Yesterday afternoon in Garner, North Carolina, Scotty McCreery was in the midst of performing “Your Man,” the song that put him on the map this season on American Idol, during his hometown concert, when he was surprised by onstage by country star, Josh Turner.
Check out the video below!
Scotty’s reaction was priceless! I can’t wait to see more footage from each other the Top 3’s trips back home this week.
This week on American Idol, James Durbin was eliminated from the competition. Shocking? Eh, not really.
Personally, I never saw James getting past the Top 5. But, I figured Randy Jackson had probably pissed off every Haley Reinhart fan Wednesday night to the point where they probably voted until their thumbs were numb.
I figured when it came down to it, we were going to see either Lauren Alaina or James head home. Yesterday when Ryan Secrest tweeted, Tonight will be a VERY interesting #americanidol. Good luck @LAlainaAI10, @JDurbinAI10, @SMcCreeryAI10 & @HReinhartAI10,” I knew Haley had to be safe and that there was going to be a “shocking” elimination.
I felt for James, because as soon as Haley was declared safe last night and it was between him and Scotty McCreery going home, you could just tell that he knew his time was up. However, I do think it was time for him to head home.
The thing with James, and season 8 contestant Allison Iraheta kind of touched on in her guest blog on The Hollywood Reporter website yesterday was that we never truly saw a James Durbin performance. We saw a lot of knock off Adam Lambert performances.
“With James, as far as song choice is concerned, it was hard for me to hear it because we had to sing “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the season 8 tour so many times – it was a group number. And to hear Adam Lambert sing that same song night after night… well, it’s hard not to compare the two,” Iraheta said in her blog.
Tim Halperin took on his latest “Idol Got It Wrong” challenge and took on “Love Potion No. 9,” which was the song James Durbin closed the show with on American Idol last night.
Watch Tim perform his rendition of “Love Potion No. 9” below.
Not gonna front here, I was a tad skeptical when I found out this was the song Tim went with, but as soon as he started singing it became totally clear that this was a great decision. Tim really got to let that unique tone to his voice shine. I thought this was another great performance.
Download the MP3 of Tim’s performance here!
If haven’t downloaded Tim’s recently released Acoustic Sessions EP or “The Last Song” yet, what are waiting for? Go grab your FREE downloads at TimHalperin.com!
Don’t forget that “I Wanna Fall In Love” is also available on iTunes!
Check out my interview with Tim from earlier this year! Part one // Part two
Tonight on American Idol, we’ll find out which three contestants will advance to the Top 3, and get to return to their hometowns. If you are not aware of how big a deal an Idol hometown visit is, check out this video of Lee DeWyze’s homecoming from last year below.
If contestant James Durbin makes it through, he’ll be returning to Santa Cruz, CA for “Durbin Day” on May 14.
Here is what “Durbin Day” will entail!
– 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM – AT& T Store at Capitola Mall
James will be there meeting fans and possibly will find out what song the judges have chosen for him to sing the following week. 
– 2:00 PM — Downtown Santa Cruz Motorcade
According to the press release the Mercury News cited, “The motorcade will start at Cathcart and Pacific and travel north on Pacific to Water Street at the Clock Tower. The motorcade will continue down Center Street to the Louden Nelson Community Center at 301 Center Street.”
– 2:30 PM Louden Nelson Visit – Blast from James’ Past
James will be visiting with media and local community programs that “developed his legendary vocal and performance skills.” The Santa Cruz Teen Center, Kids on Broadway and All About Theatre will be hosting James to visit the kids in their current programs.
– 4:30 PM — Travel to Beach
“Led by the Santa Cruz High School Marching Band and a police escort, James will travel down Center Street to Santa Cruz’ Main Beach. James will be followed by participants from the Teen Center, All About Broadway and the Kids on Broadway. ”
– 5:00 PM – James on the Beach Bandstand
James will “give a short performance of 2-3 songs” while be backed by The White Album Ensemble. He will also be honored by Santa Cruz City Mayor Ryan Coonerty.
