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Season 9, Simon’s Last Year

Written by on March 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Simon Cowell

American Idol’s season 9 auditions started out in Boston Mass. With Victoria Beckham of the Spice Girls fame, as a guest judge. Along with Idol’s regular judges, Simon Cowell, Cara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson. Out of over 9,000 hopefuls that gathered outside the arena, a few hundred made it through all of the different steps required to get the chance to audition for the final four judges.

From the very beginning, it was apparant that Beckham was not a strong judge and seemed to be more interested in the fashion and all-around physical appearance of the contestants and was rather unmoved by the talent or vocals that each person possessed.

Often laughing and whispering under her breath to the fellow judges. However, Boston did produce a few very talented folks and the judges were able to sift through the many lack-luster performances and find these lucky few, giving them the “Golden Ticket” they needed to go to Hollywood.

Among these contestants, a few really stuck out and seem to be the ones to watch. 21 year old cancer survivor Justin Williams of Sandy Utah has a humble persona and unique vocals. While 16 year old Katie Stevens surprised the judges with a powerful voice that stretches way beyond her years. 21 year old Ashley Rodriguez seemed to be Simon Cowell’s pick of the night, when he said that she quite frankly had the “It” factor that they were looking for.

It was obvious that the Idol judges have definately raised the bar of expectations, so expect to see more exceptionally gifted performers this season and less mediocre “lounge” singers. With Ellen DeGeneres stepping in as the fourth judge on the panel in Hollywood, American Idol’s Season 9 should be an exciting year for sure.

Let us know what you thought of the first show! Which contestants will you be voting for?

Simon Cowell
Creative Commons License photo credit: cliff1066™

Categories: American Idol judges, Simon Cowell - Tags: , , , , ,

Carrie Underwood, Idol’s Country Crooner

Written by on December 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment

carrieunderwood

Born March 10th, 1983 in Muskogee Oklahoma, Carrie Underwood found her love for music when she started singing in her church choir at the tender age of just 3 years old. By the time Carrie was in the 7th grade, she had taken her gift to the next level, competing in local talent shows where she became known to many as the “Little girl with the big voice”.

After she graduated from high school, Carrie Underwood enrolled at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah Oklahoma, choosing broadcast journalism as her major. During her first year of college, Underwood produced a student-run television program and wrote for the school newspaper “The Northeastern.” However, her friends knew of her love of music and encouraged her to try out for American Idol’s season four.

Carrie decided that she would give it a try and figured that if it didn’t work out, she could always return to school and finish her degree. So along with her mother and younger sister, Carrie headed for the St. Louis auditions.

After wowing the judges with her rendition of Martina McBride’s “Phones are Ringing All Over Town,” Carrie Underwood worked her way to the top twelve with performances of “Independence Day” another McBride chart topper and “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt.

On May 25th, 2005, Carrie beat out runner up, Bo Bise to become America’s next idol. Soon after, she released her debut single “Inside Your Heaven”. This hit soon became Billboard Hot 100′s first country album to make the number one spot since Lonestar’s “Amazed” in 2000.

Carrie Underwood has since won several awards including her first CMA in 2006 as female artist of the year and the coveted Horizon Award. In 2008, Carrie was asked by fellow singer Randy Travis to become a member of the Grand Old Oprey.

Randy surprised her with the offer when she made an appearance on the Oprey stage singing one of his hits “I Told You So.” Carrie Underwood has since released a duet of the hit with Randy Travis, which soared it’s way, along with the rest of her singles, to the top of the charts.

Categories: American Idol Singers, Carrie Underwood - Tags: , , , , ,

Simon Fuller, Idol’s Creator

Written by on December 8, 2009 · Leave a Comment

simon fuller

In 1998, after seeing many talented recording artists such as Annie Lennox to the top of the charts, Simon Fuller decided to try his hand at yet another branch of entertainment, reality television.

He soon sold his new concept for a talent show, giving no-named hopefuls the chance at stardom, singing there way to there own record deal in front of millions of viewers in the UK on the show now known as “Pop Idol”.

After three highly successful seasons in the United Kingdom, Fuller decided that it was time to introduce his idea to the American networks. In 2001, Simon sold the rights to the Americanized version of “Pop Idol” to Fox Television. In 2002, “American Idol” debuted to millions of viewers nation wide.

Since it’s first season, American Idol has reportedly brought in over $2.5 billion in merchandising, music sales and paid sponsership.

