Why has no one else picked up on the fact that Carly Smithson previously worked with Randy Jackson?
Even though Yahoo and Reuters have finally picked up on the Carly Smithson debacle this week (the same story that we posted before Christmas and then again a week later… seriously, you guys should lurk here more often, you’re way behind), no one else has picked up on the fact that Randy Jackson worked for MCA Records the same time Carly was there. Randy was the senior vice president of A&R. That’s big stuff. Come on guys… we posted about that one back on January 28th. So who will be the first news outlet (besides us) to post about it?
More Idol Headlines After the Jump
On Thursday, i did nab a few minutes to gab with Michael Johns, the Aussie native and former Atlantan (plus an early favorite who has gotten plenty of love from the “Idol” judges and producers.)
First off, he’s 29 and for most of his life, he was known as Michael Lee. Last year, he changed it to Michael Johns. (Lee was his dad’s name and he hasn’t been in contact with his dad since he was 15.) Johns is a multiple of his middle name John and his stepdad’s name John.
Access Atlanta
Plus-sized ‘American Idol’ ambitions
“American Idol” contestant Joanne Borgella has been hearing for years that she’s too big to make it in show business.
She’s just never listened.
“Because of my size, every producer, everyone I ever met, would say to my parents, ‘Your daughter doesn’t have the package. She’s an amazing singer, but she has to have the look,’” the 25-year-old plus-sized model from Hoboken told the Daily News. “Because I’ve come from such a strong family, I stayed true to myself and just kept at it.”
It’s a good thing she did.
Paula Abdul: Judge for Yourself
She may not be the most eloquent of speakers, and her singing abilities may have seen their day, but when Paula’s out — people can’t help but watch her every move.
Will Celebrities Remember “the Lyrics?”
Every game show seems to eventually turn to the “celebrity” edition. Fox’s “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” is calling on the celebs sort of early in its run.
Starting next week, celebrities will join host Wayne Brady, singing for their favorite charity.
Those scheduled to “perform” include Poison singer and reality TV lover Bret Michaels, REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin, and former “American Idol” contestant Kimberly Locke. Also expect “surprise” appearances by Kenny Loggins and Gloria Gaynor — the surprise being that they will both sing their own hits.
Soul Patrol, You Have My Apology
It all started with what I thought was an innocent joke - “Taylor Hicks? The guy can sing, but he can’t ball.” Little did I know my well-intended joking jab would come back to haunt me. Yes, Hicks’ fans came here in droves with several people leaving comments and several more personally e-mailing me.
Other than learning this weekend that two seven-footers can shoot way outside from the post area (Tim Duncan and David Robinson during the Shooting Stars competition to lead Team San Antonio to the win), it’s that you do not, I repeat, DO NOT mess with the Soul Patrol!
‘Idol’ Stacey performs at Griffins game
Phil Stacey is about to experience his first hockey game, and he is stoked.
“I used to only follow the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team,” he said in an interview before his appearance at the Grand Rapids Griffins game against the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night.
“Because of ‘American Idol,’ (and the opportunities that came from being on the show), I am a huge sports fan these days,” Stacey said.
Singing the national anthem and sitting on the sidelines of a Jacksonville Jaguars game has been only one dream come true for the budding sports junkie.
Rock, country stars join benefit lineup
The organizers of next week’s massive benefit concert for the Station Family Fund say the goals of the concert are to raise money for the survivors of the fire and to keep the people and the problems left in the wake of the blaze in the public’s memory.
The Phoenix Rising concert on Feb. 25 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, in Providence, will bring a bill including a country segment — with John Rich, of Big & Rich; Gretchen Wilson; Dierks Bentley; Randy Owen, of Alabama; and American Idol’s Kellie Pickler — and a rock segment — featuring an acoustic performance by Staind frontman Aaron Lewis; Twisted Sister; Winger; Tesla; Kevin Max; Stryper; Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl, formerly of the platinum-selling group Boston; Carmine Appice’s SLAM!; Danny Seraphine and more.
Concert review: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood both fall under the country music banner. That’s where most of their sales come from, despite some crossover success. And their awards are in the country category.
But it’s not really country music they’re playing. Instead, it’s a crowd-pleasing blend of pop and rock, with traditional country instruments providing color.
Their crowd — a sold-out 8,426 at the Roanoke Civic Center — was there to rock with them. The audience had to wait about a half-hour after the announced starting time because of logistical difficulties. Urban’s huge setup had forced some on-the-fly audience shuffling, and many people were left standing.
Rascal Flatts `feeling good’
The crowd at the i wireless Center Friday night sure “felt good,” as Rascal Flatts performed once again for a sold-out house.
The show opened with Kellie Pickler, whose vocals were just as sweet as she was. Interacting with the crowd, she strutted back and forth across the stage.
As she sang “One of the Guys,” and “Things that Never Cross a Man’s Mind,” the crowd was laughing, dancing and singing along. Then she brought the crowd home with her by singing the first song she ever wrote, “Small Town Girl.”
Kelly Clarkson tour
KELLY Clarkson will kick off her Australian tour March 1, with special guests Sean Kingston and Mandy Moore.
