Search Results for: American Idol

For “Good Girls Go Bad,” the first single from Cobra Starship’s forthcoming third album, the band did something familiar: immersed themselves in pop culture. The group known for turning “Snakes on a Plane” from a punchline into a radio hit landed guest vocals from the ultimate good girl with a bad streak – Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester, who plays Blair Waldorf, the show’s bitchy queen bee with a loyal heart. And that’s not all – Starship also recruited newbie American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, who co-wrote Kelly Clarkson’s “I Do Not Hook Up,” and turned to Gwen Stefani for inspiration.… Read more »

A teenager who suffered a breakdown on the German version of “American Idol” could end up costing its broadcaster 100,000 euros ($147,000). Germany’s Cultural Council, an official youth protection watchdog, has recommended private German broadcaster RTL be fined for broadcasting the incident, and other humiliating moments on its top-rated “Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar” or “DSDS.” The Cultural Council accused RTL of “malicious disregard” for humanity on the show, arguing that the manner in which contestants are humiliated on the show could have detrimental effects on young viewers. At issue are the early episodes of the current “DSDS” season, which focused… Read more »

Fox’s “American Idol” returned as the nation’s most popular TV series, but with 4 million fewer viewers than the 2007 season premiere. Tuesday’s debut was seen by 33.4 million viewers, down 11 percent from the 37.4 million who watched the first show, according to preliminary ratings by Nielsen Media Research. That still ranks as the most-watched show of the TV season, excluding sports. The previous high was the 25.4 million who saw the season premiere of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” on CBS in the fall. More people were watching Fox in those two hours than the combined audience for ABC,… Read more »

Former “American Idol” contestant Corey Clark is facing up to two years in jail and a maximum fine of $150,000 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of harassment. Clark, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in early November in Yuma County Superior Court although no date had been set as of Friday. In exchange for entering a guilty plea to one charge of aggravated harassment on Oct. 2, Clark had four other charges dismissed, said Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy attorney for the Yuma County Attorney’s Office. Authorities said Clark violated a court order in August 2006 by placing… Read more »

Somehow, Sanjaya did it again. This year’s most improbable “American Idol” survivor dodged the elimination bullet once again on Wednesday – maybe it was the “crying girl” who helped him out – on a night when voters sent home one of the season’s most promising singers, Stephanie Edwards. With a reported 30 million votes cast, Edwards, 19, got the boot after her shaky performance of Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” on Tuesday night’s British Invasion-themed evening of tunes. The end came after singing a song whose lyrics turned out to be ironically prophetic (“You don’t… Read more »

“American Idol” will launch an ambitious poverty-relief campaign in April with a two-night spectacular that is slated to feature performances from Gwen Stefani, Pink and Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat. Host Ryan Seacrest announced the details of “Idol Gives Back” on Thursday night’s results show, in which the final 12 contestants were revealed . The April 24-25 episodes are aimed at raising awareness and funds for poverty-relief organizations helping children in the United States and Africa. The first night will find the top six finalists on the show singing “life anthems” about hope and compassion, with show sponsors Coke and… Read more »

Randy said her song was “way too big for her.” Paula said something incomprehensible. Simon said she was “worse than last week.” But luckily for Antonella Barba, America disagreed. After a difficult week in which racy pictures of her were leaked on to the Internet, and her performance of Céline Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” was poorly received by the judges, Barba still managed to land a spot among the top 16 contestants on American Idol. The New Jersey native, who has been praised more for her looks than her vocals this season, may well owe a large portion of… Read more »

On seasons four and five of “American Idol,” when the semifinals featured 24 singers, one-third of them were teenagers – eight each season. When this season’s semifinalists were named on Wednesday, only three of the 24 were in their teens: 17-year-old Sanjaya Malakar, 17-year-old Jordin Sparks and 19-year-old Stephanie Edwards. The numbers prompt the question: Is “Idol” growing up? Since raising the age limit to 28 for season four, singers approaching 30 have dominated the show, from Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry and Elliott Yamin to Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis and Nadia Turner. And in season six, eight of the remaining… Read more »

Los Angeles – Maybe Mario Vazquez suspected the “American Idol” judges would be in a foul mood this week. On Tuesday night’s show, Randy Jackson managed to be as dismissive as Simon Cowell, who remained true to form. And even Paula Abdul – yes, sweetie pie Paula – turned a bit sour. “That was very safe and boring,” she said of Carrie Underwood’s performance of “When Will I Be Loved,” inflicting serious wounds, or at least paper cuts. Jackson employed a scalpel. “That definitely sounded like I was in a bad hotel,” he said of Anthony Fedorov’s “Breaking Up is… Read more »

While thousands of people would have killed for a spot in the American Idol top 12, it seems all the fanfare just didn’t sit right for Mario Vazquez. MTV.com dug a little deeper into the reason the singer – picked by many as this edition’s top contender – decided to leave. The ex-Idol said that the timing wasn’t right and he just wants to sing his music from the heart. He did thank all of his fans and the AI producers for their support, but said he wants to stay private right now. He said he’d been considering leaving the… Read more »