EW: EW has learned that American Idol’s Top 12 contestants will perform the music of the Rolling Stones next week. During an ad break at the top 8 guys performance show, Ryan Seacrest taped a radio promotion in which he mentioned that the first week for the 12 Idol finalists will feature songs by the iconic British rock group. Read more.
A reminder that Katharine McPhee guest stars on NBC's 'Community' at 8pm ET tonight!
LA Times: Australian rocker Orianthi, whose single "According to You" is steadily climbing the U.S. charts (it's No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100), will be the guest performer on next week's elimination episode, Idol Tracker has learned. Read more.
EW: The men of American Idol topped the ratings chart Wednesday, but their performance night didn’t best the ladies’: roughly 2 million more viewers tuned in Tuesday for the women. Speaking of the fairer sex, The CW debuted a new season of America’s Next Top Model, followed by the new series High Society, which couldn’t hold on to the crowd. Read more.
"They were so wacky last night," said Joy Behar of "The View" today when speaking about the "American Idol" judges last night. "They were flirting. They were fighting. They were crying.. All sorts of wacky stuff was going on." Elisabeth Hasslebeck added that the judges' antics were an "emotional mess."
"Idol" judge and talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres answered some "American Idol" questions from her audience on today's show.
Idolator: After months of online buzz that has drawn both hard-rock fans and American Idol fanatics, new band We Are The Fallen is ready to rise. Led by Irish belter (and onetime Idol contestant) Carly Smithson and featuring former Evanesence rockers Ben Moody, John LeCompt and Rocky Gray, along with bassist Marty O’Brien, the band has been kept much of its music under wraps. But we have a special first look at the video for the band’s first single, “Bury Me Alive”. The video, co-directed by Kyle Newman (of 2008’s Fanboy) and wife Jaime King (yes, the model), will lead viewers through the grim ritual of burial, but with a vintage Victorian twist. Read more.
PR Newswire: Jennifer Hudson is among those who will perform at the television taping of the all-star concert special, ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn: The Last Rodeo. The taping will take place Monday, April 19 & will air Sunday, May 23 at 8:00PM ET/PT on CBS. Other stars include Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift & Sugarland. Read more here.
Kris Allen performed an acoustic set at the Kelly 95.3 lounge in Bakersfield, CA yesterday.
"Heartless & Gangsta's Paradise"
"Red Guitar"
"Man in the Mirror"
"Live Like We're Dying"
"Alright with Me"
"Before We Come Undone"
"The Truth"
Q & A
Check back throughout the day for updates!
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Yahoo News: After selling more than a million tickets to her last concert tour, Carrie Underwood is aiming higher this time. Really high. She plans to fly over the audience, for starters. "We're kind of going for broke on this one just because I feel like it's time," Underwood said in an interview this week. "At this point, the only thing it's about is putting on a great show and we're going out with that in mind. I definitely think we have delivered." Underwood's "Play On Tour" opens Thursday in Reading, Pa., with more than 50 dates in the United States and Canada planned through June. Read more here.
Tennessean: Country star Trace Adkins, Bo Bice & Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain are among the songwriters helping Nashville’s Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival expand its horizons for the 2010 installment, which takes place March 30 through April 3 at eight Nashville music venues. Bice and Cain were on hand at the 2010 Tin Pan South preview party Tuesday afternoon at The Rutledge, where organizers announced the line-up for this year’s festival. Read more here.
Sports Illustrated: Jennifer Hudson will be the new voice of "One Shining Moment." The Grammy & Oscar winner has recorded her version of the song that plays each year at the end of the CBS broadcast of the NCAA men's basketball championship game. The network says Hudson will be the first woman to sing it. Read more here.
According to 19 Entertainment's Twitter, Adam Lambert will be on Nightline Friday, March 12, talking about the music he grew up with and what he's listening to now.
The second episode of Simon Fuller's new online show, "If I Can Dream," features some scenes where the cast met Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta at the Ryan Rock My Town Kradison concert in NYC last month.
IndyStar: Rock bands Daughtry and the Goo Goo Dolls will headline two days of a three-day concert series presented in conjunction with the NCAA Tournament's Final Four basketball games in Indianapolis.Performances are scheduled at the Lawn at White River State Park, 801 W. Washington St., and admission is free. Read more.