Clarkson’s new single “Don’t Waste Your time” has powered onto airwaves nationally.
“Don’t Waste Your Time” was the second Most Added Song at Australian radio last week and is the third hit from the platinum “My December” album.
The results reaffirm the powerhouse Texan singer’s status as one of the country’s most popular artists.
Related Posts
The Soul Patrol are the new Claymates getting famous for being rabid and defensive. I hope Taylor’s career survives his fans. The fact that the writer likes his singing but made a joke about his ball playing really makes the whole thing extra insane.
How far gone do you have to be to e-mail the guy? Scary.
RE: Carly Smithson previously worked with Randy Jackson
She still has one ace in her card left if she wants to win the PR battle — the show usually has a “Tell-Me- Something-We-Did-Not-Know-About-You” segment. It is there where most found out that Mandisa was a nail-biter, that Elliott was 90% deaf in one ear, and that Taylor Hicks had fishes named Ray and Lamont ( after his favorite singer ), and that Daughtry was going bald prematurely.
So, Carly could come out and say — “I was a failed recording artist once and this is my second stab at trying. I believe this show is all about giving people a second chance…”
Americans love honesty and usually identify with failure and people trying to overcome it. Being honest about it will help and not hinder your PR with the American Public.
Keeping the $2.2 M MCA deal hidden isn’t going to help. Sooner or later, this news will be blown wide open and your not mentioning it will turn people off.
Wasn’t Taylor a b-baller in school? Can I just say- nice calves! (Sorry about the fan-girly moment)
As for Carly, there are only a few (as far as I know) that DON’T have anything to spill.
I’m glad Kelly is have some success with My December- I enjoy quite a few of the tracks.
Seriously. So someone writes that they LIKE his singing and even that’s not good enough? Sigh. This is why I don’t do fan sites.
I wrote only one E-mail in my “career” (ugh…sorry, but I can’t think of a better word at the minute) as a Taylor fan. That was to Joe Scarborough, and it was specifically because he took quotes from that infamous Relix article and actually transposed them to make what Taylor said seem worse than it was. I found that reprehensible behavior for a supposed journalist.
Re: Carly — I could care less about her deal, but it’s the fact that AI believes that they can hide it from people or, in the alternative, equate her multi-million-dollar contract with Bo Bice’s indie or Taylor’s self-produced CDs that bothers me. Carly wasn’t some struggling artist selling music out of the trunk of her car — she was a product, manufactured in much the same way that the eventual Idol winner will be manufactured.
Nigel would do well to keep his mouth shut in the press. But then again, I admire the fact that he’s not ashamed to practically admit that he believes his audience to be comprised of idiots.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5JHN5HaUg28
A look back at the music business from the old Turtles group. Worth a funny look:
Is it true, as some of the comments following that Taylor article suggest, that fans of other idols actually pretend to be SP and write some of the complaint comments and emails to journalists in order to make the SP look bad? Now that’s just insane! What would cause people to react so childishly?
That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. In a world where people walk into a schoolroom and randomly kill others; in a world in which it has become entertainment to bring other people down in a world that is more interested in Britney than in the issues of hunger, poverty, and war, fans trashing other fans’ “idols” shouldn’t be surprising. What a sick society….
Sorry for the rant. Maybe it’s the nth snowstorm that’s raging outside….Think I’ll go “hibernate” for awhile.
Sorry about the missing punctuation in the above post. Wish I knew how to edit….
And the Claymates will tell you that jellus Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard fans are behind the Claymates nasty reputation.
Fangroup fingerpointing is an old, old Idol story. Sort of like an urban myth…
If true, the Randy Jackson thing would be the worst..conflict of interest thingy.
Yo! Why are they dissin’ Taylor’s mad baller skilz???
I did watch the celeb. b-ball game and let me just say — he is maybe a better golfer than b-baller.
I will also say that he did what he was told. Played some decent D and fed the ball to T.O. He did miss two crucial free throws, though. (Is that going to get me in trouble with the SP?)
Just like how fangroups always think that their own fellow fans don’t have loons in their ranks as well. I’ve yet to see an Idol fan group that doesn’t have a few whackos in it that react exactly like Claymates. Every fan group has had it’s shining moments and everybody from Rolling Stone to ESPN has received a flaming. Poor Chris Sligh got his site attacked for merely relating a story that a producer told him about a previous season. Idols - enter at your own risk.
But, then, I read the Lost boards and people react the same way about fictional characters as well. Sports somehow manages to be even worse. Some people just over-invest.
Wow- was just at VFTW and they found what looks like a recent Ford commercial with Syesha.
Vote For The Worst
So Randy Jackson worked with Carly Smithson before, why am I not surprised. This is the same thing with Jordin last year. The judges knew Jordin before hand and she got an extra edge over many contestants and that’s probably why Carly “Overrated” Smithson is in too. I’m sorry she may sound better than the average singer, but she’s not as great as the judges are acting like she is. The judges are going to push her, push her, and push her until shock elimination, I can already see it.
