Congratulations to Katharine McPhee!
The 23-year-old singer - and one of our favorite American Idol contestants of all time - is engaged to her actor boyfriend Nick Cokas.
âTheyâre definitely engaged,â said a source on the set of McPhee's upcoming film House Bunny. âTheyâve been talking about it for some time.â
American Idol finalist and beloved country boy Bucky Covington recently completed filming his latest music video. It's for for the single, âItâs Good To Be Us.â
The video was shot at Ballance MotoX in Bowling Green, Kentucky - and it's pretty darn cool, featuring tricks performed by freestyle motocross riders.
âIâve been on the road so much so this is a good excuse for me to get some riding in,â said Covington. âActually, itâs such a high-energy song and so I thought the speed of motocross and freestyle would be a great fit for the music video.â
Freestyle Motocross champion Cowboy Kenny Bartram makes a cameo appearance in the video, displaying some of the ramp skills that led him to become one of the top athletes in his sport.
âI was excited to shoot the video and especially work with [director] Trey again,â said Bucky. âbut Iâve got to say that I was the most excited to finally get to see someone do some more of these stunts live more than anything else.
Kenny was amazing â he did tail whips, superman and knock off jumps â I was totally blown away.â
Ready for a little Sex in the City?
Jennifer Hudson appears to be, as this shot is of the former American Idol finalist - and Academy Award winner - 0n the set of that much anticipated new movie.
Hudson portrays Carrie Bradshaw's assistance and we all know what that means: some seriously interesting wardrobe choices.
Just as Fantasia Barrino, one American Idol star, is set to leave the cast of The Color Purple, another former contestant is ready to join the cast:
Lakisha Jones.
On January 9, Jones and Chaka Khan will make their Broadway debuts in this critically acclaimed show.
Chaka Khan, the eight-time Grammy winner, will join the cast as Sofia, playing opposite Benjamin "BeBe" Winans' Harpo. Winans' is the four-time Grammy winner who hails from the legendary first family of gospel music.
Also coming aboard the play, which is about to begin its third year at the Broadway Theatre, is Jones. She'll perform the role of church soloist at all evening performances, stepping in to play Sofia during matinees.
Sounds like a perfect match to us!
U Weekly just came out with its list of Hot Hollywood Power Players. And last season's American Idol champion was named The People's Choice.
Here's what the excerpt about Jordin Sparks said:
In a subpar American Idol season of gimmicks and forgettable faces, Sparks, with her powerful pipes and girl-next-door good looks, was the show's saving grace - and, at 17, its youngest winner. Now, she has a Jive Records deal, a built-in fan base of millions, and an expectation to become the next Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood.
Sparks told the magazine of her upcoming album (due out November 20), it "had to touch me when I listened to it."
Remember Sarah Burgess? The young singer defied her parents in season six, attended an American Idol audition and almost made the final 12.
FOX highlighted her during a tearful call to her father.
Now, the story has a happy ending: Burgess recently landed a record deal and has released an R&B track called "Didn't Matter That." She spoke to TV Guide about it...
TVGuide.com: What's the story with "Didn't Matter That"? You're not just saying goodbye to a guy there, you're saying goodbye and good riddance!
Sarah Burgess: I wouldn't give an ex the pleasure of having it dedicated to him. [Laughs] It's just a song that I think every girl can relate to at least once in her life.
TVGuide.com: What about you? How's your love life these days?
Burgess: I actually just got married!
TVGuide.com: No way! Is your husband ready to be married to a pop star?
Burgess: He's enjoying every minute of it. He is the most supportive person in my life. He videotapes my performances, saves newspaper articlesâ¦. He even taped every single episode of American Idol on DVD! It's so cute.
TVGuide.com: How would you describe your album, One?
Burgess: It's a unique soulful pop sound. I have so many different tastes in music. It ranges from pop to classical. So on my album, I wanted to make sure we covered everything! We got pop, soul, rock, jazz. It's such a great mixture of everything I love.
TVGuide.com: How are you going to set yourself apart from all the other young Christinas and Britneys?
Burgess: I think my individuality lies in my vocal inflections â I really have to believe what I'm singing in order to make the song my own. And I want to keep my clothes on! [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Were you surprised that you didn't make the top 20 on Idol after they spent so much time on your story?
Burgess: I didn't know! I hadn't seen my audition show yet since I was in Hollywood, so I had no idea there was so much attention paid to my audition.
TVGuide.com: What was Simon Cowell like â evil incarnate or simply misunderstood?
Burgess: [Laughs] He was nothing but nice to me. Really! I appreciate his honesty. I even made him laugh when I told him I secretly wanted to marry Clay Aiken!
TVGuide.com: Your husband will be thrilled to hear that. So, in retrospect, are you disappointed that you didn't go further on Idol or relieved that you won't have to be "Idol this" and "Idol that" for the rest of your life?
Burgess: I don't know how to answer that. I mean, I'm disappointed because I would have liked to have stayed on the show to see how far America would've voted to keep me on. But I'm also relieved because so much is happening for me now. I mean, I just opened for Daughtry â I can't be too sad!
Katharine McPhee is filming yet another movie. It's called "Success."
"This is a whole new beginning," she told MTV this week, speaking for the first time about the script she hopes to begin soon. "I'm scheduled to shoot [that] movie in November."
The 23-year-old American Idol runner-up is currently in L.A. finishing up work on "I Know What Boys Like," an Anna Faris comedy that will hit theaters around the middle of 2008. In that film, she'll make her movie debut as a pregnant hippie given a makeover by the "Scary Movie" star.
