After being graciously welcomed by everyone at American Idol, as the new judge for the show, it seems like talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is doing all that she can in order to ensure that she’s fully prepared for her new duties.
According to rumors, Ellen and her wife, Portia de Rossi have been looking back on past seasons if Idol to get a hang of what’s in store.
A source tells The National Enquirer, “Ellen and Portia have been watching old seasons on DVD to see how the judges interact with contestants and audience. Ellen wants to live up …read more

Next month, Carrie Underwood will be making an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, where she’ll be turning everything from a country barnyard atmosphere, to something pink in support of breast cancer recognition.
This will take place during her performance at the Opry on  Friday, October 2nd.  Gracing the stage, Carrie will flip a switch, turning the whole stage pink and will be supporting the Women Rock for the Cure and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charities.
Carrie will be joined by Terri Clark among other performers. What can you do to help? Order tickets! When you order the …read more

Do you think you can sing along to the tracks on Kelly Clarkson’s newest album, All I Ever Wanted?  If so, you could be chosen to do a live soundcheck with Kelly on-stage.
Kelly created a video tutorial for how to enter the contest using the new “Kelly Clarkson Open Mic” singing game on the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Plug in any pair of headphones and you’ll be ready to compete for the highest score on five songs from the album!

It’s no secret that American Idol alum, Kellie Pickler, and Taylor Swift are very close friends.  They’ve written songs together, toured together and are spotted hanging out all the time so I wasn’t surprised when Kellie showed her frustration of Kanye West stealing what should have been an amazing moment from Taylor at the 2009 MTV Video Awards last night.
Kellie tweeted, "Tator Tot, you handled yourself with Grace. Kanye, go grow some f-ing balls, bi—! don’t mess w/my lil sis!!"
She kept her message short and to the point but the original American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, let loose on her …read more

American Idol season 8 contestant, Danny Gokey, must be thrilled at  the fact that he has officially been signed by 19 Recordings/RCA Nashville! This makes him the last of the top 4 contestants for that season to be signed with a record label, following Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert and winner Kris Allen.  Actually, Danny is making history because this is the first time that Idol’s label has signed the top four contestants of a single season!.
Joe Galante, chairman of Sony Music Nashville said of Gokey, "We absolutely love Danny. We haven’t had anybody like that (in country) since Ronnie …read more

So far, we know that Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige and now Shania Twain have been tapped as guest judges on American Idol and my first question is – what do you think?  I have to say that I don’t really understand why they need the guest judges at all.

Here’s the thing – American Idol started as a three-judge show and now, since Paula Abdul quit, it’s back to being a three-judge show.  If they weren’t willing to fight to keep Paula, why do they need to find a stand-in?  Is it because they are worried that a panel comprised …read more

Recently, it was announced that Jordin Sparks and Britney Spears would be touring together.  Actually, I guess it would be more accurate to say that Jordin is opening for Britney and the pairing felt odd and weird to me in about a million ways.
The first thought I had is the obvious and ironic one.  The American Idol winner has been pretty vocal about her belief that people should wait until they are married to have sex.  She wears a purity ring and, although she admits that it’s sometimes difficult, she seems determined to maintain her values – she even directed …read more

American Idol won for “Choice TV Reality Competition,” host Ryan Seacrest was named the “Choice TV Personality” for his work on E! News and the second-place finishers from both season seven and season eight of American Idol took home prizes at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards last night.

While Adam beat out Kris Allen for “Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star” (yikes!), Archie won for “Choice Music Breakout Artist,” “Choice Music Love Song” (for “Crush”) and “Choice Music Tour” with Demi Lovato.
image © 2009 FOX BROADCASTING CR: Frank Micelotta / FOX

Kelly Clarkson is hitting the road again!  This time the very first American Idol is embarking on her “All I Ever Wanted” tour starting on October 2, 2009 in Connecticut.  Sales for the first few shows go on sale on August 15, 2009 so I’ll update you on that closer to that date.  Opening acts will include The Veronicas (Take Me on the Floor) and Parachute (She Is Love ).
Here are the dates (nothing near me!!!):
October 2: Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino, Uncasville, CT October 4: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME October 6: Hammerstein …read more

I tend to avoid all the gossip and speculative posts about contract negotiations since nothing is final and we really don’t know what is happening.  I do, however, take it a little more seriously when someone representing one of the parties makes a statement.
On the LA Times blog, they reported that Paula Abdul’s manager, David Sonenberg, had the following to say:  "Very sadly, it does not appear that she’s going to be back on ‘Idol.’  I find it under these circumstances particularly unusual; I think unnecessarily hurtful.  I find it kind of unconscionable and certainly rude and disrespectful that …read more