Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
‘Idol’ time at the Iowa State Fair
You think Sanjaya Malakar is all an act, right?
Sanjaya Malakar may seem like a made-for-TV deal, but his act is no act.That freaky hair, that boyish naiveté, that soft and innocent voice. Fake, fake, fake.
Well, no, no, no.
The guy is really like that.
During an interview session at the Qwest Center Omaha a couple of weeks ago, Malakar and some of his “Idol” cohorts met with reporters and fans before the “American Idol Live Tour,” which comes to the Iowa State Fair on Sunday.
The 17-year-old from Federal Way, Wash., looked and acted exactly like he was on camera. He giggled with teenage girls who had won a radio contest. He smiled and rolled his eyes at tough questions. He even ran and leapt into the arms of an “Idol” security guard, wrapping his legs around her torso.
Long story short, dude’s a weird cat……….
American Idol Finalist Sabrina Sloan Signs Deal With Universal Records Motown
Sabrina Sloan signs with Universal Records Motown and will work on duet album with American Idol finalist Sundance Head
Los Angeles, CA (Billboard Publicity Wire) August 3, 2007 — Sabrina Sloan, finalist from season six of the hit Fox television show American Idol, has just signed a record deal with Universal Records Motown. The first project on tap is a duet album with fellow season six contestant, Sundance Head. Recording is set to begin mid-August. The upcoming duet album is slated for release in November 2007, which will be followed by her solo album……….
‘Idol’ finalists bring talents to Mellon Arena
….Stacey, 29, says he will be leaving the military after the tour and moving from his home in Jacksonville to Nashville to pursue his singing career. He had planned to sign on for a fourth year with the Navy, but he says “American Idol” gave him a new direction.
“When you get on a show like this, it changes your life,” he says.
Malakar also will be making some changes. The teen from Federal Way, Wash., says he’ll be moving to Los Angeles when the tour winds down in late September.
“Once I got on ‘American Idol,’ it was inevitable that I had to move there because of the connections I made,” he says. “I’m definitely doing an album, and I want to learn as much about the entertainment business as I can.”
Malakar credits the show for giving him the push he needed to jump-start his career.
“No one would know who I was without ‘American Idol.’ It was a huge step in my life,” he says……
16-year-old wins title
Horseheads junior will get national tryout for TV show this month.
…”I still can’t believe it’s over and I won. You always have that hope, but everyone here is so good.”
Now that Yaeger has been crowned, she will go on to audition for Fox’s hit series “American Idol.” She will travel to Philadelphia for an Aug. 27 tryout…
Daughtry shakes up rock music with his values
ROCK MUSIC: Chris Daughtry wants his songs to sound good live
Chris Daughtry is not an American original. He admits to and sounds quite comfortable with that, actually.
But he is an American success story. From his star-making run on the fifth season of American Idol – a stint that he no longer wants to talk much about, now that he’s a hit-making, megaselling recording artist – to the sales records he and his self-monikered band, Daughtry, have broken, he’s surpassed every expectation and prediction made by every critic, music-biz suit and obsessive modern rock fan…..
COOL @ NIGHT
EDWIN McCAIN. He might be lost in America, but he’s playing with “American Idol’s” Constantine Maroulis and Kimberly Locke. (6 p.m. Saturday, Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, 516-572-0252. Free. )
Albums of the week
….2) Daughtry - Daughtry: No doubt, Chris Daughtry has the voice. The rasp, the dirty edge, the range… but one thing hangs over the famed singer and wannabe rocker - American Idol.
His debut album is mainstream rock by numbers with each note processed to make him a million dollar artist but the problem remains that the credible rock market HATES people like Chris Daughtry. Just ask Chad Kroeger and Nickleback.
In an album of ultimate promise, the only moment of actual rock credibility is a brief cameo from guitar icon Slash. The way Bon Jovi took the cheques and lost the talent, the way in which Nickelback went from mega-selling superstars to the butt of all the jokes, Daughtry will find all too soon that emotional rock will not set the world alight. Rating 2/5 …..
Cowell admits ’staging’ Walsh return
Music mogul Simon Cowell has admitted to “staging” shots in the new series of his TV talent show The X Factor.
