‘Crying Girl’ Ashley Ferl Auditions For ‘American Idol’
Ashley Ferl, the little blonde girl who gained national fame by breaking down in hysterics after watching Sanjaya Malakar perform on season six of ‘American Idol,’ made her own play for singing stardom yesterday.
Ferl, dubbed ‘Crying Girl’ for her uncontrollable tears over Sanjaya, turned 16 this year, making her eligible to try out for the competition. She and 11,000 other hopefuls hit the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California for round one of the season nine auditions. She was among the first in line outside of the Rose Bowl gates.
American Idol Record Deals: What’s Up With the Others?
So far, American Idol winner Kris Allen, runner-up Adam Lambert and fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta have all inked recording contracts. But what about the others?
We caught up with the top 10 at their tour rehearsals recently to hear the status of their post-Idol plans. And here’s what they have to report…
Danny Gokey: “I’m sitting down with record labels next week. I hope to sort it out before tour. But I don’t want to wait too long, the quicker the better.” In the meantime, he continues to grow his Sophia’s Heart Foundation, which he created in honor of his late wife. “We’re planning a food and clothing drive in Milwaukee. And we’re looking for a facility there or here in L.A. for the foundation’s events. We might have the L.A. facility running first before Milwaukee. It’s a turnkey operation, so I can start running programs right away.”
Cowell: SuBo’s music is fantastic
Simon Cowell has revealed he is delighted with the results of Susan Boyle’s first day in the recording studio.
The 48-year-old Scottish church worker – who became an overnight global internet sensation on YouTube after auditioning for ITV show Britain’s Got Talent – has recorded her first track.
Simon told The Sun: “I’ve cut one track with her and she sounds fantastic on record – she’s so good, the album is not just going to be show tunes, we’re going to take our time with this.”
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
‘American Idol’ hopeful finds auditions to be contrary to what show portrays
About a month ago, Brittany Philippi’s friend, Danielle Mann, convinced her to tryout for the next season of ‘American Idol.’
‘I’ve been told that I should tryout before, but she (Mann) had gone online and said auditions were June 30, I didn’t have a choice, and she was getting off work to go with me,’ Philippi said.
Auditioning was a two-day process.
On Sunday, Hemet residents Philippi, 21, and Mann woke up at 2 a.m. to be at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where auditions were held, by 8 a.m. when they started.
American Idol: Where Are ‘Idol’ Performers?
The “American Idol” concert tour kicks off in Portland on Sunday, but some “Idol” performers are already in the Rose City.
FOX 12 viewers have spotted some of the performers around town.
On Wednesday, Allie Dicken said she was dining at Pazzo Ristorante in downtown Portland when she made her “Idol” sighting. She was seated in a booth near performer Scott MacIntyre.
Michael Jackson On Track For More Billboard Charts Records
After his record-breaking chart week, the late Michael Jackson will continue to shake up the charts next week, too.
According to SoundScan’s Building Chart data, more than 110,000 Jackson albums were purchased during the first two days of the new tracking week (June 29-30).
Billboard estimates that the seven merchants that report to Nielsen SoundScan’s Building chart — Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target and Anderson Merchandisers — make up about 60% of all U.S. album sales. Nielsen SoundScan’s sales tracking week runs from Monday through Sunday of each week.
Michael Jackson Music Sales Surge Could Last For Months
In the days following Michael Jackson’s June 25 death, fans flocked to record stores and digital music outlets to purchase one last memory. And merchants say they expect the Jackson sales surge to last for weeks’â€maybe even months.
“With the around-the-clock coverage and questions about his death, this story will keep going, with every development giving it a new bit of life,” says Kerry Fly, VP of purchasing and marketing at wholesaler Eurpac.
Jackson’s solo album sales in the United States skyrocketed from 10,000 copies in the week before his death to 422,000 in the week ended June 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
‘American Idol’s’ Matt Giraud Originally Thought Anoop Was ‘Nerdy’
American Idols Live kicks off in just a few days, and to celebrate, Fancast visited the Idols as they prepared for the upcoming tour.
So you might know everything about Adam Lambert’s favorite hair product, or Allison’s rocked out style. But how much do these Idols really know about each other?
