'Idol' odds 'n ends: Ryan Seacrest wants another talk show?

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Is it possible Ryan Seacrest could become the next Oprah? There are rumors floating around that he's considering launching back into the daytime talk circuit with a show of his own, but not until 2011. Per Zap2It.com:

According to LARadio.com, Seacrest and CBS are sidling up to talks for Seacrest about hosting and executive producing a show that would premiere in the fall of 2011. It would also likely be a package deal that would include his radio shows as well.

The rumblings about Seacrest making a move come as the end of his current radio contract nears its end. He's currently with KIIS-FM, a Clear Channel-owned station, but his deal there expires in November.

If anyone is thinking to his or herself, "wait a minute, didn't Ryan already have his own talk show?" your mind isn't playing tricks on you. Back in '04 Ryan spent his afternoons on On-Air with Ryan Seacreast, which had a lifespan of only a few months.

>Adam Lambert's "Glam Nation Tour" with fellow Season 8 finalist Allison Iraheta and Orianthi kicked off at the Kirby Center in Wilkes Barre, Pa., on Fri., June 4. Watch fan video of him performing "Fever" below:



Adam, Allison and Orianthi will next perform at the Shining Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minn.

>As his peers previously had done, Lee DeWyze stopped by CBS's late night talk show The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday to chat with host David Letterman and perform his winning single "Beautiful Day." Watch his performance below:



Lee's talk with Letterman was, well, rather boring but he seemed more personable than usual. Lee talked about working in a paint store and the full year process of him working with Idol, calling Simon a "genuinely nice guy."

>Only three months since joining the Hair tribe, Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young will be looking for a new paycheck as they were given their two weeks notice yesterday that the Broadway revival will be closing its doors at the Al Hirschfeld Theater on June 27. Per Broadway.com:

The closing release emphasized that Hair recouped its entire $5,760,000 investment four months into the run and has generated a profit. The show weakened at the box office after the original cast departed for London, grossing $351,992 for the week ending June 6 and playing to 46.50% of capacity. The London production, which opened in April at the Gielgud Theatre will close on September 4, and according to a statement from the producers, “Many of the members of the current Broadway Tribe and London Tribe will take part in the tour.”

If you were planning on seeing Diana and Ace in the show sometime this summer, there's still time to see it over the next two weeks. See here for tickets starting at $37.

>New shots from Jordin Sparks's video shoot for her cover of the classic "Beauty and the Beast" have surfaced. The video, which is directed by Philip Andelman ("Battlefield"), will appear on the special Blu-ray/DVD release of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, which will be out Tues., Oct. 5, and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

The photos are courtesy of JordinSparks.cc and come after EW.com posted a first look of the scene from the video two weeks ago. The song, which was originally a duet between Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, will be sung solely by Jordin.

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Kara DioGuardi poses nude for 'Allure'

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Kara DioGuardi was one of five female celebrities to pose nude for the latest issue of Allure magazine. The photo, which can be seen to the right, shows a side of Kara none of us have seen before. Of the shoot, Kara said:

"This shoot was less about beauty than about taking a risk and showing people a side of me they never have seen," says the American Idol judge. She was proud to have the confidence to strip down for the camera after struggling with binge eating and depression in her early 20s. "Back then I was a size 6 or 8; now I'm more like a size 2. Food is not what I use to anesthetize myself anymore." She didn't diet or work out like a maniac in preparation, but she did make one change: cutting way back on salt. "I can really retain water," she says.

Others to take part in the shoot, which was titled "THE NAKED TRUTH: 5 CELEBRITIES BARE IT ALL FOR ALLURE," include singer Colbie Caillat and actress Regina Hall.

>Katharine McPhee has been busy filming her new NBC pilot The Pink House, and there have been a few moles that have gone to tapings to report back. Below is a very low quality video capture of a scene featuring Kat:



According to reports, Kat and her fellow female co-star Ashley Madekwe are not the main focus of the show, but are still integral to the plot. Instead, the two guys who move from Mineapolis to California, played by Michael Cassidy and Zach Cregger, are the main focus.

>Kris Allen performed a set at the Zone Lounge in Sacramento, Calif, on Tuesday, where he had nothing but positive things to say to his fans, especially about Walmart and Chris Daughtry. Watch him talk about the two former topics and perform his original "Send Me All Your Angels" below:



Kris talked about how there are "three Walmarts in every town" in Arkansas and how Daughtry teased him when he visited the Season 8 Idol contestants during rock week. Daughtry helped Kris co-write "Angels," which is why his name came up during the pre-performance banter.

>Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young chatted with BroadwayWorld.com about their experiences in the Broadway music Hair thus far alongside fellow castmember Kyle Riabko. Watch the interview below:



Diana, Ace and the rest of the new tribe can be seen at the Al Hirschfeld Theater at the following times: Tuesday @ 7pm, Wednesday @ 2pm & 8pm, Thursday - Friday @ 8pm, Saturday @ 2pm & 8pm, Sunday @ 3pm.

>Ayla Brown, who joined the team over at CBS's The Early Show last week as a special contributor, appeared yesterday to do a piece on a six-year-old cancer patient named Hannah Lowe, and a song Ayla wrote and recorded for her through the Songs of Love Foundation. Watch the piece below:



The song, appropriately titled "Hannah's Song," is now available to download for a small $5 donation. Funds raised through the organization will go toward putting smiles on the faces of children like Hannah, so go ahead and donate for a good cause!

