Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
SOHH Exclusive: J Records Drops Ruben Studdard
After a promising start as winner of the second season of “American Idol,” Studdard seems to have fallen short of expectations and has been dropped from J. A rep from his label has confirmed the artist’s departure to SOHH.
Studdard’s first J Record release Soulful, released in 2003, is RIAA certified platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel also fared well - reaching gold status. However sales of his 2006 project The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235,000 copies.
Studdard has been putting in work to strengthen other aspects of his career. In November, he spent time touring alongside Robin Givens in a play called “Heaven I Need a Hug” and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is currently preparing to play jazz great Fats Waller in a national theatre tour of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” …………………
An Enlightening Experience
….Among the entertainers were three-time Grammy Award-winner Trisha Yearwood and the popular recording artist and actress Katharine McPhee.
Yearwood, who is one of country music’s most successful artists with more than 10 million albums sold, drew plenty of attention with her energetic singing, which was punctuated by the rhythms of her accompanying acoustic guitarist.
Working through difficulties caused by a malfunctioning second microphone, Katharine, who rose to stardom as a runner-up on television’s “American Idol,” and her mother Peisha McPhee nonetheless presented a performance, which drew much applause and cheers.
Following her performance, Katharine expressed to The Union how much it meant to her to be a part of the event.
“There is nothing more special than singing with my mother this Christmas season,” Katharine said….
Bucky Covington of “American Idol” fame to perform Jan. 25
Tickets are on sale now for country artist Bucky Covington in concert on Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at Penn State York’s Pullo Family Performing Arts Center. Covington, an “American Idol” season five finalist, adds a new twist to the notion that winning is everything. The eighth-place finalist on the hit TV show has now parlayed his “Idol” experience into a burgeoning country music singing career………..
Posters people need in deed from postergods.com
December saw a reurgence in Chris Brown Posters on postergods.com. With his debut with Jordan sparks in her hit single “No Air”, Chris has been our american idol of poster sales. His two posters on our site have been blowing up like a balloon with lots of air!…
Album Reviews
Blake Lewis, Boys Noize, Cam’ron
….It’s disappointing, then, but not entirely surprising, that his debut album, Audio Day Dream, washes out whatever stylistic quirks or ambitions Lewis may have hinted at on the show in favor of predictable, vanilla pop. Audio Day Dream casts Lewis as a budget Justin Timberlake, only without JT’s blown-out personality or the considerable muscle of Timbaland’s futurist production (again, Audio Day Dream gets the budget version; most of the album is produced by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, whose current radio monster, “Apologize,” is itself a Timbaland joint)…..
Vivid Entertainment Launches Website Previewing Sex Video Featuring the Fallen American Idol(R) Finalist Jessica Sierra
Vivid Entertainment, the world’s leading adult movie studio, will launch a special website, jshardcore.com, to preview footage from a sex video featuring Jessica Sierra, a final contestant on AMERICAN IDOL(R) and a star of the VH1(R) Celebrity Rehab program. The site will go live on today, December 19th at 3pm PT/6pm ET.
The “Jessica Sierra Hardcore” DVD is scheduled to be shipped on Wednesday, January 23rd and will go on sale in stores nationwide on Wednesday, January 30, 2008. In the meantime, it can be pre-ordered for mail or VOD delivery on the website.
The preview website shows “teaser” snippets from the video that catch Sierra driving her car while talking about sex, flashing her breast, in the bathtub, taking a shower, having sex with an unidentified person and starting to comment on other Season Four contestants………
Take a Clay ride for Christmas
….Q. How did your role as Sir Robin in “Spamalot” on Broadway come about?
A. They started asking me last year if I’d consider “Spamalot,” and I didn’t know anything about it. So I got tickets to see it in November of last year, and I thought this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We were busy at the time so I didn’t have the ability to do anything with them. So they asked again this summer, and I went and saw it again and I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen in my life. It’s not traditional Broadway at all, which is why I think people enjoy it. That’s why we decided to give it a shot; it’s something completely different than anything that I’ve done or people would expect us to do. We’re excited about it….
