'Idol' odds 'n ends: total of 26,000 turn out for Milwaukee, Nashville auditions

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

>The Season 10 auditions kicked off in Nashville on Thurs., July 15, where about 10,000 hopefuls stood in line on the first day (16,000 in all performed in front of producers). This week, auditions journeyed to Milwaukee, where another 10,000 turned out for a shot at becoming the next Lee DeWyze. Per a post by EW's Michael Slezak:

“The numbers of people turning up to the American Idol auditions in Nashville and Milwaukee have been incredible,” said show creator Simon Fuller, in a release. “These attendance figures are significantly up on the last few years, and there is clearly renewed excitement and interest in the show, which is great to see.”

Ryan Seacrest took us on a behind the scenes tour of the Bradley Center to see what things are like, well, behind the scenes. Watch the piece below:



Auditions will next hit New Orleans, La., on Monday. If you're interested in giving Season 10 a shot (and at this point, you might as well throw your hat in the ring!) be sure to check out AmericanIdol.com/Auditions.

>As you've probably heard by now, Chris Isaak is the latest replacement for Simon Cowell being floated around. The rumor du jour comes on the heels of a Reuters and Hollywood Reporter piece claiming Isaak met with FOX twice in recent weeks for consideration of taking over for Simon. Per the piece:

While Fox insists no decision is imminent, the clock is ticking to replace Cowell as preliminary auditions get under way for the talent show's 10th season. Peter Rice, the network's new entertainment chairman, has said he expects the new "Idol" judge to join the audition roadshow by early September.

Other potential replacements that keep coming up in the media include Harry Connick, Jr., Bret Michaels and now...apparently...Donald Trump (huh!?). If Team FOX care about sparing fans from hearing about all this speculation, they'll hurry up and name a replacement fast.

>Lee DeWyze took time to speak with AmericanIdol.com about how the tour has been going with his fellow Season 9 Top 10 finalists. Lee covered a limited range of topics dealing with the tour and offered up a limited range of answers questions posed by both fans and AI.com. One of Lee's more interesting responses:

As the American Idol, Lee is the headliner of the Season 9 tour. Since he’s the last person to perform at each show, what does he do to pass the time while he’s waiting for his set? “I’m still trying to figure it out,” Lee remarked. “I have time to listen to a full album, so I’ll pick one and listen to it. I just try and chill, because if I just sit around and wait, I’ll get tired. During Casey’s and Crystal’s sets, I’ll go watch them and listen to the crowd and get pumped up.”

Lee said he's aiming for a "folk-rock" sound on his forthcoming album and he's been writing "everything so far." Lee, who apparently has been writing since he was 16 years old, said he's anticipating his hometown stop of Chicago because all his family and friends will be there. Read the full interview at AmericanIdol.com.

>Kellie Pickler had to break some bad news to the organizers of the St. Joseph County Grange Fair in Centerville, Mich., as she backed out of her scheduled show to close out the fair on Sept. 25 due to an extension of Rascal Flatts' tour, on which she is an opening act. This news came in conjunction with fellow country artist Chris Young's withdrawal as an opening act scheduled to perform at the fair on another day. Per an article from SturgisJournal.com:

“Next year we wouldn’t be able to touch Kelly Pickler or Chris Young … they’ll be priced way out of our league,” Johnson said. “If they honor the rate we were giving (for the September shows), it’d be a bargain.”

Ironically, Johnson noted, Rascal Flatts was an opening act at the fair several years ago.
Johnson did not indicate what the fair was to pay Pickler, saying only that it was a five-figure amount. Through Wednesday, about 950 tickets to Pickler’s show had been sold. Ticket prices ranged between $25 and $35 each.

All in all, not a good situation for the organizers of the fair.

>Jordin Sparks sat down with Oliver Trevena of YoungHollywood.com this week to chat about her Battlefield tour and other things on her mind. Watch the segment below:



Jordin recounted a memorable moment on the tour where a pregnant woman was waiting by her bus and she said "the baby's coming," Jordin was asked to sign her shirt and was freaking out because the baby needed to be delivered. She said she had never encountered that before (not many have, Jordin).

She also talked about her upcoming 3-month stint on Broadway in In the Heights, which kicks off on Thurs. Aug. 19.

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IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 6 Results (4/28/10)

Last night was nice mostly because it didn't run over, but there were also a few decent performances. Maybe it's because we're getting down to the wire and the majority of the cannon fodder are gone? Or maybe it's just the standards have been lowered so much that they have nowhere to go but up? Either way, I'll refrain from complaining.

Tonight we surprisingly cannot expect a performance from this week's mentor, Shania Twain, however Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts and...Shakira...will all be there to perform. To see who I predict will be leaving tonight, see here.

Please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast, with coverage starting just prior to 9 p.m. ET.

Tonight's blogcast features the music of Daughtry, Jasmine Murray, Katharine McPhee, Kristy Lee Cook, Matt Giraud.

