February 2007 News Archive (Page 12)

One of the most memorable American Idol auditions so far? It belongs to Jamie Lynn Ward in Birmingham.

Ward is off to Hollywood - but some question whether this is due to her singing ability or unique, sad background. For those who believe it's the latter, they may be dismayed to believe that Jamie's story - of taking care of a paralyzed father who shot himself and his wife after he caught his love cheating - may not be accurate.

The American Idol hopeful's step-mother, Beverly, wants to set a two things straight regarding the incident:

1. She was not cheating on her husband
2. He didn't shoot her because he caught her in the act

According to Beverly, her husband James shot her after an argument. She believes that alcohol, Valium, and stress contributed to his actions. As for hearing Jamie talk about the shooting on national TV, Beverly says she felt emotionally "destroyed."

Ward's grandmother, Sue also doesn't know what possessed Jamie to share her family's tragedy:

"I don't know if it was her nerves or if they just pressed her for her story."

The obvious, cynical conclusion would be that Jamie embellished the details in order to garner sympathy and move past the first round. But we hope that isn't the case.

Either way, with talents such as Sundance Head and Sarah Krueger ahead of her, we don't see Ward lasting long in Hollywood.

He may look different than your typical American Idol contestant - but Sean Michel sings like a top contender.

Reality TV magazine recently sat down with the crooner ...

Reality TV Magazine:  What made you decide to audition for American Idol?
Sean Michel:  I didn't even decide to go until about 3 a.m. before the audition, as I had only just heard about it.  Initially, the reason I went was to hang out with some friends I hadn't seen in a while who were also trying out (Rob and Tami Griffith) and also because it would be a funny story to tell.   Also, it didn't hurt that I had some Memphis BBQ to look forward to.

Reality TV Magazine:  When did you start singing?
Sean Michel:  I have been singing my whole life.  My mom used to sing in the church choir, and she was really my inspiration to start singing.

Reality TV Magazine:  What is your favorite genre of music?
Sean Michel:  I listen to a lot of black gospel.  I also listen to a lot of indie rock bands.   I don't really stick to just one genre I guess...

Reality TV Magazine:  According to your MySpace page, you are in a band.  What is the status of us your band as you take part in American Idol?
Sean Michel:  The rest of the guys in the band support this whole American Idol thing.  They've helped me with my interviews and have been there to pray for me and support me.  I’m not a solo act, and they know how much they mean to me.

Reality TV Magazine:  The songs on your MySpace page are very spirutual in nature.  Is there a message you are trying to deliver with your songs?  Can you tell us more about the message?
Sean Michel:  The message I want to deliver is that all of us are in desperate need of something more out of life.   And while we struggle after it in vain, God has appeared to us as a man to bring us to that very life we were always meant to live.  I want to let people know there is another level to living that is only found when we lose ourselves to Jesus Christ.

Reality TV Magazine:  At the Memphis auditions, you looked and dressed like Fidel Castro.  Can you explain your look?
Sean Michel:  This is just how I look.  I’m not trying to look like anyone else.  I just happen to like the look of a long beard and long hair.  As for the hat, it was a gift from one of my real good friends a few years back, and its fits my head perfectly so I wear it a lot.  The military looking shirt was just something I found at a thrift store once.  I don't own a lot of shirts...it just happened to be the one I picked out at 3 a.m. before we left.

Reality TV Magazine:  Is there anything else that you would like to tell our readers?
Sean Michel:  Oh, I’m sure I could go on an on.  But I guess what I really want to say is that I'm an artist.  That means a lot of things to me.  First, I find a connection with my Creator as I am involved in the creative process of my art.  And so my art, my songs, are meant to dig down deep in the soul of those who listen, so that it reflects that connection between me and God.

It also means that there is a lot more that goes into a song than just hitting some notes.   I want to craft every moment of singing a particular song so that I put my heart out there, not just my voice.  And finally, I hope that anyone who sees or hears me sing will have no doubt that I have shared in the redemption of sins offered by Jesus Christ, because there is nothing else that I know to sing about that moves me so much as this.

Forget the Katharine McPhee album for a minute - take a look at this shot of Katharine McPhee, mayonnaise spokersperson!

Seen here, the American Idol runner-up from last season is on the Rachael Ray talk show. And is oddly excited about the jar in her hand. We're not sure why. But it makes us laugh:

We've already provided fans with a clip of Chris Sligh rocking out with his band, pre-American Idol audition.

Now, take a look at another early favorite, Brandon Rogers, as his singing accompanies a homemade music video:

They may be joined by the likes of Sundance Head, Brandon Rogers and Chris Sligh someday - for now, though, here's the latest update on American Idol singers across nationwide radio dials:

• Daughtry: "It's Not Over" continues to sail up the Hot 100 airplay chart, moving from No. 25 to No. 21. It stands at number-eight on the adult top 40 chart. The single is also No. 2 (up from 4) on the digital tracks sales chart.

• Carrie Underwood: "Before He Cheats" still has a bit of life, although it's off the country chart. It remains at 41 on the Hot 100 airplay list, but with a bullet showing upward movement in airpla y, and climbs from 30- to 26 on the adult top 40 chart. Meanwhil e, new single "Wasted" jumps 25-21 on the country chart.

