‘Idol’ hopefuls: Here’s what to expect at the arena
It’s almost here. Just one more day, a few more hours and the chance for eternal stardom or abject rejection begins.
Here’s what to expect at the American Idol auditions Wednesday at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena:
The official can’t-show-up-before-then time is 5 a.m. for the crowds to arrive. That’s about two hours before the sun will rise over the baseball stadium across the street.
The contestants will gather between barricades, in long lines that will extend from the arena, around the Baseball Grounds and into the parking lots of Municipal Stadium. Each contestant will already have a ticket to get inside and showing up early won’t have any effect on that.
More Idol Headlines After the Jump….
Olympics ceremony draws more viewers than ‘American Idol’ finale
The colorful Olympics opening night ceremony from Beijing on NBC averaged 34.2 million viewers, making it the biggest television event since the Super Bowl.
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It was the biggest audience ever for an Olympic opening ceremony not held in the U.S., and even eclipsed this year’s Academy Awards and finale of “American Idol,” Nielsen Media Research said on Saturday.
The numbers were all the more impressive since it was a Friday night in August, when many people have better things to do than watch TV.
Kristy Lee Cook Embraces American Idol Jumpstart
Kristy Lee Cook, finalist from the last season of American Idol, is releasing her first Country Music single, “15 Minutes Of Shame,” to radio today.
Cook is currently on the American Idol tour, and credits the show with launching her Country Music career. “Being part of that whole situation was a learning experience and makes you grow up and realize what hard work is,” she told The Tennessean today.
Cook is about a month away from releasing her debut album, Why Wait, due out Sept. 16. “It sounds like an album that would be mine,” Cook said.
Thousands line up for Jacksonville Idol auditions
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) — Thousands of American Idol contestants waited in line for hours to get a chance to audition. Registration began at 8:00 a.m. Monday, but people started waiting on line at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.
VIDEO: Thousands line up for Jacksonville American Idol auditions
Mikel Kent was the first one to arrive at Veterans Memorial Arena. “It means everything to me, not just for me, but my little girl,” she said.
Video Blog: American Idol Kansas City Auditions
KANSAS CITY, MO. — American Idol auditions came to Kansas City last week and video blogger djramesy couldn’t resist the opportunity to check it out.
He said “One thing I found surprising — the majority of people who were daring enough to sing for me, were actually pretty good.”
Unbridled ‘Idol’ Speculation
Last week’s news that Nigel Lythgoe would be stepping down from his role as executive producer of “American Idol†filled me with many emotions.
Dread. Terror. An overwhelming sense of doom, even.
It’s not that I was surprised by the announcement. Thanks to reporting from TelevisionWeek’s Chris Pursell, anyone who was paying attention had known for a month that Mr. Lythgoe was preparing to move on.
I’m also not worried about “Idol†somehow falling apart without Mr. Lythgoe’s hands-on involvement. Nothing against the guy, but as long as Simon Cowell’s sitting up there with his Coke glass, all snarky and such, I will remain a fan.
No, what freaked me out about the official confirmation of his departure is that it will be seized upon by the entertainment press corps as an excuse to crank up the Idle Speculation And Pontification machine even earlier than usual.
Think cheeky chic
Jordin Sparks and her Idol style are proof that you don’t need a frothy, fizzy gown (or Rachel Zoe on speed dial) to get the flashbulbs popping on the V.I.P arrivals carpet. Seen here at the Teen Choice Awards, Sparks’s getup epitomizes the West Coast’s go-to getup — a graphic T, hip denim and cute-like-crazy kicks.
So how to garnish this off-duty-mega-star message? For style à la Sparks, try a giant pair of metallic earrings, wavy locks and my perennial BFF, the chunky cocktail ring.
Jennifer Hudson Tackles The Art of Juggling Music and Movies This Fall
You may still think of ‘Effie White’ when you see or hear Jennifer Hudson sing, starting this fall though Jennifer Hudson is taking chances as she’s set to reveal the real “J-Hud†with the release of her highly anticipated debut.
Even though it has been over a year since ‘Dreamgirls’ Hudson says [she knows] “It is risky, because people expect you to just do one thing†of her debut which covers everything from pop to R&B and even gospel. As an Academy Award-winning actress and an American Idol alum, Hudson knows all about proving herself, she says “I’m going to take the chance and show what else is a part of me.â€
Kellie Pickler Answered YOUR Question
You ever see someone famous on TV, and they seem very nice and all; but then you meet or speak with them, and they’re nothing like that?
Well, Kellie Pickler was truly friendly and warm when I spoke to her Friday afternoon, exactly the way she was while appearing on the fifth season of “American Idol” as a finalist. I could tell she was genuinely grateful and appreciative of the life she’s been afforded since hitting it big.
Sick of ‘match-making’ Simon
LOUIS Walsh is already getting seriously hacked off with Simon Cowell, because the cheeky judge keeps giving Louis’ number out to amorous older ladies.
The Irish X Factor judge admits he’s flattered by the female attention, but Simon’s mischievous behaviour is starting to get on his nerves.
Exclusive Interview: Katee Shean of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’
It was quite a shock to So You Think You Can Dance fans on last week’s finale when Katee Shean finished in 3rd place. Perhaps the only thing that made die hard Katee fans feel better was that, as the final female standing, she walked away with $50,000. Practically flawless this season, Katee performed countless memorable routines and received endless amounts of praise from the judges. All the praise in the world couldn’t take her to final 2 though, and she left just short of her goal. Today, she spoke to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview and addressed everything from her breakdown in Vegas to reading what her fans say about her online.