Rep: Fantasia Barrino Is Not Pregnant
Fantasia Barrino is “not pregnant,” a rep for her Broadway show, The Color Purple, tells Usmagazine.com…………….
….”Fantasia is not pregnant and the Internet rumors are entirely untrue,” Barrino’s rep confirms to Us………
‘American Idol’ producer talks about seventh-season format changes
American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe believes being successful doesn’t mean you have to be stagnant.
“We always stick to the Idol formula, but we never sort of rest on our laurels. I think you’ve seen every year we try different things and see how it works. We’ve never stopped fiddling around with the format,” Lythgoe told reporters during a conference call last Thursday. “We’re always looking at what to do and how things work, because we want to try and keep it as fresh as possible. Even though the new talent freshens it up every year, there’s still old things that we would like to change.” ………
‘Idol’ Star Sings For Local Students
Former “American Idol” star Kellie Pickler put on a private show for some lucky students who won a texting contest.
Teens at Merion Mercy Academy usually sing her hit “Red High Heels” at lunchtime.
On Wednesday afternoon, they were singing along with Pickler in their auditorium.
The kids won the concert by getting more than 450,000 hits on their Web site….
Whatever Happened to ‘American Idol’ Season One?
With the writers strike still in full bloom, the networks have relied on their reality show repertoire to get them through the holiday season. After the new year, the mother of all reality shows, American Idol, will once again light up water cooler conversations as millions of fans tune in to see who is going to be the next great music sensation. Or, at least, to see the horde of untalented wanna-be’s try to impress perennial judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and the ever doped up Paula Abdul.
As the seventh season of Fox’s most popular show prepares to get underway, we thought we would take a look back at the contestants who started it all and see where they’ve landed now that fifteen minutes of fame is up. This is, whatever happened to… Season One of American Idol? …………
Hospital fundraiser to feature Rob Thomas, John Mayer
Artists Rob Thomas and John Mayer will perform in a live radiothon this morning to benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital.
The hospital’s annual holiday concert is closed to the public but will be broadcast on 95.5 WPLJ FM from 6 to 10 a.m. today. In addition to Thomas and Mayer, the concert will feature Pat Monahan, Elliott Yamin from “American Idol” and the Christmas-themed group Holiday Express……..
Fox Searchlight drawn to ‘Bees’
…. Hudson has a role in the upcoming big-screen version of “Sex and the City”; the Oscar winner and former “American Idol” contestant also is set to star opposite Fanning in Columbia’s drama “Winged Creatures.” Okonedo, who had a breakout role in Terry George’s “Hotel Rwanda,” recently was seen in “Martian Child.” ….
FOUR DAYS IN THE CITY
DAUGHTRY
Often performers who don’t reach the finals of the popular American Idol competition are quickly forgotten, but finishing fourth in 2006 has provided the vocalist and bandleader Daughtry (Chris or Chris Adam) with the right foundation to launch what’s since become an impressive career.
Unlike some of the winners whose debut releases took a long time to get some chart traction, Daughtry’s self-titled band CD not only set a first-week sales record for a new rock date, but by the ninth week it had topped the Billboard charts.
If your measure of success is strictly numerical, then Daughtry’s done better than any other male contestant except Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, and finished just behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood……
Goofier By The Dozen: A Top 12 List Of Why This Critic Loves Job So Much
….4. Jordin Sparks wins “American Idol”: The former plus-sized model became the youngest winner ever. She was 17 when she took the prize in May. Thank God and America’s voters, her victory spared us from having Blake Lewis as the sixth Idol….
