If anyone noticed, Rickey Minor got a shout out in the final seconds of tonight's episode as Ryan was looking for ways to kill time since they seemed to have wrapped up about one minute ahead of schedule (and what did he expect? The show was like a lighting round with skimpy feedback sessions from the judges).
But he hadn't received too much screen time this season compared to previous seasons, so it was interesting to see him mentioned tonight. The news that he will be departing at the end of the season, however, helps put this into perspective. It was reported by TMZ earlier today that Rickey will be taking over for Kevin Eubanks as band leader over on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno beginning in June. According to "Ministry of Gossip" over at LATimes.com:
Eubanks told Leno during the taping of Monday night's show that, after 18 years, he was definitely moving on. Conan O'Brien compadre Max Weinberg's name had come up in speculation about who'd get the gig, but Team Leno and Team Coco won't mix that way after all. TMZ says the announcement will be made Wednesday on "Idol."
Now the question remains, who will replace Rickey on Idol? Hopefully no one, since that will mean the show will be over and done with. But in all seriousness, I'm willing to bet that former member of Daughtry could give anyone a run for their money.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Jordin Sparks spent yesterday without shoes in support of One Day Without Shoes, the campaign TOMS sponsored that encourages people to go without wearing shoes for one day out of the year to give them an idea of what it's like to be underprivileged and not have any. Watch Jordin promoting the cause below:
Jordin was so excited that she flashed her bare foot at the camera. This is just the latest cause Jordin has taken up, including Making a Difference (MAD).
>Randy Jackson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday to discuss the show and ended up discussing the love (and lackthereof) demonstrated among the judges. Randy joked that they all make out with each other between commercial breaks. Watch snippets of the the segment below:
Leno then surprised Randy with old footage of Ellen DeGeneres kissing Leno years ago on Tonight, followed by a photo of what looked like Randy and Ryan Seacrest were about to smooch. Apparently the two were engaged in a fake "shouting match."
>Ryan Seacrest was one Ellen on Tuesday, where he dished on all things Idol with the show's host and fourth wheel Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres. Watch a clip from his segment below:
Ryan was asked by an audience member what's going on between him and Simon, and he attributed their weird relationship this season to them being "roommates" before saying they were friends. Ellen said during commercial breaks she walks behind the stage with the other judges while Simon goes to have a smoke. Very insightful.
>Blake Lewis sent out an email to his fans this week asking for support in the hopes of releasing a vinyl version of his latest release Heartbreak on Vinyl. Per his email:
I really want to get my album out to you on Vinyl, but I really, really, really need all of your help. It's all up to you guys and gals.
You are the greatest fans and I'm so thankful for all of your continued support and love for my music.
So, help me and the lovely people at my label Tommy Boy to make a decision by clicking here, and answering 3 very simple questions.
So unless you don't want Blake's album title to not make sense, you better help him out by answering those three very important questions.
>Michael Sarver exclusively premiered the album art for his next single and track list for his forthcoming album Michael Sarver on AINow.org this week. The track list is below:
1. Watch Me
2. Baby I Want You
3. Ferris Wheel
4. Gonna Be A Good Night
5. Safe
6. Give It To Me
7. I'm In The Mood
8. Let Me Love You
9. Cinderella Girl ( Remix)
10. The Way She Loves Me
11. Always Surviving
12. Tell Me
13. You Are (Remix)
The album is set for a June 29 release, while his next single, "Ferris Wheel," gets a May 25 digital release. Maybe he's going for a Carnival Ride type thing?
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>After an exceptional first week for his debut album My Best Days, Danny Gokey sat down with Walmart Soundcheck to discuss the songs on the album. Watch a teaser of his interview below:
The full interview can be watched here. Danny talks about how he thinks "I Will Not Say Goodbye" will change the music industry and that there's an energy he needs to create in the studio whereas when he's in front of the crowd it comes naturally. He also discusses how he was raised in church growing up and his family life in general.
>Former Idol judge Paula Abdul will apparently not be starring as host and judge on ABC's upcoming revival of Star Search. According to RadarOnline.com:
But negotiations with ABC broke down Wednesday night a network source told RadarOnline.com.
“A deadline was given and no agreement was reached,” the source told RadarOnline.com.
“And she was offered a lot of money.”
The network wants to air the show this season.
As of right now the deal is dead. It is theoretically possible it could be brought back to life but the source said that’s highly unlikely.
“No, it looks like we hit the end of the road with Paula,” said the source.
This is probably for the better, though. Anyone remember Paula's experiment with hosting VH1's Divas special last September? Let's just say it wasn't her shining moment. On the flip side, this opens her up to be a solid contender to serve as judge on Simon Cowell's American version of his hit show X Factor, which comes to FOX in the fall of 2011.