The American Idol star is seen mulling over the firing of previous season judge Louis Walsh in the first episode of the new series, which starts this weekend.
Following Westlife manager Walsh’s departure, Cowell and ITV channel bosses invited Dannii Minogue and choreographer Brian Friedman to join Sharon Osbourne and himself on the judging panel.
Three months later, Walsh was invited to rejoin the show and Friedman was denounced to creative director……
Carrie Underwood’s New Crue
Who is that girl?
The crowd at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon got an extra special treat on August 10 when American Idol Carrie Underwood got down with Motley Crue singer Vince Neil….
Lisa Marie, dad sing duet to create refuge
…Part of the equation was an indecipherable element of starpower or charisma that Lisa Marie felt, but didn’t understand. “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell said no one has come along with “even 50 percent” of Elvis’ charisma…
Ryan Seacrest to Host the Next Super Bowl
FOX will announce on Thursday that American Idol host Ryan Seacrest will serve as the master of ceremonies at the Super Bowl game in January, according to Variety. The Super Bowl is set to take place in February at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona.
Seacrest will handle pre-game hosting duties as celebrities stream in to the game and also will emcee the halftime show.
The NFL has yet to announce the in-game entertainment; last year saw Prince perform at a rainy Orange Bowl in Miami.
This will be the first year of having a red-carpet host is a first for a Super Bowl telecast.
Syvelle takes on Simon
A former USC quarterback may be trading the pigskin for a microphone. Syvelle Newton, who played four positions during his time with the Gamecocks, could face a man even harsher than coach Steve Spurrier after an interception — Simon Cowell.
Newton plans to stand in line with other hopefuls Saturday in North Charleston, waiting for a chance to audition for “American Idol.” He has written several R&B songs, but according to him, none made the cut for audition day.
Newton isn’t sure which tune he’ll choose. Guess he’s just going to call an audible.
Katharine McPhee — Knocked Up?
Tough times for “American Idol” wannabeen Kat McPhee — washing her own car… and packin’ a new baby?
TMZ cameras caught an extremely pregnant looking Kat outside a Los Angeles home yesterday, showing off a sizable belly as she scrubbed a car. So how the hell did McPhee go from stripping down for a Vegas Magazine shoot to sporting a second trimester bump in less than a month? Just Idol speculation: McPhee’s currently filming “House Bunny,” a comedy where she plays a pregnant sorority girl.
Her co-star Anna Faris was there as well, showing off some cleavage — though no preggishness — while walking around set in a robe and bright pink bathing suit top.
‘Idol’ inspired by R&B greats
Taylor Hicks ready for Soul Patrol in city Thursday
Lionel Richie and Tina Turner.
That’s the dynamic duo that started it all for Taylor Hicks.
Watching those two perform in Birmingham, Ala., at the first concert he ever attended as a 6-year-old, the future “American Idol” wasn’t sure what was stirring inside of him.
But he knew it was there.
“I just really felt something when I left,” Hicks told the Poughkeepsie Journal in a recent interview. “I felt the excitement.”
Twenty-four years later, Hicks has been spreading that “excitement” across the country since his tour kicked off in his native state in June, bringing his show to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
“I’m happy to be playing for anybody and everybody,” said Hicks, adding his legions of devoted fans have responded well to his current tour. “The Soul Patrol is happy.”
Count Janice Haynes among those satisfied Soul Patrol-ers…………..
No Idol chatter: Studdard plans club
…The working name for Studdard’s venue is Ruben’s Club 205, and it would offer the kind of soulful music he’s known for, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Executive Director Jack Fields said during a BJCC board meeting…
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Sorry Late Crew, woke up this morning to a four hour long powercut.
Suffered coffee and chat withdrawal!
Not a good way to start the day.
Lisa you’re doing fine. What’s the secret to your energy?
No secret, I’m five hours ahead of the blog in the UK.
Morning LisaB. The Metro reviewer — slash and burn! Is that journal always so cut and dried?
Hope your house and surroundings are all dried out?
Cheers!
It was the oldest parts of the cottage that was flooded.
It could take six weeks or more to dry out(with the help of industrial fans and a dehumidifier on 24/7) before any remedial work can be carried out.
The British reviews of Daughtry are not surprising me to be honest.
