Idol News Catch-Up - 4/5/08

:welcome1: Hi gang, some past and new news to report regarding our idols. Hope you enjoy it.

Music releases include Phil Stacey who's debut cd comes out April 29th. Also Clay Aiken's newest "On My Way Here" comes out May 6th. Jon Peter Lewis has a new one already on ITunes entitled "Break The Silence" but will also be coming out in stores June 3rd.

Season 2's Josh Gracin who made it all the way to number 4 during his season has released a sophomore album entitled "We Weren't Crazy" which hit the stores on April 1st. His prior gold cd delivered 3 consecutive top 5 singles to country radio. This 27 year old guy seems to be doing quite well.

Some belated birthday news to report:

On March 25th two alumnis celebrated their birthdays. First up is Carmen Rasmussen from season 2 who made it all the way to 6th place during her season. This then 18 year old had a surprising history with Idol. She was initially eliminated during the top 100 contestants but brought back with 3 other idols to compete in the wildcard selection. Simon Cowell picked her as the "judge's choice". She sang on the American Idol cd of that year doing Leanne Rimes "How Do I Live". Since her idol days, she has released an ep entitled "Carmen", also released a single called "Nothin Like The Summer" last April. Her debut album was released to ITunes last August. In 2003 she made her acting debut and also has written a book entitled "Staying In Tune".

Next up to wish belated birthday wishes to is Katharine McPhee who turned 26 on March 25th. Kat has had her hand in many pies since her season 5 runner-up status to our loveable winner Taylor Hicks. She was named the most beautiful woman in several magazines top 100 picks. Her single "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" reached an impressive #4 spot on Billboard's Hot Single Chart plus spent months on the Adult Contemporary and Digital charts. She has appeared with Andre Bocelli for 3 of his U.S. concerts. Her acting credits include appearances in "The House Bunny", "The Last Caller" and in the fall will be in the independent film "Success". Staying friends with country girl Kellie Pickler she was married in Feburary with Kellie being one of the bridesmaids. She currently has a duet with season 5 third runner-up Elliott Yamin on the recently released Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume 1. The song is "Real Love". She also is working on a new sophomore follow-up to her debut cd with David Foster.

Season 2's Trenyce celebrated her 28th birthday on March 31st. Another amazing journey as she was initially eliminated during the top 32 contestants but brought back as a wildcard after performing her amazing rendition of "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green. She made it all the way to 5th place during that season. Since her idol days she has made numerous guest appearances on television but most of her work has been on the stage. She currently has songs posted on her myspace page. Trenyce also had a bit part in the Queen Latifah movie "Beauty Shop".

To all of our birthday girls, hope it was the best!

More stars have been added to the "Idol Gives Back" show which will air this week on April 9th. They include: Robin Williams, Celine Dion, Forest Whitaker, Dane Cook, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connolly, Elliott Yamin, Fantasia and Amy Adams. This is a worthy cause with the funds being distributed to the following charities: The Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, Make It Right, Malaria No More and Save Children's U.S. Program.

Many of you may remember the one-of-a-kind Siriano creation that was worn by Kimberley Locke on the March 25th show when she sang her latest single "Fall". Well this charity minded girl has donated this dress to be auctioned on the website "clothesoffourbacks.org. All the money raised will be donated to Camp Heartland where she has been a celebrity Ambassador for the last two years. This charity deals with families facing HIV and Aids. Way to go Kim!


Well gang, that is the latest news and I will be back on Tuesday with the latest re-cap from our current season 7 performances.

Thanks CC for the update. It's nice to know what's going on with some of the past Idol contestants. Sounds like everyone is doing well.

That it does. And I saw on AI Extra this week that Ace's album is ready to hit the shelves and Clay - who looks SO weird may I add, is currently on Broadway with Camelot. So sue me - I liked Ace too. He's such a sweet kid.
~tyg

Ace is definately talented. Glad to hear he made a Cd and I'll be on the look out for it. Clay always looked alittle weird to me. But you can't judge a book by it's cover.