Long Overdue Idol News - 11/12/08

All. Sorry it has taken me so long to report the latest on our idols but as you know I am totally wrapped up with my move to the new place and still have lots to do but figured I would report as much as I can for now. Here goes:

Season 8 of idol begins the new season on January 13th and 14th with a 2 night, four hour premiere. I have reported that there audition process in Puerto Rico was not a good one as only about 200 showed up so it should be interesting to see how they handle that one. Anyway, I am looking forward to the new season.

Congrats go to Simon Cowell who received a lifetime achievement award at the National TV Awards in London. While this guy may act like a butt at times he certainly has contributed alot to the music world. Do not forget he brought us IL Divo and Leona Lewis not to mention the concept of American Idol.

Elle magazine hits the stands on November 12th and has a full interview with Carrie Underwood in it. She is featured on the cover. Another plus is Season 7's top 10 are also featured with makeovers in this issue so check it out.

Speaking of Carrie, she recently was cast in wax as her likeness became part of the Madame Tussands gallery in New York on October 23th. I personally do not think it does her justice but oh well congrats anyway Carrie.

Remember Kyle Endsley from Season 7's auditions? He made it to the top 50 however failed to enter the top 24. This young man still has aspirations to be in politics. Currently he has a grant (Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs) which pays for his grad school and guarantees a 4 year job in the State Department working as a foreign service officer. This soon to be diplomat doubts he will try out again for American Idol however he is still connected somewhat as David Cook our current main idol is one of his best friends and he got to see several of the shows during the tour. Best wishes Kyle on your political career.

Kristy Lee Cook may have fallen off the charts with her solo cd however she recently experienced a true thrill for her as she was able to make an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on October 24th. It was indeed a dream come true for her.

Chikezie Eze did a recent performance on November 7th at his alma mater El Camino College. He was backed by the ECC Chorale and from what I have heard it was a big success for our R&B singer. He hopes to start work on a solo album soon.

Cutie Constantine Maroulis is thrilled to be performing in the off-Broadway production of the play "Rock of Ages". Many of the songs are from the 80's decade and he loves singing the songs of Bon Jovi and Journey among others. Sure wish I lived closer to New York to see this one!

Belated Happy Birthday wishes go to Amanda Overmeyer who celebrated her 24th birthday on October 23rd. Since "idol" she has recorded a new album which will be released on her own label called Chile Records. The solo album is due to drop in December. Way to go Amanda and hope your day was super special!

:) Our young cutie Josiah Leming made the charts this week with his single "Angels Undercover". It debuted at #26 on the Top Heatseekers chart. His full album will be out in January 2009. I am sure our Mae is thrilled about this news. Best wishes to Josiah for huge success!

Lots of news regarding our idols and album releases. First up is Anwar Robinson who celebrates the Christmas season as he will play the role of Jesus in the upcoming Christmas production of "Godspell". He is working on his solo debut album called "The Truth About Love" which should drop sometime early next year.

Melinda Doolittle's debut solo album is slated to drop in January of 2009. It is entitled "Coming Back To You" and features our songstress singing music from different genres such as R&B, soul, blues and jazz. I for one am so looking forward to getting this long overdue debut album.

David Archuleta's solo album dropped on November 11th and I bought it. Most of the cd features ballads but have to say it is pretty good. His velvet voice really stands out on the songs "Crush", "Touch My Hand" and "Angels". The young girls will definitely love this one!

David Cook's solo album comes out next week on November 18th. This is another one I am looking forward to getting. For a complete rundown of the track listings you can visit American Idol website under the news section. One last thing about our current idol is he was featured in Rolling Stone magazine in October. Great job David!

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching several of our idols have released Christmas cds. First up is Elliott Yamin with his "My Kind of Holiday". I could not resist this one and bought it yesterday. Not your typical Christmas album at all. He lends his wonderful talent in a very upbeat type of music although he does include two traditional songs of the season on it. My top favorites are "This Christmas", "Warm Me Up" and "Let's Be Naughty". I just love it!

Others who have Christmas cds out are Mandisa and Paris Bennett both from Season 5. Paris's cd is called "A Royal Christmas" and Mandisa's cd is called "It's Christmas". Both came out on October 14th and are available at Best Buy as well as Amazon. I have yet to get my copies of these two cds but hope to soon as I think both of these woman are incredible as singers.

