Idol Headlines for 06/19/09
Q and A’s with Carly Smithson and new bandmate Ben Moody
Today the greatest Idol in history, Carly Smithson, came forth with her long awaited announcement of the next phase in her musical journey, revealing she has joined a band to be called The Fallen, with the original members of Evanescence.
We spoke with Ben Moody, formerly of Evanescence, and Carly by phone on Tuesday.
Q and A with Ben Moody
Q: How are you today?
BM:I am so excited and if you were in the studio, youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d be excited too. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¨ Last night we recorded strings to our first single Bury Me Alive. Incredible. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been very difficult to keep something like this a secret. Especially since it has consumed all of our lives.
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ auditions return to talent magnet
ATLANTA – When “American Idol” searches for talent, the hit TV show certainly doesn’t have a problem finding any in Atlanta.
“What’s the difference between here, Los Angeles and Kansas City? It’s just in Atlanta, people know how to sing down here,” said show producer Patrick Lynn. “They love it. They have attitude. They do what we ask. That’s the greatness of this city.”
More than 9,200 show hopefuls from across the South auditioned for the show’s ninth season Thursday, showing up in mohawks, short skirts and even a guitar costume at the Georgia Dome.
6/18: More from Idol auditions, including that Americaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Got Talent gal
I probably could have found a way to sneak inside but having seen it before, I figured it wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t much different this time around.
According to folks who did try out, they set up 14 tables along the football field from endzone to endzone. They brought people up to each table in groups of four. The winners exited one side, everybody else the other. The folks who didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make it had their pink wristbands ceremoniously snipped before leaving via the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stairs of shameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ outside Gate E of the Dome. Many of the rejected trudged up the stairs like they had just been through a world war.
More Idol Headlines after the Jump…
Tears and triumph for ‘Idol’ hopefuls
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Thousands of people showed up at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on a muggy June morning with stars in their eyes — and not just because they arrived before dawn.
Crowds gathered at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta as the search for the next “American Idol” began.
Crowds gathered at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta as the search for the next “American Idol” began.
A snaking line of wanna-be “American Idol” contestants angled for their chance in the spotlight, with the hopes of becoming a season-nine semifinalist on the popular show.
They primped, they rehearsed and they made sure to smile, squeal and cheer enthusiastically for the Fox network cameras there to catch every single moment of the adventure.
Kris Allen Fills Up On Robeks Juice
Kris Allen and a female friend make a quick stop at Robeks Juice before heading to do an interview with MyFox LA. Watch the interview below!
The 23-year-old singer won the 8th season of American Idol and is gearing up for the 50-city à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idol 2009à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ³ tour which begins July 5th in Portland, Oregon and ends September 15th in Manchester, New Hampshire. Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ debut CD is due out this fall.
Adam Lambert and Madonna: Please work together now. Thanks.
When I read in Rolling Stone’s Adam Lambert cover story that the American Idol runner-up was starstruck during a recent meeting with Madonna, my first reaction was “Awww, that’s sweet.” But the more I think about it, the more the Idol-obsessed voices in my head are howling: “Starstruck? Bah! These two ought to be working together!”
Video: Music Stars Rock in NYC
ET rocked with the stars at the 2009 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony and gala in NYC on Thursday night.
“Music begins with a song,” country star Clint Black tells ET. “One of the great things that I love about this process of honoring songwriters is that we’re reminded of all the great songs they gave us.”
Jon Bon Jovi and his songwriting partner, guitarist Richie Sambora, were inducted into the hall, along with Crosby, Stills & Nash and other acclaimed musical acts.
VIDEO: Jennifer Hudson’s Fiance Makes Pro-Wrestling Debut VIDEO: Jennifer Hudson’s Fiance Makes Pro-Wrestling Debut
David Otunga, the fiancà ©e of Grammy and Oscar-winning Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson, made his pro wrestling debut Wednesday, as his celebrated better half quietly watched from afar.
Wrestling under the name Dawson Alexander, Esq., Otunga looked impressive, albeit a little green, working for Florida Championship Wrestling, a farm system for the WWE; FCW commentator/ wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes hinted the organization was present scouting the high-profile ring rookie.
