What’s your excitement level for the return of ‘American Idol’?
American Idol is to me what that demon in The Exorcist was to Linda Blair. Every January, the show takes possession of my mind, body, and soul, makes my head spin uncontrollably, and fills my ears with loud, cacophonous sounds. (Oh, audition episodes, how you make me cringe!) Except, to paraphrase “Love Hangover”-era Diana Ross, I don’t need no cure. And I never will, not as long as there are undiscovered Fantasia Barrinos and Kelly Clarksons and Elliott Yamins left in the world.
Country Album Sales Dropped 16.3 Percent in 2007
Country albums in 2007 suffered a 16.3 percent dip in sales from those of a year before, falling from almost 75 million copies to just under 63 million, according to the annual compilation from Nielsen SoundScan.
It was the same bleak story in different shades of red for albums in all the other musical formats. Rap was down 30 percent, alternative 19 percent, rock 12 percent and Latin nearly 16 percent. Christian-gospel, classical, jazz, metal, new age, rhythm & blues and soundtracks all suffered substantial declines.
It was quite a good year, though, for the Eagles, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts and a few other country acts.
Bride to be Katharine McPhee sings at FedEx Orange Bowl
Katharine McPhee gave her own special rendition of the National Anthem to help kick off the 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl football game between Kansas University and Virginia Tech, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida., Thursday, January 3.
Star magazine reports that the 23-year-old American Idol Season 5 runner up and fiancé, actor Nick Cokas, 42 have settled on a marriage date.
“They’re getting married in Los Angeles in February,” the insider tells Star. “They’ve sent out pre-invites asking their friends to ’save the date,’ and the actual invitations with all the information will be coming soon.”
Reality show remains ‘Idol’ of TV ratings
“American Idol,” returning with a four-hour splash starting Jan. 15, seems to live in an alternate TV universe.
Other shows fret about fading fans and drooping ratings. “Idol” did decline a bit last season, but can shrug it off.
“If we lost 50 percent of our ratings, we’d still be the No. 1 show,” producer Nigel Lythgoe says, exaggerating only slightly.
And as the effects of the writers’ strike grew, “Idol” seemed immune. “People say we’re going to have a bumper year,” Lythgoe says.
Other shows fear that a reality overload will leave all shows seeming like rag-tag rejects. “Idol,” however, has its place set: It was already No. 1, even when TV still had writers and scripts and choices.
CMT ‘Gone Country’ a celebrity fish out of water series
“Gone Country” premieres with a special one-hour episode on Friday, January 25 at 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., ET/PT. Respective episodes will be half-hour shows; with the series finale running one-hour on Friday, March 7.
The players are Bobby Brown – R&B singer, Carnie Wilson – former member of Wilson Phillips; Dee Snider – lead singer Twisted Sister; Diana DeGarmo – ex American Idol finalist, 2004; Julio Iglesias, Jr. – pop singer; Maureen McCormick – Marsha Marsha Marsha from “The Brady Bunch”; and Sisqó – a former member of the group Dru Hill.
The non country artists are thrown into the crock-pot of country vocal training and styling; hats optional.
They get to perform with Nashville’ own redneck woman, Gretchen Wilson, and are steeped in a crash course of white-bread southern living and “activities.”
Bucky Covington Is Critic’s Choice
Critics remembered Bucky Covington fondly at the end of the year, as several selected his self-titled debut CD as a top country release for 2007.
Howard Cohen of the Miami Herald chose Bucky’s album as one of only four country CDs in the publication’s Top 100 Notable Happenings in 2007, calling it “the most heartfelt, honest CD to come out of the American Idol factory.” Bucky also made it into the top 10 of Mario Tarradell’s list of Top Country Discs for 2007 in the Dallas Morning News, where his album was described as a “worthy, honest, workingman’s country-by-way-of-Southern-rock CD.”
In addition, Bucky wrapped the year as Country Aircheck’s No. 1 New Artist for 2007, based on the strength of his Top 5 first single “A Different World” and his current hit, “It’s Good To Be Us.” Cumulatively, both singles earned more than 643 million audience impressions in 2007.
The Blender Bible — January 2008
Instant pop omniscience – and the 20 songs you should download this month.
18. “Keep Bleeding,” Leona Lewis (J)
X-Factor champ belts (and hemorrhages) like hell.
17. “Break Another,” Blake Lewis (Arista)
The argyle-lovin’ Idol calls out hit-and-run scuzzbags on his percolating funk-hop debut.
Birthday Bootie!
Kimberly Locke celebrated a big birthday last night!
The American Idol alum rang in her 30th at The Plumm in NYC. And she has plenty of reason to celebrate.
First, she got to snuggle up to Running With Scissors cutie Joseph Cross.
Secondly, her fab new single, Band of Gold, has just gone to #1 on the Billboard club play charts.
“A.I.” Reject Says It’s Raining Men — Hallelujah!
Kimberley Locke is angling to replace the girls we’ve grown to love on the party circuit. She was passed around like an hors d’oeuvres tray at the Plumm in NYC, where she celebrated her 30th b-day. Club owner Noel Ashman was among the gents cozying up to Kim.
Anwar Robinson back in the limelight in ‘Rent’
By the time he was 10, Robinson had been accepted to the Newark Boys Chorus School and had opportunities to learn, travel and hone his skills. That process continued at the Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, where Robinson earned his degree in music education. “My high school choral teacher encouraged me to audition for Westminster, which was her alma mater. Fortunately, my family has always been very supportive of my musical endeavors, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Today, he is probably best known as the music teacher who skyrocketed to fame on Season 4 of “American Idol,” landing a spot in the Top 10, and going on to travel with the “Idols” Live show. Paula Abdul touted Robinson as “ … technically, the best singer of the competition.”