:flowerheart: Well, that's the news for now and promise to be more on top of things next time. Take care, my friends!

As always thanks for the report.. I am going to put it in the newsletter if you dont mind...

DreamHrt wrote:

As always thanks for the report.. I am going to put it in the newsletter if you dont mind...

:) It's okay by me Jodi. Sorry I have not submitted anything recently but this move is really kicking my butt so to speak. I can not believe I still have not gotten everything done. Hopefully I will get a grip soon.

Thanks for reminding me *writes on hand to go to Target after school today*. My Mom told me to pick up a couple CDs to go in my stocking and I was stumped on what I wanted to get!!!
~tyg

Aww CC I am sure you need a break my friend. We all understand here. I personally refuse to ever move again! :)

Congrats go to Carrie Underwood for winning "Female Vocalist of the Year" at the CMA awards show which aired last night (11/12). This is one idol who evidently can do no wrong when it comes to the music in the country field.

Just an added note however: That show was so boring. Also did not like the song or performance of Kellie Pickler. She sounded like she was screaming the lyrics so really could not understand what she was singing.

That show was not boring!!!!!!!!!!
They had super great performances..., George Strait, Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Eagles and others.
For the third year in a row i thought the best new artist award went to the wrong artist.
And i was disappointed that neither Bucky Covington or Luke Bryan wasn't even nominated for anything. Exceptional Bucky.
Over all i enjoy the show and thought they had many super great performances.
Of course it could have been better if Taylor Hicks and Garth Brooks perform. mostly Taylor but they are both amazing performers.

Taysiah wrote:

That show was not boring!!!!!!!!!!
They had super great performances..., George Strait, Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Eagles and others.
For the third year in a row i thought the best new artist award went to the wrong artist.
And i was disappointed that neither Bucky Covington or Luke Bryan wasn't even nominated for anything. Exceptional Bucky.
Over all i enjoy the show and thought they had many super great performances.
Of course it could have been better if Taylor Hicks and Garth Brooks perform. mostly Taylor but they are both amazing performers.

Sorry Mae but I am not as big a fan of the new country music like you are so I found the show not too entertaining. One thing is the acoutics sounded funny to my ears so maybe I would have liked it better had that been better.

I do agree that Bucky should have been nominated for something but it appears to me that they keep nominating the same people over and over like Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, etc. One good bit of news for me was that Rascal Flatts won as this is one group from country music that I do like.

I am glad that you liked the show. Take care!

The CMA music awards didn't do much for me either. However, I really enjoyed seeing Sugar Land perform as well as Kenny Chesney. Rock on Rascal Flats. They are awesome.

Can I just say Rascal Flatts puts on an amazing live show?
~tyg

You sure can and I can't wait for the opportunity to see them in concert.

They put on a bene show here in Nashville every year, in conjunction with Disney, to raise $$ for the Nashville Children's Hospital.
Also, did you know they were Idol's back up band during Season 2?
~tyg

I didn't know that. Wow, I learn something new every day. :)

:) I didn't know that either. What a great cause. I know I probably mentioned this before but one of my all time favorite vacations was spent in Tennessee. As you all know I am a huge Elvis fan and enjoyed seeing Graceland so much. Also got a kick out of the Grand Ole Opry and being at a nightclub called the Nashville Palace where I got the autograph of Mae Axton. Another plus was Music Row.

There is so much to see and do in that area. It's definately worth a trip or vacation.

Thanks so much CC, I've been gone for awhile, boy let me tell ya I sure know what they mean by "If you have your health you have everything", I'm sick of being sick and I have a lot of catching up to do for sure, Thanks for all the great info...

concertcris wrote:

:) I didn't know that either. What a great cause. I know I probably mentioned this before but one of my all time favorite vacations was spent in Tennessee. As you all know I am a huge Elvis fan and enjoyed seeing Graceland so much. Also got a kick out of the Grand Ole Opry and being at a nightclub called the Nashville Palace where I got the autograph of Mae Axton. Another plus was Music Row.

So, don't clobber me, but...I haven't been to Graceland yet. Yes, I know I'm in the same state, but three hours is a long ride with my kid in the car wanting to stop every 6 minutes to find a bathroom. BUT...I DO get to go with my school this Thursday - yay!!!!!!!!!!
~tyg