Frankly they should just cut her now and save face. They can say “see the public is right about her, she just isn’t good enough”. I don’t think the Jordin thing rises to this Carly thing either. Jordin wasn’t signed by the company one of the judges was a VP of, that is a big deal. Not a deal breaker, but a big deal. I really just don’t see the hoopla about her yet.
I am not an SP’er, but will still defend them a bit, they are indeed over the top, but until they compile a hater’s list with names, addresses and pictures, they haven’t quite risen to the horror of the claymates. And I not talking about a group of journalists that they might hate, but ex-fans and fans of other idols. Now that is some scarily, shady sh-t!
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The Mcphans have some loons. I’ll own up.
Yeah, but Nanny, I think y’all are better at weeding out your loons than the SP is :) Wasn’t there a guy who was like actually physically stalking her or something?
You know what I hate is all the generalizations about any group of people.
Good Golly, Miss Molly (and PrplDva!) - I went to take a look and had to cover my eyes! If you scroll down on the VFTW site, you will see a younger, blonder version of Michael Johns (unverified on the authenticity of his ID, of course) in some very steamy shots!
MJ, do we have the phone number for the lady who is the forensics expert that decided TH’s girlfriend was not the same lady he frolicked with on the beach? She could pick up some $$$ for this job!
I’m surprised no one has noticed this one and commented (I’m usually the last one to find new stuff) but maybe everyone else is taking very long, cold showers (or having an afternoon delight by proxy.) Hmmm…is Nascar over yet, Honey?….
So I don’t remember where or with whom I had the discussion about Jason Castro being white or not. This may be the wrong thread to post this (MJ, you can delete this if it is).
This video was linked on one of his facebook fan groups.
Brightcove
His family is from Columbia, he’s the first in his family to be raised and educated in the States.
So since it’a apparently a slow news day (same ole same ole on overdone Carly) can I just say SQUEEE!!! Winger…
Also, I love Don’t Forget the Lyrics and can’t wait to see how Kim Locke does on it. And Yay!!! we get to hear her sing. Also, very ironically, she will be singing with Ricky Minor and his orchestra…
LOL- well you know I just had to go see, drool slurp etc…but it’s not the same guy. The lips and nose are very different.
Just in case y’all were wondering what the “brilliant” minds at Fremantle were dreaming up for us beyond Idol — oh boy — take a look:
Television.AOL.com
It is not a myth. One of the Soulful Sistahs, Ruben’s most rabid fans, ratted them out and gave a Claymate her name and password to go and read the secret board where they plotted the campaign. She couldn’t live with the guilt and the underhanded tactics any longer. The banner was a picture of Clay’s face with sniper cross hairs on it. There were many who saw the board via the log in and copied the posts. These Ruben fans targeted critics, radio stations and black people in the media with accusations of Claymate racism. Star Jones, Oprah and Wayne Brady were a few high profile people that were sent bogus hate mail disguised as Claymates.
The Kelly Fans had a different plan. They called and wrote to radio program directors and complained about hearing Clay on the radio. They called over and over to request Clay’s songs and were extremely rude and pushy to the point that those stations were answering any subsequent real requests with a promise to never play a Clay song on their stations now or ever. They also wrote many over the top comments online and e-mails to music critics pretending to be crazy Claymates. They are still doing it and proud of it.
Carly’s album was being promoted during the time that Randy Jackson was an A&R executive for MCA. It is a conflict of interest. She took the spot of another worthy contestant. Only time will tell how this turns out.
Grammie Kari makes a good point, but as long as she adheres to the rules, I don’t think it disqualifies her. Is there a COI in the AI contract? I don’t think so. But it will cause eyebrows to be raised and she might face backlash from the public.
Jason Castro: Is he the dreadlocks guy? Better get rid of the locks dude. The public won’t go for it. And if he’s Columbian, he’s South American/Hispanic, and they come in all colors, just like African Americans do. There’s as much interracial mixing down there as there is here.
While I don’t think that all the “Claymate” behaviour can be blamed on psychotic Ruben and Kelly fans, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some of it is due to impersonating of fans. Certainly, fan bases do attack critics and such (especially at the beginning before they discover that it is counter-productive to do so…people will go back to their own fan sites to brag about how they told so-and-so off), but some fans seem so determined that their Idol outlast, outperform and outsell the competition that they do seem extreme enough to want to tar the names of other fan bases.
Many long time posters here at MJs may remember Kenneth who was a hate-filled, mysognistic, racist, homophobic “Kat” fan who turned out to be a dedicated psychotic fan of another Idol (and, for once, it wasn’t a Taylor or Chris D fan).
I think, though most of us would like it to be otherwise, there are some amongst each fan group who are both crazy and stupid enought to think that “defending their Idol” with hate-filled rants is actually helpful. I think that is where the bulk of the hate-filled rants come from. But, I wouldn’t put it pass some other equally crazy people to stir the pot.
That’s my point. A fan group doesn’t get a bad reputation unless there are a lot of shenanigans going on. I don’t believe rival fans playing the impersonation game are solely responsible.
No one said that there aren’t over zealous fans. There are in every fan base and no one can convince them to dial it down but there is solid evidence that rival groups were largely responsible. They were proud of what they did and have admitted it. Maybe you are not aware of all that went down, MJ.