Did anyone think that Casey would survive this week's American Idol cut? Notes posted around the Internet overwhelmingly opined that it was time for Casey to leave -- and, indeed, the Idol judges seemed to be ready to lead him to the door.
But what a run it has been for North Texas' Casey James!
"I'm so thankful for the opportunity," smiled James -- even after his elimination. "It's been an amazing, amazing journey and I'm so thankful that I'm here.
As with departing contestants, James got to sing a farewell song. He chose John Mayer's Daughters -- which had been judges Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi's choice for him in this week's competition. Confident, smiling and seemingly still happy, James delivered the song with ample tenderness and style.
There was a sense that Casey may have expected that it was his week to go -- and that he was ready to move on to the Idol tour and showing America that he deserves to be a star.
Indeed, elimination from the American Idol competition often signals less about defeat and more about moving ahead in a career. Runner-up Adam Lambert has become a super star -- as has Chris Daughtry. And how about Jennifer Hudson, Katharine McPhee, Clay Aiken and Kimberley Locke -- none of whom won the American Idol coveted crown!
“I never thought I'd get this far,” Casey admitted to host Ryan Seacrest. “But to me, it's like winning $10 million in the lottery and $100 million in the lottery. It's so much more than I expected, so it can't be bad.”
As the Dallas News reports: "For a guy who doesn't own a TV — and drove all night to auditions in Denver at the urging of his mom, who lent him her truck because there was no way his would make the trip — landing in the semifinals of the world's most popular talent show proved a bit overwhelming. As James Casey watched footage of last week's screaming-filled visit to North Texas Dallas/Fort Worth and his hometown of Cool, he fought back tears."
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American Idol judge Randy Jackson must have seen a little bit of magic in one former American Idol contestant – blond, former nanny, Brooke White.
Jackson, who has never before been involved with an album by an Idol alum, is executive producer of “High Hopes & Heartbreak”, White’s sophomore album due for release on June Baby Records on June 21. Jackson, White and White’s manager, Carl Stubner formed that label, and Jackson is taking an even higher step with White in co-managing her career. White’s initial album, “Songs From the Attic” was released before her stint on American Idol.
As for the Jackson and White pairing, the demure White told The Salt Lake Tribune, “It is completely bizarre. I never saw this coming. I have no idea why he’s working with me.”
But Jackson was quick to explain. “What I loved about her was that she was a straight-up real artist, he said. “There’s always room for artists. You have pop stars, and then you have artists. The holy grail are artists. The sprinters are pop stars.”
White, who will also be teaming with Michael Johns for a West Coast Midwest tour beginning on August 16th in Pomona, CA, said that after her elimination from Idol, she was in a Los Angeles guitar store when Randy Jackson walked in. They began talking, she said, and before they even realize it, an hour and a half had gone by.
“He was so personable,” White later recalled. “He said, ‘If there’s anything I can do to help out, let me know.’” But White, 26, admitted that she thought that the offer was a kindness, but never expected anything would come of it. But lo and behold, a few months later, out of the blue, Jackson called her and asked if she would be interested in making a record with him as executive producer. And she said that she jumped at the chance.
Jackson then became her “sounding board” – helped her locate a writing partner and encouraged her to stay focused on writing the kind of music that she truly wanted to record.
“She’s not going to be Lady Gaga,” admitted Jackson. “You’re not looking at fitting her into a box.”
So White settled down to compose music straight from her heart -- music with what some people have referred to as a Carole King and Carly Simon kind of sound.
In addressing White’s new album, NY Post opined, she has “a full-fledged audio arsenal backing her up, headed by the one and only Randy Jackson. … Her new CD brings reasons-a-plenty as to why… you should give her at least a 10-minute listen. Brook’s country drenched cover of Kings of Leon’s ‘Use Somebody’ takes what that band already developed and paints it with a feeling of young love. Also, her mid-America themed video for the album’s first single, ‘Radio Radio’, embodies the tingly emotion that makes you feel like a 12-year old kid again.”
On White’s Facebook page, fans reveal not only how much they enjoy her new single, but how much the lyrics touch their hearts. One fan wrote, “I love love love Radio. … When I was younger, radio was such a big part of my life. My 3 sisters and I would listen and dance all day long. We would try (unsuccessfully) to win contests, dialing, dialing, dialing. On warm afternoons, I would go to my friend’s house and we would sing along to the Carpenters. … I still listen to the radio and remember.”
“’Hopes’” is already doing well on iTues,” White smiled and revealed. “It was such a personal process making this record. It’s like putting your babies out there.” The album, she explained, is “a bit of a throwback.” She described it as a singer/songwriter album with an organic tone – some a little California country – and there’s even a disco tune.
One song, “Out of the Ashes,” she said was particularly meaningful. But she added that “Sometimes Love” is another of her favorites. “It’s hard to choose. I go through different phases where I reconnect with each of them in different ways.”
Another of White’s Facebook connections wrote of her favorite, “I really love ‘Phoenix.’ I think the line, ‘Now I’m getting older still my memory holds on to you’ is something everyone can relate to, regardless of what memory it is that the person is holding on to. … It reminds me of the memories I shared with some of my favorite people when I was a kid, and even as I grow older I still remember them as if it were just yesterday.”
In reading the emotions pouring from fans on Facebook, the reader gets the sense of turning pages of secret diaries – reading of love, happiness and sadness so personal and meaningful to their lives that it delves to the depth of their souls. And it is White’s music that reunites these fans with the most poignant times of their lives. Whether happiness or sadness, they live their emotions once again.