We have a large pool of credible rockers here already.
Daughtry will never be considered anything more than Pop here.
Lisa — meet me in chat for a few moments, please.
They released a video for that Dean Martin/Paris Bennett duet “Baby-O” to Yahoo Music. It’s just archival footage of Dean Martin interspersed with shots of Paris in a recording studio, but it’s kind of fun.
Here is a link to the search page where you can watch it from:
Baby-O search page
I hesitate to post this “news” from Dlisted, but at least Sanjaya is getting more press than anybody else:
Writer Nick Tosches can’t tell the difference between “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier and Sanjaya from “American Idol.” He wrote in this month’s Maxim.
“He (Sangina) looked like what in Cambodia is called a ladyboy, and he seemed wholly devoid of essence or substance. Then, a few weeks later, I’m watching this unwatchable movie called ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and the guy who plays the boyfriend of the girl who works for Meryl Streep [Grenier] is Sanjaya. I mean, it’s not really him, but it looks exactly like him. And now he’s everywhere.”
Two things. The first being, The Devil Wears Prada was good shit. The second being, that dude must’ve been smoking some serious serious chron. HE should marry McConagay!
I don’t see it, but then again I’m not spending hours studying the face of Sangina.
Source: Page Six
Lisa — so sorry to hear about your house troubles. Hope you dry out soon.
Topic: I’ve started watching Dancing With The Stars off of TiVo and forwarding through the Judges comments. I find the show makes a whole lot more sense that way. I plan on using the same process with AI7.
Although press has been released that both Jordin and Blake are working on records, there doesn’t seem to be much “coronation of Jordin” press going on. This says to me that TPTB didn’t learn from their mistakes and we may be in for a whole lot of meh going on if TPTB won’t make it competitive.
Please, oh spirits of idol past, let there be at least one person this year with a competitive spirit who will continually up their game in order to make this show interesting again.
Lisa, are you in London with all the flooding? I heard it’s absolutely terrible.
t2: there have been many comments about the diff in judging betw DWTS and AI…and a lot of people would like AI to do likewise. The problem I find with all these shows is they never give NUMBERS or PERCENTAGES…maybe they tell the contestants what the numbers are, but as an audience member I’m anxious to know.
I think AI did it one season (3) they said so&so got X% of the vote….but it never happened again. I wonder what the logic behind it is; does anybody know?
Nigel has said that they don’t reveal the vote totals because it would effect the vote/viewership. Some years, there have been contestants so far ahead for most of the competition that the fans of other contestants might give up watching/voting if they knew (plus front-runner voters might get lazy). They have to keep people on their toes. If people don’t know the vote totals, they think that their favourite still has hope of winning and even the front-runner fans will vote like fiends because they don’t know how close the competition is.
I remember when I lived in Western Canada and knew who won before I even voted, Kirsten. It made the west feel insignificant so I can see the reason for the change.
I’m not surprised that Chris Daughtry wouldn’t be a big hit in the UK. Lisa B warned us.
I’m sure different things are popular there and there are likely some big bands there that wouldn’t make it here either. I know it’s the same thing in Canada. An example of that is the Tragically Hip who were huge there but never caught on in the U.S.
And France is reportedly famous for having the oddest hits compared to the rest of the world. And let’s not forget how well The Hoff did in Germany.
It’s been 30 years since Elvis died. Get ready for Elvis movies all over your tv.
David Hasselhoff
t2 - I agree 100% with your post. If winning this show doesn’t matter it’s just a glorified variety show. I hope S7 feels more like a real competition again.
For a moment there, I thought LisaB may have killed the thread.
ROFLMAO
LisaB-sorry about the power outage. DB, Gnola and I missed you and the gang last night :) We were the lone late crew *tear*
I saw the Carrie/Vince Neil video on gactv.com. She looked like she was having fun. It cracked me up that the articles mention that she wouldnt sing the cuss words.
Elvis Schmelvis..today is Mykelanne’s 8th birthday!
Off to celebrate and go to open house at the school :) See you chatters tonight!!