LA Power Pop Girl Band Rocket To Tour With Horrorpops, Pink Spiders
In September of 2007, Rocket was named “one of the top ten bands in Los Angeles” by the editors of the L.A. Weekly. But by October 2007, they were already one of the top twelve unsigned bands in America, according to the Fox Television show “The Next Great American Band.” Rocket was not only the sole all-girl band in the competition, but also the only band with a female singer.
Lead-singer Lauren Rocket states, “The competition was one of the greatest experiences we’ve had in our two-years together. But after not touring for over five months, we are so happy to jump back in our van and play our hearts out.”
Several performances will be with the Horrorpops (Hellcat/Epitaph) and The Pink Spiders (Suretone/Geffen).
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Yay for Bucky getting such good recognition!
Seriously? Is LA that starved for talented bands?
Yeah, I don’t get the Rocket love either. And go Bucky!
Yes some bad news for those hoping to catch the pre-strike Bones with Ace.(if it was prestrike) you will have till wait till May on a monday..Here is the article an inside contact….so who knows.
TVGuide
I am happy for Bucky .
American Idol to me is like a box of chocolates (and after consuming way too many chocolates the last few weeks, I know whereof I speak!), you never know what you’re going to get, unless you cheat and read the label :)
OK, AI is like opening presents at Christmas time. The poorly wrapped present sometimes tends to be the best of all, while the flashy/splashy wrapped gift turns out to be next year’s white elephant gift.
I got hooked on AI because of the incredible talent of singers like Carrie Underwood and Elliot Yamin. I continue to watch because I hope beyond hope that another Carrie or Elliot will arise out of the multitudinous mediocore singers and dazzle and wow me.
I have not watched AI since season 5 and don’t plan on watching it EVEH!!!! Again.
Good for Bucky! He deserves his recognition. I was a fan of his when he was on Idol and continued to keep up with him after his ouster. I hope those of you who receive the country station GAC will watch Grand Ole Opry next Saturday night at 8; this will be his third appearance on GOO, so apparently he is doing more than a little all right. Let’s hear it for The Buckster.
What happened to the Sabrina - Sundance recording? Anybody know?
Every year has had worthy singers. There were some already great and frankly some will rise from the ashes years later and hit big, you can never tell. The show is a success because it is still unpredictable, sometimes a train wreck and sometimes you get a Kelly, Carrie, or Elliott. I am thankful they allowed me to discover Ruben, Taylor, and Bo. It has something for everyone, the people who just like to snark, the music lover, or the people who just love a good personality.
Kudos to Bucky who shows that you don’t have to have a perfect voice, or be perfectly beautiful, but if you put your heart and soul into something it can work out well. I think this is just the beginning for him.
What’s my excitement level for Season 7? Higher than I would have anticipated after the sizzle of S5 and the simmer of S6. Gone are the expectations of finding voices I can’t live without (Taylor, Chris, Phill, Melinda). Or personalities who captivate me (Taylor, Kellie). And God knows I don’t need another obsession who makes my pants dance (Taylor…just Taylor).
Nope, this year I can happily watch with only two expectations in mind. The first is entertain me! Let me laugh at the bad auditions and smile with the kids who get their chance to shine. Let me enjoy the quality voices of the rumoured ringers. And that will be it. No more voting or stewing and fretting the elimination nights. No more caring about Nigel’s opinions or recording contracts.
The second expectation is to create enough excitement, emotion, and controversy to fuel the fertile and knowledgeable minds here at MJs. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?
Yup, I eagerly await the start of Season 7. Bring it on!
When does it start???
January 15th, and I’m excited as well.
I love Kat, obviously! Ha!
I love the show for introducing me to her. 
I posted this on another thread but thought y’all might like to know:
Uh oh — go to Perezhilton.com
The first entry is a huge photo of Taylor - stating he’s been dropped from JRecords.
Of course, the spin is negative. The people posting think Clay’s next.
Buckys cd is one of my repeated play cds, love it. Last year I never voted on AI, watched every show though, never followed them after the show on the net like I usually do, and for the first time ever, never bought a cd. Im not feeling any excitement for this year for some reason but will start watching. I dont like the bad auditions but hope they have a hollywood week, otherwise I will wait till they start winnowing the finalists down. Hopefully I can get back my Idol excitement. I loved watching Fantasia on Season 3, Bo on season 4 and Taylor on season 5. I like singers that are also entertainers. I have a lot of Idol cds and would like to add more to my collection. Crossing my fingers.
I was very excited about Season 7 until I heard of several prodessional singers added to the mix. That zapped my spirit. Also, I don’t like so many episodes in the audition phase when Hollywood week is when we really get to know some of the contestants.
Don’t forget Clay Aiken on that list. There is that word, undiscovered. That is what made AI so wonderful. I am so happy for Bucky, but feeling pretty sad for Taylor. Well, there’s always Branson, MO to headline on one of their shows. Taylor is far too talented to be left in the dirt.
I am an American Idol addict and I admit it.
JPL MySpace Bulletin:
Date: Jan 5, 2008 3:04 PM
Subject: New Year, New Record
Body: Hey everyone,
I hope everyone’s holiday went well. I had a nice time with family and friends but I’m happy to be back to life as usual. For me that means I’m back in the studio putting together another record. I really excited to see it finally coming all together and can’t wait for you to get to hear it.
I’ll keep you all posted on it’s progress
jon
:D
What did they do to that pic of Tyalor? Was it supposed to mean something?
My question was supposed to be an indication of my excitement level. A bit sarcastic? Moi?