Brooke said that while the American Idol experience was one of the most monumental of her life, it was when the Idol tour ended that she began to really pressure herself to make a second album. “I was really motivated by myself,” she explained. “The first thing, I got back to songwriting. After the show and the tour, you’re kind of depleted. But you’re also so full with so many things to write about. (The album) was pretty much finished by the end of April. It went really fast, but it was really rewarding and super fun.”
But she admits that it was a stroke of luck that she met Jackson in that guitar store – setting her career back into full emotion.
Recalling her American Idol days, White expressed that she has had a lot of luck, that “American Idol is a household name. I’m really glad to be associated with it. Of course, I want to expand on that. At the end of the day, that’s the opportunity that launched my career. But it’s not solely who I am as a person and an artist.”
And the most recent American Idol Top Ten are all rooting for White.
Idol finalist Adam Lambert, a White fan, said that he appreciates the pure and simple quality of her music. “She’s a singer-songwriter in the vein of Carole King,” he said. And eighth place finisher Scott MacIntyre, a singer-pianist himself, explained that what he likes is her distinctive style of singing and playing. When White premiered one of a song from her album, “”Hold Up My Heart” on American Idol, MacIntyre felt that she really “re-established herself, and the reception was great.”
White admits that having a new album gives her “a billion butterfilies.” But she also feels that “there’s a great deal of excitement, along with (the) nervousness.”
With Jackson’s guiding hand, it is unlikely that anyone will be surprised to see White emerging as one of the most exciting and successful of American Idol alum!
White and Michael John’s tour dates: August 2009 16 - Pomona, CA - Glass House 17- Sacramento, CA - Boardwalk 19 - Reno, NV - Club Underground 21 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre 22 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey 23 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory 24 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Avalon Theater 27 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater 29 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck 30 - Des Moines, IA - People's Court
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If Simon Cowell actually inks the $144 million deal reportedly in discussions, he will become the the highest star in television history. Fans have been waiting anxiously to know whether the popular judge will return to American Idol for more than simply this next season, but it appears that the answer hinges on money.
While Cowell probably has no bionic limbs, as did The Six Million Dollar Man of the 1970's hit television show, with a $144 million dollar contract he would probably have more power than that tv hero and most likely could well afford a mechanical arm or leg or two if he so desired!
"If the deal with the American network Fox goes ahead," reports telegraph.co.uk, "Cowell, 49, will quadruple his current 25 million pound annual pay, netting him 2.2 million for every hour he appears onscreen."
Cowell's negotiations are being conducted by Cowell's new business partner, Topshop mogul Sir Philip Green, according to the Daily Mirror.
But Cowell, according to the Insider, is implying that no such price-hefty contract is in the works. He was quoted as responding, "I wish! Come off it."
However, a Fox insider reportedly revealed, "The word went out from on high to pay Simon what he needs. Without him the show would be a shadow of itself and without American Idol, we're in the dumper. We're confident of getting our man."
Last month it was announced that Cowell and Sir Philip expect to start an international entertainment company. While the pair are reportedly old friends, this would be their first joint business venture. With bases in both London and Los Angeles, the company would be involved in such show business areas as television production and new formats for programs, talent management and merchandising, according to telegraph.co.uk. Cowell would likely be at the helm of presenting and producing shows, and Green would oversee finances, strategy and merchandising.
Meanwhile, the entertainment world also awaits word of contract negotiations being conducted by American Idol's other judges, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.
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It is official! Ryan Seacrest just masterfully inked a $45 million deal that is believed to make him the absolute richest realty show host in history!
This comes just one day after American Idol Frenzy authored an exclusive article highlighting Seacrest’s rise to fame not just in front of reality show cameras, but as one of the most successful masters on the business side of reality television.
Seacrest’s new contract – which more than triples his previous almost $5 million contract -- will keep him as host of “American Idol” for another three years. And it provides for the opportunity for Seacrest and his Ryan Seacrest Productions to take on addition projects with “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller.
Already Seacrest anchors E! Entertainment News, as well as hosting a syndicated radio talk show and the radio countdown show “American Top 40.”
CKX, the parent company of American Idol producer 19 Entertainment, will have exclusive primetime rights to Seacrest for not only American Idol, but also for any other show that might succeed it, according to industry sources.
Meanwhile, word has still not come of breakthroughs in contract negotiations with American Idols’ judges – so that is likely next on the CKX agenda. But Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all say that they want to return for the next season, and Simon Cowell, regardless of the outcome of his contract negotiations, will return for one more year under his current contract. The British media have reported that Cowell, whose current deal has been estimated at $36 million a year, wants $100 million a year under a new contract, according to Reuters.com.
While ratings have slipped for American Idol, it still remains the highest-rated series on television. Currently auditions for the show are being held around the country, and the show’s last season contestants are in the midst of a summer tour.
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American Idol host Ryan Seacrest may soon have a whole lot to sing about! If a deal reportedly in the works becomes finalized, the popular host will become one of the highest paid front men on any television reality show!
Seacrest’s current contract with Fox, which expires at the end of the 2010 season, already gives the handsome and popular host almost $5 million a season for his work on American Idol. This amounts to something in the neighborhood of $100,000 per episode.
And reportedly the new deal being discussed is a three-year extension on the American Idol television show with a “major pay raise,” according to industry sources. In addition, the new contract may allow him to develop new projects with American Idol creator Simon Fuller and with 19 Entertainment.
Besides his hosting on American Idol, E! News and on his radio shows, Seacrest has produced unscripted series including “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” “Denise Richards, It’s Complicated” and a new program featuring British chef Jamie Oliver.
All four of the American Idol judges have reportedly been in contract negotiations – with Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuari saying that they want to return for the next season. But it is unclear where Simon Cowell stands because it has also been reported that he might leave the show when his contract is up after next season.
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