American Idol Past Contestants: What Are They Up To Now?

[Gemma Violet]

Clay Aiken has become somewhat of a semi-regular on The View.  Tomorrow, he will have his third field segment.  He goes out in the field with a camera crew on a certain topic, then sits at the table for a discussion on what he's found.  His assignment for tomorrow was visiting a Trump rally and interviewing the supporters there.  

[After7Only]

La'Porsha has dropped a new single.  Good song for her voice.  

[Silver Raven]

Blake Lewis sings "Mr. Brightside" with Postmodern Jukebox

 

[Silver Raven]

Jax with Postmodern Jukebox.  Although this isn't anything like Janis Joplin.

 

[Silver Raven]

JHud on "Hairspray Live!"  Loved this.

 

[SunFun]

-The Postmodern Jukebox vids are fun to watch. (Off topic, I want those wood floors)

-Not a fan of Hairspray, but JHud was good. I admire her for building a career on her diverse talent and not hype.

-Justin Guarini's latest project is a challenging original first ever ALL a cappella B'Way musical. He plays a NYC gay getting married. Makes me like him even more.

Official site for show. Lots of pictures and vids. http://www.intransitbroadway.com/

Cast photo:

Edited December 9, 2016 by SunFun
spacing

[TheGreenKnight]

I thought Hairspray Live! was a decent turn and Jennifer Hudson was the absolute star of the show, as I knew she would be.

In other news, a former pre-finals contestant from season 6 just won The Voice last night. Gotta say, I'm glad Idol gave the world the wonderful Jordin Sparks and left Sundance for The Voice...

[SunFun]

Kelly Clarkson performed on The Voice finale.

I think Rueben and Clay are on The View this week to sing a Christmas song.

AIers are everywhere.

[Silver Raven]

Kelly is on the Pentatonix Christmas special tonight.

[Silver Raven]

Bo Bice is demanding an apology from Popeye's chicken (originally he threatened a lawsuit) after an employee called him "white boy".

http://toofab.com/2017/01/04/american-idols-bo-bice-fires-back-after-backlash-over-popeyes-white-boy-incident/

[holly4755]

ha, there sounds like there was a lot more to it, for some reason he made fun of his name. Did Bo pull a do you know who I am or was the clerk just very rude? As to this being a "racial " thing - don't think I would classify it as that more of I think you have a funny name thing.  Normally people don't play with you like that unless there was something that made it happen, 

I think Bo is looking for headlines, didn't know he was like that.  he got an apology, was it not loud enough? Do they have to say it was racially motivated and fire the minimum wage clerk? Or is he looking for cash?  

 

So in reading further 

'I am tired of racist double standards': American Idol runner-up Bo Bice gets Popeyes worker suspended for calling him 'white boy' and then cries as he claims to be a victim 'racial prejudice'
 

PS Bo did not delete facebook - he needs it for his following fans, sheesh, don't make threats you won't keep. 

Quote

Bo Bice was called 'white boy' at a Popeyes while travelling through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia last week 

The American Idol finalist, who finished behind Carrie Underwood in the show's fourth season, took a photo of the worker and posted it on his social media 

The 41-year-old father of four labeled the young woman a 'racist' and said he was discriminated against, demanding an apology from Popeyes 

Facebook later deleted the post for violating their bullying policy, which led to Bice saying: 'I'll be deleting this communist media platform from my devices' 

The worker was suspended because of her actions, while Bice appeared in an interview breaking down in tears while speaking about racist double standards

He closed out his tearful rant about the need for a racial dialogue by pointing at the camera and saying: ''America, you should be ashamed' 

Shortly after the incident, Bice retweeted a video that claimed to show the hypocrisy of the Black Live Matter movement

Edited January 4, 2017 by holly4755

[Ohwell]

Did he get the chicken?

[27bored]

That's funny.

