Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
De Pere native takes stab at ‘Idol’
First there were 8,000 “American Idol” hopefuls at Charleston, S.C. Then about 300, then 120 and then 60, including De Pere native Maggie McGinn.
Those 60 performed in front of the judges millions know from watching the hit TV show — Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.
“I was the first one to go out to audition of the bunch, and I got cut,” McGinn said matter-of-factly.
The experience that started three weeks ago was worthwhile, said McGinn, 23, a regular in the Let Me Be Frank Productions show troupe at the Meyer Theatre.
‘American Idol,’ San Diego style
SAN DIEGO – At a ballroom nestled deep in a sleepy Rancho Bernardo hotel, history was made two times over Wednesday.
The star judges of “American Idol” made their San Diego debut. And Simon Cowell uttered a compliment.It might not have been precisely the first time Cowell, the cynic-in-chief of the hit Fox-TV show, had something nice to say.But at a news conference at the Rancho Bernardo Inn with fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson (plus “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest), Cowell pronounced himself pleasantly surprised at the wealth of local singing talent.
Rascal Flatts Keeps on Touring
September 13, 2007 – The final leg of the tour kicks off Oct. 12 in Chicago and runs through Nov. 4 in Tampa. Other stops include Atlanta, St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. Jason Aldean will be the opening act on most shows, with Kellie Pickler filling in on other dates.
Kimberly Locke on Britney Spears’s VMA Flop
“It was a mess!” The songstress proclaimed. “A mess, mess, MESS! Why even go on? I can’t believe a mediocre singer would be given so many opportunites and not take advantage of them. She was embarrassing. A complete MESS!”
Reba McEntire Will Sing on Oprah
Reba McEntire will appear on the The Oprah Winfrey Show on Wednesday (Sept. 19). She’ll perform duets with Kelly Clarkson and Justin Timberlake from her new CD, Reba Duets, which will be released Tuesday (Sept. 18).
Q&A: Idol’s Chris Richardson talks about his future, his home
Chesapeake’s Chris Richardson and his “American Idol” pals are out to prove they’re more than pretty faces flashed across a TV screen.The top 10 contestants are coming to Hampton Coliseum Tuesday for a stop on the American Idols Live! tour.According to reports, the show includes two-and-a-half hours of singing, dancing and even a little jamming.We interviewed Richardson by phone this week. Here’s what he had to say about his life, music and his return to Hampton Roads.
Daughtry at The Big E
Daughtry, fronted by former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry, is making its way to the Big E in West Springfield on Saturday, September 15.
Idol Stars Winckler & Robinson Join ‘Rent’ National Tour
New cast changes for the national tour of Rent have announced: Heinz Winckler will be playing Roger Davis and Anwar Robinson will be taking on the role of Tom Collins. Winckler was the winner of the first “South African Idol” in 2002 and the 4th place finalist in the 2003 inaugural “World Idol” competition, in which he competed against “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson. Robinson was the 7th place finalist on the 4th season of “American Idol.”
Church hosts back-to-school rally; Pentecostals of Dover stage event Friday
DOVER DE — The Pentecostals of Dover on West Denneys Road are hosting a back-to-school rally Friday at the church featuring a live performance by American Idol finalist George Huff and local gospel singer Tammy Trout.
The event will start at 7:30 p.m. and anyone who wants to attend is welcome.
Ryan Seacrest Has Emmy Jitters!
As Los Angeles prepares to roll out the red carpet for this weekend’s Emmy’s, is Simon Cowell hoping that Ryan Seacrest will bomb?
Idol tour still has high school feeling
WASHINGTON Keep an eye out for the running Pop-Tart.
And also a yellow-shirted security guard hovering near the stage.
Either could be, believe it or not, Blake Lewis.
At Sunday’s stop of the “American Idols Live!” tour at D.C.’s Verizon Center, the cute-as-a-muffin Lewis psyched fans out by hanging around onstage dressed as a guard, a wig and hat covering his famous blond spikes.
Moments before Lewis’ big reveal, a mom sitting nearby whispered that she had taken her kids to the Atlantic City, N.J., show the night before and had it on good authority that the prankster also likes to don the Pop-Tarts (tour sponsor) garb for some incognito pre-show fan visits.
Covington excited to continue his outdoor concert streak in Ashland
ASHLAND — When Bucky Covington performs at the Poage Landing Days festivities in Ashland on Saturday, it will continue a long run of outdoor summer shows for the former “American Idol” finalist. And, that is just the way he likes it.