>As for news about current Idol judges, Kara DioGuardi was the third judge to appear on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno since Leno returned to latenight, as she sat down on his couch on Monday alongside Terry Bradshaw. Watch her interview segment below:
Kara discussed a few interesting topics, including her father's announcement that he would be running for U.S. senate in New York and who she thinks is the front runner (Big Mike). She said at the beginning of the season she thought it was a girl's year but now thinks it's a guy's year.
>Fresh off his reunion duet with Matt Giraud on last week's results show, Scott MacIntyre hit the press junket to promote his new album Heartstrings, including an interview on the Los Angeles FOX affiliate morning program Good Day LA. Watch the segment below:
Scott recalled his experiences on the Idol tour and told the show's co-hosts about an upcoming trip to Japan and his Christmas show with Alice Cooper.
>Jordin Sparks performed in concert at the Star of Texas Rodeo in Austin on Tuesday. The show marked the last time one of her backup singers, Season 3 12th-place finalist Leah LaBelle, would be supporting her on the road. Watch the two duet on "No Air" below:
It has not yet been revealed what Leah plans to do now in terms of music. Jordin will kick off the spring/summer leg of her Battlefield 2010 tour in Atlantic City on Sat., April 24.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Simon Cowell stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night to talk Idol, X Factor and life in general. Not surprisingly, the topic of Simon's recent engagement to makeup artist Mezhgan Hussainy came up, which prompted her to join her fiance on the couch. Watch the segment below:
Leno continued to badger Simon for the duration of the interview, asking when the wedding would be and whether he'd get married in the states or over in England. Simon also mentioned that he likes Crystal Bowersox (she was the only finalist he mentioned by name).
>Kimberly Caldwell has been out and about promoting her new album Without Regret, and on Tuesday she appeared on Ellen, the latest Idol judge's talk show. Watch her perform her new single "Mess of You" below:
>ABC's special The Bachelor: Jason and Molly's Wedding aired Monday night, featuring Jason Castro and his ukulele. He served as musical guest at the outdoor wedding ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Watch him perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" below:
Jason also performed his own song "That's What I'm Here For," which can be downloaded at iTunes as of today. The special averaged 9.27 million viewers, which is a mere fraction of the audience Jason was exposed to while he was on Idol.
>Jordin Sparks announced she will be lending her voice and vocals to the Nick Jr. program Team UmiZoomi for an upcoming episode. Jordin tweeted:
TheRealJordin In the studio recording a voice-over & song for Nick Jr. TEAM UMIZOOMI!
3 minutes ago via TwitBird iPhone
This news comes as Jordin continues to tweet about her songwriting sessions, as she was in the studio writing for and with DEZ Armstead among other artists.
>Kelly Clarkson has been busy overseas on the European leg of her tour in support of her album All I Ever Wanted, and concert goers at her show in Hamburg, Germany on Sunday got a bit more excitement than they were expecting when Kelly disappeared for a few minutes mid-performance. Watch a video recap below:
After performing "How I Feel" Kelly explained that for the first time in eight years she just "couldn't hold it." TMI, Kelly. TMI.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>It was announced yesterday that Kelly Clarkson will join Sarah McLachlan and her crew on the 2010 Lilith Fair tour. Per MTV News:
Kelly Clarkson will soon take her pop anthems on the road as the latest artist to join the Lilith Fair. It was announced on Thursday (March 4) that Clarkson, The Bangles, The Go-Go's, Dixie Chicks' Emily Robison and Martie Maguire's side project the Courtyard Hounds, Martina McBride and Suzanne Vega will be the latest ladies hitting the road for the female-focused festival.
No word yet on when the tour kicks off, but some of the cities on the itinerary include Boston, Los Angeles, Raleigh and Seattle. Other artists accompanying Kelly range from Ke$ha to Colbie Caillat and La Roux and Loretta Lynn.
>Jay Leno made his much anticipated return to late night on Monday when he took back the reigns of NBC's The Tonight Show. Not surprisingly, Leno had a few friends help him out, including an appearance by Randy Jackson in a taped "man on the street" segment in which Leno went door-to-door searching for a new desk. Watch the clip below:
Randy brought along his pals from the third season of his America's Best Dance Crew, who did an impromptu break dance routine in some random family's doorway. Now that's a party!
>Randy wasn't the only Idol family member to appear on The Tonight Show this week. The next night, Adam Lambert took to the stage to perform "Sleepwalker." Watch the performance below:
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was also on the show that night, but there's no word on whether she and Adam exchanged any words.
>A few weeks after the release of "We Are the World 25: For Haiti," Emilio Estefan and Gloria Estefan unveiled the Spanish version of the charity single called "Somos El Mundo 25: Por Haiti" on Tuesday. The song and video features David Archuleta and can be viewed below:
The single and video can now be purchased at iTunes for $2.99, with all proceeds going to the efforts in Haiti.