So I finally heard "There's A Girl" by Trent Harmon the other day and I have to say I kinda like it. It's a sweet, charming little song with Trent maybe trying a little too hard to hit his marks. He sings it well, but there's not a lot of charisma or joy coming through that you might've seen in several of his performances on AI.

They said Trent's album is going to be like a Justin Timberlake Country album. On paper that sounds derivative and corny, but there is a certain genius to that plan as well. Trent is similar to JT in several ways. Trent plays up the well-mannered aw-shucks Southern boy thing, but I think there's something savvy and calculating about beneath that intense stare. Similar to JT. I think Trent is probably a Mama's Boy of the first order, so he knows how to charm the pants off women, especially older women. Like JT. Artistically, Trent seems to have a footing in soul music, but he always sounds the most convincing on straight-ahead pop songs that let his voice bloom over the track. Like JT.  On record, Trent even sounds kind of like JT.

I think if The Borch and everybody else at Big Machine puts money and time into Trent's album, he'll probably be the biggest act since Scotty. Though Trent isn't a Country singer in the strictest sense, he knows how to add some twang to his voice. Country music is full of hit-or-miss guitar-strumming bros who know how to croon, but Trent brings a certain "singerliness" (made-up word) to Country that puts me in the mind of Gary LeVox (lead singer of Rascal Flatts). I don't think Trent can be or wants to be sexy, but I hope they don't make him CCM levels of safe either. I don't need 12 N Sync-Gone-Country tunes, but hopefully there's some weight to the material. Then again, "There's A Girl" does say "why does any man do anything in the whole damn world", so maybe he is gonna make a "grown up" record.

[BogoGog24]

He had no qualms about recording lines like "I go down on my knees, I'm here to please" in Falling, so I don't think Trent is going to play it too safe. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by BogoGog24

[twilightzone]

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 5:02 PM, 27bored said:

They said Trent's album is going to be like a Justin Timberlake Country album. On paper that sounds derivative and corny,

I think if The Borch and everybody else at Big Machine puts money and time into Trent's album, he'll probably be the biggest act since Scotty.

It's the kiss of death whenever comparisons like JT or Chris Stapleton are name dropped.

Borchetta put time and money into Nick Fradiani's debut.  Result:  It only sold 5k - the poorest selling CD of any winner.  And there were huge disconnects between the charting of his singles - and sales.  And Borchetta initially tried to say his sound was going to be the next Adam Levine.

[Ohwell]

That's too bad.  I liked Nick.  Hopefully, he's playing some gigs somewhere and at least making a living.

[Silver Raven]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

That's too bad.  I liked Nick.  Hopefully, he's playing some gigs somewhere and at least making a living.

He's been making appearances here in Northern California.

[Ohwell]

5 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

He's been making appearances here in Northern California.

That's great.  I'd love to see him if he ever comes to the DC area.

[Ohwell]

Just saw Justin Guarini, aka L'il Sweet, in a new ad for Diet Dr. Pepper.  He's a cowboy now!

[Silver Raven]

Jennifer Hudson singing "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" in the animated film Sing.

I've had this song stuck in my head since I saw the film.

 

[27bored]

I don't know. Nick's lack of success is definitely concerning, but they waited until a few months after the season after he won to release his album. And he partially financed the album on PledgeMusic (right...I'm not imagining that, right?). They should've had a team of writers working on songs while Nick was on tour, so that he could record his album and have it out around the time the last season was ramping up. It seems like that's how they would do it back in the day. Nick's marketable, and marketing him as an Adam Levine-styled crooner without the voice of a muppet...could've been good.

Here's an epiphany: maybe the music industry doesn't make a lot of money anymore because they don't invest in shit.

 

Quote

It's the kiss of death whenever comparisons like JT or Chris Stapleton are name dropped.

Borchetta put time and money into Nick Fradiani's debut.  Result:  It only sold 5k - the poorest selling CD of any winner.  And there were huge disconnects between the charting of his singles - and sales.  And Borchetta initially tried to say his sound was going to be the next Adam Levine.

