Eurovision Song Contest Winner Kalush Orchestra Raises $900,000 For Ukrainian War Effort – The Ukrainian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest have sold their trophy to raise almost $1M for the war effort. Kalush Orchestra, which won the annual contest earlier this month during an emotional evening in Italy, raised $900,000 to be spent on the PD-2 unmanned aerial system including three aircraft and a ground control station. The auction took place on Facebook yesterday and was led by Ukrainian TV presenter Serhiy Prytula, with the winning bid attributed to Whitebit, a Czech Republic-based cryptocurrency exchange. – Read more at Deadline
Tyler’s Fritz Hager III reflects on ‘American Idol’ journey, hints at upcoming projects – “The piece of advice that I really think is the only reason why I got as far as I did was the advice that Katy Perry gave me in the first audition. She said people need to know who you are as an artist from the first word that comes out of your mouth, and the first note you sing doesn’t have to be loud or anything, it needs to be interesting and just needs to catch people’s attention. That advice I carried for every single round,” he said. “Getting that advice made me think of, ‘Who am I as an artist? What’s my sound? What do I want people to know about me?’ Throughout the process I was figuring that out and I think I have an idea of what that is now.” – Read more at Tyler Paper
HunterGirl Reflects on ‘American Idol’ & Powerful Message of ‘Red Bird’ Single – This competition was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Getting to have Luke there to cheer me on meant everything. I’ve looked up to him since I was a little girl. There were moments when you are down, worried, or scared. We’re learning songs on the fly with a band, then we’re on TV. I do remember [during Contestant’s Choice week] I was really nervous and scared about getting the songs right. It was just a lot. [For finale week] we were running on no sleep to get everything done. It has been a nerve-wracking experience. It was cool to get to this point because I didn’t think I would make it past the Nashville audition. – Read more at TVInsider.com
Catie Turner on being catfished by “Zayn Malik”, her first concert & more – On being catfished by “Zayn Malik”, her first concert performance, American Idol tour stories and more in Songkick’s Stories From The Road.
Chayce Beckham Shares Something Surprising About Winning ‘American Idol’ — Taste of Country Nights, On Demand – Another thing I thought was interesting about this interview is how Chayce was describing the genius of Lionel Richie, who was just inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recently and who is one of the judges on American Idol. He was telling me how precise Lionel is when it comes to music and that a lot of the things Lionel was telling him about his singing, it would take him a little while to even understand what he was telling him. I had a lot of fun chatting with American Idol Season 19 winner Chayce Beckham, but I’m still stunned by what he told me about winning Idol. Not only did he not get a car or a truck, he didn’t even get a trophy or a plaque with his name on it to show his grandkids 40 years from now. – Read more at Taste of Country
Grace VanderWaal’s career continues ascent with ‘Hollywood Stargirl’ – “I had no clue about what I was getting myself into!” she said with a laugh. “I’m so grateful about those decisions that I made now. But, yeah, no idea! “The first movie I just so went into it blind. And like, it dawned on me that I just signed up to be a literal actress. I don’t know how to act at all. And I started freaking out! Like, the first thing was, Oh, I have to read lines. Like, I have to be talented. What was I thinking?” – Read more at Boston Herald
