By MARK FRANKLIN
Some updates …
Wow, we didn’t get to see much of Kelly Clarkson’s new video on last Wednesday’s Idol episode, did we?
For those left wondering, Kelly has come through. You can go to her Web site and watch the entire video to “My Life Would Suck Without You.” It’s cute. She’s also posted a couple stills from the video shoot.
In her blog, Kelly predicts “you ladies will love the leading man, Houston, and all you fellas out there … well, y’all are stuck with me.”
The release date for the full album, “All I Ever Wanted” is March 10. It’ll be interesting to see what direction Kelly has taken musically.
Her last release, “My December” was grittier than the smash-hit album “Breakaway.” But with songs like “Never Again,” “Sober” and “Can I Have a Kiss,” it also showed how very far she’d come since her Idol days.
Justin on “Gone Country:” Justin Guarini has resurfaced on reality television. He’s “Gone Country.”
That’s the name of a show hosted by John Rich of Big & Rich fame (think “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”). He gathers seven celebrities and has-beens under the roof of his Nashville mansion each year to compete for the right to cut a country music single.
Justin’s competition includes former pop star Taylor Dane, former Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz, funk master George Clinton and 2006 Mess USA Tara Conner. The “mess” isn’t a typo. That’s what Tara calls herself after all the problems she had, including a stint in rehab, after becoming Miss USA.
Anyway, I caught the season’s first two episodes this weekend. We watched George lose a tooth. We watched Tara cry and get comforted by Taylor and Sheila E. We watched Richard Grieco throw a temper tantrum. Then everyone went off to the woods for a team-building exercise where they climbed a 40-foot pole and walked on ropes in tandem. Then they gathered around a campfire and sang “Kumbaya.” Well, not really, but you get the picture.
As for singing, we found out Taylor still can, Tara can’t, and Micky is still entertaining at age 63. Truth be told, there was pitifully little singing in those first two episodes.
As for Justin, here’s his rationale: “I look around the table (at fellow contestants) and see all these people who had number one hits or have been on a huge show and I feel like I still have not proven who I am as a musician.”
And he’s going to do that on “Gone Country?”
Hey, the show wasn’t atrocious. But it also wasn’t engrossing enough to make me want to check back in. For those who are curious, the show airs 8 p.m. Saturdays on CMT (Country Music Television), and at other various times throughout the week.
Justin isn’t the first former Idol to have “Gone Country.” Diana DeGarmo was one of the contestants on the show in its first season; “Gone Country’s” cast for second two included Mikalah Gordon, Idol’s all-time most annoying contestant from back in season four.
Here comes Hollywood Week: Go to the American Idol Web site and you’ll find mug shots, ages and hometowns for all of the 135 Hollywood-bound contestants. Plus, you can see a short video interview of each contestant.
They’re all there, from Bikini Girl 1 (Katrina Darrell) to Bikini Girl 2 (Casey Carlson) to some of the great male singers we met during the audition rounds, like Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Scott Macintyre. And, yes, Bikini Girl 1 tells us she’s in this to get a recording contract, not a modeling gig.
Twelve of the competitors are just 16; 12 are the maximum age of 28, including Gokey; Brent Keith Smith, who we introduced you to here; and David Osmond, yes, a member of the Osmond family.
That’s 135 competitors for 36 spots in the semifinals. The fun starts Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
Jennifer’s?”touchdown:” Nice to see Jennifer Hudson back in the public eye, singing the National Anthem prior to yesterday’s Super Bowl.
It marked Jennifer’s first public appearance since the murder of her October murders of her mother, brother and nephew.
She wasn’t singing live; she was lip synching. Pre-game show producer Rickey Minor, also the music director for American Idol, told the Associated Press he insisted that Jennifer and Faith Hill use the tracks the NFL requires them to submit a week before the game. Read about her performance here.
Still, he described Jennifer’s performance with one word: “Touchdown.”
This is going to be a big week for Jennifer.
On Tuesday, “The Secret Life of Bees,” a 2008 film in which she appeared, hits DVD. It also stars Dakota Fleming, Queen Latifah and Alicia Keys. You can watch the trailer here.
And on Sunday, Jennifer is scheduled to perform at the 51st annual Grammy Awards. Plus she’s been nominated for three Grammys, including Best R&B Vocal Performance for her single “Spotlight” and Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut.
Next week, the video to her latest single, “If This Isn’t Love,” is set for release.
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