These days, though, McPhee already has her mind on the dramatic follow-up.
"It's darker, it's definitely hard to explain, but a specific style," she said, comparing "Success" to the output of iconic indie filmmakers like the Coen Brothers and Jim Jarmusch. "[The 'Success' script] has great writing and definitely quirky characters, really well-developed characters."
McPhee plays a "sweet, nice girl who gets the attention of this guy." There's no word, however, on who the "guy" is just yet.
Meanwhile, the singer is planning her next album.
"I'll probably be making a much different record next time around," she said. "Maybe more adult. I definitely have thoughts and ideas; maybe more like the female version of John Mayer... I haven't put much thought into it, but the wheels are turning."
The American Idols Live Tour is still in full swing - and Sanjaya Malakar is still going strong.
Below, TV Guide asks the finalist and fan favorite a few questions...
TV Guide: Are you exhausted yet?
Sanjaya: Yeah. I just got back from Chicago at 5 o'clock this morning. It was my birthday yesterday so I went there.
TV Guide: Happy birthday! Did everyone go with you?
Sanjaya: No. I actually went to see a concert but it was raining, so it was canceled. So everyone came to Greensboro and I went to Chicago basically to buy a pair of shoes.
TV Guide: What concert were you supposed to go to?
Sanjaya: Stevie Wonder.
TV Guide: Did the Idols do anything for your birthday?
Sanjaya: I haven't really been able to celebrate with them yet. But hopefully we'll be able to have some kind of party. The guys are going to kick my butt because it's my initiation into manhood because I'm 18, so that's cool.
TV Guide: They're going to beat you up?
Sanjaya: Well, Phil Stacey described it as a "good old-fashioned country butt-whooping." So I'm fine with that. I figure I probably need it. I'll probably have big welts on my face at the next show.
TV Guide: Aside from that, are you excited about turning 18?
Sanjaya: I guess for voting, but I'll be 19 when I vote for president. I don't smoke so that doesn't really excite me.
TV Guide: Any stories from the tour?
Sanjaya: I've been trying to sleep as much as possible. Right now I'm exhausted because I barely slept last night and I had a two-hour flight at 4 o'clock in the morning, so I just got here. I've just been trying to catch up on sleep as much as possible. I'm definitely an insomniac.
TV Guide: You have very enthusiastic fans. Have you met anybody memorable on the road?
Sanjaya: Actually, I'm really happy with my fan base. At first I was kind of freaked out because they were a bunch of screaming 12-year-olds. But it's actually a lot more diverse than I thought it was. There's all kinds of people. It's cool. I actually got a little stuffed monkey from a fan. I named it Dog and I wore it on stage. That was pretty cool. That was my little guest star for the show.
TV Guide: Are you nervous about moving [to L.A.]?
Sanjaya: Yeah. I'm a little apprehensive; I've never really wanted to live in L.A. because I'm very much a Seattle boy. If it made sense for me to do it, I'd much rather stay in Seattle, but it doesn't make sense, because I want to be in the entertainment business. So why not go to Hollywood?
Forget winning American Idol. Here's how you know when you've hit it big:
A network changes its name in your honor.
Tomorrow, in order to promote her new album, Carrie Underwood will enjoy just such a fate. Country Music Television (CMT) will be dubbed Carrie Music Television for the day, as the channel premieres Carrie's So Small video ... for six hours straight, starting at 6 a.m.
CMT estimates it will be able to show the video 64 times in that time span.
Following that exposure, the song/video it will be available exclusively on iTunes during its debut week.
A native of Virginia, Chris Richardson was in his home state as part of the American Idols Live tour recently.
The Virginian-Pilot conducted the following interview with this rising star:
What are you going to do after the tour is over?
I'll be traveling and doing my album, but when I get home from the tour, of course, just trying to see some friends and family.
What's it like being on the road? Is it grueling?
Oh, yeah. It gets grueling at times and you get tired, but you have fun with it. I think everybody looks forward to it ending, but then they don't. It's like one of those bittersweet times where you don't want to tell everybody goodbye, but you have to just carry on.
Is there any one thing - like I don't know, a cheese steak from somewhere - that when you come home you have to have?
Foodwise, not really. I enjoy going to Fuddruckers in Chesapeake, but I just enjoy being in the company of my family and friends. And taking that down time, because you're always going - getting noticed everywhere - not that that's bad, I love it - but you do need that down time.
Well this is good preparation for your solo career, right?
Yeah, it is. That's what this whole show is about for me. It's how to become a successful solo artist. From being on television trying to adapt to the nervousness that it emits, then going on tour doing press, just learning how to live in that world, how to be careful with the things that you do so you show yourself in the most positive of lights.
What was the one thing you splurged on when you got a little bit of cash?
To be honest with you, I have not splurged on anything. The only thing I bought was another computer. I already had one, but I bought another laptop for the tour. Oh, and I bought another guitar. But other than that I don't really spend any money. I save it, try to invest it. For me it's all about real estate.
Once I get done purchasing my home, I'll get an apartment complex or something. I think you should always have a backup plan for anything that you do.
When's your album coming out? Do you have a date yet?
I don't have a date yet. I'm working on it as we speak. I've been writing on it, but I'm not officially signed with anyone yet. But I do have three songs that'll be on Blake's (second-place winner Blake Lewis) album. I've been writing with him.
Hopefully I'll have a couple on Jordin's. (Jordin Sparks, first-place winner.) On the tour I've just been songwriting. I've been trying to build credibility in different fields, not just as a solo artist but songwriting. I think in the music business you gain more respect the more stuff you dip your hands in.
