the Grammys February 8.

From Variety:

“American Idol” thoroughly trounced the competition at 8 o’clock to propel Fox to a dominant win in Wednesday night’s TV race. The network’s 18-49 demos were higher than NBC, CBS and ABC’s combined.

“Idol” (10.1 rating/25 share, 26.9 million viewers) saw a slight uptick compared to last Wednesday’s broadcast in both ratings and total eyeballs. NBC’s “Knight Rider” (1.9/5, 6.1 million viewers) came in second, barely edging out a repeat of “Lost” (1.7/4, 5.2 million viewers). CBS offered a Katie Couric news special (1.2/3, 6.4 million viewers) and a repeat of “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (1.1/3, 4.9 million viewers) a half-hour later.

Season 7, on the corresponding night, it was the Miami auditions, and Idol netted 25.6M viewers and a 10.1/26 ratings share…

Update:Â   Not quite a record deal yet…read all about what Brooke White is up to HERE.

This item was buried deep within a fluffy Entertainment Weekly “Where Are They Now” feature:

Brooke White: Card-carrying ”Dawg Pound” member? You’d best believe it, seeing how it was Idol judge Randy Jackson who introduced White to Sanctuary Records CEO Carl Stubner, resulting in her deal with the indie label.

Brooke White has signed a record deal? Where’s the press release? The 5,000 word blog from Brooke?

At any rate–Congratulations Brooke! I could not believe 19 didn’t snap you up when they had the chance. FYI: Brooke has sold over 12K of her pre-Idol album Songs from the Attic. Not bad.

And it’s nice to know Randy Jackson is useful to these kids post-season, even if his “Dawg” and “Yo” peppered judges critiques are not.