The Salvation Army Bell Ringers—an Enduring Christmas Tradition
….In addition, the Army’s faithfulness to its core values, “giving hope today,” attracts citizen and celebrity alike. American Idol star Kelly Clarkson, sang at halftime at this year’s Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Game, ringing in the 2007 Red Kettle Christmas campaign.
Clarkson is not the only singer connected in some way with The Salvation Army. The Beatles song, “Strawberry Fields Forever” was inspired by the Army’s Strawberry Field Children’s home in Liverpool, now a retreat center. John Lennon, who wrote the song with Paul McCartney in 1967, used to play in the home’s garden and attend an annual music fete there with his Aunt Mimi.
Today, the Sallyann bell ringers continue to remind us that we can make a difference. The sum total of the coins tossed in the kettles around the world nourishes millions. And this, one might say, is the true spirit of Christmas.
Fire up for AI
In just a few short weeks, FOX will fire up it’s “American Idol” machine for the 7th time giving the network king status until the end of May. But, before we tune in to see who the next Sanjaya will be, let’s rewind back to January of this year and see just how much of an impact the show has had on the entertainment industry.
January kicked off what was just the beginning of a banner year for several “AI” alumni, including Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks. Hicks’ self-titled debut album entered the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart at No. 2 and his single, “Do I Make You Proud,” was honored by Billboard magazine as the Top Selling Single of 2006. His album would go on to reach platinum status by the end of January. Chris Daughtry (Season 5) and Jennifer Hudson (Season 3) fought over the No. 1 album spot when their albums’ “Daughtry” and Hudson’s “Dreamgirls” soundtrack ruled the charts.
Hudson was making waves for her role as Effie on the box office smash “Dreamgirls.” She earned the coveted Screen Actor’s Guild award and the Golden Globe, which got the ball rolling for a magnificent year for the former Idol finalist.
While the charts screamed Idol madness, so did fans as Season 6 got underway.
Carrie Underwood (Season 4 winner) took home two Grammy awards in February including Best New Artist and Best Country Female for “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” while Katharine McPhee (Season 5) debuted at No. 2 on the album charts with her debut effort…..
….Ace Young (Season 5) signs with Virgin Records and co-writes several tracks with Diane Warren for his debut album….
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That was kinda expected of Reuben. Record companies are brutal these days and it could happen to Britney Spears soon. There was an item in the gossips about Jlo possibly being dropped from Epic because of poor sales.
But show business offers so many opportunities. I just hope Reuben didn’t go out and buy that $1mil house he was looking at, and is being a bit more modest :) in his purchase.
I love reading the “look back” pieces on idol to see how cleverly they have spun the past. Always good for some amusement on a chilly morning.
Someone really should have told the 16-17 years olds to wait a year. Uncle Nigel used up all of his brownie points last year on the younger generation.
And on the “American Idol needs a male country star”, the male country stars that have come out of American Idol (Josh Gracin, Bucky Covington) ran as fast as they could away from 19xyz and signed with Lyric Street, so 19xyz does not have a male country star in their stable. Maybe it’s time for Nigel and co. to take the blinders off…
On the other hand, I hated Pickler on the show, but think that 19xyz was very smart to sign her. She is blossoming into a celebrity in her own right.
I dont’ think I’ve seen this posted here before… but Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers as the first musical guests???
Stars Gather For Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest Shows
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009453810
That article is dated December 14 and is really badly written. That quote from Ryan Seacrest is referring to his New Years Eve special, not to the premier of Idol. The Idol premier will feature an audition city, like always.
American Idol has produce? I thought the audition shows just had turkeys.
That is unfortunate for Ruben, hope he finds a new label soon. Ruben is also a Grammy nominated artist, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Superstar” in 2003.
LBB, is this for emphasis? LOL I posted the link at yesterday’s headlines thread. See here:
http://mjsbigblog.com/?p=3445&cp=1#comments
;)
I don’t know if many New Yorkers lurk here but WPLJ had a terrific Christmas benefit concert this morning. Elliott, Rob Thomas, John Mayer, some guy from Train. Elliott did a smoking version of Merry Christmas Baby with a jam band. Look for it on their podcast. I’m an E fan but I wouldn’t post about a perfomance unless it was exceptional. This was. I thought E and John Mayer blew the rest of the acts away.