Carly Smithson: The New Amy Lee?
carlyxCarly Smithsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’the 2008 American Idol contestant who was also the poster child for the record industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s problems in a 2002 Wall Street Journal pieceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’is joining forces with all the dudes fired from Evanescence to form a new band called The Fallen, according to USA Today. (Any resemblance between the bandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s name and the title of Evanescenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s 2003 breakthrough album is probably coincidental.)
Bret Michaelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Tony Mishap: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rock of Agesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Constantine Weighs In
By now nearly everyone has weighed in on Bret Michaelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Tony Awards mishap, in which he was clocked in the kisser by a moving set piece after rocking with Poison to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Nothinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ But a Good Time.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (Earlier today the frontman announced he would not sue the Tonys after all.) The tune helped open the Tony Awards on that fateful Sunday night, but it opens Rock of Ages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ the hair-metal musical that picked up five Tony nods à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ every night on Broadway. We asked the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s star, onetime American Idol hopeful and smoldering starer Constantine Maroulis for his take on the accident à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ and whether such a disaster would have befallen him had he had the chance to open the Tonys, himself (Maroulis later performed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Stop Believingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ with his cast during one of the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s high points).
DEL MAR: Adoring fans make scrapbook for David Cook
VISTA —- When Cheryl Lindsay and Jeanne Brandone landed terrific tickets to David Cook’s Thursday night concert at the San Diego County Fair, it didn’t take them long to come up with the idea of presenting him with a scrapbook.
“He (Cook) might not want to look at all the pictures of himself, but we know he’s an artist and we thought he would appreciate it because of the artwork,” said Brandone, a mother of three from Carlsbad.
Majors Welcome P2P Win, But $1.92M Award Could Make For Bad PR
The recording industry secured a resounding victory when a Minnesota jury awarded the four major labels $1.92 million in damages after unanimously finding that Jammie Thomas-Rasset had willfully infringed on their copyrights by downloading and sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa peer-to-peer network.
The mammoth size of the verdict, representing $80,000 per track, may help dissuade more P2P users from illegally downloading music, and for that the labels are happy. “We appreciate the jury’s service and that they take this as seriously as we do,” RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said in a statement.
“We are pleased that the jury agreed with the evidence and found the defendant liable.”
Judd keeps the critiques kind on `Can You Duet’
LOS ANGELES (AP) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Naomi Judd believes in candor when judging aspiring country stars on “Can You Duet.” But she’s not taking any cues from a certain sharp-tongued Brit on “American Idol.”
“I love the truth. It’s pretty rare in the entertainment world, and somebody has to set these kids straight,” said Judd, back with the CMT talent contest that begins its second season Saturday (8 p.m. EDT).
Her goal, however, is to leave contestants with “something positive, so you don’t break their spirit like Simon Cowell does,” she said. “I’ve never watched that show because someone told me he actually told a girl that she was making his ears bleed. That’s not my style.”
Heidi, Spencer head back to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m a Celebrity…à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢
LOS ANGELES – Spencer and Heidi Pratt will return to the jungles of Costa Rica for the finale of NBCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m A Celebrityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ Get Me Out Of Here!,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Access Hollywood has learned. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft.)
A source told Access on Thursday that the reality couple, who left the show in a whirlwind of events that included quitting three times, trying to return to the competition, spending a night in the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Lost Chamber, and finally heading back to L.A. after Heidi landed in the hospital, will head back to Costa Rica on Sunday or Monday.
‘America’s Got Talent’ looking for its own Susan Boyle
This season, the most important contestant for “Americaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Got Talent|shows|site” isn’t competing on the show. She doesn’t even live in America.
Susan Boyle is the frumpy, 48-year-old Scottish singer who rocketed from obscurity to international celebrity after surprising judges with her assured performance this spring on “Britain’s Got Talent.” Now the question is whether Boylemania will boost the popularity of “America’s Got Talent,” NBC’s sister program, which starts its fourth season on Tuesday. Both the American and U.K. versions are made by the same company, FremantleMedia.