“Over the summer, we got to play a bunch of fairs and festivals, and we’ve had some great crowds and everything, and having a ball,” Covington said. “I love outdoor gigs. I like being outside. I’m an outside type of person. But, I love the fairs and festivals because you’re at a fair. Everybody is in a good mood at a fair.
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As if she should talk!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6xlBjDlgE
SQUEE!!! Anwar news. I hope this is the start of many good things for him.
Wow. Kellie Pickler opening for Rascal Flatts. I’m very impressed. She’s doing way, way better than I ever imagined. Chris R interview has lots of new album info. Thanks.
Just wanted to pop in and say that the season 6 show in Memphis last night was fantastic! I’ll recap later this afternoon or tonight
Pls do dcd74! I love to read those recaps. And Chris R is so endearing in that interview. If he ever did something with Elliott, my other favorite I think I might DIE!
OK, two things — as a vocalist, I’ll admit Kim Locke is way better than Britney. As an entertaining performer ? No comparison. I’d watch good ol’ Brat ( ooops, I mean Brit ) anytime.
Also, Kim Locke is a textbook example of how your single can receive tons of airplay, hit the top 10 on mediabase ( peak at #8 if I’m not mistaken ), and still not move album sales.
You know what’s also a mess? Selling 15,000 CD’s in 4 months despite getting airplay. MESS!!
Good luck with that.
Delurking to say I went to American Idol tour in
Memphis last night with dcd. Truly a very entertaining show.
They really are a very talented group. We had a great time, as did everyone there. Chris R.(who I did not really like on the show) is adorable and really sounds great live.
dcd will give a full recap later, I’m sure.
From the Chris Rich interview:
This corroborates what we heard earlier from a Blake fan.
Chris also mentions that he might work with Elliott on a song for his album. :)
DCD and koolmom, glad you had fun and can’t wait to read DCD’s recap!
Kim lock has said what everyone else has said .Elliot - advoided it and was being nice and made me wonder if he was at the same place. Kayen West had the best answere of them all.
Chris Richardson- I think it is great he is writting songs for his fellow contestants and wish he would write one for Taylor and other passed contestants too . I hope his label, ai lets him or that the other contestants are open to it. Contestants helping eachother is a positive because as seen in the passed american idol or the labels pick and chose.
Yes I know it is a set up the Brit question.
I also am tired of the overzelous fan from the comment section fighting between the american idol contestants even if it is a few. This includes all the top 4 in season 5 for diferent reasons.
To my knowledge none of them have a place in cleavelnd oh or are the next Elvis , Beatles and are changing the landscape.
The happy meter on the contestants so far is positive . If on a few fans were known it broke.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20056684,00.html
American Idol Judges Offer to Help Britney Spears
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2007 05:45 PM EDT
By Mike Fleeman
Not to be cynical, but I hope she’s not paying them to open (like Nevada stated some artists pay to be on the bill)….but honestly, Kellie needs as much TV exposure as Carrie is getting…awards shows, specials, choice awards, talk shows (Regis?) etc. Otherwise she will be forgotten really soon.
And if I was her manager I would get her the he** away from country…it’s too crowded, even though she feels that’s her genre, she could just as well do Broadway.
Why do a lot of female singers find it necessarily nowadays to strip down in order to entertain ? Kim Locke doesn’t need to do that, she has the voice. Just sayin…
I have to disagree, Sally. I think Kellie is right where she should be. No way does she have the pipes to pull off Broadway. And if she’s not as big as Carrie, who cares? As long as she’s happy with her career. If she should do anything else, besides country, it should be a sitcom. JMO.
Chris Richardson will probably be in all five Grammy nominees for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration in 2009.
And with this comment…
…Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Carrie is not that far behind. LOL
Hi, eyin. :) In a few days, Elliott will be here. Yay!
I think Chris R will be the next Idol to visit Manila (after Elliott). Unless Chris D beats him to it, of course. :D
USA today has a run-down of the fall album battles (no doubt, inspired by the Kanye vs 50 cent “feud”). Everything from the battle of the divas (Celine vs Mariah) to R&B Royalty (Mary J Blige vs Alicia Keys).