These are the basic details, check out the Mercury News article for more information.
EDIT: James Durbin did not advance to the Top 3 on American Idol this week.
Remember Siobhan Magnus from last season of American Idol?
Here’s a reminder:
Siobhan recently released her first single, “Beatrice Dream” and last week did an acoustic performance of the song alongside co-writer Chaise Flanders at The Bluebird in Nashville.
Check out the performance below!
I really like the song! I really like the vibe, and Siobhan sounds fantastic!
“Beatrice Dream” is available now on iTunes! For more information on Siobhan Magnus, check out her official website!
Okay, so calling it a duet is bit of a stretch, but Darren Criss does play guitar and sing-a-long while Matthew Morrison sings the lead single of his debut self-titled album, “Summer Rain” in the video below.
Afterwards, the two sing a mash-up of “Great Balls of Fire” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”
I’m sorry Matthew, but not even having Darren perform with you can make me like that song of yours. You should start performing, “Still Got Tonight” ASAP.
Matthew Morrison’s debut self-titled album is out today! You can download his second single, “Still Got Tonight” (co-written by Kris Allen) for FREE on iTunes!
Check out a preview of the return of Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) and his duet with Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) from tonight’s Glee.
I definitely like this duet in context of the show, and it’s definitely quite the entrance for Jonathan Groff’s return.
Glee’s “Prom Queen” airs tonight at 8 p.m. on FOX.
Just when I thought the “Born This Way” episode of Glee had a great mix of music; last week’s episode, “Rumours,” which featured songs from the Fleetwood Mac album of the same name, provided some standout vocal performances from our favorite glee clubbers.
Guest star, Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes) returned to the show last week, and had a duet with Matthew Morrison (Will Schuster) on the song, “Dreams.” I have always loved Chenoweth and Morrison’s voices together. And Glee always gives them great songs to sing. Chenoweth has such a great tone to her voice and when it’s combined with Morrison’s smooth vocal, the result is just delightful to listen to.
Kevin McHale (Artie) took on the song, “Never Going Back Again.” McHale is usually given the big showstopper songs, but last week he had a little more of a demure track, which I liked. McHale has a big voice, and it’s nice to hear him dial it back and have somewhat of a vulnerable vocal performance. This song really proved McHale to be a truly versatile singer.
But, I must say if anyone had a standout vocal performance with their song last week, it was Naya Rivera (Santana) who took on “Songbird.” Her vocal performance on this track is absolutely stunning. You get a real sense of emotion from this track, which she conveys with such passion. This is the first track Rivera has taken the lead on where I actually believed the lyrics she was singing.
Yesterday, Kelly Clarkson took part in Coca Cola’s 125th Anniversary concert, which additionally featured Natasha Bedingfield and Ne-Yo.
Check out Kelly’s 10-song set below! Credit to AIEW Blog for capturing all the video!
Continue reading Video: Kelly Clarkson Performs at Coca Cola 125th Anniversary Concert
Late this past Thursday night, the tracks for next week’s Glee episode “Prom Queen” leaked onto the interwebz. Included in next week’s batch of tracks is Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” which is sung by Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff as a duet.
This Glee cover is the latest in a string of “Rolling in the Deep” covers that have hit the web, since the song was released last fall. One of the issues I have with all the covers of this song is that most of them pale in comparison to the original.
As someone that loves music, I feel like “Rolling in the Deep” could possibly be on it’s way to being played out. The fact that Glee is has now covered it says a lot. And I’m not gonna front, I was excited at first to hear that Glee was taking on the song. I love Lea and Jonathan’s voices together, and I thought the result was going to be this intensely passionate, angsty vocal performance from the two of them. The Glee version actually sounds like a take of the John Legend cover of the song. To be honest, I was expecting more of a rock vibe from them, instead of a gospel vibe.
Continue reading Dulling The Magic of “Rolling in the Deep” One Cover at a Time
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