Jordin Sparks Not Amused By ‘American Idol’ Treatment Of Jesse Hamilton

‘American Idol’ may have stepped in it on Wednesday night with one of the vocally challenged contestants, re-enacting three of Jesse Hamilton’s recent near-death experiences using southern stereotypes. His tryout also had guest judge Mary J. Blige laughing cruelly while he was singing. One person not laughing was a prior ‘Idol’ champ, Jordin Sparks, who told her Twitter followers (@TheRealJordin):

Jesse Hamilton. Bless his heart. Those cheap dramatizations weren’t funny.

Atleast I didn’t think so. Anyway, the girl from South Dakota was adorable!!

Other comments on Twitter:

@annkpowers Extremely offended by the Bama bashing that happened on Idol tonight. Jesse Hamilton deserved better, bad voice or not.

@KelliCreed @TheRealJordin I agree, those spoofs on Jesse Hamilton weren’t funny. I’m from the south, stuff like that is a little offensive

@OkieMom_n_Vegas @VegasRockDog I know. Mary J. Blige was particularly cruel. I would never have expected that from her. So wrong.

January 13, 2010 Jeff C News No Comments

Nigel Lythgoe To Replace Simon, Or Should ‘Idol’ Be Rickrolled?

The Daily Star reports that in wake of Simon Cowell’s decision to end his run on ‘American Idol’ at the end of this season to transition to U.S. ‘The X Factor’ in 2011, execs at FOX are scrambling to replace Mr. Nasty and have targetted Nigel Lythgoe. “He is one of the producers on ‘American Idol’ so it’s no great leap to put him front of house rather than behind the cameras,” a network boss told the British tabloid. “He’s done ‘Pop Idol’ in the UK, so he knows what he’s talking about, and like Simon, he says what he thinks, which audiences love.” Read more.

Another frontrunner would be ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge Piers Morgan, while some top male British pop artists with the name ID to fill Cowell’s shoes could include Elton John, George Michael, Boy George, Paul McCartney, Sting or popdirt’s pick - Rick Astley.

Ellen DeGeneres Talks With Ryan Seacrest About ‘Idol’ Judging Job

September 13, 2009 - Ellen DeGeneres phoned in to Ryan Seacrest’s morning show on KIIS FM in Los Angeles after announcing she’d be the judge filling the spot of departed judge Paula Abdul on ‘American Idol’. The talk show host said she hopes Paula is “OK” with her signing on the hit FOX show. “I don’t want anyone to think I took her job away from her,” Ellen told Ryan.

As for those questioning her qualifications as a judge, Ellen pointed out that the winner is determined by regular folks watching at home, not industry experts, so she’ll be their voice. “People are the ones who choose the American Idol,” she explained. “Ultimately, it doesn’t come down to some expert in the music industry. It comes down to everybody at home who says, ‘That’s the person I relate to.’ I hope to be that voice.”

The interview audio at kiisfm.com has since been removed.

January 13, 2010 Jeff C Gossip No Comments

Simon Cowell Leaving ‘American Idol’ After This Season

Simon Cowell and top Fox executives made the announcement he’s leaving ‘American Idol’ after this season to reporters in Pasadena at a meeting of the Television Critics Association. Cowell is departing to focus on the U.S. version of his talent show ‘The X Factor’. “I was offered a lot of money to stay on,” Cowell said. “But that wasn’t the reason behind it. I wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge.”

Asked about bringing in Paula Abdul as a judge on ‘X Factor’ after the ‘Straight Up’ singer failed to reach a contract agreement to return to ‘Idol’ this season, Cowell replied: “I adore Paula. Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some capacity, because I miss her.”

Watch a report on the news aired on ‘The Dylan Ratigan Show’ earlier today below the cut. (more…)

January 11, 2010 Jeff C Multimedia No Comments

Victoria Beckham “Icy And Wooden” At ‘American Idol’ Auditions

When Victoria Beckham did her day of guest judging on ‘American Idol’ on Friday, the former Spice Girl apparently didn’t leave a favorable impression with the show’s production team. “It didn’t go too well,” a source close to the production told RadarOnline.com, echoing the complaints levied against Posh for her pruned down NBC reality show ‘Victoria Beckham: Coming to America’. “She tried to hard to be ‘nice,’ but came off as icy and wooden.”

Victoria Beckham Wants To Be A Nice ‘Idol’ Judge

August 8, 2009 - Victoria Beckham was in the studio with Ryan Seacrest of KIIS FM in Los Angeles on Friday (August 7), talking about joining ‘American Idol’ as a guest judge, filling the seat of departing judge Paula Abdul. Like Paula, Posh plans on being friendly with the contestants.

“I want to be nice to people,” she said. “I know how it feels to be stood there and be judged and how it can feel when nerves get the better of you, and I don’t want to shatter anybody’s dream. But at the same time, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of constructive criticism. It’s doing it nicely, because even those that are bad, they don’t know that they’re bad and who am I to shatter that?”

The interview audio at kiisfm.com has since been removed.

