VH1 promo photo of Adam Lambert

The Hollywood Reporter provides a nice summary of what you’ll see in two weeks on the Adam Lambert “Behind the Music” on VH1 at 10 p.m. August 7. It goes through his life, from the time he realized he was gay in sixth grade to coming out at age 18 to his eight years doing stage productions to his “Idol” days to life since then.

Featured in the one-hour docuseries is never-before seen home video footage and interviews with industry experts and musical bigwigs. Guests include Lambert’s parents, childhood pal Scarlett Cherry, Island Def Jam exec. Barry Weiss, Idol’s Season 8 winner Kris Allen and The Hollywood Reporter’s very own Idol expert, Shirley Halperin.

Continue reading Preview Adam Lambert’s VH1 ‘Behind the Music’ Aug. 7 »

AP photo of Simon Fuller

Simon Fuller, the man behind “American Idol,” has sued Fox and Fremantle over executive producer credit for “The X Factor” he claims were given to him in 2005, according to Deadline.com .

It’s a complicated story. Fuller had sued Simon Cowell in the U.K. over similarities between his ‘U.K. Pop Idol” and the U.K. version of “X Factor.” As part of the settlement, he said he was promised an executive producer credit on the U.S. “X Factor.”

He didn’t get it so he is suing based on breach of contract.

Fox’s response:

“Mr. Fuller has not been hired, nor performed any duties, on the U.S. version of The X Factor. His suit seeks payment and credit as an executive producer despite his neither having been approved by the required parties, nor hired, as such. We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we expect to prevail.”

-And in other news, Ryan Seacrest’s production company is producing a reality show focused on the Persian-American community in Los …

Continue reading Litigious Simon Fuller sues Fox, Fremantle over U.S. “X Factor” »

CREDIT: NBC

To the Press-Democrat, 26-year-old Paul McDonald provides a reality check to his younger, more naive mates in the Season 10 “Idols Live” crew:

And as we all know, the show is very very scripted. It leaves very little room for improvisation.

“I don’t know if they get it. I keep sticking it in their heads like guys this is a misbelief of what rock ’n roll is like. It’s not gonna be like this always. When a half-dozen of them are complaining I want to like shake em …

“We get to pretend like we are rock ’n roll stars for a summer. We are seeing what it’s like to play before thousands a night. After the show it won’t be like that unless you have like hit records. You don’t go from arenas and then back to arenas. You go back down to the club circuit and build your own name.

“I tell them to soak this all in cause you aren’t going to be cruising in six tour buses and a crew with catering. Normally you are loading in your own gear and …

Continue reading Paul McDonald provides “reality check” to his younger Idols 10 mates »

Lopez and Anthony at the "Idol" finale in May. CREDIT: Fox

After seven years, “Idol’ host Jennifer Lopez has broken up with her hubby Marc Anthony. But why?

E! Online, using inside sources, places the onus more on Anthony being overly controlling and Lopez feeling stifled.

How true is that or is that merely spin from Lopez’s camp? Who knows?

In the interim, they are still working on a Latin singing competition show “Q’Viva” together.

And there’s still no word on Lopez coming back to “Idol.”

She is in Atlanta to shoot a film, though. So single men, get your opening lines ready…

- Oh, remember Todrick Hall from season 9? He does a flash mob at a Target in homage to Beyonce. He can dance! Can he sing? I barely remember:

Continue reading Behind the Jennifer Lopez/Marc Anthony break up »

Okay, I got pilloried by Claymates last week for implying that he hasn’t done that much acting. He has done a reasonable amount. This latest effort is really really funny. It’s a spoof of “Hoarders” on the Funny or Die site featuring Tori Spelling and Mr. Aiken himself. His portrayal on Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” on July 24 is pretty straightforward in comparison.