They have a battle of the Idols, too:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-09-12-fall-music-cover_N.htm?csp=34
In other news, Ken is planning an all seasons revisionist Idol…he says:
Sounds like it’s going to be a doozy. You reap what you sow, so no sympathy from me when the crazies come to party.
Hey, WTH was Kim Locke doing in her underwear? Where was that?
Bravo Kim, a little honesty never hurts. Brit is a mediocre singer, and was a complete mess.
Bucky and Kellie really have been stepping up the touring lately. I’m impressed that Bucky is pretty much splitting the tour bill and adding new venues. People really want to see Bucky and good for him. He sounds fantastic live. It will be interesting to see if Kellie can make the jump from opening act and guest filler to more of the bill splitting like Bucky. Why don’t Bucky and Kellie go on tour together? As far as I know, they seem to be friends and hang out together a lot while both are in Nashville. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince them to do it.
As for Chris R, if he gets the right material and right songs, we could have another Bucky situation. A lot of people were skeptical if Bucky could make it in music and he has. He’s been a huge force in country music this year. Chris R. could do the same in his chosen pop/R and B field. He’s definately a sleeper.
As for Kimberley Locke, a girl who has gone on countless reality shows to prop up her almost non-existent singing career should not talk about being given numerous chances and not capitalizing on them. Whether she meant it as a friendly criique or not, it came across as arrogant and condescending. However, I always thought she had a little ego problem on the show so it doesn’t surprise me. If Constantine and Carmen R. didn’t say anything (the Idols who tend to speak up first) then she should have remained silent also.
And yet, in the same article, the reporter claims that Kim “did mention that her own latest album is in the top 20 on the charts” which we all know is scary false. So was Kim being “honest” or a z-list celebrity providing an extreme comment to get a little press and hopefully promote her album?
Only the Celebrity Fit Club p.r. department knows fo sho…
From Billboard:
“After weeks of public rivalry between 50 Cent and Kanye West about whose Sept. 11 album release would sell more copies, West’s “Graduation” (Def Jam) has pulled into a six-figure lead over 50’s “Curtis” (G-Unit/Interscope), based on projections from representatives at the four major labels. That data indicates “Graduation” leads with 781,000 units, followed by “Curtis” with 603,000.”
And that’s just as of today. Do these guys know how to milk a phony feud to sell albums or what? I think Idol could learn from them. Forget the fan wars, let’s get some Idol feuds to push the merchandise.
KImberely Locke has had way too much to say lately. I don’t think it’s classy to criticize another singer like that. KiIm can sing, but she can’t entertain, and that’s why she isn’t selling.
Very cool - my two Va boys might do something together. I like it!
I’m on the side of those that think Kim Locke should shut it.. Geesh - pot/kettle…
I know very little about Kim Locke, but from her EW “Judge the Judges” comments, I always thought she came across as a bit bitter.
Arista now has Blake listed as a November 27th release date.
http://www.jrecords.com/
You have to click on the “releases” page to see it. Still has title TBD and no album art up yet.
I was actually getting ready to comment about the EW “Judge the Judges” that she did. She was pretty harsh to say the least.
Yeah about Blake’s release date being listed over at Arista:)
I think that is what Bo is trying to do with his album release. He moved the release date out from September to be the same date as Carrie, October 23. Don’t tell me that wasn’t done to generate a bit of extra press (I’m sure that a few articles will mention that Carrie and Bo are having a rematch of Season 4). I don’t think he has any expectations of winning first week sales, but he’s doing it just to get some extra buzz. Good for him.
Also, I think that the “feud” of season 2 helped to increase sales for both Clay and Ruben. I seem to recall old Clive himself saying that he was going to drop their coronation singles on the same day so that they could compete again in the market place.
I’m not sure why they moved away from that strategy. Could be because TCO got handily beaten (although Ruben posted very good numbers too). Originally, Taylor, Kat and Kellie were to have dropped their albums on the same day last year (Chris was the only one to originally get his own date), but that did not work out. In the end, the only two idols to release on the same day last year were Fantasia and Taylor, but nobody much seemed to try to turn that into a feud.
Blake and Jordin dropped their singles on the same day this year, but TPTB did such a crapola job of getting the word out that those singles were for sale, it’s not suprising no “publicity feud” was created. I doubt 19Alphabet spent 5 seconds thinking of a marketing strategy for that release.
Actual transcript:
Fuller: Nigel, send those Final 2 MP3s over to iTunes before you turn out the lights.
