Headlines: Michael Woodard Stars in Animated Movie, Idol Comeback Stars Speak

American Idol Alum Michael Woodard Stars in New Netflix Animated Feature Arlo the Alligator Boy

The American Idol season 16 alum sings and voices the lead character, Arlo the Alligator Boy, who searches for his father in New York City. I’m sure he learns lessons, and makes friends along the way!

im in this ! i play the alligator ? https://t.co/JVmz1BhflP

— MIZZY (@MichaelJWoodard) March 24, 2021

10 ‘Comeback’ Contestants Talk Second Chance to Win ‘American Idol’ – Billboard interviewed all 10 of the returning contestants in March 2020, just before they were sent home because of the pandemic. In the last few days, Billboard reached out to all 10 again to get an update on their lives, find out how they feel about their second chance and their thought process behind choosing the one song that could change their lives. – Read more at Billboard

Before ‘American Idol,’ Estero’s Casey Bishop was sports bar karaoke sensation –

Meet ‘American Idol’ Top 12 singer Chayce Beckham, the Apple Valley musician out for redemption – “I was all, like, down and out. I had gotten in my car wreck, my DUI and whatnot. A lot of stuff had been going great for me, but that all kind of got taken away from me,” Beckham says the day after he advanced to the Top 12 on the 19th season of the singing competition TV show. “And then losing my house and my girlfriend and my dog, getting in trouble with the law and having to have your mama come pick you up from jail and stuff, kind of puts you in a weird headspace.” In the middle of Beckham’s epic run of bad luck and bad decisions, after he and his girlfriend of seven years split up, he moved out of their Huntington Beach home and back in with his parents. “I don’t know how long it had been since I lived with my parents, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Beckham says of his return to the High Desert of his childhood. “So that’s where I went.” – Read more at OCRegister

Meet ‘American Idol’ Top 12 singer Ava August, the Orange County teen with an ‘old soul’ – Ava August is only 15, but if you listen to the judges on “American Idol” you might think she’s been reincarnated a time or two. Why, you ask? Because judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan cannot stop talking about the Orange County teenager’s old soul. “I’m so flattered that they said that,” August says by phone on Tuesday, the day after she discovered she’d been voted into the Top 12 on the 19th season of the long-running singing competition show. “When Katy says, ‘Oh, you’re an old soul,’ and all that, it’s really funny, because I do love listening to music from the past,” she says. “I feel like it just conveys emotion. A lot of music currently, it loses a lot of that emotion and that unique artistry, so I love singing songs from the past.” – Read more at OC Register

Pete Mroz Rehearses for The Voice with Telefunken Mics – Mroz has been using his large diaphragm “Copperhead” condenser mike alongside his small diaphragm ELA M 260 tube mic for his rehearsals, hotel room practicing, and live streams. Check out Mroz singing “Can’t Find My Way Home” on The Voice: https://www.nbc.com/the-voice/video/blakes-old-bandmate-pete-mroz-on-blind-faiths-cant-find-my-way-home-voice-blind-auditions/4320358. “I’ve been recording for 25 years,” Mroz says, “and being a vocalist, I’ve used a ton of different microphones. I was very specific on what mic I was looking for because I naturally have a lot of high-end tones in my voice. – Lighting and Sound America

Interview: David Cook Talks “The Looking Glass” EP – So, you wrote a quarantine EP. How did the pandemic influence these songs? DAVID COOK: I think “Make a Move” is a pretty good plot synopsis for this past year, having more time to sit and be introspective and assess. At the time I was writing it, my 38th birthday was on the horizon — and you start thinking, I’m going to turn 38, and it’s crazy how time has flown. I was thinking about how I grew up in the Kansas City area, and as a kid I was chomping at the bit to expand my worldview and my experience outside of Kansas City. I moved to Oklahoma and later Los Angeles and Nashville and got a chance to explore the world and play music for a living. But I still find myself chasing that feeling of home, at all times. I don’t know I would have stopped long enough to internalize that and write about it had I not written a record during this pandemic. – Popdust.com

David Cook Talks ‘Underlining’ Hope With New EP ‘The Looking Glass’ (Exclusive) – “I always want my music to make people think a little bit and I do feel like with this collection of music… there is a through-line, but underlining all of that is hope,” he said in our remote series, PopCulture @Home. “I think this last year has been such a gut punch for everybody and while me and my family, thank God, have certainly had it better than most, this year’s not been without challenges for everybody.” – Read more at Popculture.com

WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Chris Daughtry

Todd Tilghman and His Wife, Brooke, Share Inspiration Behind ‘Every Little Win’ – Todd Tilghman and his wife, Brooke, are detailing their life’s journey so far in the upcoming book, Every Little Win, including his time pastoring a church in Meridian, Mississippi, before winning Season 18 of The Voice. The couple, who has eight children, opened up about the inspiration for the story, in a video shared on social media. “We have a crazy new book to go with our crazy family, Every Little Win,” Tilghman said. “I’m just a regular guy from Mississippi, a pastor. I just sang in church; I didn’t really sing professionally. So a lot of people might see The Voice as sort of the crowning achievement of my life. But really, our lives are where they are right now because of all of these little, daily victories that we had up to this point.” – Read more at Everything Nash

Yankees Podcast: This Team Sucks – The Yankees suck. They really do. Their manager is a happy-go-lucky idiot, their lineup can’t hit and their starting pitching is as bad as was feared. After the recap, longtime friend, former American Idol winner and huge Yankees fan Nick Fradiani joined me to talk about how depressing it has been to watch the Yankees, what happened to the team that was so fun and exciting back in 2017 and if things will get better or worse for them. – Listen at Keefe to the City

Ally Brooke Can’t Help But Roast Her Fifth Harmony Dance Skills in Hilarious Video – Granted, we all have embarrassing moments from our past, but the “500 Veces” singer reflected on one particular performance that has her cringing nearly four years later. Ally, 27, could barely keep a straight face while looking back at Fifth Harmony’s live performance of “Down” on TV Japan from May 2017. She posted the throwback clip on Instagram on Friday, April 16, and wrote, “Remembering that time I thought I was killing it with my dancing in Fifth Harmony… On Live TV.” The clip shows her side-stepping to the beat before raising her hands. Though it was a rather simple gesture compared to her modern moves, she made up for it with her fierce facial expression at the time. – See the Video at EOnline