January 2007 News Archive (Page 7)

The Internet serial Lonelygirl15 will receive star treatment Friday when American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee plays a guest role.

McPhee was an early fan of the show, which unravels the mystery of a 16-year-old girl named Bree in short video segments posted on YouTube, Revver and an official website.

"I followed it from the beginning," McPhee told The Associated Press. "I thought it would be fun to meet all those characters."

McPhee's management contacted the creators of the Web series about a guest spot. The writers had already been devising a female character who briefly meets Bree and had been searching for ways to cast fans as characters. They readily agreed to cast McPhee in the nonrecurring role.

"She has an album coming out and thought it would be fun to go on the show," said Lonelygirl15 co-creator Miles Beckett.

A song from McPhee's debut album, which hits stores Jan. 30, will be featured as background music on Friday's Webisode, although McPhee will not be seen singing.

Instead, the 22-year-old will play an unnamed character who meets Bree and her friends after they briefly emerge from hiding. The episode, titled "Truth or Dare," was filmed last week. McPhee did not get paid for her role.

McPhee said she enjoyed the experience, especially the natural way she was able to deliver her lines. The show, though scripted, is shot in the form of a journal, where characters speak off the cuff into a Web camera.

McPhee said she learned some upcoming twists and turns of the closely guarded plot, but laughed when asked to share them.

"No!" she said, adding she would love to reprise her role. "I would definitely go back if they asked me."

It's a bit early to crown American Idol favorites and a bit early to grow too attached to any one contestant.

But it's never too early to enjoy a few American Idol photos. Here are a handful from last night's auditions in Minnesota:

You can read our view on various auditions from the opening night of American Idol by clicking here.

Here's how another blogger, from The San Francisco Gate, looked at the competition:

Charles Moody of New York showed up dressed like Apollo Creed (pictured), tried a few bars of Italian opera, before being stopped by Simon, who sighed, "I don't know what I'm doing on this show any more. The fact that we're taking this seriously ... You're singing opera dressed as Apollo Creed."

Perhaps the most amazing reject of the night was Troy Benham, 24, a lanky guy with a Jed Clampett hat, a scraggly beard and a pony tail, who described his look as "urban Amish." Benham offered a bit of a self-penned song with such hook-filled lyrics as "trip me as I carry liquids." We wish we had.

Watching guys like Moody and Benham get the gong can be funny, but at other points in the show, the producers clearly had cruel intentions, keeping the camera on poor Tashawn Moore for several minutes as she flailed around trying desperately to remember her lyrics.

Colombia-born Perla Meneses, 25, seemed to think flirting with Ryan Seacrest before her audition might help her get to Hollywood. Or somewhere.

As it turned out, a few minutes of a Shakira song helped her overcome a bad delivery of Blondie's "Call Me" and she got her wish. For Hollywood, I mean. If Charo ever retires, Perla has a future.

"There's something about you I like," Randy purred, while Simon wiped the drool off the table.

A couple of contestants not only had talent, but the kind of backstory that will sell well on the show. US Navy Intelligence Spec. Jarrod Fowler of Arizona, stationed on the USS Ronald Reagan in San Diego, won a shipboard Idol-like contest before going for the real thing. He got his ticket to Hollywood.So did Rachel Jenkins, who works in her parents' Minnesota body shop when she's not training with her Army Reserve unit. Her husband has been stationed in Iraq for more than a year.

It's always a crap-shoot at this point to figure out how much of a future anyone has on the show, but I'd pick 16-year-old Denise Jackson of Madison, Wisc., to make it at least through the first few rounds. She's got talent and confidence to burn, but also an incredible backstory:

She was born "a crack baby," she says, but was lucky enough to be raised by her grandmother and considers herself a survivor. Just the kind of combination American Idol loves.

Just ask Fantasia Barrino.

American Idol kicked off his sixth season last night. We've got every detail covered between now and the May finale.

For example, Diana Ross told David Letterman that she is going to be on the show later this season. She won't be a judge, as Jewel served as last night. Instead, the icon will help prepare contestants for future performances.

During a taping of The Late Show yesterday afternoon, the legendary singer told Dave:

"I'm going to do the American Idol, as a mentor. And then I'll leave from there and I'll go on tour, March and April."

Here are impressions from the opening night of American Idol ...

Worst opening: FOX is coming at you from Minnesota. It's the home of Prince. And did you know he's singing at halftime of the Super Bowl? Did you also know we can't recall the last time he had a radio hit? Wonder if any of tonight's Idol hopefuls can.

Best copy cat: Denise Jackson (pictured) hoped for viewer's sympathy ("I'm what you'd call a crack baby"). Hey, it paid off for Fantasia. Looks like Denise can sing, too. We also admire her courage for tackling Jennifer Holliday's "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" in light of Jennifer Hudson and her Dreamgirls version of that song. Could we be looking at our first finalist?

Saddest impression of a celebrity judge: The very first audtion was Jessica Rhodie. She remind anyone else of the celebrity judge on hand, Jewel? It felt almost cruel how long the show focused on her disappointment.

Best impresssion of a celebrity non-judge: There's only one Shakira. Let's be honest. But we're glad the panel approved of Perla Meneses. The gal gave it quite the effort on "Hips Don't Lie."

