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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: American Idol

  • Ellen Out, J-Lo In On The Next Season Of American Idol?

    J-Lo
    Just yesterday, I wrote a small piece on the news that Nigel Lythgoe may come back to American Idol in an executive producer role. Well, that was small news compared to what the rumors are now.

    By the looks of it, Ellen DeGeneres is out as judge on the show, after only one year on the job. And who’s her replacement? Um, how about Jennifer Lopez. Ok, how about maybe Jennifer Lopez? Nothing is yet confirmed, but it’s the big rumor, at least according to Lisa de Moraes, TV writer for the Washington Post.

    From de Moraes:

    Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez appears to be the show’s new Paula Abdul. J-Lo’s career has been on the fast track to nowhere of late and, according to the Web site Deadline.com, she’s brokered a deal to step in and replace Ellen, who, in turn, had replaced Paula last season. But some sources said it was not yet a done deal. A Fox rep declined to comment.

    For Idol fans, that’s a lot of information to digest in one day. It’s quite obvious to anyone watching last season that no matter how hard they tried, Ellen was simply a bad fit for the show. I’d trust her feedback on hosting stand-up comedians, but not necessarily judging a singing contest.

    It only took them one week to figure out how to hide her, but it was one week too late. If you remember during Ellen’s first week, she had to lead-off with the judging early in the show and looked like a deer in headlights. Every show after that, when she didn’t lead in the judging anymore and they had Randy as the lead-off hitter, it just showed the audience how week Ellen was.

    As for J-Lo, I’m not sold on her as a judge, but for different reasons. She’s not a good singer, but she definitely knows the ups and downs of both the movie industry and the music industry. In fact, she’s kind of experiencing the downs in both industries right now.

    She’ll bring a Hollywood feel to the show and will immediately be the biggest star and biggest presence. But I think that’s a bad thing. Because she’s the most famous person, she’ll be expected to replace Simon, rather than who she’s truly replacing in Ellen and Paula. If she can be the Paula/Ellen, I think she’d do fine, but her presence is too big for that role, unless they really hit on who replaces Simon.

    If these are all the changes, it will be a tremendous letdown. But if they have someone huge in mind for Simon (my vote is on Justin Timberlake), then I think J-Lo can work.

    I’m sure this won’t be my last update about this. Maybe it’s just begun.

    Photo of Jennifer Lopez licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

  • News On Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, American Idol, And Kanye West

    Rihanna
    I was only going to write about Rihanna, but other bits of news came out today that I thought were interesting as well.

    Rihanna

    According to MTV.com, Rihanna has joined the cast of the upcoming Peter Berg directed film, Battleship, which I’m assuming is a take on the classic kids’ game.

    She’ll join my man Tim Riggins (aka Taylor Kitsch from the TV show Friday Night Lights) and Alexander Skarsgård, who is best known for his role in True Blood.

    It will be the first movie for the pop princess who has a number one single out there with Eminem, called Love The Way You Lie. The movie is scheduled to come out in the spring of 2012.

    Justin Timberlake and American Idol

    The Rolling Stone’s website has a bit about possible American Idol changes.

    The show is reportedly close to a deal to bring back producer Nigel Lythgoe (who left in 2008) in an executive producer role while targeting new candidates including Justin Timberlake and Elton John as potential replacements for Cowell, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

    While the article does say that getting Timberlake would be a long shot, he’d be the perfect replacement. I can’t believe I never thought about him. In my opinion, he’s just as talented a TV performer as he is a music artist. If you’ve ever seen him on Saturday Night Live, you know what I mean. He’d be the anti-Cowell, but he’d bring instant credibility, super stardom, and the ability to create off the top of his head.

    The article also says Lythgoe isn’t a fan of the four judge panel, which could be bad for Kara DioGuardi who is the only judge with a little bit of Cowell in her. It would also be bad for me as I think I may just be her biggest fan.

    Kanye West

    Kanye West made the Silicon Valley rounds today, showing up at both Facebook and Twitter headquarters. He also created a Twitter account and you can find him @kanyewest.

    He previewed some lyrics from his new album, which he says is now not going to be called Good Ass Job. I always liked that name.



    You can also check out photos of Kanye at Twitter on Flickr.

    Photo of Rihanna shared via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

  • First Impressions: Sons of Sylvia

    Hey! Remember this show? Remember the band who won it? Maybe not. It was three years ago, after all, and unlike the American Idol which all but guarantees an annual outlet for its past winners and finalists to remind their fickle-by-design audience that they still exist, the Next Great American Band has not since returned to the airwaves. (I’m actually still holding out hope for Season 2 of Bands on the Run! Flickerstick Rulz!!!)

    Moreover, where Idol winners often have an album assembled and rushed out to the market in time for Christmas shopping, Next Great American Band winners The Clark Brothers seemed to drop off the face of the earth, leaving the few of us who watched the show and fell in love -err mild infatuation with the Appalachian trio’s thrilling (for prime time) acoustic conflagrations of bluegrass, pop, and classic rock to wonder, y’know, wha’happen?

    The Clark Brothers “Gimme Shelter”

    Sometime between then and now, the Clark Brothers – Adam, Ashley, and Austin – were signed to a major label, and then got dropped by the label in a bit of corporate re-shuffling. At which point, they changed their name to Sons of Sylvia, signed with 19 Entertainment and Interscope, and showed up on a duet with Carrie Underwood called “What Can I Say”. Now, the band is on tour with Underwood in support of their long delayed debut album Revelation.

    Carrie Underwood with Sons of Sylvia “What Can I Say”

    Though the Sons of Sylvia had previously, along with three more of their brothers, recorded and even charted a Top 20 Country hit 10 years ago as the Clark Family Experience; and though the instruments they play (fiddle, mandolin, slide guitar) look and sound a little, y’know, bluegrassy; and though they are touring with Carrie Underwood, it becomes clear listening to Revelation that Sons of Sylvia are no more a country music band at this point than OneRepublic, whose lead singer-songwriter (and one of 19 Entertainment’s favorite go-to hit-writers) Ryan Tedder co-wrote and produced the group’s debut single “Love Left to Lose”. As with many of Tedder’s other hits, the song boasts a big, open-air sound with a full-throated campfire folk sing-along of a chorus, making it an immediate winner when you hear it on the radio.

    The band carries that bigness with them throughout Revelation, almost to the point where it becomes a little too much of a pretty good thing, both in the record’s anthemic sound, but also in lyrics (see the title track) that seem to be reaching for the spiritual profundity of Bono, circa 1984. The album opens with “John Wayne”, a gorgeous statement of devotion that gets oversold by Ashley’s trying-too-hard shouty high vocals on the chorus, and ends with a strange assemblage of sounds (is there a song in this?) called “The War Within”.

    There’s no question these guys are talented, and that they’re passionate music-makers. But the fire and brimstone they brought to that cover of “Gimme Shelter” on TV a couple years ago seems to have been compromised in the band’s quest to come up with a great pop/rock record. I’m not one of those people who believes that the words “greatness” and “pop/rock” are mutually exclusive; I think what Sons of Sylvia have attempted with Revelation is admirable, promising, and totally listenable. (I mean, seriously: pop music with actual stringed instruments, people! How awesome is that in 2010?) But listening to Revelation is like watching someone trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, generating occasionally thrilling puffs of smoke, but never quite acheiving something we might be able roast marshmallows over.

    Sons of Sylvia “Love Left To Lose”