Clay Aiken performs at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, IL.
Carrie Underwood performs at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO.
Constantine Maroulis performs in Jekyll & Hyde the Musical at the Winspear Opera House in the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, TX.
Taylor Hicks performs at Bally’s Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV.
Daughtry performs at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
Mandisa performs at the Hits Deep Tour in Pittsburgh, PA.
Lee DeWyze performs at Fed Live in Harrisburg, PA.
Casey James performs at Midnight Rodeo in Amarillo, TX.
Scotty McCreery performs at Harrah’s Cherokee Resort Event Center in Cherokee, NC. Read more at AmericanIdol
Adam Lambert Talks VH1 Divas: ‘People Aren’t Ready For This Party!’ – “I just feel like people aren’t ready for this party. I don’t think anyone’s going to be ready for it,” he told Access earlier this week in an exclusive interview to promote the VH1 special. “It’s going to hit them like a ton of bricks across the face and people are going to walk away from watching this thing like, ‘That was the best party of the entire year. I feel it. Yeah!’” “We’re opening the show this year with this kind of comedy sketch, mocumentary style [chronology, looking at] my journey to becoming a true diva. And in the sketch, NeNe comes in and she’s like the diva coach,” Adam explained. “She’s giving me my swag… I predict it’s going to be a lot of laughter and we’re probably going to have to pull it together for these takes so that we can seem serious, but I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun.” – Read more at Access Hollywood
Scotty McCreery Balancing College Finals With Being a Country Star – McCreery’s most recent omission regarding his studies is a far cry from how he perceived his life as a college student just months ago. “So far, it’s not been that difficult. I’m not exactly taking Advanced Chemistry right now. So far, it hasn’t been horrible,” he exclusively told Taste of Country. “I’ve just had to have better time management on the road. Instead of sitting down for an hour playing Xbox, I have to sit down and study or write a paper.” “That just comes with growing up and maturing,” added McCreery. “As long as I can do that, I think this whole college thing is going to be easy. If I just wait until 5AM when something’s due in the morning, then that might kill me, but we’ll see.” – Read more at Taste Of Country
Lauren Alaina and Steven Tyler Reunited in Nashville – No judging this time around—American Idol finalist Lauren Alaina and former Idol judge Steven Tyler were reunited last night (Dec. 13) when Aerosmith played Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. During Aerosmith’s classic “Walk This Way,” Lauren popped out and joined Steven on the catwalk that extended into the crowd. The two exchanged a hug, then engaged in a little call-and-response singing, as well as the famous footwork that has come to define the song. – Read more at Country Weekly
Randy Jackson Reacts to L.A. Reid’s ‘X Factor’ Exit: ‘What? No!’ – The Hollywood Reporter broke the news to the American Idol judge on Thursday afternoon, who responded with his trademark, “What?! No!” Jackson said that Reid, the chairman of Epic Records, is a “dear friend.” And as a music-maker himself, he sympathizes with his fellow judge in understanding the difficult position of being a TV star and running a major music company. “He’s got two amazingly tough jobs,” said Jackson adding, “I can’t even imagine.” “He was great — he’s gotta come back,” said Jackson. “I gotta call him.” – Read more at the Hollywood Reporter
Frenchie Davis Talks ‘American Idol,’ New Album & More – Thanks to XL Nightclub, we received the chance to sit down with the incomparable Frenchie Davis, who most know her from her abrupt exit of American Idol 8 years ago, and who recently resurfaced on The Voice this summer. But before and in between reality shows, Frenchie has worked on Broadway as Effie White in Dreamgirls, won a Grammy for her performance in “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and is releasing her first album, Just Frenchie, with the lead single “Love’s Got a Hold On Me.” – Read more at NewNowNext
L.A. Reid’s ‘X Factor’ Departure: End Of The Real Talk? – Which is why I was surprised, and disappointed, to see on Thursday that Epic Records boss L.A. Reid? announced he’s leaving “X Factor” after two seasons. Forget for a moment that jumping ship the week before the finale is bad reality show form. The real bummer is that Reid was one of the true bright spots on a show that is still struggling to find its focus. I’ve written before? about how much I love the pomp and spectacle “X Factor,” and how “The Voice” and “American Idol” clearly borrowed a page from the first “Factor” season and upped their flashpot and graphics game during performances this year. – Read more at MTV
Is ‘Smash’ a Musical? Behind the Golden Globes Shocker – A lot of people — OK, let’s just say most people — were shocked to find that NBC’s Smash is nominated for a Golden Globe. Nobody expected that. If they did, they’d be lying or delusional. Smash is a drama about trying to stage a musical (about Marilyn Monroe in season one) on Broadway. But is Smash really a musical? Because it’s certainly not a comedy. There are two shows on television that play at being “musicals”: Glee is a hodgepodge of emotions but most clearly a comedy about a nerdy glee club trying to sing their way to being accepted and popular at school; the other is the aforementioned Smash, which is, to state it again, a drama about staging a musical.- Read more at Hollywood Reporter
Ratings: 12.12.12 Sandy Benefit Concert Draws 19.3 Million U.S. Viewers – Nearly 20 million people in the U.S. tuned in to watch Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and other music legends at the 12.12.12 concert to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy on Wednesday, according to Nielsen. All told, the concert — which was held at New York’s Madison Square Garden and aired on various networks, including ION, AMC, IFC and VH1 Classic — drew 19.3 million total television viewers in the U.S. for at least a portion of the show, though the concert was accessible to nearly 2 billion people worldwide via TV, the internet and radio. – Read more at The Wrap