Happy Birthday to DCD kid
(**scratches head while wondering if HM and HSM2 CDs are inside beautifully wrapped packages**)
HMWD
HSM2WD
ETA: least anyone forget…
PPWD
Don’t remind me. It’s all we heard about when Dirk Nowitski mentioned that he loved his music. The Hoff even showed up in Dallas during the playoffs that year.
I’m sitting here right now watching Taylor Hicks perform on Ellen. Such a shame that a performer with such potential just doesn’t have good songs on his album. Ah well. He has his fans I guess…
I agree, Marco. I love watching Taylor, but to just listen to the CD … well, the songs just aren’t that good. Dang. I hope his next one is better. I think that the songwriters that do country are just better songwriters. In country music, the kitschier the songs are, the better. Carrie and Kellie just had GREAT songs to work with. But I seriously heart Taylor anyway.
A local station in Indiana just interviewed Sanjaya, Mindy, and Jordin. The girls say that Sanjaya is favorite with the female fans. I hope the weather is not a factor for the show tonight.
Have a Happy Birthday Mykelanne!
*waves to Vegas* Long time no see, my friend!
Fred Bronson posted this in his Chart Beat column
Is he accurate with info? Because by the way that’s worded he makes it sound like that there won’t be any other 19/BMG signings other than Jordin/Blake?
Fred has a lot of connections, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he does know that none of the others will be signed.
Sony/BMG has the exclusive right to negotiate with the finalists until 90 days after the finale. That will be August 23rd this year. If Clive was going to sign one of the other finalists, he only has a week to do it before they become “free agents”.
Normally, I would say that it’s safe to assume that if they aren’t signed by now, Clive isn’t going to sign them. Last year, all the signings had be announced by mid-July. This year, we don’t seem to be getting any announcements at all (and are kind of finding out through other sources that Jordin and Blake were signed), so who knows what they are up to? From things that the Idols have said, it seems clear that many of them know that they are not getting contracts from Clive (e.g. Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey).
The FOX station just interviewed Jordin and Chris Sligh before the show tonight. Jordin said that her album will be dropping in November, and Chris said “your state smells like cow manure”. Gee thanks for the kind words Sligh.
Here’s a couple of interviews from Toronto…
Chris Richardson - mentions flying to LA to record a song with Blake…maybe the one he wrote for him??
Blake - talks at length about his CD.
Well if you look at season 4 and 5, they signed too many artists, and are probably pulling back this season. Not because of the talent, but maybe BMG doesn’t want to be top-heavy with IDOLS. They have some signed that are underperforming - and it’s not THEIR fault - like Clay, Reuben, Fantasia (who’s doing well, but not spectacular). And believe me, they’re not going to sign anybody to the country label, they have too many already signed. Blake is doing the right thing by recording a CD FIRST and presenting it to the record company to see if they like it and if not, shopping it around. I think this is what’s going to happen to several IDOLS.
The record business and music business has changed dramatically.
I just learned that Jennifer Hudson’s complete debut album was SCRAPPED AND THEY ARE STARTING FROM SCRATCH WITH NEW PRODUCERS. Now what does that tell you? And she has bowed out of the Meet the Brown Movies, we don’t know why, but it could be conflict with the new Album, that’s my guess.
Who knows what the public wants these days? Who would have thought a song titled UMBRELLA would be a hit? What I’m getting at is the business has changed dramatically and it’s not so by the numbers anymore. These companies don’t want to put millions into a&r, development, management, marketing and then have the CD bomb. (see Jennifer Hudson) It’s going to be this way in the future - that the artist like Constantine and Blake set up their own label or production team and shop the CD around.
Thanks Kristen. Wasn’t sure about his track record. I was hoping to hear something about Melinda by now, but really I wouldn’t be shocked if no one else gets picked up by Clive. I wonder if they used those download totals as a way of deciding? Those were pretty awful. Re: That Blake interview Star just posted. That’s quite a list of producers. Mike Elizondo did a lot of work with Eminem and Dr. Dre. I loved his work when I was really into the hip hop scene. That’s a pretty impressive name to have. Now do we know of anyone Jordin is working with? I know there’s was that mention of Stargate but other than that a lot of silence. Its weird.