Kara DioGuardi’s Deal To Return To ‘American Idol’ Is Done

July 29, 2009 - As speculation mounts about the future of Paula Abdul on ‘American Idol’, E! Online reports Kara DioGuardi will be back for the FOX reality singing show’s ninth season. “Her deal is done. There are no ifs, ands or buts,” a source told Mark Malkin. “Done. She will be back.”

Idols Live Season 8 Singers Interview Each Other

July 9, 2009 - Fox All Access handed over the mic to the top ten ‘American Idol’ season eight finalists who are touring the USA and Canada. Check out Matt Giraud, Kris Allen, Scott MacIntyre, Megan Joy, Anoop Desai, Michael Sarver, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta teaming off in pairs to interview each other below.

Danny Gokey Talks About Ryan Seacrest

May 29, 2009 - Danny Gokey was on 103.7 KISS FM in Milwaukee, talking with the morning show about whether ‘American Idol’ host Ryan Seacrest tried to touch his butt. “Every day,” Gokey joked. Asked if Ryan was straight, Gokey took it in a different direction, responding, “Let me tell you like this, he’s a really nice guy. Ryan Seacrest is probably one of the most likeable guys, literally no camera or with a camera. He’s the same off stage and on stage.” Watch the interview clip below.

August 8, 2009 Jeff C Gossip 2 Comments

On TV: Mandy Moore, ‘Idol’ Finalists, Prince

Pop acts on television this week include:

‘American Idol’ season eight’s top ten contestants visit ‘Larry King Live’ (CNN) on Monday.

Mandy Moore, who visits ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ (Syndicated) on Tuesday.

Kris Allen, who visits ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ (ABC) and ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ (Syndicated) on Tuesday, and ‘Today’ (NBC) on Thursday.

Adam Lambert, who visits ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ (ABC) on Wednesday and ‘Today’ (NBC) on Thursday.

Danny Gokey, who visits ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ (ABC) on Thursday.

Prince, who performs on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ (NBC) on Thursday.

May 25, 2009 Jeff C TV Appearances No Comments

Kris Allen Almost Gave Up On ‘American Idol’

Kris Allen visited ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ to talk about winning ‘American Idol’, and how he almost quit the hit FOX show. “My wife has been the [best] support ever,” Allen said. “I seriously almost gave up a lot, and she was just like, ‘You have to keep going.’ She believed in me more than I believed in myself.”

Ellen also got ‘Idol’ runner-up Adam Lambert on the phone. “We were kind of mentally prepared to have whatever happened happen,” Adam said about the moment Kris won and Ellen said he handled not winning beautifully. “He was shocked. I had to shake him a little bit. Adam then revealed, “I have to tell you something. I’m wearing the underwear you gave me on the blue carpet. It’s so comfortable. Thank you so much.”

Watch it below the cut. (more…)

May 23, 2009 Jeff C Multimedia, TV Appearances No Comments

Kris Allen On Whether Sexuality & Religion Aided His ‘Idol’ Win

‘American Idol’ season eight winner Kris Allen sat down with Billy Bush to talk about his victory on Wednesday night over Adam Lambert, and whether speculation over Adam’s sexuality may have played a role in the results. “Hopefully this thing is not about sexuality or religion. There was people talking about whether I was getting the Christian vote with Danny Gokey gone. We were both talking about that and we hope that is not the case. We hope it’s about or musical talent and what we do on stage.”

Watch the interview via accesshollywood.com below the cut. (more…)

May 22, 2009 Jeff C Multimedia No Comments

Did Kara DioGuardi & Perez Hilton Cause Adam Lambert’s ‘Idol’ Finale Loss?

Ramin Setoodeh of Newsweek is offering a list of reasons why Kris Allen was able to defeat Adam Lambert on Wednesday night’s ‘American Idol’ finale, despite most people believing Adam had wrapped up the singing competition. Setoodeh said the judges’ bias in favor of Adam made his voters lazy, adding that the Kara DioGuardi co-written song ‘No Boundaries’ was “the worst coronation song ever” that neither singer could pull off worked to Kris’ advantage. Kris also being a devout Christian while Adam hasn’t spoken about his religious beliefs aided Allen among conservatives, as no doubt did the Perez Hilton fueled speculation about Adam’s sexuality.

Setoodeh writes: “This shouldn’t be an issue in 2009. But if you’ve read any of online chatter about Idol this year, you know that sadly, there’s still plenty of hate out there. Adam has millions of fans, and it looked like he could strike an emphatic blow against homophobia, much the same way that Obama broke through the race barrier when he became the country’s first black president. But his ambiguous sexuality still cost Adam votes.”

The article at thedailybeast.com has since been removed.

May 22, 2009 Jeff C Opinion 4 Comments May 21, 2009 Jeff C Multimedia 3 Comments

Jordin Sparks On Adam Lambert & Kris Allen Matchup

Jordin Sparks dished to Tiger Beat and BOP magazines about who she thought would win this season’s ‘American Idol’, suggesting that Adam Lambert was the favorite but Kris Allen (who ended up winning last night) was the underdog that has surprised people. Watch the clip below.

May 21, 2009 Jeff C Multimedia 1 Comment
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