American Idol Fan

Former American Idol contestant, Lakisha Jones, will be getting married this weekend!  Lakisha, who was the fourth place finisher on Season Six, will be marrying Larry Davis on Sunday in Beverly Hills.

US Magazine reports that the wedding theme for Jones and Davis is old Hollywood - both the bride and groom will be wearing white and the bridal party will be dressed in black.  Former idol contestants, Gina Glocksen and Melinda Doolittle are guests at the ceremony, along with Chaka Khan.  Gospel singer BeBe Winans will be singing at the wedding. 

Jones, will be wearing an Alfred Angelo strapless gown, Neil Lane diamond earrings, bracelet and necklace, and Stuart Weitzman shoes adorned with the couple’s initials in Swarovski crystals

Kristy Lee Cook’s new album has hit the Billboard charts.  In its first week being released, Kristy Lee sold 10,000 copies of her Why Wait album.  The album debuted at #8 on the Top Country Albums and at #49 on the Billboard 200.

How does Kristy Lee’s record sales compare to those of other Idol contestants from previous seasons?  Kellie Pickler sold 79,000 copies the first week of her Small Town Girl album and debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200.  Bucky Covington sold 61,000 albums the first week with his album and debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200.  Phil Stacey sold 13,000 copies in the first week with his album and debuted at #43 on the Billboard 200.

Is Kristy Lee going to make it this time around?

Constantine Maroulis will be performing in an off Broadway production of the 80s’ Rock of Ages.  The show will begin on Wednesday, October 1st, at the New World Stages. The official opening night has been scheduled for Thursday, October 16th, at 7:00 p.m.

If your rock and roll generation was the 1980s, or if you just love to listen to 80s rock, you will want to see this show.  The show will feature songs from Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more.

Oh yes - how I remember the music, dances, big hair and makeup from the 80s!  What a decade that was!

Do you remember Elliott Yamin from Season 5 of American Idol?  He has been doing pretty well with his music career since that time - not super stardom but he’s been keeping busy! 

Elliott’s holiday album, My Kind of Holiday, will be available in stores on October 7th. This new album is actually what was last year’s Target exclusive, but there have been additional songs added to it. 

My Kind of Holiday will be available for sale at most of your retail establishments and you can also purchase it online at different places. 

This will probably be a sad holiday for Elliott as it will be the first holiday season since his mother’s death. 

American Idol winner, David Cook, continues to have a busy schedule as the most recently deemed Idol winner.  Cook will be the honored guest at the 79th annual Plaza Lighting Ceremony where his only role will be to switch on the lights.  That’s right!  Even though his latest single is called Lights On, David won’t actually be doing any singing - he will just be flipping on the lights. 

David Cook’s mother, Beth Foraker, works for KCP&L, who happens to be the longtime sponsor for the event.  Maybe mom got him this gig that involves absolutely no singing.  I wonder how much he will get paid for making an appearance and flipping a switch?

While the news of Clay Aiken coming out reporting that he is gay is not news to many of us, apparently it is a huge media event right now!  Everywhere I look on the Internet someone is writing about Clay revealing his lifestyle that he has kept under wraps for years. 

People reports that Clay Aiken might lose a few fans but he has some former Idol contestants who are standing up for him and showing their support.  Carmen Rasmusen, who was competing against Aiken in Season 2, tells People that:

“This news does not change my opinion of him or my friendship with him. I’m surprised, I guess because he kept it quiet for so long!”

Vanessa Olivarez remembers that Clay never ever talked about his personal life but she suspected all along. She supports him as well.

Never one to mince words, American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, comments on the news about Clay Aiken coming out of the closet.  Simon had this to say….

“Wow. That’s a shock. It’s like being told Santa Claus isn’t real. Unbelievable.”

Then Simon did soften up a little bit and remarked…

“Good for him. If he said it, it’s the right thing for him. Good for him.”

Simon also made the comment that it’s 2008 and who cares if he is gay?

Aiken’s fan base has been very supportive, as most people have taken the news rather well.  I don’t think it’s a big surprise or shock to anyone other than Claymates.  They seem to have been shocked and surprised by the news.

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Clay Aiken, Season 2 winner of American Idol, has finally come out of the closet and admitted publicly that yes, he is gay.  For years now the media has been trying to get the scoop from Clay regarding his sexual orientation and he would never make a comment.  To me that was a red flag immediately.  If you aren’t going to say what your sexual preference is then it’s obvious that you are probably gay. 

Then when the news came out that Clay was going to be a daddy via artificial insemination the warning bells went off once again.  Still Aiken would not comment on whether he was gay or not.  But now all of that has changed.  The new daddy comes out in the upcoming edition of People Magazine with the news.  Aiken tells People Magazine:

“I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things.”

Ryan Seacrest and American Idol were both nominated for Emmy Awards this year but neither won.  Seacrest was nominated for Outstanding  Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program but Jeff Probst from Survivor won.  American Idol was nominated for Reality/Competition Program but Amazing Race won. 

Ryan Seacrest, along with Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, Tom Bergeron and Heidi Klum, the other reality show nominees, were the host for the show.  Here is a list of some of the most popular Emmy winners:

Outstanding…
-Drama Series: Mad Men (AMC)
-Comedy Series: 30 Rock (NBC)
-Miniseries: John Adams (HBO)
-Made-for Television Movie: Recount (HBO)
-Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
-Reality/Competition Program: The Amazing Race (CBS)
-Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, AMC)
-Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close (Damages, AMC)
-Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, NBC)
-Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey (30 Rock, NBC)
-Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie: Paul Giamatti (John Adams, HBO)
-Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie: Laura Linney (John Adams, HBO)
-Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst (Survivor, CBS)
-Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Zeliko Ivanek (Damages, FX)
-Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Dianne Wiest (In Treatment, HBO)
-Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven (Entourage, HBO)
-Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart (Samantha Who?, ABC)
-Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie: Tom Wilkinson (John Adams, HBO)
-Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie: Eileen Atkins (Cranford, Masterpiece Theatre, PBS)
-Directing for a Drama Series: Greg Yaitanes (House, Fox)
-Directing for a Comedy Series: Barry Sonnenfeld (Pushing Daisies, ABC)
-Directing for a Miniseries, Music or Comedy Program: Jay Roach (Recount, HBO)
-Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: Louis J, Horvitz (80th Annual Academy Awards, ABC)
-Writing for a Drama Series: Matthew Weiner (Mad Men, AMC)
-Writing for a Comedy Series: Tina Fey (30 Rock, NBC)
-Writing for a Miniseries, Music or Comedy Program: Kirk Ellis (John Adams, HBO)
-Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)

Daughtry’s Feels Like Tonight…

The Asphalt’s Tonight…

Listen to both videos above and judge for yourself…did Daughtry steal Asphalt’s version of Tonight for their hit song, Feels Like Tonight?  I don’t think so, but here’s some information from the story I found online.

The Asphalt’s band member, Randy Mazick, has recently sued Apple and Chris Daughtry. Mazick claims that Feels Like Tonight songwriters “lifts its hook” from The Asphalt’s song Tonight (written by Mazick) and infringes on the registered copyright. Apple is being included in the lawsuit because they distribute the song on iTunes.

I think it is common in the music world for songs to sound similar at times.  Do you think they sound alike and do you think it was an intentional thing by Daughtry’s songwriters to copy another song? 

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