>Elliott Yamin was in Chile last weekend when the infamous 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation. He was participating in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival at the time of the disaster, and so he has been updating fans of his activities via his official Twitter account, sending tweets like the one below:
Hey yall,.I am fine....no need 2 worry about my meds!...I have insulin....I will live!!..thanx ur concern everybody!!...please retweet asap 8:31 AM Mar 3rd via UberTwitter
Since the earthquake, Elliott has been spreading his story on various media outlets, including Ryan Seacrest's radio show on KIIS-FM.
Kris Allen stopped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, his first major television appearance since being declared the winner of Idol's eighth season. He sat down with Jay for a series of questions but did not perform. Watch the segment below:
Kris really showed his humorous side and that he is a down to earth guy, cracking jokes about his wife's reaction to her engagement ring and how she told him not to say he was married while on Idol because "you have to get votes somehow."
Kris also mentioned that he and Adam are close friends and told each other they both deserved to win leading up to the finale.
Amid all the excitement surrounding the current Top 3 finalists, it was easy to miss Kelly Clarkson on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night. The song, which is her current single, seems old to many Idol fans, but it really is still only working its way up the charts. Watch the performance below:
Kelly sounded better than she has in a long time on "Hook Up," and she looked like she was having fun, which always makes a performance more believable. There was too much panning over to the backup singers (does the one on the right ever really play the guitar, or is it a prop? I've always wondered that) but Kelly was able to command the camera as usual, even by remaining stationary at the micstand.
Between last night's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and today's Ellen, there was a lot of Idol judging going on. Ryan, Randy and Simon sat down with Leno on his program, which aired last night on NBC to chat about the current season and how metrosexual they all are. Watch a recap of the odd segment via E! News Now below:
Later on in the day, Kara DioGuardi appeared on Ellen to discuss what else but Idol. In the segment she did her best to defend her "weird" comments about Adam in the face of Ellen's persisting love for him. Watch a snippet of the segment below:
Ellen seems to be on an Idol roll, as Jennifer Hudson will perform her current single "If This Isn't Love" on tomorrow's episode.
David Cook began making the rounds to promote his new album last week when he premiered his music video for "Light On" on one of the final episodes of MTV's Total Request Live on Wed., Nov. 12. He then performed the single on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Fri., Nov. 14. Watch the performance below:
Yesterday, he found time to sing "Deck the Halls" with Stephen Colbert and Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America. On the show he always performed "Light On," which can be watched below, and "Heroes." In introducing Cook, Sawyer got her facts mixed in saying "not since the Beatles has any artist had this many hits pop up right away off of a new album."
GMA
He will next be performing "Light On" on Live with Regis and Kelly tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET.
David Archuleta began making the rounds promoting his debut album last Thursday when he appeared on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno to perform "Crush." Watch the performance below:
That was the calm before the storm. Today he hit NBC's Today Show and MTV's Total Request Live. Watch those performances below:
Today
TRL
Arch also stopped by the Virgin Megastore in New York City for an autograph signing and he will be on Live with Regis & Kelly tomorrow at 9 a.m. By the way, Arch's official music MySpace page got a makeover today, so make sure you check it out.
David Cook kicked off his post-Idol major media tour on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night. Cook got a rise out of the audience when he flopped down on the couch, making fun of how he has not slept much at all since winning.
He discussed a wide variety of topics last night, from whether or not he was surprised he won to his infamous Guitar Hero commercial, and what that was like behind the scenes. Cook was very well spoken and seemed like he was having fun despite the fact that he must be extremely tired.
Jenna Bush, who was also on the show with her mother, Laura, said she voted 40 times for Cook on Tuesday, and that it was the first time she watched Idol.
Simon was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night to promote the seventh season's finale. After a drawn out roast of Simon, with topics ranging from his first kiss to his long hair when he was younger, he offered some of his infamous opinions on what he wants to see happen and who he thinks "deserves" to win.
Simon said he didn't think it really mattered either way who won, but that he wants David Cook to take the title. He thinks he deserves it more than "the other guy" (another name for David Archuleta I guess?) because he has had life experience and worked as a bartender. Personally, I'm not sure how much sense this rationalization of his opinion makes, but this is Simon we're talking about.
He also went on to say his now world-famous reaction shot to Fantasia's performance on last week's results show meant to say "what the bloody hell was that?" Simon had no problem letting loose on the performance, saying it reminded him of "a first round audition" and that he Loved Fantasia, but it was not her at her best. He said Randy and Paula had the same kind of reactions.
And then Leno asked him of Paulagate, which he laughed at but said he had to try to defend Paula, and went into whatever rehearsed explanation Nigel had instructed him to use. Still no true explanation of what happened, but at this point we never will have one.
Currently on a promotional tour for his new album, On My Way Here, Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken brought his humor and hair to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, where he was both interviewed and performed his new single, "On My Way Here," which can be viewed below.
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, while "Mess of You" is now available to 