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by 27bored

[twilightzone]

Update on Nick Fradiani.  He is no longer listed on the BMLG artist roster.  Labels generally "clean house" at the beginning of the year and it's pretty safe to assume he has been dropped.

[holly4755]

no, technology has changed, kids don't buy music, they stream it. You have to change the access,perhaps the companies need better fee polices on streaming. The reason country is still big is because those people buy. 

as to the schedule. Yes, Kelly's album was released when Idol was running, but Justin's was held until it was over - big mistake. The singles came out at the show end, and then the albums came out in the fall for years, then it got moved back.

[Gemma Violet]

Clay will be on The View Wednesday Monday to discuss a segment he filmed last week for the show.  This is his fourth assignment since he's been doing field segments for them.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Gemma Violet

[Silver Raven]

Nick's official website doesn't have anything about upcoming shows or tours.

[MarkHB]

His Twitter did say that he has a new management / booking agent, though. 

[rereader2]

On 1/10/2017 at 0:01 AM, holly4755 said:

no, technology has changed, kids don't buy music, they stream it. You have to change the access,perhaps the companies need better fee polices on streaming. The reason country is still big is because those people buy. 

 

This is very true. Ed Sheehan did a long Charlie Rose segment a couple years back, and he talked about how important it is to be a nice person to be successful, and one reason he gave was that if you're nice, maybe people will think it's worth supporting you by buying your music.

Edited January 11, 2017 by rereader2

[Silver Raven]

JHud is a judge/mentor on The Voice UK.

[Silver Raven]

Joey Cook with Postmodern Jukebox

 

[Silver Raven]

Casey Abrams and Postmodern Jukebox ... tackle ... "What Is Love"

[Silver Raven]

nm

Edited February 10, 2017 by Silver Raven

[rereader2]

Castro (Jason Castro and his siblings) released a new acoustic video today:

Edited February 15, 2017 by rereader2

[Twilight Man]

James " Give Metal a Chance " Durban is the new lead singer for Quiet Riot.

[27bored]

Question: why hasn't Trent's album come out yet? Geez. This is the reason why nobody makes money in music and albums don't sale. AI ended a year ago and they still haven't released Trent's album. They didn't even have to schedule around a tour or additional press like they have in the past. And now, apparently, Borchetta has a new talent discovery show coming out. The fuck? Why don't you manage the talent you have? The music industry is so fucked and this is why.

The fact that they waited so long to release Nick's album is why he didn't sale any more copies. I can see why more and more artists are saying fuck it and staying independent. Fucking with labels is a surefire way to remain in obscurity.

On a slightly more positive note, I listened to Jessica Sanchez's album "You, Me, and the Music". Wow, that's a slept-on, mainstream pop record. She has a great voice, and on record she sounds somewhere between Beyonce and Rihanna. Maybe a younger, less affected version than the former, but with more chops than the latter. I hope she gets to make a second pop record. I think she could be a star.

[Ohwell]

Yeah I was really sorry about what happened to Nick, because I liked him and was looking forward to hearing his songs. 

[holly4755]

Trenyce (5th place season 2) sang the last song on Dancing with Stars tonight. For the last 5 or 6 years I heard she has been appearing on the West side in London in various plays. 

[TheGreenKnight]

La'Porsha's album came out recently and I think it's a decent album. "Somebody Does" is my favorite on the album.

21 hours ago, holly4755 said:

Trenyce (5th place season 2) sang the last song on Dancing with Stars tonight. For the last 5 or 6 years I heard she has been appearing on the West side in London in various plays. 

What did she sing? I was in the next room, but I remember someone singing "I Will Always Love You" that sounded much better than you usually hear on DWtS.

[thefog]

Borchetta screwed Trent big time by forcing him to go Country (because he was born in the South).  Trent really should have been marketed as a blue eye soul, pop singer.  Of course, with the end of Idol - Borchi has long moved on.  Unfortunately, the next big thing we will hear about Trent is that he has parted ways (dropped) from his label.

