Kellie Pickler was the only Idol alum to be represented on the telecast of the 2009 CMA Music Festival (i.e. Carrie Underwood did not perform). On the show, which was comprised of footage from the event that took place over the course of a few days in Nashville, Tenn., earlier this summer, Kellie was shown scooping her famous "Kellie Pickler" ice cream and portions of the footage below were also shown:
As for the three-hour telecast itself, ABC had a big win thanks to the program, as it hooked in 7.8 million viewers (5.0 rating/8 share), which was up by 2.5 million viewers from last year's special. Maybe Carrie should stay away from next year's show, too?
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>The cast of Rock of Ages, which includes Constantine Maroulis, took to the stage last Sunday at the 63rd Annual Tony Awards ceremony, which aired live on CBS. Watch the troupe's performance of "" below:
Although the musical received a total of five nominations at the ceremony, included one for Constantine in the "Leading Actor in a Musical" category, it went home empty-handed.
>Jordin Sparks' official album art for her upcoming LP release Battlefield was revealed Wednesday when it was uploaded to the album's page on Amazon.com, where it can be pre-ordered. The cover has been generating mostly negative buzz, with many fans taking umbrage with its similarity to other recently album covers (mainly Jesse McCartney's Departure and Alicia Keys' As I Am.
>Carrie Underwood participated in the 19th Annual City of Hope Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge on Wednesday to kick off the annual CMA Music Fest in Nashville, Tenn. Carrie came up with an RBI double for her team, named "Grand Ole Opry," which helped the team defeat itc challengers, the "After Midnite" team. Other country music stars that competed in the game include Darius Rucker, Jimmy Wayne and Julianne Hough.
>Ahead of their sophomore album's release, the guys from Daughtry made the cover of the latest issue of Billboard magazine, which hit newsstands today. Below is a snippet from the article:
The album was a perfect storm of the commercial and the creative that paired Daughtry's gigantic fan base from "American Idol" with the set's instantly winning "Guitar Hero"-worthy guitar riffs and lyrics. The group's second album, "Leave This Town," set for release July 14, gets a leg up from this foundation; it's another record full of songs that make you want to roll down the car windows and bust a vocal cord or two while trying to match Daughtry's gravelly wail. But there's one key change to the music: Daughtry—the band—created this album, instead of it being the work of Daughtry the brand.
"So much of the focus of the launch of the first record was on Chris," RCA senior VP of marketing Aaron Borns says. "But they really are a band. When a band clicks the way they do, they work with such a good energy. It just comes through that they love what they do."
>Danny Noriega has debuted his official new music video for the single "24/7." Watch the video below:
This thing took off on Wednesday thanks to a post on Perez Hilton's Web site, which led to subsequent post all over the net. One thing's for sure, Danny knows how to market himself and take advantage of news cycles.
The two-hour television special for this summer's CMA Music Festival 2008 aired last night on ABC, which could only mean a few Idol alums were bound to turn up. Filling roles as both host and performer was Kellie Pickler, who performed her new single "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" in addition to hosting alongside friend and fellow country artist Taylor Swift. Kellie was also featured in a behind the scenes segment when three of her guy fans were unexpectedly taken to see her backstage where they all hung out and joked around.
Carrie Underwood was one of the festival's headliners, and she brought down the house with a performance of "Last Name" while sporting an eye-catching orange top. Watch Carrie's performance below:
Bucky Covington also performed "Good to Be Us" while narrating a highlight of all the things Nashville has to offer. The festival was filmed from June 5-8.
IDOL LIVE is the place to stay up to date with the most current news on past, present and possibly future American Idol contestants, in addition to discussing the show in real-time as it happens.
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