‘American Idol’ tour hits the right notes in Glendale
Talk about fixing what was broken. In previous outings, the annual American Idol tour featured the season’s top 10 contestants performing a large amount of group numbers. Anyone who has ever watched the TV show can attest to a simple fact: The group numbers suck. Every year, there are a few contestants who display no noticeable dancing ability. Others can’t harmonize to save their lives. It doesn’t help that the group numbers feature the kind of imaginative choreography that you usually find on Brady Bunch reruns.
This year, the tour producers made the wise move of eliminating virtually all group numbers. There were only two spots featuring the ensemble during the tour’s opening night on Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena. Winner David Cook did a five-song set; runner-up David Archuleta got four tunes and the remaining cast members each got three. That meant the show moved along at a fairly lively pace and some performers got to display more personality than they showed on screen. The show ran nearly two-and–a-half hours (with an intermission), but felt shorter.
‘Idol’ Finalist Kristi Lee Cook Inks Record Deal
Season seven “American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook has signed with 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville.
The Oregon native, who is preparing for the American Idols Live! Tour 2008, will team with songwriter/producer Brett James (Jessica Simpson) to record her album between tour dates, with a release expected this fall. Her first single, “15 Minutes of Shame,” will go to country radio in August.
Arista Nashville parent Sony BMG Nashville is also home to “Idol” alums Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. Cook was previously signed to Arista at age 17, but was dropped before any music was released.
American Idol’s Bo Bice puts Jesus Christ first in his life
Bo Bice, the long-haired Southern rocker who was the first runner-up in the fourth season of American Idol, says that despite his success, he puts Jesus Christ first in his life, reports Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries.
In a recent interview with Bice on the red carpet at the 2008 Hero
Awards sponsored by Feed The Children at the Universal Hilton, Universal City, I did for ANS and Safe Worlds IPTV, I asked him how he kept his feet on the ground with all the recent success he had experienced.
Ace has new album up his sleeve
Ace Young, a Season 5 “American Idol” finalist, called recently from the road. He’s touring with his band and visiting radio stations to drum up interest to a fever pitch for his self-titled debut CD, out July 15.
Young finished only seventh on “American Idol,” but he points out that the same season, top-selling rocker Chris Daughtry finished fourth. For the record, Taylor Hicks won that year. Young’s good looks and long, flowing hair made him a heartthrob, and his dedication to his craft could make him a rock star.
Phil Stacey releases “Old Glory” single for holiday
Phil Stacey is releasing the patriotic anthem “Old Glory” to country radio for airplay over the Fourth of July holiday. Stacey was inspired to write “Old Glory” while serving active duty in the United States Navy. The song was not on his self-titled debut, which came out in April.
“Phil has been playing this song during radio visits, his live shows and even a few weeks ago at the Grand Ole Opry where he got a standing ovation,” says Lyric Street Records VP Promotion Kevin Herring. “The song always gets a great reaction and we’ve fielded a lot of calls from our friends in radio asking where they can get the song.”
Support and drive helped former ‘Idol’ contestant reach for the stars
Bucky Covington rose to fame after making it to the final eight during the 2006 season of “American Idol.”
The country singer hesitated, though, in 2005 when he heard an “Idol” tryout was scheduled in his home state. of North Carolina. Covington was working for his dad at a third-generation family business that he and his brother would be taking over someday.
Covington said he talked about the audition with his dad, who was worried about their auto body shop being short-handed. Covington said he asked, ‘What do you think my odds are?,’ and his dad answered, ‘I think you stand as good a shot as anybody.’
“When he said that I knew I had to go. I can’t wake up at 40 years old kicking myself in the tail, thinking, ‘What if?’ So I went,” Covington said in his official biography
Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler to Guest on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance
Tony Award-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler is taking his moves to the small screen, acting as guest choreographer on the hit TV dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance on July 2. Blankenbuehler’s work recently took home the 2008 Tony for In the Heights’ contemporary and Latin influenced choreography.