If Scotty is forced to go indie, I can't see how someone who is faux Country like Trent, has any real chance with Country radio, audiences.

Edited May 3, 2017 by escape

[holly4755]

19 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

 

What did she sing? I was in the next room, but I remember someone singing "I Will Always Love You" that sounded much better than you usually hear on DWtS.

that was her. 

[Silver Raven]

There are rumors that Kelly Clarkson is the producers' first choice for judge on the AI reboot.

[atomic]

Not happening -- Kelly was just announced as a judge for The Voice next spring.

[TheGreenKnight]

Really?! I'm so glad Kelly finally got onto The Voice. I've been wanting that to happen forever now. I hope she's on with either Miley or Christina. Gwen and Alicia are so dull on that show. I haven't watched any of the current season because it's the two of them (and let's be honest, the coaches are the only reason to watch that show).

EDIT: Apparently JHUD will also be a judge on the show! I'm big fans of both, so I'm happy for them.

Edited May 11, 2017 by TheGreenKnight

[Wings]

On 5/11/2017 at 3:30 PM, TheGreenKnight said:

Really?! I'm so glad Kelly finally got onto The Voice. I've been wanting that to happen forever now. I hope she's on with either Miley or Christina. Gwen and Alicia are so dull on that show. I haven't watched any of the current season because it's the two of them (and let's be honest, the coaches are the only reason to watch that show).

EDIT: Apparently JHUD will also be a judge on the show! I'm big fans of both, so I'm happy for them.

It hasn't been decided who the other female will be with Kelly.  Hudson and Miley will be on next season, Kelly the season after that.   I don't ever want to see Gwen or Alicia again!  Terrible season.   I have barely watched this, as well.  It is all about the judges because the singers are not a big part of this, oddly.  And they never make a splash.  

I wish they would trim the format.  It goes on way too long.

[Ohwell]

Just saw Justin Guarini, aka Li'l Sweet, in a new Diet Dr. Pepper ad, this time in a swimming pool.  I'm really happy for him that he's doing so well with the commercial gigs.  

Edited May 19, 2017 by Ohwell
Dr. pepper, not Pepsi

[holly4755]

commercials are the money that allow you to do other things. more power to them. 

[Jextella]

Justin is great in those ads.

[SunFun]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 7:35 PM, Ohwell said:

Just saw Justin Guarini, aka Li'l Sweet, in a new Diet Pepsi ad, this time in a swimming pool.  I'm really happy for him that he's doing so well with the commercial gigs.  

Diet Dr. Pepper. not Pepsi.  Also, news has him now cast in 'Unsinkable Molly Brown'. He's quietly doing great.

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:46 AM, Jextella said:

Justin is great in those ads.

Agree. The swan ride at the end was good for another laugh.

[Ohwell]

7 minutes ago, SunFun said:

Diet Dr. Pepper. not Pepsi.

Oops, yes, I meant Diet Dr. Pepper.

[Ohwell]

Yesterday I was in the Off Broadway shoe store and, lo and behold, Justin's song "Sorry" came on.  I have his CD but I hadn't played it in years.  Another song by another artist came on afterwards, so I guess it's part of some compilation CD.  I was just surprised to hear it.

Afterwards I went to a Home Goods store and they were playing Daughtry's "Home" song.  Of course, that wasn't much of a surprise because that song was popular.

So that was my AI nostalgia for the day.   

[SunFun]

Season One representing tonight on TV. Kelly Clarkson is on Celebrity Family Feud. Justin Guarini is at The Tonys. All I know is he's been in rehearsals for whatever he's doing. Both still going after all these years.

Also, Kelly has her Nashville estate up for sale.  You can have it for just under a whopping $9 million. 

http://variety.com/2017/dirt/real-estalker/kelly-clarkson-tennessee-mansion-hendersonville-1202007833/