The top 10 dances of the season — “So You Think You Can Dance season 4″
Josh won.
I am now at peace. All is right with the world.
Katee of course should have been a close second behind him as So You Think You Can Dance wrapped up season four. But as it was, she ended up getting money anyway because she was the first place girl. Twitch should have gotten her third place spot but it wasn’t to be.
This has been the season to rule them all. It has been the best — the toughest competition ever. And now it’s all over. At least we can look back and reflect upon the bits and pieces that have made it so great.
On the finale the judges got to choose their favorite dances of the season. Some I agreed with and others I just felt were way too obvious.
Here are my top 10 dances of the season. Some obvious and some not.
Canadian Idol Recap: Half of the Idols Rock
Welcome to Canadian Rock Week err, I mean, Made in Canada Week as Ben is calling it now. I wonder why the theme changed a bit (I went back through my recordings and Ben definitely said this week was Canadian Rocks Week last week). Simple Plan, this week’s mentors, are not in the audience (yet Tom Jones sat through the show?)
We start with inane comments from the judges as per usual (and Sass does not mention herself when Ben asks her to name some of her favourite Canadian musicians) until Zack tells Ben to get on the with the show already. So we do.
Don’t forget Taylors ‘Early Works’ released TODAY @ Target, only.
Taylor Hicks’ ‘Early Works’ on sale Tuesday
Posted by Donna Reynolds August 10, 2008 11:00PM
Categories: American Idol, Entertainment, Music
Long before Idol, Taylor Hicks was making and recording music. This week, Early Works, a compilation CD that includes material from his two pre-Idol indie CDs is being released through an exclusive deal with Target.
Early Works includes most of the tracks that were originally released on In Your Time (1997) and Under the Radar (2005). Neither of these two CDs has been widely available previously, although Under the Radar was available for sale exclusively through the now-defunct Laser’s Edge record store in Birmingham, Ala. Copies of In Your Time have sold for up to $500 on eBay.
The album includes: “Soul Thing,” “The Fall.” “Hold On to Your Love,” “The Deal,” “Heart and Soul,” “In Your Time,” “West Texas Sky,” “Somehow,” “Tighten Up,” “Son of a Carpenter,” “My Friend,” and “Georgia” (with Billy Earl McClelland).
http://blog.syracuse.com/idolthoughts/2008/08/taylor_hicks_early_works_on_sa.html
thanks for the reminder KTINTN…I ordered mine from amazon.ca in Canada but it won’t ship till Aug. 19th. We don’t have Target up here so I’ll have to wait a bit for my copy.
Brooke has a blog up with the link for Rami’s vlog. Her footnote is really cute
:
It totally is. Her husband seems like a really great all around guy. And he’s cute too!
David nominated left-hander of the year. Up against Obama, Jolie, McCartney, etc.
http://www.lefthandersday.com/lefthander2008.html
This is a mini-review of a cd bear in mind not a professional.
Taylor Hicks’ “Under The radar ” has been re-released as part of the remastered “Early Works” released today. Taylor was an entertainer on AI,
but there was another part to him.The NY Times review of Taylor Hicks’ original post Idol CD suggested that Taylor needed to get away from the lights and go back to his roots. This is more prevailent in the pre-idol Taylor cds had more of an acoustic raw vibe, featuring a gravelly voice that captured the depth of his soul. One of my favorites is “The Fall,” a simple song about a relationship which has a nice plucking of the guitar for a background that does not over take the vocals.. I am realistic that these songs may never be pop “Top 40″ material or more “coffeehouse,” but they show some depth and hopping the sophmore effert fallows this trend..
Long Before Daivd C used the pirate joke, the duo of “Puke & Snot” used the joke in there act.”Puke &Snot” have been doing festivals for 34 years. Now Snot, played by thespian Joe Kudla, will not be there. He died Monday from an apparent heart attack at age 57. I saw a few of their performances and was amazed by their chemesistry and timing. The show will go on. Joe would have wanted it that way..
I love Joey Barnes (of Daughtry). His my space blog tirade today has turned me into a big fan.
Cute.
LOL! That whole El Nino thing was part of what made that video so stupid-crazy-funny! C’mon, Dave!
Haven’t seen this posted yet…If it has already been linked, sorry. Syesha posted a vlog that features her and the other 4 girls dancing and goofing around. Good stuff. I love seeing the contestants having fun with each other. Good on the girls for doing these. Love this group, the guys are awesome of course but the girls are pretty great too.
Sorry here’s the link to the vlog…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6ymisth8WE
Do you have a link to this?
Speaking of Daughtry, here is a press release:
Daughtry Achieves Global Success, Expands Debut With Bonus Music and Videos
Why make a comment on a blog post that nobody can read? Nobody knows what you’re talking about. I’ve asked before to please include links if you are commenting on an article or a post. I’m looking for this blog post and I can’t find it. Very frustrating.
No date with our Jasonnn tonight…
Date: Aug 12, 2008 8:28 PM
Subject: hey guys!
Body: … I’m not gonna make it tonight :( sorry! We have lots to catch up on tomorrow, it’s been a busy day! Thank you all for understanding! :) see ya tomorrow!