Yesterday, American Idol Worship pondered why it is taking so long for this season's third-place finisher, Elliott Yamin, to sign a recording contract.

It appears we weren't the only ones wondering just that, as People magazine reports today that the 28-year old is fielding a couple of offers.

"He's entertaining offers. There are two companies interested," a representative from Yamin's management company said.

Yamin, who lasted longer than many thought he would in Season Five on the strength of his voice (imagine that) rather than a catchy marketing hook, is featured prominently in the current American Idols Live tour. In turn, speculation from fans over when and if they'll be seeing an album from the Richmond, Va., product has run rampant.

"Elliott is involved in a lot of charity work and has put a lot of time into that and then went straight into the Idol tour," the singer's rep said. "It's hard to entertain offers while he's been on tour, and he's just waiting for the right offer. He's got a few things in the works and will have something firmed up very soon."

With winner Taylor Hicks, runner-up Katharine McPhee, popular Chris Daughtry and adorable Kellie Pickler all under contract already, this is great news for Yamin's fans.

It appears as if Elliott has become rather adept at bringing up the rear, if you will. During the Idols' trip to meet with President Bush at the White House last Friday, Yamin came sprinting into the room, five minutes late, wiping his forehead and exclaiming, "Phew!"

The reason for his tardiness?

"He was sleeping," fellow Idol finalist Ace Young said.

Yamin later described the incident to his hometown Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"I had press to do this morning. My sleep was interrupted, and I was trying to make up for it," he said. "The tour manager called me at the last minute and said, 'We'll have a taxi to take you there for the photo.' And that's what I did."

The 10th-place finisher in any contest is rare noteworthy, but anyone who watched Lisa Tucker on American Idol knows she's no ordinary contestant.

Tucker, who turned 17 in June, is making a name for herself on the current Idol tour with a restrained capability and strong voice that we never got to see enough of this spring. Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly caught up with Tucker and got the scoop on her improved performances, as well as her post-Idol plans.

Here's the interview:

EW: I have to be honest with you: You were the biggest surprise of the Idol tour for me. When you sat down at the piano and sang those Elton John tunes, I was impressed. What's the difference between your current performances and what we saw on TV?
LISA TUCKER: On the show, you're performing for the audience in the house, but you're really performing to the cameras. On the tour, we just get to do our thing in front of all the people who voted for us. And not worrying about being judged afterward helps too. [Laughs]

EW: Seriously, though, do you connect with the music more sitting on that piano bench?
LISA TUCKER: You know, I'm so comfortable sitting there and playing. I feel like I really am connecting with the audience, making that eye contact, even though I'm not in front of the stage reaching out into the crowd. I'm making a different kind of connection.

EW: Do you ever dream of playing a small jazz-club tour? It seems like it would suit you.
LISA TUCKER: Well, I actually used to do that before American Idol. I'd play House of Blues and different clubs — even though I was underage. [Laughs]

EW: I was going to ask, they let you past the door?
LISA TUCKER: [Laughs] Exactly, give me a wrist band and kick me out after I'm done.

EW: How did you get involved playing those venues as a teenager?
LISA TUCKER: My brothers were actually in a hip-hop group. So they'd perform at House of Blues, and I'd perform there with them, and it opened doors for me.

EW: Given your early start in the business, then, what's your response when you hear people say that singers should have to be at least 18 to be on American Idol?
LISA TUCKER: I definitely think this is what I was meant to do at this time. I think both Paris and I proved you don't have to be 18 to [be right for] this competition — we definitely brought the artistic element and musical maturity to it. Age was just a number, you know? On the tour, I'm playing piano, and a lot of people don't do that.

EW: Still, do you ever wonder if maybe you'd waited a couple more years to audition, you might've had a chance to win the whole competition?
LISA TUCKER: Not in the musical aspect of it — even though I'm still developing in that regard. But maybe being comfortable in front of all the cameras... Then again, I had done stage performances and I had done Star Search with all the cameras on me, so not necessarily. This time was a good time to go for it. I think if anything with my age, you have to be worried about the emotional aspect of it, not necessarily the performance aspect of it — going through Hollywood week, going round by round, dealing with the judges, and press, and everything like that. You definitely have to be emotionally prepared for it.

EW: Was that a factor for you? I think we forget most kids your age would be worrying about studying for a calculus final.
LISA TUCKER: Which I still had to do. [Laughs]

EW: Exactly. And yet you were also facing the prospect of being critiqued by Simon Cowell in front of millions, which might upset even a well-adjusted adult.
LISA TUCKER: You know, we had school on the set, three hours every day studying, then going on stage in front of millions of people, so there were a lot of things to balance out. And there is definitely a large, large stress aspect to the entire show. It's tough at a young age, but you have to remember, It's a TV show, it's a TV show. You take what the judges say with a grain of salt.

