SYTYCD heads to the Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA
Amanda Overmyer at Treasure Coast Music Festival, Vero Beach, FL
Brooke White at Safford Center, Safford, AZ
Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson perform at the I Heart Radio Music Festival, Las Vegas, NV
Constantine Maroulis at the Greek Food Festival, Dallas TX
Elliott Yamin at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN
Jason Castro at Collin Creek Community Church, Plano, TX
Kellie Pickler at Grand Theatre Center, Tracy, CA
Lee DeWyze at Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA
Mandisa at Women of Faith, Phoenix, AZ
More at IdolStages
Carrie Underwood and Tony Bennett are featured in the premiere of Blue Bloods singing “It Had To Be You” from Bennet’s Duets II album. 10/9c CBS.
Debut of Majors and Minors featuring Adam Lambert and Jordin Sparks, The Hub
Pia Toscano is set to perform at the New York City Gala and at the televised Columbus Day Parade and red carpet. The parade takes place on October 10th on 5th Avenue in New York City.
Jennifer Hudson has been added to the Michael Jackson Forever Tribute Concert set to take place October 8th in Cardiff, Wales. Others set to perform are Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green, Leona Lewis, Beyonce and more. (Via Jennifer Hudson Daily)
In an interview on the ACM Honors Red Carpet on Sept. 20, Casey James reveals that his “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night” music video shoot was scheduled for the next day. Watch the interview HERE. 2:47-3:29
Nigel Lythgoe tweets, “Differing public opinions on X-Factor I love that I’m getting crap without even passing comment or giving my opinion of the program. MORONS!”
‘X Factor’ hit with FCC complaint over nude contestant
A parents group announced it has filed an Federal Communications Commission complaint against Fox’s The X Factor for showing a contestant who exposed himself on stage.
“Perhaps the ‘X’ in X Factor stands for the MPAA rating, ” said PTC president Tim Winter, whose organization filed the complaint this morning. “If Godley performed his act in public, he would have been arrested. But if he performs it in front of a Fox camera, his act is beamed via the public airwaves into every home in the nation.”
Read more at EW
Kelly Clarkson Describes Stronger As ‘Soulful’
“It was a lot of soulful stuff, ” Clarkson said. “You know what I’m saying? Like, Radiohead is alternative, but they’re very soulful. And Sheryl Crow, very soulful singer/songwriter. So it’s all very soulful, rhythmic pop rock.”
“Oh yeah, there’s a little bit of dance, ” Clarkson continued. “One of the songs, it’s probably gonna be a single, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You, ‘ it’s a great song and definitely … that’s the one everybody will be jumping up and down to.”
” ‘You Love Me’ is probably one of my favorites, ” Clarkson said. ” ‘Honestly’ is another one. ‘What Doesn’t Kill You, ‘ I can’t wait to perform that live. We’ve already rehearsed it and it’s so much fun. It’s like this big dance anthem. That’ll be the one [that’s] kinda like ‘Since U Been Gone, ‘ [with] people jumping up and down to [it], and it’s just kind of really inspiring, so I can’t wait to perform that one.”
See the video at MTV
Caught in the Act!
• Jennifer Lopez squeezed in some quality time with 3-year-old daughter Emme in between filming Parker in Palm Beach, Fla. Emme even made a friend in Mom’s costar Jason Statham, who came to the staging area to meet Lopez’s daughter. “[Lopez] was smiling and looked so happy to see her little girl, ” a source tells us of the cute mother-daughter moment.
See the photo at People
Glee Stars Agree: New Season Less Burn Out, “Back to the Basics”
“Honestly, [Murphy] has really spread [filming] out so people do have like one or two days off, which never happened last year, ” Harry Shum Jr. tells me. “It’s been great on set.”
Not that there aren’t some long days. “What’s really been different in the new episodes is the storylines are really investing in these characters, ” Shum says. “We’re not just sitting in the choir room and delivering lines. There’s a lot of character work and it makes the days go faster. Even if you do have a 12-hour day, it’s fine because it feels like it’s going faster.”
Jenna Ushkowitz seconds that. “It’s back to basics, ” she said. “We definitely feel that. It’s definitely about the characters. I mean, there are bell and whistles but it’s a lot more about how the characters are feeling emotionally and their journey.”
Read more at EOnline
‘The X Factor’s’ L.A. Reid: ‘I’m Not Harsher Than Simon Cowell’
THR: Why, at this point in your career, did you think a TV gig was a good step for you?
Reid: It wasn’t about whether it was good or not, I wanted to have some fun. In the beginning, I hated the idea of talent competition on television. In 2001, I dissed American Idol in an article — like it was nothing and the talent was worthless. I was so nasty about it. As the years passed, I became more intrigued by it, and more jealous that the people involved were having amazing success. Then I was, like, “Why was I so dumb? This is so forward-thinking and smart, particularly at a time when the bottom is completely falling out of our business.” At the time, those guys provided the only logical answer, which is get your talent in front of more people, and you have a much better opportunity to sell globally. So I admired Simon — his brains, his progressive thinking, and I wanted to be involved.
Read more at Hollywood Reporter
Santa Cruz’s Chris Rene earns kudos on ‘The X Factor’
Rene’s sister, for instance, is Gina Rene, an accomplished soul/hip-hop singer in her own right from San Francisco who contributed to the soundtrack of the Hollywood film “Mean Girls.” Gina has recorded as a solo artist, but also serves as the vocalist in the electronica soul band Soulstice, founded by a third Rene brother, Gabriel.
According to Gina Rene’s official bio, the Rene siblings are the children of the late Googie Rene, a soul/jazz singer and songwriter who led the Googie Rene Combo (“Wham Bam”) in the 1950s and ’60s and recorded on the Class label, which was established by Googie’s father – and the Rene siblings’ grandfather – Leon Rene.
Leon Rene was a prolific songwriter of the 1950s, who wrote, among other things, “Rockin’ Robin” and “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus.”
Read more at Mercury News
Sing-Off judge no Idol fan
Ben Folds is not shy about his ignorance of pop culture. The nerdy piano player from North Carolina who rose to fame in the 1990s with trio Ben Folds Five – and has since managed a successful solo career as an artist, producer and, most recently, TV singing-competition judge – claims somewhat wilful ignorance of shows such as Glee and American Idol.
Which is surprising, given his judging duties are on NBC’s The Sing-Off, a Glee/Idol hybrid in which 16 a cappella groups duke it out for $200, 000 and a record deal with Sony.
“I haven’t seen Glee yet, ” Folds admitted to Postmedia News during a recent conference call with reporters. “I saw about a five-minute clip of American Idol, because people kept on asking about Simon Cowell, so I wanted to see what he did.”
What Folds discovered was that Cowell is “a bit of a genius.”
Read more at Times Colonist