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Carrie wins Entertainer & Female Vocalist of the Year at ACMs

It was a big night for Carrie Underwood in Las Vegas at the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The fourth season's winner took home the most coveted award when she beat out four-time consecutive champ Kenny Chesney and others for the Entertainer of the Year category. She was visibly shaking as she accepted the honor, thanking her "baby" (boyfriend Mike Fisher, who was not in attendance) and even cracked a joke at a story Matthew McConaughey told just minutes before reading the news that Carrie was the winner.

The fact that Carrie is the first female to be nominated for the award, never mind the fact that she won, since 2000 when the Dixie Chicks were victorious, speaks volumes. It also didn't hurt that the category was partially fan-voted, something Carrie and her fans have a leg up on the other nominees.

Even in the face of the big win, the talk around the water cooler tomorrow will undoubtedly revolve around her "lava dress," which can be seen to the right. The billowing, blood-red extravaganza was such a spectacle that it required a machine to help Carrie off the stage. Watch her perform "I Told You So" below:

Before winning Entertainer of the Year, Carrie won the Female Vocalist of the Year category for the third straight year and her Carnival Ride came in behind Taylor Swift's Fearless, which took home the honor.

Carrie also took part in a medley to open the show when she sang about 30 seconds of "All-American Girl" while fellow country artists including Rascal Flatts and Sugarland.

Carrie was not the only Idol alum to pop up at the awards show, as Kellie Pickler was there to present an award ahead of her big performance on this coming Wednesday's Idol results show.

As for my predictions, I correctly called that Carrie would take home trophies in the Entertainer of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year categories and that she would lose both Album of the Year and Video of the Year, but I got the two alternate winners wrong.

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About last night: Play that funky music till you get eliminated

Last night's Top 9 performances showed that sometimes having a broad theme is not kind to finalists. Case in point: the "top downloads" theme was pretty much a wash, with songs by Billy Joel and even Celine Dion being acceptable. Since when are those songs considered to be "popular downloads"? Ryan's way of describing the theme itself was even discombobulated.

Before getting down to business Ryan was sure to ask Paula if she was hiding any props under the table, to which she answered in the negative. Simon was looking forward to Ryan and the artists being amazing, which was a nice thing for him to say.

Kicking off the night was Anoop, whose ill-advised foray into Usher territory was not the right way to begin things. His vocals on "Caught Up" were not all that bad, but the performance was all but a shadow of the real thing. When it came to the dancing portion of the performance, it was clear things were not going to recover. The judges' critiques were not anything to write home about, either. Look for Anoop to land in the bottom three tonight, especially after his snippy exchange with Kara.

When it came time for Megan to perform, things didn't go any smoother than usual considering she actually got to pick a song that she thought would showcase her talent well. Instead, she opted for "" by Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill, which may be a good song in its own right, but it sounded really out of place with her vocals on it. She sure looked the part, though, opting for a younger look this week. The fact that her major proponent, Kara, didn't even like it make things an uphill battle for Megan this week. Look for a definite bottom three appearance, with the high likelihood that she will be departing in ninth place.

Other disappointments last night include Lil's borefest on "I Surrender" and Scott's better-than-usual-but-still-not-good "I Love You Just the Way You Are." Simon's frustration with Lil is becoming more apparent each week, as he told her flat out "you've got to stop this" because she is a "much better" singer than the performance. Randy and Kara were all about name dropping when critiquing Lil, saying she should has picked a song by Keyshia Cole or Mariah Carey in order to sound more current.

As for Scott, Simon must have been using reverse psychology on him because he really was as good (or average) as usual. He just changed his look up a bit, which apparently can make him sound better than usual according to Simon. Paula should have held her own and stuck to her criticism of Scott relying on his baby grand as a crutch, because sooner or later he will need to switch it up.

Allison was not nearly as good as she was last week, but for the judges to pick her apart because of her Avril Lavigne-like wardrobe? That shows poor judgment. What is this, Project Runway? Allison may not be Gwen Stefani, but her rock edge shown through on her rendition of "Don't Speak." Regardless, she still has a strong possibility of landing in the bottom three tonight.

Someone that was pretty underrated last night was surely Matt Giraud, as his take on The Fray's "You Found Me" was not nearly as bad as the judges made it out to be. There were some off moments, but Matt showed that he could grab the attention of an audience and encapsulate them in his performance.

Whatever nonsense Randy and Kara were talking about with OneRepublic's "Apologize" should be disregarded by Matt, and he had a point when he told Kara he wanted to show that he's more than just an R&B artist when she basically gave him an ultimatum to either pick Pop/Rock or Pop/R&B as a genre to focus on. Apparently Kara does not believe artists should be well-versed in multiple genres of music.

