Concert Review: The two Davids salvage American Idols Live
With a wave of the “American Idol” light sticks, Mellon Arena was transformed into “AI-7″ central Tuesday night as the tour steamrolled into town — and all but fell flat on its face.
This year’s show featured a cheaper stage than last year’s and brought each performer out for a three-song set, in the order that they were eliminated from the show. And they all — with the exception of “The Davids” (Archuleta and Cook) — did a note-for-note copy-cat performances of top 100 songs that were fan faves on the show.
More Idol Headlines After the Jump…
Brooke White, Jason Castro bring their down-to-earth sparkle to `American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ tour
Season 7 of American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ came down to The Battle of the Two Davids, but it also offered engaging personalities in Brooke White and Jason Castro.
White, 25, was the sunny, chatty, vulnerable one from Van Nuys. The one-time nanny could flash a smile as bright as Goldie Hawn and, with her flowing gold locks, carried the aura of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹60s flower child. She also wore her emotions on her sleeve, sometimes looking nervous and teary-eyed before the judgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pronouncements. No other finalist this year lived so much on the edge.
Idols entertain Pittsburgh
The American Idols Live Tour rolled into town early Monday morning, giving the Idols a day off to see a Pirates game, go kayaking on the Monongahela and generally wander around Pittsburgh.
Refreshed and raring to go, they performed Tuesday night to a Mellon Arena packed with shrieking fans.
The stage was simple, allowing the 10 performers to absorb the spotlight without much flashy distraction.
Their appearances ran in reverse order of TVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ contest, so soulful teddy bear Chikezie went first. By the last tune of his three-song set the audience was on its feet.
David Cook Shows Us His Life As An American Idol
After spending winter and spring under the bright lights of Hollywood, American Idol winner David Cook and the other idol finalists are spending their summer on a bus. They’re criss-crossing the country on the idol summer tour. FOX 4’s Dave Froehlich joined the tour in progress for a look at what life is like as an American Idol.
David Cook Makes Headway With New Album
David Cook is making some good headway with his debut album. The American Idol champ is busy on the road with this year’s finalists, but he’s also setting his sights on writing and recording new music. He recently visited Los Angeles to lay down some tracks for the set, which is expected out November 19th and will feature writing collaborations with Collective Soul’s Ed Roland, Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida, John Fields and Kara DioGuardi.
The songs mostly have a rock-based sound, and Cook says so far he’s happy with the turnout:”I think we’ve for sure we’ve gotten seven songs that we’re tracking. We’re going to try to get to around 20 I think. I just want the record to be both reflective and cohesive and have something to say and I feel like we’re definitely heading down the right path, so.”
Life after ‘American Idol’
After competing in the most recent season of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idol,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Amanda Overmyerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s main focus is pursuing a career in music.
Overmyer is currently in Mulberry putting together a new album, which she describes as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“southern rock.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Her single à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Play Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ will be released on Apple iTunes at the end of September. The album, which has not been signed by a record label, is tentatively set to be released in December.
The 23-year-old Camden native finished 11th in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idol,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ after being voted off the competition in March.
Active, Guardmembers give back to disabled vets
As disabled veterans tested their limits during the National Disabled Veterans Wheelchair Games, which wrapped up here yesterday, nearly 400 military volunteers provided the behind-the-scenes support that officials said made the games a success.
Some of the military support took center stage. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Phil Stacey, better known as an “American Idol” finalist during season six, opened and closed the games with his booming rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Stacey, assigned to Navy Community Outreach in Millington, Tenn., also served as an announcer at several of the events, including yesterday’s slalom “super G” obstacle course that drew wildly screaming fans cheering on the participants.
“I’m honored to be here and to be able to meet these amazing athletes,” Stacey said. “Seeing what they’re able to do makes everything about this amazing.”
Ruben Studdard Visits Chattanooga
Tickets went on sale Wednesday for the Bessie Smith Heritage Festival to be held next month. The headliner for the festival is Season Two American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.
Studdard made an appearance in the scenic city to kick off the event Wednesday. He says he’s never performed in Chattanooga, and he’s really looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be fun. It’s like inviting people to my living room. We have a party, and I’m sure it’s not going to be any different here in Chattanooga,” Studdard said.
The festival is August 23 on the grounds of the Chattanooga African American Museum. Tickets are $25 in advance, and $35 at the gate.
‘So You Think You Can Dance’ is full of awesome
Here it is. We’re one week away from our final four on So You Think You Can Dance and, with the great performances turned in tonight, the remaining contestants aren’t making the decision easy for us.