We asked these baby pop stars to answer questions about their Idol buddies. Which pair knows each other so well they can probably finish each other’s sentences, and which ones seem like a couple of perfect strangers?
Scott MacIntyre & Lil Rounds Talk Magical Superpowers and Singing
So now you know that Matt Giraud spends a little too much on his clothes and that Anoop Desai HATES Aladdin jokes. But how much do you really know about Scott MacIntyre and Lil Rounds?
In another one of our Idol bromance/girlmance series, which catches up with ‘American Idol’ stars as they prepare for the ‘Idol Live’ tour – in pairs – Scott and Lil (should we call them ‘Lil Scott’ ?) talk about superpowers, and what advice they would give to each other on musical choices.
David Cook credits experience with ‘Idol’ win
Like millions throughout the world, 2008 American Idol winner David Cook grew up with Michael Jackson.
‘Michael Jackson’s important to me in the same way that he’s important to music in general,’ the touring Cook said Saturday from Aspen, Colo.
‘Michael took pop music and made it more than pop music. He made it pop culture, he made it music history. You don’t earn the nickname ‘king of pop’ on a whim. His contributions to music are incalculable.’
Daughtry CD Review: What’s Not to Love?
With rock albums, it usually takes me a couple of listens before I can decide whether I like it or not.
But with Daughtry’s new CD, ‘Leave This Town,’ I knew instantly’ ¦
I not only like it, I love it. And you will too’ ¦
Daughtry is not just picking up where they left off with their second CD. They’re actually improving on their first release by giving us a project that feels less like a collection of singles and more like a cohesive album.
That’s not to say there aren’t singles on ‘Town,’ because there are’â€good ones. But sometimes it’s nice to hear more from an artist than just songs on the radio. And ‘Town’ gives us that whole package’ ¦
‘Idol’ finalist Blake Lewis to perform at ‘09 Rock ‘n Blues
Blake Lewis, American Idol 2007 finalist, sang at the White House for First Lady Michele Obama in April. Now he will come to Novato to perform at the 7th annual Rock’n Blues By the Lake on Sept. 26.
Lewis is said to be one of the most popular Idol finalists. He’s the only idol that has a nickname because of his unique style, ‘the Beat-Boxer guy.’ One of the most downloaded songs from the No. 1-rated television show is his version of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love A Bad Name.’
Rock of Ages Cast to Perform and Sign CDs July 7 at J&R in Manhattan
To celebrate the in-store CD release of the Rock of Ages original cast recording, cast members from the Tony-nominated Best Musical will take part in an in-store event at J&R in Manhattan July 7.
The 12:30 PM event will feature Rock stars Constantine Maroulis, James Carpinello, Adam Dannheisser, Mitch Jarvis, Michele Mais, Lauren Molina, Paul Schoeffler and Wesley Taylor.
The artists will offer a live performance, which will be followed by a CD signing.
THEATER: ‘Purple’ reigns supreme at KenCen
The Great White Way is littered with the sorry carcasses of celebrities — Usher, Debbie Gibson, Rosie O’Donnell come to mind — who’ve attempted to star in a Broadway show.
So, does an “American Idol” winner have the chops to pull off a major role in an emotionally complex musical?
The answer is a resounding “yes.”
Fantasia, the 2004 “Idol” winner, has the voice — powerful and tremulous with feeling — and the presence to make an indelible Celie in the musical version of Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Color Purple.”
Star singer Cook latches onto top horse at GP Downs
Kristy Lee Cook and trainer Brenda Estes have claimed Rabatash, the leading thoroughbred money winner at Grants Pass Downs this season.
“We’ll give him time off to eat grass and be a real horse,” said Cook. “Then we’ll take him to California.”
The 5-year-old Kentucky-born gelding ran this year at Golden Gate and Hollywood Park before winning his two outings here.
Cook, the “American Idol” singing sensation from Selma, was at the track Wednesday to see her racehorse Go Zags.
“He hasn’t broken his maiden,” she said of the 3-year-old gelding, who will run in Saturday’s second race.