EW: So what's the next career step when the tour's done? Any urge to go back to school and be a boring teenager for a while? Or do you say, hey, Jennifer Hudson and Josh Gracin didn't finish in the top three, and they've done okay?
LISA TUCKER: I definitely believe in striking while the iron is hot. I just graduated from high school, I plan to wait a year to go to college, and during that time I'm going to record an album, and there's a new sitcom in the works, although that's being played by ear.

EW: Are you signed to a label?
LISA TUCKER: There's a couple we're thinking about. We haven't made any decisions yet. We're just waiting it out.

Although the TV movie about American Idol Season Three winner Fantasia Barrino has not been released to the public yet, the FOX talent show's producers are reportedly up in arms over their depiction in the biopic.

The movie, entitled Fantasia: Life is Not a Fairy Tale, will air August 19 on Lifetime.

"Certainly, under no circumstances was she ever approached to be talked out of taking part in (the show)," Idol executive producer Ken Warwick tells the New York Post, in response to the TV movie's claim that Barrino was urged to withdraw from the competition because, as an unwed mother and high-school dropout, she was not a suitable role model.

"We knew she had a baby right from day one, and she was always strongly tipped to win the competition because she was so good," Warwick added. "I can absolutely refute that nothing was done, or even remotely suggested to her that she shouldn't take part in the competition. It's a complete fabrication."

According to the Post, the movie opens with a 19-year old Barrino coming off the Idol stage and being asked to speak with producers, who confront her with Internet postings about her suitability to compete.

"It's absolutely and totally untrue. I'm the executive producer, Nigel (Lythgoe) is the other executive producer and nobody -- to my knowledge --would have said anything like that to her," Warwick said.

There has been no comment from Barrino on Warwick's claims. Earlier this month, the singer told the Television Critics Association at its summer meeting that the movie, in which she plays herself, was difficult for her because, among other reasons, she had to relive the rape the resulted in her having an unplanned child.

Still, she said, she believes her story can inspire others.

"At the end, I began to cry and I said, 'I went through all those things, but I know why I share my life.' I'm thankful that I was able to do it," Fantasia said. "It's an amazing experiment."

NOTE: The following column was originally written during Season Five. Photos copyright En Avant Photography, 2005; Used by permission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE SECOND SINGER awaits her verbal assault from the judges and I am all ears. Slicing across my attention span is the shrill tone of the telephone. I ignore it, straining to hear the judges’ critiques, but the phone continues its annoying call. Hurriedly, I check the caller ID and realize that I have to answer as it is a RSVP for the bridal shower I am hosting that week. It is obviously not one of my nearest and dearest calling because they know to never call on a Tuesday or Wednesday night when American Idol is on.

Yes, I am 50 years old and addicted to a TV program.

“Mom, turn the channel to FOX; there is this great program that Allison told me about.”

How innocently it all started. Early that summer of 2002 we gathered as a family to check out this new TV reality show program.

It looked OK: no swearing, the girls mostly covered up, no off-color jokes or on-air vomiting like Survivor.

And could that Kelly Clarkson sing! Within one episode we were hooked.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights found us clustered around the television to cheer on our favorite contestants, and to moan in agony when the judges didn’t agree with our verdicts.

Week after week, the contestants were whittled away, some deservedly, others not. As a foursome we leapt jubilantly from our couches when Kelly was proclaimed the winner over Justin Guarini from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Although we didn’t make that first American Idol concert tour, we bought Kelly’s CD as soon as it was released.

Continue Reading...

It wasn't just the heat of battle that 100 American Idol hopefuls had to endure Saturday during auditions in West Des Moines, Iowa. The drenching humidity and soaring temperatures made for a downright brutal competition at the Jordan Creek Town Center's amphitheater, the Des Moines Register reports.

For 100 aspiring superstars from all over Iowa, the objective was to earn a guaranteed audition for American Idol 6. That meant bringing their game faces and signing their hearts out, regardless of the adverse conditions.

"If I had known we would be outside, I would have changed," joked 23-year-old Aaron Streck of Burlington, Iowa.

As he sipped from a bottle of water, Streck's combination of a long-sleeved shirt topped with a short-sleeved one, as well as torn jeans, left him a tad warm. The heat also took its toll on the audience, with one teenage girl requiring medical attention.

The Des Moines area's local Fox affiliate, KDSM Channel 17, held open-call auditions beginning at 10 a.m. for the first round of this year's Iowa Idol competition. Similar to American Idol, the Iowa talent search, now in its fifth year, looks for the most talented musical performer in the state.

The highly-anticipated American Idol 6 premieres in January.

Continue Reading...

Katharine McPhee is in the headlines every single day and she wasn't even participating in the American Idol Tour until last week. Season Five winner Taylor Hicks is piling up the endorsements and public appearances left and right. McPhee, Hicks, and popular finalists Chris Daughtry and Kellie Pickler have all signed record deals. The question on the minds of many Idol freaks -- why is this year's third-place finisher, Elliott Yamin, still unsigned?