‘Dance’s’ format leaves much to chance
If there’s one thing that’s constant on “So You Think You Can Dance,” it’s Mary Murphy’s stage persona. The judge is known for both grandiose statements and failure to modulate her voice, so it was no surprise to hear her loudly assert before last Wednesday’s performances that the final 16 dancers were all so close that it was impossible to predict who would get voted off each week.
“They are all bunched up in a pack, just getting ready to let loose here. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be our best year ever!” Murphy said.
Country Memories with Ex-Nashville Star Alyson Gilbert
After nearly being voted off of Nashville Star in this season’s premiere, country singing hopeful Alyson Gilbert rebounded to prove herself to both the fans and judges Jeffrey Steele, Jon Rich, and Jewel in the last few weeks. As the competition becomes increasingly tough as the seasons moves toward crowning this year’s Nashville Star, Alyson Gilbert’s time on the show came to end this week. Although all good things often come to an end, we caught up with the former Nashville Star contestant to see what she has planned for the future, how she’s going to make the experience work for her career, and how she feels about Jewel’s comment about needing to find some hurt.
‘Nashville Star’ recap: When judges attack
Before we break down last night’s performances, we need to discuss next week’s double elimination: It couldn’t come at a better time. Despite what NBC seems to think, it’s not fun to watch the judges rip into contestants for not being “country.” It actually undermines the judges, who had a say in choosing the finalists. If you think Coffey (pictured) is faking it, that means he fooled you, John Rich — assuming you put him on the show because you thought he’d actually be a great country artist and not because he’d be good TV. Just like I hope y’all weren’t so desperate to cast someone from the USS Kitty Hawk that you welcomed likable Tommy Stanley to the show, even though you could tell from Day One he had to work too hard to sound country.
Canadian Idol: The top 20 Perform Part I
First off, before we get to the singing, what was with Ben’s t-shirt tonight? Did he forget to put a shirt on top of the white t-shirt? Also, I didn’t really get his joke to Jake, and given what Ben was wearing, I don’t really think he should be the one talking. Jake did give good advice to the competitors: “You have to leave everything on the stage as if its your last performance.” Very good advice. The Idol-wannabes should take heed to it.
First up was Mark. He did an interesting version of I’m in Love with a Girl. It wasn’t the song I would have chosen for him, but he kind of made it work. I think the problem with Mark is his performance style: he sings great, but his stage presence, facial expressions and dancing take away from it just a little bit. It makes him come across as not very sincere in his performance. I think Mark’s a great performer, but doubt he’s going to last to become the Canadian Idol. The judges were mixed on their reviews and Zack suggested Mark be larger in his performance. How? I don’t think Mark can get any bigger than his current performances.
Canadian Idol: The top 20 Perform Part II
Happy Canada Day! I’m a little disappointed no one was decked out in white and red Tuesday night (I’m looking at you Farley). But at least Ben remembered to put on his shirt over his t-shirt, which is more than we can say for Monday’s show. Also, where is Jully Black? She kind of disappeared. Is she waiting until the top 10 to reppear and mentor the contestants? Or is she done? I guess only time will tell. Anyways, on with the show…
Kicking off the show this week was Adam Castelli singing Gone Til November. I agree with the judges it wasn’t his best performance, but I don’t think it was his worst either. I thought he blended his singing with his guitar playing very well, and it was nice to see him dabble into another genre. I do agree with Farley that Adam should have taken more license with the song and made it a little more melodic to show off his singing abilities.
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I wonder why they put Archie in that outfit? It doesn’t seem him at all and it sounds like he doesn’t care for it either.
Interesting note, when David A got signed he was in the top yahoo searches but Kristy Lee is no where to be found instead it is Kimberly Caldwell at number two. LOL
I’m beginning to wonder if John Rich really knows what country should sound like. He puts through contestants who obviously have to work hard to sound country, then gives the win on Gone Country, to the least countrified contestant on that show. He got ripped good on the forums for not choosing Diana DeGarmo. He rags on Simon and the judges on AI for not respecting the contestants, but, I heard some disrespect come out of his mouth last week. He only had one song I think was halfway good,a nd, I’m being generous.