America’s Cole rush
Cheryl Cole celebrated an X-tra special birthday – as it was revealed she is set to front a US version of The X Factor.
Looking stunning in a partly see-through, frilly white mini-dress, the Girls Aloud singer turned 26 with a £60,000 surprise party thrown by Chelsea and England soccer star husband Ashley.
And the icing on the cake came when she learned she had been hand-picked by Simon Cowell to take his top-rated TV show across the Atlantic.
Senior US executives from NBC are due to fly to Manchester this weekend to see her in action at the live auditions.
Cowell signs fan’s boobs
The X Factor judge, 49, was bombarded by a group of adoring female fans when he arrived back at his hotel in Manchester, who got him to sign various parts of their bodies.
The rowdy middle-aged women – thought to be on a hen party – pounced on Simon and got him to sign one excited lady’s boobs – and another one’s stomach.
He willingly obliged – and seemed more than happy to be the centre of attention.
Holmes, Lythgoe team for Dizzy Feet
Nigel Lythgoe, co-creator and exec producer of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” has teamed with helmer Adam Shankman, “Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba and thesp Katie Holmes to launch the dance scholarship fund, Dizzy Feet Foundation.
Aimed at providing underprivileged youth the opportunity to participate in dance programs, the foundation also plans to award scholarships and grants to dancers, choreographers and teachers at accredited dance studios.
“I think it’s important for children to experience music and dance,” said Holmes. “Every child should have the opportunity to discover what it is they like and have access to the very best in that pursuit.”
‘So You Think You Can Dance’ recap: Top 14 Performance
Before I get to last night’s So You Think You Can Dance, a little housekeeping: First, I want to thank my colleagues Alynda Wheat and Kate Ward for taking most excellent care of this TV Watch while I was gallivanting through the (ridiculously gorgeous) Pacific Northwest. Second, I want to share (most of) your outrage about the Top 18 eliminations, although technically part of the fault for them falls on the shoulders of the voters for whom the Chbeeb can do no wrong ‘†you know who you are! Third, I must confess that after a marathon DVR viewing of the Top 18 week and especially the torpid Top 16 week, I entered this week’s Top 14 feeling uneasy about the prospects for this fifth season of SYTYCD.
Ratings: ‘America’s Got Talent’ wins Wednesday
Repeating its chart-topping performance from Tuesday, NBC’s America’s Got Talent was the most-watched program Wednesday night. It helped the Peacock edge out the Eye for the title of the evening’s most-watched network by about 40,000 viewers, according to overnight numbers. ABC’s Wipeout took the 8 p.m. hour for the third week in a row, and was followed by Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, which held second place over the course of its two-hour telecast. (It averaged 8 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour.) A repeat of CBS’ CSI: NY dominated at 10 p.m..
‘So You Think You Can Dance’: The kiss of death!
Vitolio Way to go, America and judges: Last night I couldn’t figure out who on “So You Think You Can Dance” should go home, but I couldn’t agree more with the decision.
Before we got to the unpleasantness, the dancers performed a group number to “A Brand New Day” from “The Wiz” as choreographed by Tyce Diorio, and it was a joyous Broadway number (and probably a mini Michael Jackson tribute).
As we got to the first part of eliminations, I was surprised to learn that Karla Garcia and Vitolio Jeune were in the bottom three instead of Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak. The judges were lukewarm for Randi and Evan’s frug, and I expected the fun factor of Vitolio and Karla’s quickstep and the novelty of her quick-change dress would have had the calls rolling in.
I’m also a little late to the party, but just had to say that I agree that David Cook is too hard on himself about his voice. I downloaded most of his tracks from AI last year (vids and studio version) and he sounded AMAZING on all of them (including the live tracks, which can be a better test of who actually sings well without any of the studio wizardry at work).
The others all had strengths in their own way (Archie had a very sweet, fine voice, Carly had a powerful belter voice), but Cook is an excellent, excellent singer.
David didn’t struggle hitting those big notes. The beginning of the song may have been shaking, but the big notes were all there and well done.
David’s main problem was his low register and he has improved a lot there. Btw, he sings a cappella sometimes in his tour and it’s pretty amazing.
