Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
American Idol Mania Comes to Huntington
It’s a show America Loves to watch and tonight- the American Idols took to the Big Sandy Superstore Arena Stage!
Before the lights went down and the music got loud- NewsChannel 3’s Michael Wooten had a chance to sit down the with Idols to find out what life has been like since they were put in the spotlight!
For many of them, it’s been a busy year touring. For runner-up Blake Lewis he’s been busy working on a record deal. So has the 2007 Idol Winner Jordin Sparks.
American Idol Countdown Week Thursday: #6 - Murtz Jaffer Interviews Phil Stacey
The American Idol Countdown Week continues as I had the chance to sit down with Phil Stacey when the Idols were in Toronto as part of their tour. Sorry for the delay with this, it has been a crazy time with V-Fest and the Fall premieres, but it’s worth it as Stacey says some interesting things, especially when he says that he enjoyed his elimination?…..
….MJ: What’s next for you after the tour is over? An album? Country?
PS: Yeah, there’s an album lined up. It probably won’t be released until next April. My first priority is just to get along with my family. Cater to my wife and cater to my kids for a little while. I am out here on the road here without them. They show up every 14-20 days, something like that……..
Auburn Report
…Taylor Hicks performs
Ex-Auburn student Taylor Hicks sang at halftime, while Auburn’s band played along. Hicks, the 2006 American Idol winner, enrolled in 1995 at Auburn, where he studied business and journalism for three years. A native of Birmingham, Hicks marched off the field pounding his fist into the air with the Auburn band as it played the school fight song
….
Gay Pride day draws thousands
Organizers of Savannah Gay Pride said Saturday’s celebration might have been one of the largest in the group’s existence.
An estimated 8,000 people attended the daylong celebration, event organizers said. The day got under way at 11 a.m. and included a performance in Johnson Square by Kimberley Locke, a former “American Idol” finalist…..
Who’ll rock the BOK Center?
Garth Brooks emerges from retirement to open Tulsa’s 18,000-seat BOK Center.
That’s what the public wants, according to a Tulsa World online survey.
Brooks took the top spot, with 304 of the 1,616 votes cast between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9.
The unscientific survey allowed participants to input the performer of their choice.
Booking the country superstar for the September 2008 grand opening would be a major coup, said John Bolton, the arena’s general manager.
“Of course, we’d love to have Garth,” he said.
“We’d be crazy not to. He’s someone who would bring national attention to the event.”
With Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire ranking second and third in the survey, it’s clear many respondents want the arena’s inaugural event to be an Oklahoman affair……..
Britney? That’s All She Rote
Oops! Britney Spears forgot the words she meant to lip-sync at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 9. With this momentary brain malfunction, she joined the absent-minded ranks of American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee, who dropped a line from her medley of “Hound Dog/All Shook Up” in last year’s finals, and Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, who plumb forgot what she was saying in a pageant interview that became a YouTube sensation………
Television: Who’s getting Emmy love?
Once again, nominees are hit and miss. We predict winners.
…Outstanding reality competition: “The Amazing Race” (CBS), “American Idol” (Fox), “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC), “Project Runway” (Bravo), “Top Chef” (Bravo).
Our pick: These are all wildly entertaining shows, despite some knee-jerk reality-hating out there. We love “Top Chef,” and we can see how the spectacularly filmed “The Amazing Race” wins every year. But “American Idol” is a cultural phenomenon for real reasons, and it deserves an Emmy…
Pulling off the elusive comeback
….PAULA ABDUL
The heights: Former L.A. Lakers cheerleader Abdul reigned supreme as dance-pop diva in the late ’80s with albums such as “Forever Your Girl” and … actually, just “Forever Your Girl.”
The depths: From “Straight Up,” Abdul’s career went straight down, particularly after it was revealed the vocals on some of her hits were not necessarily hers alone.
The comeback: Two words: “American Idol.” Abdul found new fame as the kind-hearted, if loopy, foil to Simon Cowell’s Mr. Mean. Her sometimes bizarre behavior was another story.
The verdict: Day to day. Our advice to Ms. Abdul is to stick with “American Idol” and stay away from painkillers.
Imaginary Trips Beyond Reality
…“Great World of Sound” follows two fictional salesmen who sell bogus recording contracts to aspiring singers and songwriters. In depicting the scam’s victims, the film’s director, Craig Zobel, took a postmodern approach, using the techniques of reality television to comment on reality television. He advertised in newspapers for musicians, then filmed their auditions using hidden cameras, mixing the unwitting performers with the actors playing the salesmen. Parts of the movie resemble “American Idol” crossbred with “Punk’d.”…
George Clooney is Mr Congeniality
Just what is it about George Clooney that people find so irresistible? After seeing him in action, we get the picture
….Does he ever watch ER these days? No. “But my office is right next to the sound stage I spent so much time on, so I see ’em all the time. It’s a different set now – it’s a business,” he says. “When we were there, it was really exciting. People keep forgetting. They talk about American Idol, which is the big hit in America – 22m people watch it. Our reruns were getting 35m. We had 44m people an episode watching.” It was completely unexpected. “We got on this rocket and we didn’t know how to ride it,” he says…
Meeting Mr Motor Mouth
…He makes chopping motions to indicate the dividing lines between his girlfriends. Apparently, it isn’t uncommon for a group of women to turn up at his door, desperate to watch American Idol. “I’m like one of the girls,” he says. “I have a lot of male friends, but I don’t really have a posse of male friends. My male friendships are more one-on-one. These women have actually meant a lot to me over the last few years, and without me consciously trying, they all turned up in the screenplay. It’s quite touching. This is my love-letter-slash-poison-pen letter to them.”…
Britney’s performance raises weighty issues
….Even hollow-eyed, emaciated starlets such as Nicole Richie, Victoria Beckham and Keira Knightley
are subjected to endless speculation about their weight, or lack thereof. And when Mary-Kate Olsen copped to anorexia and “American Idol” contestant Katharine McPhee revealed that she was bulimic, both made headlines….