In 2005, Simon Fuller sold part of his production group, 19 Entertainment, to a sister company for over $200 million in cash and stock, making him one of Time Magazine’s Top 100 most powerful people in 2008.

In January 2010, look for Fuller’s lastest project, a reality TV show titled “If I Can Dream” which has a group of hopefuls being filmed 24/7 living in a house together while attempting to find success in there selected creative fields. As everything else Simon Fuller has created, the show is sure to be a hit.

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Kelly Clarkson, Idol’s Biggest Winner

Written by on November 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Kelly Clarkson

Born on April 24th, 1982 in Fort Worth Texas, Kelly Clarkson lived a simple life in Burleson, a small suburb of Fort Worth. But in middle school, the choir teacher overheard her singing with some friends and asked Clarkson to audition for the school choir.

Kelly soon learned that she had a deep love for music and a natural, un-rehearsed talent as well, performing in many musicals in high school and singing the National Anthem at several local sporting events.

After Kelly Clarkson graduated from high school, she received many offers for full scholarships to many reputable universities, but turned them all down. She decided that since she had already invested so much time and energy into her song writing, trying her luck in the business was the only logical next step.

In 2002, Clarkson auditioned for the talent show American Idol, shocking the judges as the “Little girl with the big voice” making it through to the next round of the competition that takes place in Hollywood California. Kelly soon won the hearts of the viewers and in the end, walked away with 58% of the vote. Making Kelly Clarkson American Idol’s first winner.

After Idol ended, Kelly released her first song “A Moment Like This.” With in the first week, the single had went from number 52 to number 1 on the US pop charts and sold over 236,000 copies. This single was also the only song from any American Idol to reach number one on the UK charts as well.

Seven years later, Kelly Clarkson still manages to wow critics with one hit track after another. “Breakaway,” her second album released in 2004 went multi-platinum. Kelly says that she is proudest of this particular album, because it was her first chance to show the real side of her sound and song writing capabilities.

Kelly’s new album “All I Ever Wanted” was released earlier this year and has already seen several of the tracks hit the Billboard Hot 100.

Categories: American Idol Singers, Kelly Clarkson - Tags: , , , , ,

Paula Abdul, Pop Princess & Ex Idol Judge

Written by on November 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Paula Abdul

Born on June 19th, 1962, Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of California, where she joined her first dance class at the age of eight years old. Her love of the arts was instant and her dance teacher soon saw a raw talent with her capabilities in choreography, often allowing Paula’s insight on the companies dance routines.

Then, in the early eighty’s, soon after Paula graduated from high school, she made the journey to Los Angeles and auditioned for a place on the cheer and dance squad for the LA Lakers as a Laker Girl. The judges noticed Abdul’s skill and she was one of the very lucky few selected from 700 girls for a spot on the team. With in the first year with the Laker Girls, Paula Abdul became the captain of the team as well as the choreographer of all of the half time show routines.

By the late 1980′s, Paula had become a well known and sought after choreographer and back up dancer for the pop industry, handing out fast-paced dance moves and routines to such artists as Janet Jackson and Debbie Gibson, even appearing in Jackson’s “Nasty Boys” video. But According to Paula Abdul, she felt as if something was missing and decided to try her hand at becoming a recording artist herself.

With $30,000 of her savings, Paula stepped into the recording studio and in 1989, he first album “Forever Your Girl” was released and sky rocketed to the top of pop charts. By 1990, the album had gone multi-platinum selling over 10 million copies.

However, in 1992 after a lack-luster sophomoric album, Paula admitted to suffering from the eating disorder bulimia and promptly check herself into rehab. After getting a handle on her illness, she married Brat Pack actor Emilio Estevez, but the marriage was short-lived and Paula Abdul filed for divorce in May of 1994.

It was almost as if Paula had faded from the spotlight for good until she was offered the position as the third judge on a talent show titled American Idol in 2002. She seemed to be the soft-centered judge that offered sympathy and optimism to the many young hopefuls that came before the judges.

Amidst the rumors of Paula’s pain killer and possible alcohol addictions, on August 4th, 2009, FOX Television annonced that Paul Abdul would be leaving the American Idol Judges scene after seven years due to “a breakdown in contract negotiations.”

Paula Abdul has kept herself busy with a successful line of jewelry that she designed for HSN.Com. Her line has become one of the most popular lines the company has ever sold.

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