August 18, 2011

American Idol Producer Responds To Adam Levine’s Idol Closet Claim

Earlier this week Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine (of late a judge on NBC’s The Voice) went off on American Idol for not allowing contestants to be openly gay on the show. It didn’t take long for someone at Idol—producer Nigel Lythgoe, talking to Entertainment Weekly about the Emmys—to fire back. “There’s no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what their sexuality is, who they’re going to vote for or what their religion is,” the producer told James Hibberd when asked about Levine’s comments.

Lythgoe’s plea for privacy rings true, but it doesn’t address the particulars of the situation. Specifically, his claim, “If somebody wants to say they’re gay, it’s up to them” contradicts what Idol contestant Adam Lambert has said. In his episode of Behind The Music, Lambert recalls reading Mark Harris‘s cover story (coincidentally, for Entertainment Weekly) and wondering in regards to its speculation on his sexuality, “Why does it matter? But I guess it does.” (In this he agrees with Lythgoe.) But he goes on to claim that he was contractually unable to respond except on Idol or in an Idol-sanctioned group interview. So to an extend it wasn’t really “up to him.” We hardly expect Lythgoe to respond to a question he was not asked, but his remarks nevertheless fail to adequately defend the show from Levine’s criticisms.

Idol Producer Talks Emmy Odds, X-Factor, Openly Gay Contestants [EW Inside TV]

[Image: Getty Images]

Tags: , Adam Lambert, Adam Levine, Maroon 5

July 15, 2011

New Sing-Off Judge Sara Bareilles Looks To Cee Lo As Her Reality Show Role Model

When NBC’s a capella singing competition The Sing-Off returns this fall, there will be some changes to the judging panel since the series last aired. With Nicole Scherzinger departing for a spot on Simon Cowell’s X-Factor panel, the Peacock Network made the wise decision that longtime VH1 fave Sara Bareilles was the perfect person to join Ben Folds and Boyz II Men‘s Shawn Stockman on the judging panel. Once we heard the news, we decided to give Sara a ring to congratulate her. We caught up with her by phone this afternoon while she was in Missoula, Montana, preparing for a sold-out show this evening. Sara spoke to us about whether her judging style on The Sing-Off will lean more towards Simon or Paula, her new “old soul/kind of Motown feeling” EP that she’s about to record with Ben Folds in the fall, and what director Jonah Hill brought to the next video she’s going to make for her single, “Gonna Get Over You.” (Hint: It may have a “kind of a ’50s greaser vibe.”)

VH1: When did you first hear that becoming a judge on The Sing-Off might be a possibility, and what was it about the project that appealed to you?

Sara Bareilles: I’ve been a fan of the show since the beginning, so it was really exciting to me to have the opportunity to even be considered as a potential judge. A couple of weeks ago, my manager came to me to gauge my interest in doing it. And I was like, “Oh my God, yes, of course.” Then I had a meeting with the executive producers, who are super sweet, and it felt like I was a really good fit for the show. Because I have a background in a capella, it just felt like a very organic, natural, worlds colliding kind of thing. It’s very exciting.

Did you ever harbor any desire to be on television in any capacity other than as a performer?

It didn’t really cross my mind until this show. This is the only way I would sort of consider it, because I can bring something to the show in terms of a level of expertise with a capella performing. I get a little nervous about being put in the position of having to judge people, but I know from experience that we can always improve in our craft. I really love getting constructive criticism from people I respect when it’s put in a good way. To me, it’s all about how you phrase things and how you deliver your opinions. It’s something that I’m going to have to feel out and test the waters a little bit, but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. The best part is that I still get to watch the show, but now I get to watch it closer.

If you were to describe your judging style, would you say you’re more of a Simon or a Paula?

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Tags: , , , , You Oughta Know, Jonah Hill, Boyz II Men, Cee-Lo, Sara Bareilles, Adam Levine, Paula Abdul, Maroon 5, Ben Folds

June 23, 2011

A Handy Guide To Which Of The Four Finalists On The Voice You Should Root For

From L to R: Javier Colon, Dia Frampton, Vicci Martinez and Beverly McClellan.


 
Thanks to a combination of high wattage star power and a weakened roster of American Idol candidates, NBC’s The Voice was able to capture the fancy of American television audiences this springtime and delivered huge viewership numbers to its network. Last night, the judges and audience voted to select the show’s four finalists. If you haven’t been watching (or even if you have!), we put together a quick primer for you on who the remaining candidates are and why you should root for them, which you can use to prepare for next week’s finale, airing on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

WHO: Javier Colon (Top Left)
COACH: Adam Levine
SOUNDS LIKE: Brian McKnight
WHY YOU SHOULD ROOT FOR HIM: Funny, the reason you should root for him is the same as why some are rooting against him. You see, Javier Colon released two albums —he was simply called Javier at that time— on Capitol Records in the mid-aughts. Some would argue that he never really got a fair shake from his label during those tumultuous years for the industry, while others would say that he’s already got his shot and doesn’t deserve another one.

