January 2008 News Archive (Page 3)

American Idol fans know what to expect from the first few episodes of their favorite show.

The initial round of American Idol auditions result in a couple standout voices, a few attractive faces, many untalented hopefuls desperate for attention - and, of course, a slew of inspiring, golden ticket-waving scenes that involve shrieks and tears of joy.

Fortunately, last night's premiere involved a solid mix of the terrible and the talented. Here are a few names to remember that got their tickets to Hollywood stamped:

• Kristy Lee Cook (pictured)
• Angela Martin (whose daughter was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome)
• Chris Watson (who has lost over 200 pounds; he's the Mike Huckabee of the group)
• Melanie Nyema
• Junot Joyner
• Jose Candlaria

Of course, there were also a few singers who took advantage of the airtime to weasel into the judge's room and serenade viewers with original, awful songs.

Take Milo Turk, 39, of Absecon, N.J. Despite being 10 years too old to be eligible for the competition , he sang “No Sex Allowed.”

No sex allowed/I don’t want to be a part of your crowd/And if you don’t like it, get out of town

Then there was Paul Martarano of New Hope, Pa., who wrote an unnamed love song for Paula Abdul:

I broke into her house when she wasn’t there/Took off all my clothes and tried on her underwear

Lovely.

As American Idol gets set to premiere tonight, we've uncovered a pair of pictures from two hopeful contestants.

You should recognize at least one person in the first photo: yes, that's previous American Idol champion Fantasia. By her side is brother Ricco. He tries out during the initial round of auditions, but we've already heard Simon Cowell say he doesn't exactly measure up to his talented sibling.

Don't look for Ricco to advance very far.

Next, we come to Erin Hughes. The lobster outfit is cute, but costumes are typically symbolic of a lack of singing ability.

Visit our site every day for the latest American Idol updates, reviews and photos. We look forward to a super seventh season with our readers!

Chris Daughtry, one of the leading acts of 2007 despite NOT winning American Idol, says the the show that made him famous "in a state of decline."

The Daughtry frontman recently spoke with Rolling Stone about the series. Considering that three well-known Idol finalist - Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Katharine McPhee - have all been dropped by their record labels over the last month, it's easy to see where he's coming from.

But Daughtry probably went overboard when he said that if the show doesn't right itself, "it's probably not gonna last too much longer." Ratings still soar for American Idol, Chris.

Overall, though, we agree with his assessment that the show’s woes are largely due to its emphasis on untalented singers.

“People get tired of seeing people that suck,” he says. “It’s funny at first, but come on. They spend three weeks on people that can’t sing, and that’s what they’re banking it on. [They should] find some people that you can really invest in.”

The American Idol judges and host - Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest - recently opened up to USA Today about their most memorable seasons, moments and contestants from the show's first six years.

As you get ready for the seventh season premiere tomorrow night, check out a few highlights from the past:

Best season: Simon: Season 1, 2 (because of the Clay-Ruben competition)
Paula: Seasons 4 and 5
Randy: Season 3. "I must say the season with all the 'Dreamgirls' " (Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London).
Ryan: "Whichever was the highest-rated one."

Worst finals singer:
Simon: Sanjaya Malakar
Paula: Sanjaya, Kevin Covais
Ryan: "Sanjaya wasn't the best singer, was he? He went the furthest without the best voice."

Singer with most disappointing career:
Simon & Ryan: Tamyra Gray
Paula: Katharine McPhee

Best performance by a finalist:
Simon: Fantasia, Summertime
Randy: "Hands down, Summertime by Fantasia Barrino. She raised the roof."
Paula: Fantasia, Summertime; Carrie Underwood, Alone by Heart; Blake Lewis, beatboxing to Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name; Clay Aiken, Bridge Over Troubled Water

To check out all the memories of the American Idol crew, follow our link now.

Clay Aiken has been involved in a few dust-ups over the last few months. Remember the Kelly Ripa feud?

Newsweek certainly does, as it tried to get the former American Idol runner-up to comment in a couple of incidents during the recent interview. But Aiken wasn't exactly in the mood to talk about any of it:

How did you get into a fight with that lady on a plane? I’m not going to talk about it.

I was just curious because you’ve never talked about it. I did talk about it.

What about the Kelly Ripa thing? I’m not going to discuss it.

Did you think it was homophobic? I’m not going to discuss it.

What do you want to talk about? I think we’re done.

Can we talk about something fun? No, we’re done. I thought Newsweek would be more reputable. I’m surprised.

But I think people are curious about it. It was a year ago. This is Newsweek. It’s not the National Enquirer. I’d hate to have a job where I had to be rude to people.

I’ll change the subject. What do you do for fun? I watch the news. I read news magazines, but I’m reconsidering that now.

Read the full interview with Clay now.

