Katharine McPhee said she wants to record an album of Christmas songs. The American Idol competotor said she’s been waiting to release this album for years. „For someone who dreamed of becoming an artist and loves the holiday season, this is quite extraordinary. I love all Christmas songs” said Katherine. According to U.S. press, this future album of the singer will appear in October, two months before Christmas. Katharine McPhee debuted in 2007 with the album that bore her name and has sold over 370,000 copies and reached second place on the Billboard 200.
Steven Tyler has finally opened up about his possible future on American Idol. The 62-year old Aerosmith lead singer talked to People before heading to an after party at Studio 54 saying that he was planning to record an album and was “probably going to be a judge on American Idol. I’m doing it. What do you think? I’m doing it.” However, I wouldn’t take what he said seriously as Steven also poked fun at the recent media mentions, with the rock star saying “The rumors are true – I’m pregnant with Joe Perry’s baby.” I wonder when Jennifer Lopez plans to talk about her AI future.
Randy Jackson is the only judge from previous seasons who’s coming back but did you know that almost wasn’t the case? Sources close to production say that there was serious talk of a clean sweep of the reality TV talent show’s panel of judges. However, some execs wanted to keep a connection to the original judge’s table so Randy was spared. As everyone knows, Simon Cowell left for the X Factor, Ellen DeGeneres decided to quit and Kara DioGuardi was let go, leaving Randy as the only veteran judge. There have been lots of rumors as to who will be sitting next to him, with most recent reports suggesting that he will have Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler to accompany him.
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has tweeted his sadness that Ellen DeGeneres is leaving the show.
DeGeneres, 52, recently confirmed she is ending her stint on the US talent show and Seacrest, 35, said he was sad that she is going.
Writing on his Twitter page, he said: “Spoke with Ellen DeGeneres tonight. I will miss her on Idol. She’s one of the kindest and most talented people in Hollywood!”
DeGeneres has only been a judge for a year but will quit for the next season along with Simon Cowell, 50, who announced his departure after the last season ended.
There are rumored to be some big shake ups on American Idol next season now that Nigel Lythgoe is in talks to return as executive producer. Some people are saying that he wants to completely take apart the judges’ panel and start from scratch. However, he can’t do that due to the contracts of Randy Jackson and Ellen DeGeneres. That does leave Kara DioGuardi free for the booting. Nigel allegedly wants to take over Simon Cowell’s spot as the judge and if they can’t find a fourth judge that he deems appropriate, sources are saying that the panel will go back to having three judges. It looks like he isn’t messing around. Would you be sad to see Kara leave?
Openly gay singer Adam Lambert has a new music video out for his latest single ‘If I Had You’. The 28-year old American Idol alum talked about the song saying “In addition to the fantastic beat and melody, the song’s lyrics are what really stand out to me. The message is one of Love. Over the past year, in addition to my unbelievable opportunities, I have also been faced with the unique challenge of staying positive in light of some critics and closed mindedness. My friends, family, and my devoted fans have been a key force in keeping me grounded.”
Simon Cowell and Ricky Minor weren’t the only American Idol regulars that said goodbye to the show last week. Dorian Holley, the Vocal Coach and Associate Musical Director, also said goodbye to the show and, just like band leader Ricky, is also heading for The Tonight Show. Dorian was also the Vocal Director for Michael Jackson and was a key part in the London tour that never happened. Dorian will become the lead singer in The Tonight Show band. So if you’re looking for a job behind the scenes in Hollywood, there are a lot of openings on American Idol.
Literally, yes, but only for a day… and with good reason too. It seems that Simon Cowell recently hosted a charity day for a children’s hospital at his home. There the former American Idol judge dressed as a clown with the full equipment: red nose, make-up… the works. And with only this Simon Cowell managed to raise one million dollars for the hospital in question… that’s not too bad for one day’s work. Maybe he can do the same on his American version of The X factor just to spice up the ratings a bit… not that he has too many competitors for the audience.
The American Idol season finale went down by 18% in the ratings compared to last year’s season finale. I know that the competition this year was all sorts of boring but considering it was Simon Cowell’s big send-off, I would have thought it would have made a positive difference in the ratings. I guess not everyone really thought that Simon leaving was worth anything. But honestly, that had to be on the top 3 of the best moments of the show. Simon’s speech after all the champions sang, Paula Abdul’s appearance and Bret Michaels singing with Casey James were my top 3 moments.
Yet another one of those delightful surprises that the 18% less people who watched the very last episode of this year’s American Idol season had the privilege of witnessing. Paula Abdul came back… and she came especially so she could say goodbye to Simon Cowell. This was the long-awaited, heart-felt speech she gave: “American Idol’s not going to be the same without you, but, as only I can tell you, it will go on.” So few words for such a monumental appearance… and yes, the show is going to carry on. Probably much like a man in the desert dying of thirst… slowly crawling to the ultimate doom. Simon Cowell was apparently moved by her presence there… or so he claimed. Those 18% probably didn’t believe so, that’s why they desired to watch something else.