WHO: Dia Frampton (Top Right)
COACH: Blake Shelton
SOUNDS LIKE: Vanessa Carlton
WHY YOU SHOULD ROOT FOR HER: Much like her competitor Javier Colon, Frampton has a major label background; along with her sister Meg, the two released the album Here, Here, and Here on Sire Records in 2009. They were later dropped by Warner Bros., Sire’s parent company, in July of 2010. Will America give her another chance to make it big?

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Tags: , , , , , , , Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera

June 14, 2011

Can The Preteen Adam Levine Lip-Sync Bobby Brown As Well As Blossom Can?

The only part of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that we caught last night was Ziggy Marley‘s “Forward to Love” performance, so thanks to Popdust for alerting us to an unmissable bit of Leno’s interview with Adam Levine of Maroon 5 (promoting The Voice, naturally). Apparently Los Angeles, where Levine grew up, was home to a Chuck E. Cheese-plus-lip syncing birthday party venue called Closet Stars, at which kids would get somewhat in costume and sing their favorite songs. Naturally, somebody dug up footage of a preteen Levine mouthing the words to “Don’t Be Cruel” while copping some of Bobby Brown‘s signature dance moves. (Levine starts talking about Closet Stars at 2:12; the performance kicks in at 3:24.)

Even at that age, Levine showcases a bit of the swagger that he would bring to Maroon 5 later in life. But for our money, the honor of Best Bobby Brown Lip-Sync Performance of All Time goes to Mayim Bialik as the title character on Blossom. The show-runners wanted “My Prerogative” to be the theme song to the show, which aired after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Monday nights. The rights, however, proved to be too expensive, so “My Opinionation” was hastily written, and Dr. John was hired to record it. Nevertheless, the title sequence remained as shot for the entire first season, so you can see what the show’s opening might have looked like if the rights had been secured:

Whose rendition do you prefer? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: , , , Adam Levine, Maroon 5, Bobby Brown

June 8, 2011

The Voice Judges Take On Queen’s Catalog, With Varying Success

 

 

To usher in the next stage of the Rube Goldberg competition structure on NBC’s The Voice, the show opened with another judge-quartet performance, this time a medley of three of Queen‘s biggest hits. For the myriad sing-alongs the band inspires, Queen is really tough to cover, and unfortunately, it shows a little in this performance.
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Tags: , , , Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo, Adam Levine, Queen, Christina Aguilera

April 27, 2011

The Voice Premiere Hits Big—But What about the Music?

Buoyed by an extended onslaught of promotion, the premiere of NBC’s new series The Voice scored big ratings, outranking stiff competition in its two genres: music (Glee) and reality (Dancing with the Stars). The show’s structure is overly complicated (the four judges each recruit a team of eight singers, then train their team for competition against the other judges’ teams), and a few suspense beats that would have worked on series creator Mark Burnett‘s biggest success, Survivor, fell flat, but overall, the show works. So, a quick rundown:

By way of introduction, The Voice‘s four artist/judges performed Gnarls Barkley‘s “Crazy,” with Adam Levine on drums, Blake Shelton on guitar, and Christina Aguilera joining Cee Lo Green on lead vocals. The quartet won’t be forming a super-group anytime soon, but their rendition was polished, and successfully communicated the artists’ willingness and ability to succeed in a variety of musical genres.

The contestants range from rank amateurs to near-professionals: After belting Faith Hill‘s “Breathe,” Tarralyn Ramsey tearfully ad-libbed a few bars of “What a Girl Wants” when she was selected by Aguilera, confessing that she sang along to all of Aguilera’s songs, “even the Spanish ones.” She didn’t mention that in 2003, she won VH1′s Born to Diva competition, performed on Divas Duets, and got a one-record deal with Universal—the same grand prize offered by The Voice.

Jeff Jenkins, on the other hand, isn’t even a webcam Youtuber like some of the amateur hopefuls, yet he impressed all four judges with his rendition of “Bless the Broken Road,” made famous by Rascal Flatts.

And so on. The “surprises” weren’t particularly exciting: a duo! Disqualified American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis! (Also a pretty decent cover of “Rolling in the Deep”!)

But the clear audience favorite was Javier Colon: his emotive guitar-and-vocal rendition of Cyndi Lauper‘s “Time After Time” is currently the 43rd best-selling song on iTunes, where all of the audition songs became available for purchase immediately after the premiere.

Tags: , , , , Born to Diva, Divas Duets 2003, Javier Colon, Frenchie Davis, Tarralyn Ramsey, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo, Rascal Flatts, Adam Levine, Faith Hill, Christina Aguilera

November 1, 2007

Blog Best-Of: Mary’s Mona Lisa

mary_links3.jpg- Mary J. Blige‘s Growing Pains album art surfaces. Why the long face, Mary? Show me that smile again… [SOULBOUNCE.com]

- And speaking of album covers, the one for Foxy Brown‘s Brooklyn’s Don Diva bites off famous images of Lil’ Kim and Pam Grier. Gee, Foxy, running out of iconic strong women to rip off? [Jezebel]

- Maroon 5 manwhore Adam Levine goes bare-chested for Halloween. For some, it’s “Slutoween”; for Adam Levine, it’s just another day the office. [Dlisted]

- I’ll take Britney butt over Britney beaver any day. [CityRag]

- Tyra Banks steps out in hazardously tight tights. The better to kiss her fat ass with. [CONCRETELOOP]