Most admirable audition: You can't blame Idol for giving us a long, heartfelt backstory on Jarrod Fowler. The military man probably would've gotten through as long as he possessed semblance of a voice - but he certainly didn't butcher that Rascal Flatts tune.

Worst: Trista Geezy. The cowardly lion impression could've been seen as funny. We just thought it was a waste of time.

Best: Sarah Krueger. Her song choice, "Over the Rainbow," wasn't exactly original. But the girl had pipes and left us with a solid impression on an otherwise ordinary night of American Idol.

The search is on for the next American Idol ... and this year promises to be nuttier than ever.

As season six of the show premieres tonight and tomorrow night on FOX (8 p.m.-10 p.m. EST), Idol judge Paula Abdul, who appeared on "FOX and Friends" this morning, said auditions for 2007 were "beyond wacky."

"It's crazy," she said.

As for as her co-judge Simon Cowell, with whom she shares a notorious love-hate relationship, Abdul said:

"I'm becoming really mean to him, and he's becoming nice to me, and it's bugging me. I think he might be trying to psych me out."

Meanwhile, Ken Warwick, a series executive producer, said Wednesday's show from Washington state will definitely fall into the wacky category.

"If you don't watch any other episode this year, watch Seattle. Seattle is just the funniest place we have ever been to in our lives: We are shocked and appalled and amazed and hysterical over it," he told the Associated Press.

By now, you've probably seen or heard about the recent Paula Abdul interview, during which the American Idol judge seemed rather out of it.

FOX has released the following statement regarding the incident;

"All of us at Fox have tremendous respect and admiration for Paula Abdul. She is a consummate professional who always gives 100% to everything she does. Last week, during a satellite press tour there were intermittent technical difficulties, including severe audio issues in which multiple stations were speaking to her at once.

"Rather than getting angry about these difficulties, or stopping the tour, Paula forged ahead and decided to have fun with the increasingly challenging situation. Unfortunately, because reporters and viewers were unaware of the situation, her humor was misconstrued."

As the sixth season of American Idol premieres tonight at 8 on FOX, the whole concept of the show has been turned upside down.

Losing, it seems, can make you a winner.

Only two American Idol champions - Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood - have sold enough CDs and garnered sufficient industry recognition to live up to the show's original tagline, ''The search for a superstar.'' But they're not the only now-household names to emerge from the series - including some who were abruptly discarded from Idol.

None currently is bigger than Jennifer Hudson - who finished seventh in season three, brusquely dismissed by judge Simon Cowell.

Now, Oscar buzz surrounds Hudson for her performance as Effie White, the force-of-nature vocalist in Dreamgirls - she cemented her status last night by winning a Golden Globe. And in a sweet twist for Hudson, Fantasia Barrino, the Idol winner that year, tried out for the Dreamgirls role.

Miami's Nadia Turner (pictured), a fourth-season finalist, looks up to Hudson.

''We're friends,'' she says. "A lot of people assume when you are not first or the runner-up how successful can you be, but you don't need to be first or runner-up to catapult to success.''

To read the rest of this article, click here.

The awards continue to roll in for Jennifer Hudson.

In a possible Oscar preview, Hudson won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress in a musical or comedy. The movie she starred on, Dreamgirls, also took home the trophy for best musical or comedy.

The former American Idol contestant is now the front-runner for the Academy Awards, set for late March. We're rooting for you, Jennifer!

The good folks at Entertainment Weekly have recently reviewed a new game for PlayStation 2: KARAOKE REVOLUTION PRESENTS AMERICAN IDOL. Here's what they had to say:

It's a sad truth that there are more William Hungs than Kelly Clarksons in this world, but even the most tone deaf of crooners should have a blast playing this videogame version of FOX's relentlessly popular TV show.

Karaoke Revolution, already a terrific game franchise, has smartly teamed up with American Idol for this latest version in the series, and for the most part it's an irresistible duet.

KR: AI retains the same gameplay engine that detects if the notes you're singing into the microphone (an optional accessory) are actually delivered in the proper key. The game is also dressed up with lotsa AI frills: the show's catchy theme song, the strange Ryan Seacrest-isms, the cheesy hotel ballrooms, and best of all, the judges' table.

Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson are represented by their decent digital counterparts, but Paula Abdul is conspicuously absent, replaced by a generic-looking understudy named Laura (who just happens to share Paula's more, uh, forgiving critical sensibilties).

It's not too hard to cruise through the competition's eight rounds and win the whole enchilada when playing at the easiest skill level (and by taking advantage of the game's inability to distinguish between singing and humming). Still, Simon and Randy can be harsh in their judgments - even by real-life Simon's standards - especially if you run out of steam and commit the mortal sin of ending a song on a sour note.

There's a fair amount of variety to their computer-generated phrases though, and in a perverse way, you'll never get tired of hearing Simon singling out your performance as ''AHB-solutely ah-PALL-ing!''

KR: AI offers a much better mix of classic and contemporary songs than its predecessors. There's even a cover of ''She Bangs'' for fans dying to see if they can out-Hung the off-key master. The tunes expose the major flaw with the series, however: you can easily blow through all of the game's 40 tracks in one sitting, especially if you have the help of a few willing (and inebriated) friends.

There's also an almost inexcusable shortage of songs from American Idol alums: The list begins and ends with Kelly Clarkson's ''Breakaway.'' What's that noise? Ohh...so this is what it sounds like when Clay Aiken fans cry.

Grade: B+