I don’t follow country so I don’t know Mistah Rich but I did see most of the episodes of Gone Country this year and I thought he was quite arrogant and cocky.
Hinder to David Cook: ‘We’ll write with you’
David Cook’s already packed schedule is about to get more demanding. With the American Idol tour kicking off tonight and booked through September 22, the season 7 champ will have to juggle concert dates with studio time in order to make the deadline for an early November album release. But one band is willing, if not eager, to help: hard rockers Hinder, best known for their 2006 hit power ballad “Lips of an Angel.” “I dig David Cook,” says singer Austin Winkler, a native of Oklahoma, where Cook has lived for the past few years. “He shows that the world is starving for a little bit of rock-n-roll. Hopefully we can write some tunes for him.”
Entertainment Weekly
So it sounds like indie rock is also open to DC. Nice.
The fascinating thing about that AZ Central article is that he calls Cook’s set uneven, but gives no examples of anything that he didn’t like about it other than DC exhorting the crowd to get involved. Which, um, kind of seems typical for a rock concert, no?
Maybe he should have groveled or something. *rolls eyes*
Is Hinder considered indie?
LOL, Jenn_AI Fan, I wouldn’t invest too much in his comments because you could tell he wasn’t a fan of Cook’s at all. He seemed to grudgingly admit to being touched by the news of Adam. Some people will just always see Cook as cocky, but that’s ok in my book. I like my rockstars a little cocky, and they can pull off cocky as long as that attitude doesn’t cross over into being an a**hole.
Hinder isn’t indie. I’m not super familiar with them, but they have had a couple radio hits. Very generic rock.
ETA: I wouldn’t worry about the AZ review. It’s just the first of many. Everyone has some bias, I think. That’s what reviews are all about… personal reactions to a concert. It certainly won’t make or break any of their careers. Although I do wish the writer had found a new word to describe Jason instead of using “charmed” and “charms” in the same paragraph.
David’s myspace team just posted a new blog reminding people to “tune in tonight to see David Cook perform “The Time of My Life” on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno’s Outdoor Summer Concert Series! The Tonight Show with Jay Leno airs at 11:35 pm on NBC.” The rerun, I believe?
I guess that I always thought of Hinder as indie because they started out as an indie group….
The LA Times has a much more positive tour review up now.
From MyFox Kansas
American Idol Tour, David Cook, Hit YouTube
So, this is his opinion, or is it true? I still would love to see these two sing together and maybe record a duet. Of course, I felt that way about Anthony Fedorov and Carrie Underwood. Unfortunately, it never happened.
Sounds like a good time.
Sheepish- 2. Like a sheep; bashful; over-modest; meanly or foolishly diffident; timorous to excess.
Naw he just did not know that Jason told Brooke durring the concert he secretly put a whoppy cushion under MJ seat to get back at him for all his pranks. Those crazy kids.
‘Idol’ Tracker: Live from Glendale, the tour begins
THE SCENE
It is sweltering hot outside at 1 p.m. My car thermometer reads 117 degrees. The wind that blows through the parking lot only presses the heat into you. There is no crowd out front. I was relieved to find that no “Idol” fans are demented enough to spend the day outside in this heat. Only in the adjoining Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant do I find signs of humanity, taking shelter from the inferno. Inside the Jobbing Center is a nicely chilled paradise, however, I happily note as I’m led down through the backstage underground tunnels in search of the Idols.
In the hallway, I ran into Chikezie Eze, holding a surgical mask in his hand. He tells me, somewhat abashed, that he just had “a little tic in his throat” and is “just being extra careful.”