Alice Walker extends challenge to teens: Write from your heart
….Former “American Idol” runner-up LaToya London, who graduated from Skyline High, joined Walker in Dannenberg’s class Friday.
London will play the part of Nettie in the stage production of “The Color People” opening in San Francisco next month.
While the Skyline students appeared starstruck by London’s appearance in their classroom, many said they were more nervous and awestruck by Walker.
“I want her to correct my paper,” Farlow sad. “I want to know a beautiful soul touched my paper.”
Emmys get the Idol treatment
…….The show will be presented by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest - a decision that has raised some eyebrows.
Unusual choice
“My initial reaction was dismay,” Mr Kronke says. “He just doesn’t really seem to fit the template.
“He’s not really known for being terribly funny - he is the host of a reality show, hosting an awards show that is by and large honouring scripted excellence.”
Previous Emmy hosts include Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O’Brien and Jon Stewart - all veteran comics with their own shows on US TV.
Seacrest’s role on American Idol, a programme that showcases wannabe talent, is that of ringmaster.
He is respected as a slick host, a master of the teleprompter, but he is not known for his ability to deliver an opening monologue designed to get laughs from one of the toughest live audiences in the world……
Seacrest to Spears: Reconsider Emmys!
Emmy Awards Show host Ryan Seacrest is offering Britney Spears time on Sunday night’s broadcast.
The American Idol emcee tells Usmagazine.com that Britney wasn’t included in his show rundown as of Friday night. Still, he hopes that despite the label’s rep comment Friday saying Spears was not planning to be on the Emmys, Britney will change her mind.
He even offers Britney a deal, telling Us: “I am willing to give up my monologue, song and interpretive dance for her apology.”
A Seacrest interpretive dance for a Spears mea culpa? Sounds like a fair trade!
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LKL asked the same question to Ryan the other night. Ryan said why not host both shows-it’s never been done before. I love that part of Ryan that he is always trying new things.
I’m hoping to see them on 10/2, although I don’t have a ticket yet. I’m waffling between purchasing a mediocre ticket from ticketmaster or holding out for a better seat in hopes that the scalpers will bring down their prices closer to the event since it’s not sold out.
New Blake interview:
Murtz Jaffer interviews Blake
The fug tuxedo shirt he wore on the show? Jordin gave it to him.
Like the song, it’s listenable.
JP and I agree, she’s got a killer voice, only she sounds like everybody else, including Jordin Sparks. I would like to hear some originality from these female singers. And like JP states, Idol seems to find the same voice singer each season.
Maybe that’s why Simon is bored
mj,
Not sure if this has been posted (I checked through the posts) but I thought you might find it kinda funny:
Leave Chris Crocker Alone! by Seth Green
http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/09/14/britneys-crazed-fan-gets-spoofed/
Hi all!
LOL, MaryR! I was just about to post that. Hope you’re doing well. :)
Even gorillas have standards.
Seriously, go Phil! He deserves a few extra bucks for having such a great sense of humour (not that he probably needs a few extra bucks)
I think for the following reasons:
1) There is always an opening bit to start the show and give people time to run from the kitchen with their bowl of popcorn. What will Ryan do as his opening bit? Ask people in farmer’s market who they think will win? Billy Crystal is famous because his opening bits were great and got people excited about the show. Sure, Ryan can do what Billy and Conan did, but without the comic timing they have, will it work? I suppose that he can just say “Live from the Kodak, It’s Americ—ooops—-the 59th Annual Emmy Idol Awards”
2) The host is required to bridge between awards. A razor sharp whip can make that bridging more fun. But, you can just say that the next award will be presented after the commercial break.
Look, Ryan may be the best Emmy host ever, but he is an unconventional choice, so people are skeptical. Perhaps he will set a new trend and from now on in, we’ll get Larry King and Regis Philbin hosting all the award shows.
Hi pj! Nice to “see” you! I’m doing well, just far too busy for my taste. Hope you are well too!
Wow - Blake and Maroon 5… I need to start saving for that one! Very cool combo. I hope that comes to pass!
I’m sorry? Was I supposed to like that?
Seriously though, she sounded quite a bit like Jordin.
I’ll be watching the Emmy’s tonight on a three hour tape delay. The only live simulcast we receive on the West Coast is the Oscars sadly. Anyways, it will be interesting to see how Ryan fares: he’s good if it’s scripted, but if he goes off script and tries to be witty it might fall flat. Twenty bucks says Ryan closes the evening with, “Seacrest out!”
Oh, Hugh Laurie and House ftw! (Snowball’s chance in hell, I know, but stranger things have happened…)
Thanks for the links, Lisa and PJ. I did not know either Led Zeppelin song. Either I never heard them before or I never paid attention. They were new to me.