• Ruben Studdard: "Change Me" inches up 75-73 on the Hot 100 airplay chart, moves 24-22 on the R&B airplay chart, and continues to dominate the adult R&B list, moving 3-2.

• Fantasia Barrino: "Hood Boy" has little life left, dropping 23-31 on the R&B airplay chart, although it moves up 36-34 on the adult R&B list.

• Kellie Pickler: "Red High Heels" is starting to trip up, falling 15-18 on the country chart.

• Jennifer Hudson: Her Dreamgirls showcase, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," is going up on the R&B airplay chart, 26-23, and doing better on the more limited adult R&B chart, 23-15.

• Clay Aiken: His release of "A Thousand Days" in the adult contemporary format is just getting started on the chart, moving 29-30 but with a bullet.

• Bucky Covington: First single, "A Different World," is just getting started on the country charts, moving 47-45 in its third week.

• Kimberley Locke is back on the AC chart with "Change,"which climbs 25-23.

Katharine McPhee is making the publicity rounds. In support of her new album, the American Idol star sat down recently with the Associated Press:

Your single just came out, your record is next. How do you feel?
I am so excited. I just look back to a year ago, at this time I was getting ready, preparing for American Idol and I wasn't able to tell anybody I was going to be on America Idol. It's a pretty miraculous thing that I'm now promoting my first single, "Over It," which I'm just loving. ...

It's just a fun pop, up-tempo record. It gives you a little bit more of an insight to who I am, a different side of me. I dance in my car to it and have a great time. It's kind of a celebration of young girls coming together and a lot of those kinds of tunes.

How has your sound changed since you left American Idol?
I always wanted to just sing the kind of things that were a little bit more challenging, rhythmically challenging, like different syncopated kind of beats and stuff like that I didn't get a chance to do on American Idol.

What should fans expect from this record?
It's not a record that I'm just trying to be like, "Oh, I want to be like everybody else." It's something I really relate to, and it's something that is a part of me. I think when you walk away from this record you're going to feel like you know a part of me better -- the girl who was in college or the girl who was in high school versus the girl who was on Idol. You just get to know a little bit more, which is important for a new artist.

How does working in the studio compare to musical theater?
With musical theater, it's so much easier to obviously connect with what you're singing about because you have a live audience and you're getting energy from them. When you're in the studio it's so easy to just kind of be singing the lines, having no emotion behind it. ... That was something that I had to learn in the recording studio, that I had to not only just sing it and make it sound pretty but that the emotion had to carry through.

Your image is much sexier now. Was that intentional?
We didn't think, with this kind of music, a long gown was going to mix well together. That's definitely a part of me. What girly girl doesn't want to get dressed up and go to the prom and look beautiful? But for this kind of music, it was more the side of me who's a typical day-to-day jeans and T-shirt kind of girl with some cute high heels and a ponytail. The cover of the album is pushing the envelope.

It's always about wanting to get people's attention and making a statement.

Before wowing judges at his American Idol audition, Chris Sligh was part of a band known as Half Past Forever.

Here's a clip of them in action:

According to AskMen.com, in fact, the American Idol winner is the 66th most desirable woman in the world. Not bad.

Here's what the site says about Carrie Underwood in its yearly survey, regarding her chart-topping 2006:

Life has been good for the Oklahoma native since American Idol and the release of her debut album in November 2005. Some Hearts has picked up trophies from the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards, among various others.

Carrie may have only just broken onto the scene, but as a singer she couldn’t have asked for a better breakthrough. Underwood spent her 2006 Christmas in Iraq where she performed on the USO Christmas Tour for soldiers.This is Carrie’s debut on AskMen.com’s Top 99 and she comes in at a very solid No. 66.

Jennifer Hudson has won Golden Globe and SAG awards - and is up for an Oscar - for her role in Dreamgirls. However, the success arrives despite what she describes as an abusive experience on American Idol.

"On American Idol, you go through this mental thing; you've got to get yourself back together. You've been abused, misled and brainwashed to believe whatever they want you to think," Hudson, 25, tells the new issue of Essence.

"You become a character – I became the girl in the turkey wrapping." (On one episode, she wore an unflattering outfit that earned that label.) "I just knew I had to sing my way out of it. I don't believe in looking back, and I didn't look back."

Hudson also dismisses rumors that there was tension on the Dreamgirls set between herself and costar Beyoncé Knowles. "We clicked from day one," she says.

She says she, Knowles and their fellow Dreamgirl Anika Noni Rose bonded over the fact that they're all Virgos, and all have a mole in the same spot on the left side of their necks.

"It's amazing to me that God took three different women from three different walks of life and created the Dreamgirls," Hudson says. "We were meant to be together. When you look at us, you see it's all connected. I'm loving Beyoncé."

Well, they're at Media Day during the week before the Super Bowl.

Still, that's a place not many of us see. But here they are - one in a Colts uniform, one sporting a Bears shirt - American Idol rejects, Kenneth Briggs and Jonathon Jayne.

They've turned their disses from Simon Cowell into national stardom, as Jimmy Kimmel offered them this chance to interview NFL players before the biggest game of their lives; or, in some cases, to be interviewed themselves by members of the press.

The future for Briggs and Jayne may not be as bright as that of Sundance Head, but at least they're having fun while it lasts.