Onstage, the band and crew runs through the set of the greatest performer in “Idol” history, Carly Smithson, with the choreographer Stacy Walker standing in for the singer. With its 12,700 seats empty, the hall seems unthinkably vast, the idea of a lone person holding it in rapt attention impossible. As they finish the run through for Carly, an announcer intones “No. Five. Brooke White.” A piano rises from below onto the stage at which the lady herself is seated singing “Let It Be,” which she performs beautifully for the empty house…
:)
LOL, Pop! Thanks for the Ace article yesterday.
Here’s the LA Times article.
I wonder if JasCas takes after his father. You never hear him say anything. He’s just there in the background, going with the flow. Mrs. Castro and his little sis seem very “take-charge.” Oh, and her name is Betsy, not Betty.
ETA: Purps beat me to it! LOL.
In other Idol-ish news… ;)
Joey Barnes: “I’ll always be the same dude”
“…The band’s debut album, “Daughtry,” (RCA, 2006) went four-times platinum, spent weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and garnered four Grammy nominations.
“That’s a cool thing (Grammy nomination), that’s awesome and it’s scary because at the same time, it’s a first album,” Barnes says. “It’s scary because the people are very finicky, and one minute they’ll be behind you, and then the next minute, they’re on to something else. It’s like ADD. The country’s got a massive ADD problem. And there’s so many shows and new stars, and there’s always someone who can take your place. It’s a dangerous business because if that’s (fame) what you’re in it for, you’re gonna get let down.”
The band went on tour, first hitting clubs and theaters with lesser-known bands, then arenas and amphitheaters with Nickelback and most recently, Bon Jovi. And while Barnes enjoyed seeing new places and playing in front of thousands of fans, the grueling schedule began to take a toll on him.
Last year was absolutely horrifying because we played about 300 shows in that year,” Barnes says.
“You’re on a bus, on a plane, on a bus, on a plane, like, ‘Where am I? I have no idea.’ We go overseas; we come back; we go back overseas. I mean, it was absolutely nuts.”
Last month, Barnes headed back to Los Angeles to begin recording Daughtry’s second album.
“That’s the most fun we’re going to probably have for the next two years,” Barnes says. “The recording the record is going to be the vacation. It’s after that, when we tour the record for about a thousand years, like we did the last one, I’m not looking forward to that quite yet. It’s a whole
different mindset…”
That’s a sweet column from Richard Rushfield at the LA Times. He was nice to everybody, bless him. He sure loves him some Carly. :)
You owe me another Coke, pj! LOL
I wasn’t sure at which photo thread to post this, so I’m settling for this (neutral) one. Heh.
more tour pics
Tony Wigens is head of tours for 19 Entertainment.
There are some interesting tidbits in this article. Poor Brooke was apparently frightened.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/07/idol-tracker-li.html
EDIT TO ADD: Oh, PJ - I see you posted this link. Sorry folks. Thank you, Poporange for your explanation on sheepish. LOL!.
They got Mrs Castro’s name wrong, but I guess she won’t complain since she also got called vivacious. I can just see her on the phone wheeling and dealing. I’m sure the employees didn’t mind getting to be up close and personal for a little Idol fun.
From Fox Phoenix: Behind The Scenes At Glendale. They talked to Archie, Cookie and Brookie (Hee).
Also, a few short clips from the show, and they said there’ll be more videos with the other idols coming up.
Archie’s new myspace blog
Thursday, July 03, 2008
July 2 - First Tour Show Blog!!
Current mood: excited
Hi Everybody,
So the first show was pretty much AMAZING! I couldn’t believe how much energy you could feel from the crowd. I have to admit I was a little nervous backstage haha, but wow! It was just so much fun to see everyone cheering and the support that came. The people in Arizona were just a neat group and so welcoming. If you guys are going then I can’t wait for you to see the show! It’s definitely an awesome experience. I’m looking forward to improving as we get more comfortable with each show too lol. Hopefully our voices will all hold up well throughout the tour.
Tonight we go to San Diego where I first auditioned for AI, so if you’re going I hope you have a great time!
David
Jason Castro on FoxPhoenix