MTV: The Rocket Man in the judge's seat? At Elton John's annual Oscars viewing party, Kara DioGuardi weighed in on rumors that the big party's legendary host may replace Simon Cowell on "American Idol" next season. "It would be a very interesting replacement," she told MTV News. "[Elton] is somebody who's been wildly successful in music, who obviously knows a star when he sees one." Reps for John (and the show) have denied that any specific talks have taken place. Read more.
Broadway World: Last night, March 9, The Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR: A Tribal Love-Rock Musical welcomed a completely new Tribe on Broadway, led by American Idol alums Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo, and newcomer Kyle Raibko. BroadwayWorld was there to capture their debut. PHOTOS HERE.
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Scott MacIntyre's first post-Idol album, Heartstrings, has been released a bit early and is now available for download on iTunes and Amazon. Check back this afternoon to listen to our in-depth interview with Scott from earlier this week!
Mediaweek: It was a Tuesday of split leadership, with drama populated CBS the most-watched network and the home of American Idol, Fox, No. 1 among adults 18-49. Had Idol not been pared down to one hour (with a repeat of Glee airing at 9 p.m.), Fox would have also won the evening in total viewers. American Idol was, of course, the most-watched show of the evening, with 22.61 million viewers and an 8.2 rating/23 share among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m.
USA Today: Danny Gokey enters the country album-sales chart at No. 3 and The Billboard 200 at No. 4. having sold more than 65,000 copies of My Best Days in his first week. That's a few thousand better than Bucky Covington did with his debut a few years back, and I believe (I'm sure RCA will have a press release with the specifics later today) that gives My Best Days the best first-week numbers for any new male country act since Billy Ray Cyrus' Some Gave All did about 90,000 back in 1992. Read more. Also, big news for Kris Allen as "Live Like We're Dying" hits platinum, selling more than 1 million copies!! Read more here.
Jordin Sparks tweeted about a new song of hers that is on YouTube. “Turn This Car Around” was produced by Claude Kelly and Oak for the last album but didn't make the cut.
Here are more interviews and performances fromAdam Lambert in Australia, including an acoustic performance of “Whataya Want From Me”, “Sleepwalker” and “Music Again”. Plus, a couple of radio interviews.
Check back throughout the day for updates!
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USA Today: Carrie Underwood's "Play On" Tour kicks off on Thursday (3.11) in Reading, Pennsylvania. According to a press release from Carrie's publicist, "The tour also plans to bring Underwood closer to fans with an unexpected surprise, guaranteeing that even the audience at the back of the house will sometimes have a front row seat at the concert." Read more.
The Daily Beast: Balancing two international entertainment empires in today's world of intrusive journalism and a troubled economy is no easy feat. Simon Cowell, however, has managed to battle through the bad press, the low record sales, and more to maintain what he has worked so hard to build. "A quarter of these headaches might decimate the career of a lesser star or a more timid mogul... For the past decade, through controversy and turmoil, Cowell's razor-sharp instinct for the appetites of the public has fueled the growth of one of the greatest dominions entertainment has ever known." Suffice it to say that there isn't much that is going to slow down his next undertaking - leaving Idol and bring X-Factor to the US. Read more.
Ruben Studdard stopped by The Wendy Williams Show yesterday to promote his new album, "Love Is", and perform his song "Don't Make Them Like U No More".
Just a few moments ago, Jason Castro revealed the artwork and track list for his upcoming and self-titled debut album that will be released on April 13th.
Here is the track listing:
1. Let’s Just Fall In Love Again 2. This Heart Of Mine 3. That’s What I’m Here For 4. Heart Of Stone 5. If I Were You 6. You Can Always Come Home (feat. Serena Ryder) 7. Love Uncompromised 8. Closer 9. All Wrapped Up 10. It Matters To Me 11. Hallelujah 12. Let’s Just Fall In Love Again (Acoustic Version) 13. Sweet Medicine 14. Over The Rainbow
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EW: EW has learned that American Idol’s Top 12 contestants will perform the music of the Rolling Stones next week. During an ad break at the top 8 guys performance show, Ryan Seacrest taped a radio promotion in which he mentioned that the first week for the 12 Idol finalists will feature songs by the iconic British rock group. 
Adam Lambert's "Unplugged" performances and interview for VH1 are now online!
Season 8 "Idol" alums continue to go global with their debut albums! 
Just a few moments ago, Jason Castro revealed the artwork and track list for his upcoming and self-titled debut album that will be released on April 13th.