Nigel: Um, yeah, okay, I’ll get one of the flunkies to do it. What do you think we should do with all the recordings from the other Idols this season. Should I just delete them so we have more room for ****?
Fuller: Yeah, whatever.
Next day:
Nigel: You know what that idiot flunky did with those other singles? She sent them all to iTunes and deleted all our best ****!
Fuller: I presume you’ve canned her already?
Nigel: Do you have to ask? The iTunes people want to know WTF those extra singles are for.
Fuller: Eh. Whatever.
Nigel: Maybe we could tell them to release them too. Make a few bucks.
Fuller. Whatever. More importantly, can tech support recover all our ****?
Nigel: I have our best people working on it.
Koolmom, are you sure you’re not MY mom? I swear, that’s exactly what I thought and verbalized after seeing him back in July in Tampa. Hee! Glad you two enjoyed the show!
Can’t wait to read your recap, dcd!!
LMAO. And this, folks, is why I heart eyin.
And once again - Kirsten, I bow to your brilliance. :)
Kanye just might have first week sales of over a million albums as his “Graduation” gift.
Nice.
It is nice. Go Kanye/50/Kenny! They are giving the industry a real shot in the arm this week. After having the worst week in SS history last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be the best sales week of 2007. Getting people back into the record stores will may help other artists as well.
I saw this over at Pulse:
I think that means that Kanye has already sold 600K units without considering any other music outlets and with weekend sales still to come.
BTW, the article also says: “SoundScan’s newly launched Building Charts offer an indication of how each week’s chart races are shaping up.” Sounds like SoundScan is trying to move in on HDD’s niche.
I wonder why anyone would seek Kim Locke’s opinion on anything.
The way things are going now, she should look for some other career options. Apparently the”Reunion Tour” isn’t happening any time soon. Can you spell desperate? 
Britney was a complete and total MESS - as if that’s news. Doesn’t take a recording contract to recognize that. Even my dog howled.
So, Kimberly Locke has the right to her opinion, regardless of her sales, as does my dog who put his paws over his ears and tried to sing Suwannee to kill the pain. Ouch.
Sally, Kellie P is just where she needs to be and more than anyone expected from her (back when). I’d rather encourage someone who most felt would fade away rather than take her success and make it a problem.
Kellie P is doing fine, as is Elliott and Bucky. I prefer to believe that they’re working on long term success which beats the hell out of flash in the pan.
Go Bo!
jobbix, why would anyone seek Britney’s opinion?
Wait — they haven’t. They just laugh at her.
this just goes to show what good management can do for you. She doesn’t have good management. Her albums get passing reviews, but ….management is falling down….however, if you look at Jennifer who hasn’t released a CD yet, she’s all over the place on TV and making movies — good management.
As for Kellie — IMO — she’s cute, she’s outspoken, she’s got a great personality (vs. Carrie U), good voice, she needs to soar and not be in the country patch. She should be on TV doing “the view” type showsa, she should branch out into other genres (whether pop or Broadway), but we will see by the end of next year. I have a feeling and maybe I’m wrong, that she’s going to be on that tour track for a long time and not make an impact, and she has too much charisma for that….betcha we hear about a management change before the end of the year.
Everyone has the right to their opinion. I don’t put much stock in an opinion of someone whose opinion of themselves is over the top, imo. One only needs to see the youtube posted in this thread of Kim Locke prancing around in a bikini attempting to sing/perform to understand what I mean. So I still say - pot/kettle.
Where was she #8? I was thinking it was the AC chart. #1 on the AC chart right now is getting about 3000 spins. #1 on Top 40 is getting about 9500 spins. If we’re talking top 10 on AC I’m not sure that on it’s own is going to move a bunch of cds.
Exactly. Kellie is exactly where she should be and doing damn well in that area too. Not everyone can have that overnight, Carrie Underwood-type success. Kellie is doing very well in the country scene. Touring with Brad Paisley and then Rascal Flatts is nothing to sniff at. I’d imagine that she’s quite content where she is. Sure, some side projects would be great, but if country music is really her first love, what gives us the right to tell her that’s not where she should be?? Just because she hasn’t sold 6 million of her debut album and is in a “crowded” field (like the zillions of pop princesses aren’t in a “crowded” field). Kellie is most certainly on the right track.
And with that, I’m headed off to the beach for the day, since the remaining beach weekends are dwindling.
Amen Sista Sarah! Have fun at the beach!