Continue reading ‘Hoarders’ spoof featuring Tori Spelling and… Clay Aiken »

Ruben Studdard at the Real Men Cook event in Atlanta in 2010. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Ruben Studdard, who released his last 2009 album on Hickory Records, has signed with Shanachie Entertainment for his fall 2011 release.

“We believe that for all his success, Ruben Studdard is an undervalued artist,” says Shanachie General Manager, Randall Grass to Singersroom.com.  “Part of that may be due to his versatility; he has achieved in so many different areas that people just aren’t aware of the totality of his talent. We are very excited at the prospect of working with Ruben and his team to take him to the next level of success in this new phase of his career.”

“I’ve been waiting a really long time for my fans to finally hear the real Ruben. This will be the first time that one producer and one writer will be working on my entire album to create one sound,” Studdard said in what seems to be a press release. “I want my fans to feel like they have been taken on …

Continue reading Ruben Studdard signs a new record deal »

AP photo

I hear Jennifer Lopez is in Atlanta for the film “What To Expect When You’re Expecting” from Lionsgate. It sounds like a romantic comedy based on that title.

It also stars Cameron Diaz and Chris Rock.

So keep your eyes open for her!

And so far, no official word yet on her return to “Idol.”

- Forgot to mention that Lauren Alaina injured herself trying on some high heels and fell down some stairs. Her ankle was badly sprained earlier this month. She is now performing in a cast. Hopefully, she’ll be recovered by the time she arrives at Gwinnett Arena July 26.

- As usual, Ryan Seacrest was nominated for best reality-program host, along with Cat Deeley (”So You Think You Can Dance”), Phil Keoghan (”The Amazing Race”), Tom Bergeron (”Dancing With the Stars”) and Jeff Probst (”Survivor”). Seacrest has never won. Probst has won it all three years the category has been around.

- “American Idol” was also named for best competitive reality program, which it has never won. The …

Continue reading Jennifer Lopez in Atlanta for a movie; Ryan Seacrest nominated again for Emmy »

This starts as a spoof. Then reality sets in. And I do miss Simon!

Continue reading ‘The X Factor’ sneak preview during the MLB All Star Game July 12 »

The CMAs sure love Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. The two affable country performers will host the show a fourth time. The show isn’t even set to air until November on CBS so the pair have plenty of time to prepare.

Using a really old reference, they have become the Gracie Allen and George Burns of this generation.  They have a chemistry and camaraderie that solidified them as two of the most popular country artists of our generation.

Carrie’s current duet with him “Remind Me’ is now at No. 12 on the country chart and is still steadily climbing.

- Jordin Sparks will sing the National Anthem tonight for the MLB All Star Game in Phoenix.

In other chart news:

- Kelly Clarkson has a new single “Let Me Down.” It looks like yet another hit for her. Her duet with Jason Aldean “Don’t You Wanna Stay” was a No. 1 on country and is now a top 10 hit on the Hot AC chart.

- Scotty McCreery’s “I Love You This Big” is now at No. 17 on the country chart. Kellie  Pickler’s “Tough” is at …

Continue reading Carrie Underwood co-hosting CMAs with Brad Paisley for fourth time »

AP

Jennifer Lopez has told press  in recent weeks that she wasn’t sure if she was coming back.

Well, she is, according to E! Online.

Lopez, whose music career has been revived thanks partly to “Idol,” came across as a more sane version of Paula Abdul. At first, people were surprised how humanizing and sweet she was during the auditions. Unfortunately, as the show went along, her ability to constructively criticize deteriorated. The longer she spent time with the singers, the harder it was for her to actually say anything remotely negative. But at least she said something useful once in awhile.

Steven Tyler shut off his critical mind virtually the moment the live shows came on, turning into a repetitive adjective machine. He might say something amusing but seldom useful. That left only the occasional “that bored me” line from Randy Jackson.

Yet all three are coming back. Now that the novelty of this trio has worn off, will we as viewers be as remotely excited in 2011? I …

Continue reading Jennifer Lopez set to return to ‘Idol’ »