Tonight’s judging panel features the triumphant return of Adam Shankman. Yay! Hopefully his presence will temper Mary Murphy’s insanity and Nigel’s creepiness.
Destination à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹So You Think You Can Danceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢: The best episode of the season. Period.
Well folks, the numbers are in and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s official: Tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s episode of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“So You Think You Can Danceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ was the most exhilarating and engrossing of the season. Here are the reasons why.
A respectable omission
Paula Abdul was in the audience, and yet they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even subject us to the video for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Dance Like Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s No Tomorrow.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Add 10 points.
Canadian Idol: Talking With Sebastian Pigott
Sebastian Pigottà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s voice is a little hoarse, but there is no mistaking his enthusiasm the morning after he was the third member of the Top 10 to be eliminated from Canadian Idol. In fact when asked how he is, he says heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“just golden.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
Pigott explained there is ultimately a bit of relief that comes with being eliminated from the Idol stage.
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve been engulfed in the bubble and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s all so intense for so long. So thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a little bit of relief in it and you know, I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t expect to go all the way. I feel like I went out on a good note,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ he said so genuinely, thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s no disbelieving him.
Canadian Idol Top 8 Results
It was goodbye to Sebastien Pigott on last night’s Idol results show.
It was his third week in the bottom three, joined in the bottom by Mookie Morris and Mark Day. Seven singers remain and next week will be a British invasion with the Idols performing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“U.K. Hits.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
Gavin Rossdale, former frontman of Bush, sang à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Love Remains The Sameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ from his first solo album, WANDERlust on tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s results show after mentoring the Idols for Unplugged week.
Tom Jones will take the reigns from Rossdale as he guest starts on next weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s show, mentoring the final seven in the performance episode on Monday, August 4 at 9 p.m. EST and then perform live on the results show, Tuesday August 5 at 8 p.m. EST on CTV.
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Americaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Got Talentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ goes virtual
After six weeks of seeing the best, the worst and the ugliest that cities across the country had to offer over the past six weeks, “America’s Got Talent” went virtual on Tuesday night, testing the talents of people who uploaded their auditions on MySpace.com.
Give NBC some credit for jumping back to the Internet for talent after the debacle that was “quarterlife.” Early on, the Internet’s chances of digging up fresh talent didn’t look much more promising. But the night eventually took a turn with some heartwarming stories about a long lost mother and daughter reconnecting and a soldier getting a chance to perform after spending 15 months in Iraq.
Speaking of Chikezie – who I LOVE – and his invisability, Where is he in the latest video of the Mavid? He didn’t get a curtain call. Did I miss that he missed a show?
Cookie is such a gentleman! So, :lol_wp:, can I have a show of support from Cook fans for buying Archie’s single, since he asked so sweetly?!?
Ooh, MJ, thanks for posting that NYPost article on JPL last week. They had a contest to win an autographed cd, and even though I entered a day after it went up, I won. It’s a pretty cool promo cd in a sleeve: pic
(I’m really amused that the NYPost chica’s initials are also M.J.)
YAY GRRRR!!!! I’m so glad you won! Congrats!
Ha ha at that pic. I’m working on a review of the record, and I’m hoping to post it tomorrow.
It’s a great record, isn’t it?
I haven’t listened to all of it yet, but I really like it so far. It seems a lot more cohesive than his debut, though that one had some great songs as well. “No Fire” is my favorite so far (and that’s the one that sounds like it would fit right in on Coldplay’s “Yellow” album though I mistakenly attibuted that quality to “Winning Streak” before).
Heh, I’ll come back and try to comment more intelligently when I’ve listened to all the tracks. And I’ll be checkin’ in for that review. =P
*gnaws hands*
lol, IGetCranked. Me, too.
Wow! You will find we have a similar take. Yes, it’s a mind-meld chica!
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I can’t believe no one commented on Jason getting his “present”! His face expressions kill me! I had to come to this thread to watch again and get a laugh before bed! Night all!
“to the Philippines to see him perform. Some of them said that he had a large number for fans in Japan. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m so happy that they were right.
Congrats to Elliott.
The Japanese loves them some old skool R&B. Yatta, Elliott!”
MUCH LOVE TO/FOR ELLIOTT!!! Been following his career since his first AI appearance…. Combo of class, humility, incomparable vocal skillz…. IMVHO, he and Daughtry should have been in the AI5 finals.. woulda been on for the ages…
There’s a couple of articles in Atlantic City Weekly. Michael talks about asking to be released from 19 Recordings. Maybe you can move this to today’s headlines if you don’t already have it, MJ. I found it courtesy of TWOP.
http://www.acweekly.com/view.php?id=9188