Tomorrow is the last night, I think.
Well, IMO he struggled througout the whole thing. I thought it was kind of an uncomfortable performance all around…
LOL, the National Anthem, the poor guy was a nervous wreck – he looked like he was going to puke at any moment. I wouldn’t hold that up as an example of how he sings
.
Thanks for bringing over that video of Ryan Star singing TOML – too cute. Ryan opened for David at the show I went to in Radford and he was really awesome, and a super nice guy who spends a ton of time signing autographs and meeting fans. Even my mom liked him, lol. (I also love David’s comment at the end about not having to sing TOML since they already heard it – he’s definitely way, way over that song).
And ‘Til I’m Blue… wow. I love the original, and I LOVE David’s take on it. David, if you’re lurking (hehe)… can I pretty please have that song at Birchmere? And I think I asked nicely before for an acoustic set but I’m not sure you got the message
Another tweet from Matt G:
#So I twirked on stage today. Ha And were making some changes on my wardrobe cuz these pants are TIIIIGHT. Ha ha. BG’s would like it though#about 1 hour ago from TwitterFon
Ok, should we worry about possible wardrobe malfunctions during Matt’s set?
I looked up “twirk” on urandictionary.com, and …uh-huh…pretty much what I thought it meant, LOL!
Definitely, the touring is a big reason for the press he’s still getting. My guess is that he made a lot of friendly press contacts after Idol and during that tour by being good with the press and giving them good interviews. He really seems to be an interviewers dream… open, tells stories, can be funny, etc.
I really love that he still feels like he’s paying his dues, touring with the band, and trying to build his audience,
I finally get to seem him perform live in August for the first time since last year’s Idol tour, and I can’t wait to see the difference in him. I’ve seen a lot on YouTube, but it’s just not the same.
I haven’t seen this article posted here. Danny interview in The Columbian
“Third place is the charm for “Idol” Gokey”
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090703/LIVING11/707039994
Just when I was starting to like Danny, he says this:
I guess Danny is just being Danny — Instead of realizing that he was lucky to get past his weak performance in Final 7 of “Endless Love” or even more luckier to survive the Final 4 “Sream On” fiasco.
Sounds like they wanted to put a Michael Jackson into the tour — but it didn’t work out.
Anoop just tweeted:
#so we tried to work in a short MJ tribute to the end of the show today during rehearsal but it didn’t work out logistically, unfortunately#1 minute ago from web
regarding what Q3 posted: uhh.. what?! I’ll look at the positive (at least for me)- I’m assuming that Danny thinks that Kris would have won no matter who he went against? hehe.. I was going to write more but I don’t want to rehash old stuff.
Wow, thank you wellhesback! lol. These are the moments I know DC will always be my favorite AI!!!
For Ryan Star to do this, you have to know that DC has impacted him in such a great way! 
And I can’t stop smiling. lol. 
Even though the sound sucked. 
smallie, I too appreciate how you (earlier on) distinguished the difference between a great musician and an instrumentalist. DC is not a great guitarist by far (and I honestly think he’d agree), but his vocals and how he interprets a song make him a great musician.
Kelly set list for her summer shows
Intro (You Shook Me All Night Long)
All I Ever Wanted (with Sax/Trombone players)
Miss Independent
I Do Not Hook Up
Some Girls Have All The Luck (“Rod Stewart” Cover)
Don’t Let Me Stop You
Breakaway
If I Can’t Have You
Never Again
Behind These Hazel Eyes (Acoustic)
Walking After Midnight (“Patsy Cline” Cover) (Acoustic)
Cry (New arrangement-> Jill – Guitar, Cory – Violin)
I Want You
Whyyawannabringmedown
Because Of You
Walk Away (with Sax and trombone)
Since U Been Gone
Already Gone
If (“Janet Jackson” Cover)
My Life Would Suck Without You
The folks over at ONTD_AI apparently disagree with Cook as well:
http://community.livejournal.com/ontd_ai/899577.html
I love their headline: David Cook Smokes Crack, Talks Nonsense. Hee.