Yes you did Purple, so I deleted today’s repost. No need to repeat it.
I saw the pre-show on our local morning news, jpfan, but they never showed the main acts! I’m glad it went so well.
LBB/PURPLE–thanks for the Taylor article! I am loving having him back with us! It’s just great to have him singing/performing again. I am so happy I would even welcome any and all snarks–can’t touch me.
I just LOVE that man, damn-it!
Jen-Hud keeps rolling along:
(FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) – Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) will star in Fox Searchlight’s movie adaptation of Sue Monk Kid’s best-selling 2002 novel The Secret Life of Bees. Dakota Fanning is in talks to star as the story’s 14-year-old girl who runs away from home and takes up with three eccentric beekeeping sisters. Hudson will play the girl’s caregiver, and only friend, who runs away with her. Latifah and Okonedo will play two of the sisters, and Alicia Keys is in talks to play the third. Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball) will direct from her own script, which was finished before the writers’ strike. Shooting on Bees is scheduled to start in early January for release some time in 2008. Hudson is currently shooting the Sex in the City movie and has a role in the Columbia drama Winged Creatures, which also features Fanning. Latifah will next be seen in the Overture comedy Mad Money and the Fox ensemble comedy What Happens in Vegas. Okonedo’s upcoming projects include a role opposite Sam Neill in the indie Skin, and Fanning is currently shooting Summit’s supernatural thriller Push. Bythewood is also working on an adaptation of another best-seller, Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True, for Fox 2000. (Hollywood Reporter)
Chicago-Sally, do you have a link to the Hollywood Reporter story?
I’d like to be able to read the entire article. Also, providing a link to posted articles is proper netiquitte.
I go quite bonkers myself when I find my articles posted somewhere without a link.
ETA: Here is the link to the Jennifer Hudson article: Hollywood Reporter article.
I’m going to repeat this request. Please please: If you contribute news or gossip to the headlines thread…cite your sources AND post a link to those sources. Thank you.
That sucks for Ruben being dropped from his label , but I can’t say that I’m surprised. I don’t believe that Ruben ever intended to be in the spotlight, I never saw that hunger from him. Other than the American Idol finale, when is the last time, you even heard of Ruben Studdard’s name being mentioned. I hope that everything works out for him and hopefully when he gets signed to another label, he’ll do a better job of self promotion and keeping his name out there.
Sorry MJ: I forgot about the link. But you found it.
She’s becoming a major movie star. You know Will Smith is her management company…and he’s developing some TV shows….is it possible Jen-Hud could be in one of his shows?
Hopefully Ruben will find a label that fits his style better. I always liked his voice.
I am shocked!
He was an Idol winner with a Platinum and Gold record under his belt after all.. If that didn’t make him safe, anything is possible. Taylor’s days on a major lable could be numbered…JMO..
At this rate, Carrie will never get out from under the AI umbrella, although maybe that’s what she wants for the rest of her life.
I am not really too surprised about Ruben being dropped. I am a big fan, but to me is always seemed that J was a bad fit for him. He’s a great singer and his concerts are very enjoyable. He’s funny and charming on stage. Considering that he is a high rating urban AC artist he will probably be picked up soon. Just remembering his duet with Jordin from the AI finale brings to mind his potential. I say he find a great female singer and record a cd of duets. Anyway I look forward to seeing what he does in the future. He has that Ain’t Misbehavin’ revival to look foward too. I hope to catch it.