I love Janet Jackson new haircut on American Idol
Although Kelly Clarkson was fuming after her single ‘Already Gone’, co-written by Ryan Tedder, sounded just like Beyonce’s ‘Halo’, the original American Idol is apparently over it. Ryan must be very easy going too after Kelly wrote a song called ‘Wash Rinse Repeat’ that has some biting lyrics presumably directed at him. The One Republic singer said “I’m pretty sure that song was ’somewhat’ about me … and her record label. But I actually like it — I think Kelly speaks her mind regardless of anything. She’s great with lyrics, and I love that she is her own person. She’s no puppet.” And that’s why he’s back for more. “I’m working on stuff for her next album and am personally over any of the drama between the two of us. It’s silly. ‘Already Gone’ is now a bigger hit than ‘Halo’ was, so I think she’s probably happy, too.”
It seems that the prospect of American Idol not going on for another season without Simon Cowell has left Randy Jackson wondering about what his future might hold. He didn’t have to wonder for too long since all of those years in the presence of the Earl of Exigency inspired him to try out creating a record label of his own and also taking a former idol contestant under his wing. That contestant would be Kimberley Locke from the show’s second season and Randy Jackson had this to say of the whole endeavor: “I feel compelled with the music that I am hearing in 2010 to start this kind of label. I want to make a difference within this genre and bring good energy and great music to all!” It’s good to see him so worried about the fact that the money in the music industry isn’t going in the right pockets… how thoughtful!
Times are tough for everyone but it seems especially so for Kelly Clarkson. The original American Idol just wrapped up the Australian leg of her ‘All I Ever Wanted’ tour and she apparently bombed worse than her ‘My December’ album. It’s being said that ticket sales for the singer’s concerts were so crappy that she performed to half empty arena. According to box office reports, her concert in Newcastle on April 15th saw Kelly performing to just 2,308 people at the Newcastle Entertainment Center, which sits 5,146 people. I hope she has better luck in Indonesia. At least she did the right thing by cancelling the cigarette sponsorship.
American Idol judge Simon Cowell is reportedly planning to hold his wedding on Richard Branson’s Necker Island.
Cowell, 50, is engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, 36, and there were recent reports that he is planning a wedding at four different venues.
However, he said to UK’s Reveal magazine: “There was a story that the wedding was going to be at four venues. That was a crazy story. It’s not true.
“Nothing is concrete and I’m not making any announcement yet. I’ve been too busy with the TV shows. Everything is fine, though, and will be sorted soon.”
Sources say to the magazine that Cowell’s people are looking at private islands for the nuptials, and the favourite is currently Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
It seems that the producers of American Idol are having second thoughts about firing Paula Abdul and they might actually try to make amends with her and see if she will come back. This is what a source related on the matter: “They want Paula back. They’re not sure if she’d be the fifth judge, but they are talking to her. People tuned in to see Paula’s wacky antics and her chemistry with Simon. The show is just not as much fun to watch without her.” When the ratings go down… well, that’s about when those people start to panic. But there’s probably not a snowball’s chance in hell that Paula Abdul is going to go back on the show, especially since this season is drawing to its close and Simon Cowell will be leaving too afterwards.
We said goodbye to two aspiring singers on American Idol this week – Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens. It’s an unfortunate turn for the younger Katie after the judges chose to save Big Mike last week. I get it with Andrew because he hasn’t really given a great performance since Hollywood week. I guess there were just too many expectations for him and he couldn’t deliver after that. I feel sorry for Katie as she has really grown as an artist and has come alive the last couple of weeks. Give her a couple more years a little more training and I think we’ll see her again. I’m surprised Aaron Kelly wasn’t even in the bottom three as I think he deserved to go more than Katie. Oh well. We’ll see what happens next week.
Adam Lambert is featured on Paper magazine’s Beautiful People issue where the 28-year old glam rock singer opened up about becoming a member of the celebrity treehouse. The American Idol alum said “I was fascinated with Madonna, so meeting her was pretty wild. In general, all of a sudden it’s like I’m part of this exclusive treehouse. Celebrity culture is really interesting. All of a sudden I have people coming up to me saying, ‘Hey! I like your work!’–and they’re people whose work I admire. Just to be considered a peer in this industry is quite surreal.” Adam also talked about possibly starring in a movie musical saying “I would love the opportunity to cross over into film or television. I think that would be really exciting, especially with movie musicals being so popular right now.”
