Idol News Catch-Up - 7/20/09

Hi gang, time for some new news regarding our idols.

Birthdays:

June 23rd our very own Randy Jackson celebrated his 53rd birthday. Randy is quite a force in the music business as you all know. Not only is he a judge on our favorite show but also has several projects he is involved in. As a producer he has worked with so many artists that are too numerous to name. He also produces the show "America's Best Dance Crew" on MTV plus has produced cds such as Randy Jackson's Music Club and his Curtain Call volumes 1 & 2. Being a diabetic he also is involved with several charities for this disease.

Kellie Pickler turned 23 on June 29th. Kellie has had two rather successful albums under her belt in the country world. She also has been the host for several shows on CMT. Since April of this year she has been the opening act for Taylor Swift but has announced she will be doing her own tour in the future.

June 30th season 3's winner Fantasia turned 25 years old. She has released 2 albums with her first "Free Yourself" receiving 4 Grammy Awards. Her single from this album "I Believe" went double platinum in 2004. She has appeared on Broadway in the Color Purple and has just been cast in the part of Celie for the re-make of the movie version.

July 4th was celebrated with the birthday of Gina Glocksen from season 6 who turned 25 years old. She and longtime boyfriend Joe tied the knot last New Year's Eve. She is currently recording a debut album and also does alot of shows in the Chicago area.

July 15 saw Haley Scarnato of season 6 turn 27 years old. Haley was a bridesmaid at Gina's wedding. She has been signed by Sands Entertainment and is currently working on a debut album.

:bdaysign: Belated birthday wishes to all!


Music News:

On July 14th Chris Daughtry's new album was released. It is called "Leave This Town". As you all know his first album went 5 times platinum and is still on the charts. He is on tour through August to promote his new album.

According to Soundscan Jordin Sparks, winner of season 6 has had over 47,000 downloads to date of her song "Battlefield". Kelly Clarkson's song "I Do Not Hook Up" has passed the half million mark on downloads. Carrie Underwood has had 5 singles off her Carnival Ride album reach gold or platinum status. On August 14th , Carrie will be the headlining act for the concert "Salute To The Troops". She also will be releasing a new album later this year.

Brooke White's debut album "High Hopes & Heartbreak" comes out on July 21st.

Blake Lewis's second album "Heartbreak on Vinyl" comes out on October 6th. He has been quoted as saying the new release will be more dance-pop oriented. His first album "Audio Day Dream" peaked at #10 on the charts in 2007.

Michael Johns released his debut album "Heart On My Sleeve" on June 23rd. I bought it and highly recommend this album. He has a song on it called "This is Goodbye" which is awesome as are most of the songs on this cd.

On June 24th two cds came out for the season 8 contestants. Both are great and have some of the best performances from this year on it. Bravo for American Idol doing a repeat performance of the top 13 singing Michael Jackson music in honor of the King of Pop.


Appearances:

Semi-finalist Jackie Tohn of season 8 appeared on July 1st at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles. Her single "Beguiling" is available for download on ITunes.

Kimberley Locke of season 2 is the new co-host for the Gospel Music Channel's show "Gospel Dream". This is a reality show to find new talent in this field.

Syesha Mercado of season 7 has been cast as Deena Jones in the show "Dreamgirls" which starts it's national tour on November 7th. She is thrilled with this chance to not only sing but act as well.

News:

Kara DioGuardi wed Mike McCuddy on July 5th in Maine after being together for two years. Speaking of Kara she co-wrote the song "I Do Not Hook Up" by Kelly Clarkson. Congrats to the new couple.

On July 16th the Emmy nominations were released and American Idol received 8 noms with the top honor going to Ryan Seacrest who is up for Outstanding Host. Best of luck to him as he so deserves to win in my opinion.

Not so happy news is the fact that Paula Abdul may not be back next season as a judge. According to her manager she has not even been approached to get a new contract. How rude of the American Idol group. Simon Cowell is in talks regarding his contract. Randy Jackson is on board until 2011 and I am not sure if Kara will be there. If Paula goes I will be definitely not happy as I so like this woman with her spunky and crazy antics.


Well, that's a wrap for now and I hope all of you are enjoying your summer.

Thanks CC, nice to get kind of caught up on the Idol news..

Hi Sandi, just got done making corrections on my spellings and there you were. I am glad to bring the latest happenings.

and Josiah what about Josiah??

Sorry Mae. I take most of my postings from the American Idol site for news and as of yet have not seen anything about Josiah. I will keep an eye out about his latest news and let you know once I find out anything.

Hi CC, Yep I turn up like a bad penny some time and I didn't even notice misspelling in your post. Good aren't I?

Mae, Do you get google alerts for Josiah? I do for Taylor and Kris, it's great, of course by the time I get them it's old news and posted everywhere but news just the same..

wietzema wrote:

Hi CC, Yep I turn up like a bad penny some time and I didn't even notice misspelling in your post. Good aren't I?

Mae, Do you get google alerts for Josiah? I do for Taylor and Kris, it's great, of course by the time I get them it's old news and posted everywhere but news just the same..

Sandi you are not a bad penny in any form. I so enjoy reading your posts so come around more often, okay?

Well, now, that was some good things to read about on the whole.
I heard that about Paula's contract. I think they would lose a great aset if they let her get away, but maybe she might work with the kids more in some capacity. Her heart was there, assuredly. Guess time will tell.....
~tyg