This is a link to the great Elliott version of Merry Christmas Baby done today at the Children’s Hospital Benefit. The woman singing is Melissa Chill and the group is called Holiday Express. The horns are hot. I haven’t heard Elliott sound like this since his great performance of Trouble.
http://www.speedyshare.com/957642476.html
I really didn’t follow Ruben’s season on Idol but as each year passes, there are more Idols putting out records. I’m not surprised Clive is dropping the ones that can’t move units although doing it around the holidays is very creepy.
I fear my man Taylor Hicks will also one day be released from his recording contract. Just not enough folks like me musically to sustain a career for him on a major label, I guess.
Not that 700,000 in sales is bad. If he could do that consistently he’d probably be fine. But there’s no way his next CD is going to get the American Idol first week push like this last one. He’ll be lucky to sell half as well the next go around.
And before anybody rips me, know that I love, Love, LOVE me some Taylor Hicks. To me, he’s the best thing that show ever produced.
I hope I’m wrong. And if I am right, I hope he can find an indy label that will have him and his unique soul sound. It’d be a damn shame if this guy stops making music.
Now, as for Blake’s CD……the reviews seem to be horrible. I bought it on ITunes simply because I like Blake and he’s different. While I won’t say it’s my favorite kind of music, it’s not the steaming pile of crap that I’ve been reading about in some of these reviews. A few of his tunes are actually pretty good. I don’t think he needs to be ashamed of his first effort. I’ve heard a lot worse from the so called “stars”. (I’m looking at you, Daughtry)
I’ve seen good and bad reviews for Blake’s cd, same as with any artist. The review up there from The Stranger is interesting…they seem to dislike it because it’s too pop. Snobs! ;)
Ace’s hometown paper said he was releasing his album on his own label, so I’m a bit skeptical of this. I’ve never heard Virgin mentioned. Do they have a distribution arm? He indicated in a radio interview that he had major distribution.
In another interview he said this year will be his 11th straight year visiting The Childrens Hospital in Denver. Highrollers with Heart are organizing an auction. It ends in an hour and a half. It’s the last one and looks to be raising tons of money. Check it out:
Sorry. I was trying to do too many things at once and my mouse gave out, so I’m now on the laptop which has a faulty T. I had hit enter and it submitted the post before I could finish it.
Anyway, I was referring to the article above that said Ace was signed with Virgin. I have never heard that.
This is the article that indicates he’s on his own label.
As for HRwH, here’s the link.
It ends in an hour and a half and is the last monthly auction, hence all the stuff available. :)
Rueban being cut was bad to happen around christmas but I read an article he was cut before and Clive or company resigning after he lost wieght. It happens artists being let go. Taylor did mention he would try it out for a year but I have a feeling he will be cut and he probably has inkling about it. I am sure Bucky if not country would be too. Katherine looks great which helps.. Yes Elliott going or being a partner in an indie was a good idea . It was very smart exspecially if you do not fit the mold ala Jordan.
I hope he does find a label and I think some contestants are just better getting away from ai even if it mean s another record company or indie.
So Jessica is pregnant, too.
http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/20/jessica-sierra-is-pregnant-and-still-in-jail/
TMZ is reporting/gossiping that Jessica Sierra is pregnant.
I’m really sad about her downfall as I liked her on the show.
http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/20/jessica-sierra-is-pregnant-and-still-in-jail/
Wow… sounds like she’s on a downhill race with Britney Spears. Sad.
Pretty sad, indeed, Lu.
I actually think Taylor will do far better w/ his next cd. He has new PR and after having such a successful tour & this mini-tour in Asia he is bound to far exceed this last CD. He has said in interviews that his next cd will be more ‘organic’ which is the Taylor the majority of his fans love & want. All IMO of course.
I’m guessing Taylor’s next CD will be better, just like Bo’s second CD is better. I’m not sure it will sell more, though. Not that selling more is more important.
K. T. Tundstall, hopefully the spelling is right, is on Virgin records. Google it. Very respectable label.
I heard Break Anotha on a Philippine rdio station for the first time today while I was driving. :)