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young join the cast of 'Hair'

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>It was revealed this week that Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young will be members of the new cast taking over the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hair starting Tues., March 9. According to an article on NYTimes.com:

Mr. Young, who made his Broadway debut in 2008 as Kenickie in the last revival of “Grease,” had been previously reported as in negotiations to play the merry-making hippie in “Hair.” (Berger does more audience crowd work than anyone else in the production.)

Ms. DeGarmo, who has been rumored for awhile as in line for a role in “Hair,” had her Broadway debut in 2006 as the character Penny Pingleton in the musical “Hairspary."

BroadwayWorld.com also came up with video of the new cast rehearsing "Let the Sun Shine In," which can be viewed below:



The show calls the Al Hirschfield Theater home. No word yet on when Diana's and Ace's engagements will run up.

>Phil Stacey yesterday announced he would be joining Natalie Grant and Britt Nicole on this spring's "Love Revolution" tour. Per his official Web site:

Phil is very exciting to announce that he is hitting the road with Natalie Grant and Britt Nicole this Spring on the Love Revolution Tour. Make sure to check out his tour dates and mark your calendars for all the fun! Check back regularly because more dates are going to be added soon.

The tour will kick off on Sat., March 20, at Grace Chapel in Mason, Ohio, according to a schedule on Grant's official Web site.

>Carrie Underwood really has been adding lines to her resume under her "filmography" section, as she was spotted filming the biopic Soul Surfer earlier this week. Carrie will be playing Per Carrie's official Web site:

The inspirational film is based on the autobiography of 19-year-old champion surfer Bethany Hamilton, who, for over six years, has defied all odds to compete and win professional championships after losing her arm in a shark attack at age thirteen.

Below is video of Carrie filming the other day in Hawaii:


Carrie will played the role of Sarah Hill, a church youth group leader, and the film will feature actors like AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. This comes after shots of Carrie on the set of CBS's How I Met Your Mother have been steadily released to the public during her guest appearance on the episode "Hooked," which will air Mon., March 1.

>For the first time in six years, an episode of Idol did not finish first in its time slot, as Wednesday's Top 24 reveal finished behind NBC's broadcast of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The Olympics garnered a 9.0 with 30.07 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour, while Idol was only able to manage a 6.9 with 18.42 million viewers. This came one day after the Olympics' 5.1 and 19.74 million viewers weren't enough to pass Idol's 9.1 and 24.64 million viewers.

>Ayla Brown had a busy week in terms of nationally televised appearances, as she sat down with Joy Behar and even performed her single "Pick It Up" on FOX & Friends. One of the more interesting appearances was her interview on ABC News NOW's What's the Buzz? on Monday, where she talked about a challenge she and her dad made to President Obama. Watch the interview below:



The offer has been picked up far and wide throughout the media, including an article that showed up on the Politico on Tuesday. Stay tuned to see if anything ever materializes from this.

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Constantine on FOX News' "U Party 2009"

Looks like we missed one Idol alum that was in Times Square last night. Season 4's Constantine Maroulis was on FOX News' U Party 2009 to promote his off-Broadway show Rock of Ages' transfer to the great white way in April. Watch his interview with Courtney Friel below:

Constantine said Rock of Ages will make its debut at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 7, with previews beginning in March.

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Ace to join the cast of 'Grease'

Season 5's seventh-place finalist, Ace Young, will join the cast of Grease on Broadway on Sept. 9 as Kenickie, best friend of one of the main characters, Danny Zuko. Ace is not only the second Idol alum to take part in this show, but the second Idol alum from the fifth season to star in it, as its champ Taylor Hicks is currently starring as Teen Angel.

Ace was obviously excited about taking the role, as he said of his debut on the great white way:

"That's a big side of me that a lot of people don't know. They didn't get to see that on `Idol.' You know, I have four older brothers. I was never trying to even care about what I was wearing. I was just trying to survive at the household."

Taylor's run is up Sept. 7, however, so they will not be in Grease at the same time. Ace's run will last until Jan. 18, 2009.

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No 'Godspell' for Diana

The much talked about revival of Broadway staple musical Godspell saw its chances dashed last week when it was reported that inability to secure funds for the show would cause it to close its doors before they even opened.

Godspell, which was supposed to star Diana DeGarmo in addition to Broadway greats like Gavin Creel and Telly Leung, was one of many musicals that was a casualty of the lackluster economy early on in the 2008-09 season.

This would have been Diana's fourth limited run in a stage production since coming in second on Idol in 2004. She has previously starred in West Side Story (San Jose, 2005), Hairspray (Broadway, 2006-07) and Brooklyn (national tour, 2006).

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Taylor thinks Cook "has a great shot"

After sticking his hands in cement at Planet Hollywood in New York, Taylor Hicks told OK! Magazine that he thinks "[David Cook] has a great shot [at success]." Taylor, who recently joined the cast of Grease on Broadway playing the role of Teen Angel, went on to say the following:

"The rock genre he's in is really... radio loves rock," he said. "I think it's going to work wonders for him. He's carved himself a little niche for his own identity, and I think he's going to do well."

Taylor will star in Grease until September 7. It is showing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

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Tamyra to perform with cast of RENT at Tony Awards

Season 1 fourth-place finalist and ultra-shocking early bootee Tamyra Gray will finish her run on Broadway in RENT on Sun., June 15, when she performs with the show's cast one last time at the 2008 Tony Awards. Per Tamyra's mother in a blog entry:

As most of you know, this will be her last performance with Rent. But, it won't be the last you will hear from her.

Before starring in RENT, Tamyra had a short-term, 12-week role in Bombay Dreams in 2004 that was cut short when the show closed in January 2005 due to poor box office returns. The Tony Awards will air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.

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