Simon Cowell recently talked to The Los Angeles Times about the upcoming season of American Idol, as well as his possible exist date from the show.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Q: Tell us about the level of talent this year.
A: I think personally it’s one of the strongest years we’ve had in a long, long time. It’s younger. I think the talent is more current. They’re more interesting people. So I go into this season a lot more optimistic than I went in certainly last year.

I mean, Paula and Randy went on the record last year saying the bar has been raised and all that nonsense and it’s going to be one of the best years. I didn’t go along with that. I didn’t believe it. But I will go on record this year saying it’s one of the strongest lineups we’ve had.

Q: You made references to this year’s contestants being more interesting people. How is that the same or different than talented people and in the audition process how do you look for interesting as opposed to necessarily the talented?
A: I am making these comparisons to a lot of artists that you see on the Internet now who are kind of doing their own thing. And they have a certain quirkiness and they have their own style. Rather than just a ton of talented puppets for want of a better word. These people just look more current, sound more current.

They’re definitely individuals. And I think three or four of the contestants we’ve got this year all would get recording contracts without "Idol." I think they’re that good. It feels more fresh than I’ve seen before and definitely more memorable.
Q: Do you have an exit date in mind and can the show go on without you?
A: Nothing is gonna last forever. I think the exit date will be determined by the public, who eventually are going to get sick to death of you if they haven’t already. I always in my mind thought I’d go up until the end of my contract, which would be two more seasons after this one. Nine years is probably enough to inflict on anyone.

Can the show exist without me? Absolutely. It would probably get better.

Straight up, now tell us: Did you see this coming?

Paula Abdul is reportedly in talks to perform live during Super Bowl XLII next month in Arizona.

With Tom Petty set to star in the halftime show, it's unclear just when Abdul would sing. But her latest project gives us an inkling of just what she'd be doing at the game:

The crazy American Idol judge is already in rehearsals for a music video duet between her and Randy Jackson, which will also be the first single off of Jackson's upcoming guest-heavy album, Music Club Vol. 1. Abdul would likely use this as the basis for her performance.

What do you think? Do you wanna see Paula at the big game?

Kimberley Locke has a new man in her life. Except he isn't that new.

The former American Idol singer and Celebrity Fit Club trainer Harvey E. Walden IV are dating. But he isn't her boyfriend yet, Locke insists.

“He’s not officially my boyfriend,” Locke said of Walden IV, who is currently in the midst of a divorce. “[His divorce] is why we’re not a couple yet. That is my rule. Whether you’re separated or married — whatever — I would like it to be cleared up. Until then we can hang out together and have fun together.”

Locke also says the romance didn't begin until after the reality TV cameras stopped rolling.

“We worked out on the show together for four months and never even said anything to each other,” she explained. “I thought he was mean. I didn’t want him to be mean to me, but then after the show was over and I saw him outside of work, he was really nice.”

Guess this isn't really breaking news. Especially since Carrie Underwood is now dating Gossip Girl hunk Chace Crawford.

But in the latest issue of Women's Health, the former American Idol winner confirmed a smooch-filled past with the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, while also answering a couple other questions:

On Tony Romo: “He was not my boyfriend and we were never dating. The more I screamed ‘We’re not dating!’ the more headlines claimed that we were a couple or that I was crying because he was out with another girl. We’re really good friends, we hang out a lot, and we’re close… well, friends smooch occasionally.”

On being a vegetarian: “There was a traumatic incident that made me stop eating beef… And it hit me that these cute little animals that were running around playing would become someone’s dinner. Eating them made me feel guilty.”

On wanting to be a news anchor: “I love being on camera. And I love knowing what’s going on in the world. Diane Sawyer is my favorite. She never seems to lower herself to get the job done. She just always carries herself well. I really admire her.”

On her penchant for 1980s heavy metal: “I remember singing Motley Crue’s remake of ‘Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room’ in front of the mirror. That was the age of the real ‘rock star.’ I would like to have experienced that first-hand.”

This is getting ugly.

First, Ruben Studdard was dropped from his record label. Then, the same fate befell Taylor Hicks.

Now, Katharine McPhee has parted ways with RCA after just one album, a 2007 self-titled affair that debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200.

The former American Idol finalist struggled to connect with a wide audience with her CD, which was led by the single "Over It." That track topped out at No. 22 on Billboard's Top 40 Mainstream chart and No. 29 on the Hot 100. The album has sold just 366,000 units in the United States.

As McPhee said last year, she quickly realized the art of the compromise when it came to record the album, fresh off the road from the "American Idols Live" tour.

For example, Katharine fell in love with two tracks from producer Ryan Leslie, but then they wound up not making the cut. "I'm learning that's the way it goes in this business," she said. "You give and you take."

Hopefully, fiance Nick Cokas can at least help to cushion McPhee's fall.