Bret Michaels Wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Sue Tony Awards For Onstage Collision
Despite fracturing his nose and busting his lip after colliding with a stage prop at the Tony Awards, Poisonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Bret Michaels told People that he will not take legal action against the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s producers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s no lawsuit. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not doing any of that. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m taking the high road,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Michaels said.
Fox’s ‘Dance’ nabs ratings spotlight
On a reality-heavy night, Fox easily led the primetime ratings race Wednesday with a two-hour installment of “So You Think You Can Dance,” while ABC was solid with “Wipeout” but faltered some with the return of “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow.”
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “So You Think You Can Dance” (3.0 rating/9 share in adults 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall) grew with each half-hour to comfortably win its 8-10 p.m. timeslot. It was down a bit week to week, as the show typically tends to dip as the original field of 20 contestants is narrowed to a more manageable number.
‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Ballroom blitz
Kaylamax Does Mia Michaels ever disappoint? The contemporary choreographer always creates amazing dances on “So You Think You Can Dance,” and Thursday night’s episode was no exception. The group performed one of her creations to Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” wearing black suits and Maori warrior-style facepaint, and they worked pounding, hard-hitting moves with deadly seriousness. It was hip, mysterious, funky and a little scary, and I wish we had seen something like it last night.
Meanwhile, Cat Deeley looked like her own Victor to last night’s Victoria. wearing a trim white tuxedo in contrast to last night’s flashy red “Dynasty”-style dress. Do we prefer her more minimalist and boyish or girled-out and glam? I can’t decide.
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121 Responses to “Idol Headlines for 06/19/09”
“Melinda Dolittle is signed to Hi Fi Recordings. The label was originally a joint venture between Elektra, Arista and Virgin records. Interesting.”
How is Adam not considered a ringer? After all the crap Carly got, it’s amazing that this was hidden all season long. Wow.
Lyndsey Parker? Lord. Another hit piece on Kris Allen, I’m sure. She has been downright evil to him, in my book.
^ Really? She said she likes Kris.
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isn’t Lyndsey Parker the one that called Kris Allen a “fraudulent idol”? I mean, really.
Adam’s “single” which is actually NOT Adam’s single has been taken down at Seacrest’s site at the request of Sony BMG so someone over there is awake.
Personally I hope Sony squashes this like a bug. Adam’s voice sounds gorgeous but the song doesn’t go anywhere. I don’t think it helps Adam at all.
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Well Sony hopefully is on the ball because it’s all over the place, EW, Yahoo Music, other newspaper articles. Glad they caught it early and had Seacrest take it down because we don’t want our precious Adam screwed. Wonder if they can get Perez to take it down?
Lyndsey tweeted that she loved interviewing Kris and that he won her over. So the interview should be pretty good — it’s 20 minutes long!
Ok, it’s not letting me edit my previous post, so — here is what Lyndsey Parker tweeted…
#Kris wasn’t my fave but I respected him (just didn’t want him to win). My interview with him was wonderful. He won me over!#
#Just got 20 minutes with Kris. Nicest guy ever.#
good to know. I thought she had been unduly harsh on him. I just wanted to scream, “look, it’s just a contest!!”.
Richard is entitled to like whoever he pleases, even if we don’t all agree. I thought Carly was awesome, but not suited for the idol competition. Post Carly with The Fallen sounds promising to me.
Ugh, someone else trying to ride those fairy dusted coattails. Damn it must be getting heaving with everyone trying to hitch a ride.
The above interview with Archie solidifies the respect I have for him. He has a cohesive idea for what his sound for the second cd should be. Good for him, can’t wait until it’s done. Hopefully he will find his girl next door. She’ll be lucky because he is just adorable.
interview with Allison that I haven’t seen posted here yet…
http://www.fancast.com/blogs/interviews/allison-iraheta-planning-for-new-album/
Awesome to hear news about Kris’ collabs! Maybe this is why he couldn’t say anything till now, if his mgmt or whoever (“sources”) gave info to Billboard for the article. I like the idea of a bit of urban influence along with the writers we’ve heard about already. Crossing my fingers the mix of influences can fight the tendency towards bland that 19 always pushes for.