Also on the new Maroon 5 album, which is awesome (ding!). I have a good feeling. :)
Is this true? It seems like they only signed the winner and runner up from seasons 4 and 5 (and 3) plus Chris D. and Kellie. J. Hudson was signed after she did Dreamgirls. They are contractually obligated to sign the winner and they have signed the runner up every year. And based on sales, I would say the Chris D. and Kellie signings were pretty good moves.
Beyond those they are contractually obligated to sign, I would think they try to sign any singer they think they can make money off of. Of course, some Idols might reject the deal offered (e.g., promotion level, song selection, money, etc) and seek better terms elsewhere. So far, it seems the only miscalculation of Sony/BMG has been Josh Gracin at least in pure dollars.
There’s also the smaller distribution deals they do to keep some Idol artists (and some of that resulting cash) in the Sony/BMG family that they don’t sign to record deals like Elliott and Constantine.
Maybe, but they didn’t seem to care too much about the download stats when they signed Kellie last year. She only had the 7th most popular track on the compilation album. Of the Idols unsigned by Clive, Elliott, Paris and Ace all outsold her. Kellie only managed to sell 1K more than Mandisa and 2K more than Melissa (as of mid July last year, Kellie had sold 8,400 downloads). And, look how well she’s done despite that.
Kellie said that she met with Sony/BMG reps shortly after she was booted (as did Chris who met with Clive the day after the boot), so I think they sometimes decide fairly eary who they want to sign.
Finally, a bit on international distribution of Elliott’s CD and other good Elliott news. Yay!
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS/UPDATES
Current mood: excited
Category: Blogging
Hey everybody!!…I hope all is well!…w/the exception of my jdrf blog, I know it’s been a while since I’ve chatted w/yall!…thanks so much for hangin in there w/me!…as yall may be aware, I’ve been on the road on a media/tv tour to help advance the 2nd leg of my club/theatre tour, and set up the next single!…can’t wait to release it, as we have a few tricks up our sleeve!…and as far as “Wait For You” goes…thanks to you guys, it just wont die!!!!…it’s still among the top in callout research and continues to climb the charts !!!…and now we actually have a legitimate shot @reaching 1…WOW!!!!!…..so, as you can see, our 2nd leg of the tour kicks off October 5th @Park West in Chicago…of course I’m going to be bringing out my homie Josh Hoge, who absolutely killed it last time out….and I’m also pleased to announce that we’ve added another opening band-my good friends called The Last Goodnight…they are a super talented breaking band, and I want everybody to show them tons of love as we come to a city near you!…note: we are currently negotiating 3 more shows/cities to add to our tour, so as soon as we confirm, they’ll be posted!..I also want to let yall know that I’m currently working on an official fan club…once it’s established, it will give yall exclusive access to tickets, meet and greets, merchandise, etc…..I also want to apoligize to anyone not seeing their comments posted from time to time!…right now, I’m the only one who is actually reading/approving your comments…my schedule has become a little more hectic these days so please bare w/me…also, just did an amazing new photo shoot in Nashville w/photographer Jeremy Cowart…we’ve got some great new shots that we’ll be using for the cover of a diabetes magazine, and print ads for Diet Pepsi, AT&T, and PETA….also getting ready to close a deal which will distribute my record internationally!!!….all of these great oppurtunities I am seizing would not be possible w/o the undying support of all of you!…I am always concious of that, and forever grateful!…Special Thanks to Fred Croshal for running my virtual label!…everybody over @SONY/BMG RED (Danny Buch, Mark Gorlick)for knocking it out of the park @radio!!!…everybody @HITS! Magazine…..and Big ups to Brandon Crowe and all of Etrain moderators and fellow etrainers (haven’t forgotten about my promise to get you those signed cd’s)….you all are the best, most rabid fans in the world, and we are making history together!…let’s keep this train moving!!!…thank yall and god bless!
~Elliott~
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=61700104&blogID=300394393&Mytoken=6D9BA89D-AC50-404E-A963FD32C361C71728174199
IMO we’re obsessing too much over signings and sales numbers. I wonder if anyone knows or heard why BMG scrapped Jennifer Hudson’s debut album? isn’t that really unusual to put that much time and money and production into an album and then scrap it? Where’s Nevada when we need him?
Where’s Nevada when we need him?
In the Ladies Room.
NOLA lmfao