The irony is thick.

By and large, the record industry seems to stick with signing artists that have a certain hook, that fit a certain mold. Without a doubt, this is what's hurting Yamin right now, as he struggled in that department even as he made it all the way to the final three. And it is this unwritten rule that makes labels prone to overlook unique talent, which is precisely what has made American Idol such a runaway success.

Think about it. If you look back at the American Idol contestants that have gone on to successful careers, most of them are different in both look and style from your typical pop artist. If the record industry didn’t wake up after the success of Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken, then you would think that the grey-haired soul man who won Season Five would have given them a clue. If it works, it works. America wants quality, uniqueness, diversity, and fun.

Born in California to a Jewish father of Iraqi heritage and a Jewish-American mother, the 28-year-old Yamin made it to the top three this year with a mere fraction of the screen time given other singers. That attests to his popularity with fans, and one would think recording companies would be doing everything they could to court him. Here is a young guy that does not need a marketing machine -- because he's going to make a quality record that sells itself.

Hopefully, Elliott gets a well-deserved deal real soon.

The first time columnist Malcolm Mayhew saw Kelly Clarkson -- whose U.S. tour rolls through Dallas tonight -- was probably the first time most of us did. On American Idol.

The new show was becoming a surprise sensation (hard to imagine that now), with the competition nearing the finals and tearing the country in half like a virtual, musical Civil War. Mayhew, a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, saw little special about the program or Clarkson, figuring she was just a young girl (left) out to win a TV show.

The next time the reporter saw Clarkson, she was a star with a hit debut record, Thankful. Still, his impression was that after her 15 minutes of fame, she'd fade from the limelight.

Then, the next time he saw Kelly, the paper's music writer gave her follow-up album, Breakaway, a mediocre B-minus review.

But he's finally come around.

There's no denying Kelly's star status now, as Breakaway still floats in and out of the top 50 on Billboard’s albums chart, 85 weeks after its release. It has become an equivalent of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, even Nirvana’s Nevermind in terms of chart-topping staying power. Like all three of those records, it has struck a chord with kids and adults, local fans and people all around the country, even people across the world and of all ages.

The reason? Breakaway speaks our language.

It mirrors our emotions. It knows how we feel, whether it’s the relief we feel after we end a disastrous relationship, the devastation of loss, the optimism of rebuilding a broken life, the freedom of getting in your car and just driving away... everything.

Continue Reading...

American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood will be touring with a fellow country star and Arista Records label-mate, Brad Paisley, beginning this September.

Their joint venture September 22 in Birmingham, Ala., and continues through December 8 in Chicago, Ill. Paisley released his smash hit CD, Time Well Wasted, in August 2005 and is currently supporting the effort on the road with Eric Church.

Underwood is currently on the road with Kenny Chesney, and will perform at a handful of state fairs in early September before embarking on her tour with Paisley.

Take a look at this list of Carrie's tour dates to see if she'll be rolling through your neck of the woods.

There's so much Katharine McPhee news these days, we can barely even digest it all. With her voice rested and career opportunities abounding, the 22-year old co-hosted The View with Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck yesterday morning. Katharine looked glowing as usual, and was unfazed when her co-hosts gave her some friendly razzing over the age difference between herself and beau Nick Cokas.

The dialogue:

Joy: "Don’t you have a boyfriend also now these days?"
Katharine: "Yes."
Joy: "Tell us about him."
Katharine: "He’s cool. His name’s Nick and we’ve been together for about a year."
Barbara: "He’s a little older than you?"
Katharine: "Oh, a little... 19 years!"
Elisabeth: "What does your dad think about that?"
Katharine: "Everyone was pretty cool about it in the beginning. You know, it happens a lot, and it is a lot of years but I’ve always been a little bit older than I am."
Joy: "Think of it this way; when you’re sixty he’ll be eighty."
Katharine: "I mean it isn’t really that big of a difference... once you’re old, you’re old!"

Not sure how Barbara Walters felt about that last comment, but it's good to see McPhee healthy, happy with Nick and in good spirits.

Ever the humanitarian, we've received word that Clay Aiken has posted a plea to his fan club on its official site to help the children displaced by the recent Middle East conflict.

Officials say more than a third of those already killed or injured in the fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group have been children, and estimate that as many as 350,000 children forced to flee their homes.

UNICEF is working around the clock to deliver aid to the many children and families isolated by the destruction of roads and bridges, and you can continue to the effort by following the link HERE.

On the musical front, we have learned from a number of Clay's fans that his upcoming CD is in fact finished. We previously reported that it was still being recorded, but A Thousand Different Ways is apparently ready to go and rumored for a September 19 release.

This date has been reported by the likes of FYE, Variety Magazine, MTV and others, and Clay's fan club says the album and tour are still scheduled for late 2006. Special thanks to the fans who brought this to our attention -- and to Clay for his continued efforts to help the children affected by this terrible conflict.