More on the possible collaborator front.
The below info is taken from an interview with Better than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin (link to full article: http://www.theaquarian.com/aq/2009/06/19/interview-with-better-than-ezra-better-than-solo/ )
I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t realize youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve written songs for Blondie and American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s more successful contestants.
Yeah! About five years ago I wrote a song for Meatloaf who was recording next to us. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d heard one of our songs and asked us to write a song for him, so I wrote this song called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Testifyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ for him. It was a single from his album five years ago. Then I wrote a song for Blondie, which did really well, called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Good Boys,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ which did really well around the world. Neither Blondie or Meatloaf do much as far as record sales in the United States, but worldwide they sell a lot of them. It kind of opened my eyes to writing for other people.
In 2005 I wrote a song for Howie Day called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Collideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ which was a big Top 40 song and now Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m just kind of somebody people come to to co-write with other artists or write a song. I have a song on the David Cook debut called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Avalancheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and there are a bunch of different artists Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m writing with now. So ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cool and Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve got a single coming out from the new album with Howie Day from the album I produced.
Have you been talking with anyone from the most recent American Idol?
For Kris Allen? We just contacted the A&R people and thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s all just kind of getting put together. So weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re talking with the Kris Allen people, the Adam Lambert people and the Allison Iraheta people.
Wal-Mart does tap into a segment of the buying public that’s different from the iTunes crowd. I mean, up until this year, I hadn’t bought a single thing off iTunes, preferring to get physical CDs instead. Since the end of AI8, I’ve purchased 4 albums off iTunes (Kris’ AI collection, Adam’s AI collection, Levi Kreis’ latest Where I Belong – fantastic stuff btw, Ferras’ Aliens & Rainbows – great album), all of Allison’s and Anoop’s AI tracks, as well as Cook’s Permanent charity single.
The CD track list is terrible though. For Kris, I would have chosen Heartless and either Ain’t No Sunshine or Falling Slowly. I guess they had to include Mad World for Adam but the second selection should have been either Black Or White, A Change Is Gonna Come, One or Whole Lotta Love. For Allison, I would have picked Give In To Me, Cry Baby, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Hot Stuff or Someone To Watch Over Me. For Matt – Let’s Get It On, Part-Time Lover or So Small. For Danny – Come Rain Or Come Shine, P.Y.T. or even You Are So Beautiful. Not much to choose from for Lil, Scott, Megan and Sarver. I think the only selection they got right was the one for Anoop.
Actually there was an article in mj’s headlines some days back re: Kevin Griffin and at that point he was only mentioned hoping to write w/for Kris.
Not sure where to put this. I think Lyndsey Parker, who’s doing the AI video interviews for Yahoo Music, has gotten lots of tweets about how she didn’t like Kris during the season. Check her recent tweets out (and it wasn’t even Kris fangirl me who was making Ms. Parker so defensive — since I don’t actually HAVE a twitter account – LOL!). Anyway, glad to see she actually liked Kris during the year and he’s won her over even more after their interview…(KRADAM RULES, people)
#Feeling bad as saw comment about me interviewing Kris was like him being “thrown to wolves.” NOT TRUE. I loved interviewing him & was nice!#
#My 2nd fave was Allison, then Kris. I stand by my opinion that Adam should’ve won but that doesn’t mean I think Kris is untalented.#
#I don’t SCREAM when Kris reveals his tour song to me but I do gasp loudly. LOL I think it’s going to be good.#
#Now that my anger over Adam’s loss has faded (he’ll be fine) I can give some support to Kris. Team Kradam for the win.#
#When you see my Kris interview Monday you’ll see we got along & talked about music a lot. He’s doing a great song too that I’m excited about.#
But it doesn’t hurt Adam either. lol
wow…… RCA is so quick with Adam’s website. They already have Lindsey’s interview on it. lol
Just think though, maybe now Kris won’t have to have No Boundaries on his debut CD, cuz it’s already on this one!