And then there was Adam, who blew the roof off the house with his eccentric version of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music." It's not hard to do so when the song is a little on the wild side to begin with, but Adam managed to take the performance to a whole 'nother level, complete with screeching and shrieking. It definitely was not nearly as much of a credibility-builder as "The Tracks of My Tears," but it did what it was supposed to do for Adam. Paula's "shattering genius" comment was as far fetched as usual, while Simon kept it more real by saying at least it wasn't karaoke like many of the night's other performances.

Danny, on the other hand, was actually able to make people forget about last week's controversial performance with a heartwarming rendition of Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most." While it wasn't perfect, the overall effect was powerful especially taking Danny's past into consideration. Paula and Kara gushed over the performance (what else is new?) while Simon validated the craziness by saying it was Danny's best effort yet. Maybe this exhibition will win over a lot of the naysayers? Probably not.

And Kris hands down had the best performance of the night, but he did not have a "moment." Moments only happen when they are unexpected and when the finalist states prior to the performance that he is trying to create a moment, things are just not as meaningful. Had Kris not said this in his pre-performance clip, though, he definitely would have had a moment.

Putting semantics aside, the vocals were a perfect fit for a perfect song choice, and the fact that he began the song unplugged added to the effect. Paula was absolutely correct about Kris taking a 30 some-odd-year-old song sound brand new, which demonstrates that Kris can certainly be taken as a relevant, current artist.

The tell tale sign of just what America thought of last night will not be who lands in the (alleged) bottom three, but who ultimately goes home. There is only one finalist that deserves to leave, if that person does not leave, there will be questions that will need answering.

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Chris Sligh writes Rascal Flatts' "Here Comes Goodbye"

Chris Sligh is expanding his credentials by writing for artists other than himself. The sixth season's 10th-place finalist had a hand in writing the Rascal Flatts' current single "Here Comes Goodbye," which went for adds at country radio on Jan. 20. Listen to the single below:

Chris talked with Alison Bonaguro of CMT.com earlier this week about the single, showing surprise and excitement upon hearing the news that it was a go:

"After [co-writer Clint Lagerberg] and I turned that song in last April, our publisher called the next day and was squealing 'You got a Rascal Flatts hold.' I didn't even know what that meant," Sligh said. "But then when Dann called in November, I was just freaking out."

"Here Comes Goodbye" is the lead single off of the group's upcoming release Unstoppable, which will be out Tues., April 7.

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Carrie, Jordin win at People's Choice Awards

It may not be the Grammys (or even the American Music Awards), but Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks both took home awards at the 35th annual People's Choice Awards tonight on CBS.

Carrie Underwood won her first award, Favorite Star 35 & Under, before she performed a stunning rendition of "I Know You Won't." Watch the performance below:

Carrie also took home Favorite Female Singer and Favorite Country Song for "Last Name," the former of which she received during the telecast.

Jordin was the other Idol to take home an award, as she accepted her award for Favorite Combined Forces for "No Air" while Chris Brown said a few words in a taped segment via satellite. Watch her acceptance speech below:



"No Air" did lose out to Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," though, for the Favorite Pop Song category. Carrie also introduced the Rascal Flatts, who performed a medley of "What Hurts the Most" and "Life Is a Highway."

One noticeable loss went to American Idol, which was beat out by ABC's Dancing with the Stars in the Favorite Competition / Reality Show category.

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Bucky in 'Hannah Montana' on the silver screen

Season 5's eighth-place finisher Bucky Covington is adding another line to his resume - he's taking up acting. Bucky was picked to star alongside Miley Cyrus and her less famous dad, Billy Ray, in the upcoming Hannah Montana movie. If it sounds like this would be something out of the ordinary for Bucky, that's because it is. He told The Huntsville (Ala.) Times:

"I've never been on a movie set, so I don't know what to expect."

Bucky is not the only country singer to make an appearance in the film. Gary LeVox from Rascal Flatts and teen sensation Taylor Swift are also slated to be in it. Hannah Montana: The Movie will hit theatres nationwide on April 10, 2009.

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Keeping up with Baylie Brown

Season 6 will forever be remembered more for its controversies than its talent, and Baylie Brown was a casualty of the former. The then-16-year-old country singer drew comparisons to Carrie Underwood due to her appearance and the fact that she lived on a ranch and impressed the judges with her rendition of Faith Hill's "Stronger," so much so that Simon called her "commercial with a capital C."

But Baylie's hopes were dashed in Hollywood when she was stuck with best friends Antonella Barba (the one with the pictures, remember her?) and Amanda Coluccio, which led to feuding and ultimately Baylie's demise.

Despite the fact that she could not advance on Idol, the Krum, Tex., native has actively pursued a career in country music, and is currently in the process of putting her debut album together. It helps that Jay DeMarcus, one of the members of Rascal Flatts, is producing the album. There are three tracks up on her official music MySpace page, "This Is My Life," "Young As Me" and "I Wish Ya Woulda Told Me," all of which sound like they could be hits on country radio.

Baylie, who is signed to Universal South Records, will appear today at 12th & Porter in Nashville where she will have a showcase at 6 p.m.

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