ETA: Thanks dv. That’s a great setlist. Is it the same one for each concert or is this the full list of songs she sings on her tour and she does a smaller subset from the list (say, 15-17 songs) each night? A Kelly concert sounds like it would be awesome.
LOL, all this Cookie voice talk sent me scurrying back to YouTube to watch some of his Idol performances again — supposed to be proofreading, very distracted
. Did I mention how much I loved All I Really Need Is You? Loved.
That’s a cool setlist for Kelly… I’ve never seen her perform live, might have to catch a show one of these days.
LOL, do you know how much I wished I would have downloaded this when I had the chance? It wasn’t my fav. DC at the time, but oy, it was wonderful!
Keel: thanks for the livejournal link. The first poster had a pic. of Kris Allen and said,
Yep, that’s me!
OK. That ’til I’m blue performance is unbelievable and I’m not even crazy about the actual song. I swear his voice gets richer and richer. DC definitely has 5 voices. I love all of them but the ’til I’m blue voice is my favorite. His voice sort of resonates like a bell whenever he sings that way. Very unique. Very cool.
LOL. I could not have phrased it more eloquently.
Ryan serenading David? A classic. I generally don’t pay that much attention to all the bromance stuff, but if I had to pick my favorite pairing it would be David and Ryan because they’re like a comedic act. Ryan constantly “embarasses” David by being slightly over the top and David’s reactions are usually priceless. My favorite would be the pre-Avalanche moment where Ryan sort of killed it for David:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gd2L0KEYJY&NR=1
thats the full set list for each concert but Kelly may change a song or 2 depending on how shes feeling or crowd reaction.
Actually, if you read my first post in this thread, I said I stop short of calling Cook a “great” singer. Calling somebody “great” is not only relative– it’s relative to context. People might tell the soloist at your local church that she’s “great”.
In my view, the list of truly “great” singers AI has produced is extremely limited: Kelly, Jennifer, Melinda…. after that MAYBE Clay. Adam is on this level too when it comes to technical proficiency, but he loses it for me when it comes to song interpretation and emotional connection, the latter perhaps being an extra-vocal type of ability rather than a purely vocal one.
Now as far as comparing Cook to Chad Kroeger and other “rock vocalists”, try to imagine, as examples, Chad, Austin of Hinder, or– dare I say it– Chris D., pulling off “Music Of The Night”. I rest my case.
(Incidentally, I do agree with you about the national anthem. That was a mess of a performance. However, I don’t think it reflects Cook’s ability to sing a capella overall. He’s done part of Lie a capella on tour, and it was actually kind of chilling….)
What’s irritating about him incessantly repeating this soundbyte (about his perception of his own vocal inferiority compared to some of his fellow contestants) is that whenever he does it, the interviewer alway puts the quote in print. And that feeds into the “undeserved winner”/ “glorified bar singer” assessment that a few media outlets promulgated….
In actuality, in my days in local music scenes I did come across one (and only one) bar/ club singer who smokes Cook vocally. But, that guy would have certainly “made it” by now (he and his former band were getting really close), except for that nasty heroin addiction of his….
Back on Mr. Leto for a second, last night I googled the band to see what they’re up to currently (supposedly a third album is in the works, but Jared is also up for some roles right now). Anyway, apparently the lead singer for Death Cab To Cutie recently singled him out to call out, basically saying he was just an actor and was a poseur as far as music goes.
My initial observation was that when the front guy for Death Cab can sing like Jared Leto then he can talk. (It is amusing to me that the guy who is, in my opinion, one of the best singers in rock is, in fact, an actor). Although, I can see how the “poseur” tag has legitimacy in one sense, because Jared does “overcompensate” as far as how far he goes to effect the rock frontman “image”.
But, my second observation came from reading the comments section. Apparently, a Jared fanboard must have gotten wind of the article because there were five pages of posts denouncing the Death Cab guy’s comment. So it was refreshing to see that it’s not just Idols who have crazy fandoms!
(ETA: If anyone was confused, or cares, much earlier in this thread I mentioned another band whose lead singer I consider to be on the “great” level. And for some reason, I wrote the band’s name down as “Crossblade”. But, their actual name is Crossfade.)