Alicia Keys reportedly with child

1:13 AM / Posted by yusrizal / comments (0)


Keys performs during half time at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas, Texas Feb 14, 2010. — Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, May 28 — R&B singer/songwriter Alicia Keys is expecting her first baby and plans to marry her long-time boyfriend later this year, according to a rush of tabloid reports late yesterday.

The 29-year-old multiple Grammy winner is currently on tour in Europe, and is scheduled to perform at the football World Cup in South Africa next month. Her baby’s due date was not known, and a record-label spokeswoman did not immediately reply to an email seeking more information.

Keys is engaged to 31-year producer/rapper Swiss Beatz, aka Kasseem Dean, who already has a son from his first marriage. The reports said they would tie the knot during a private ceremony.

Her latest album, “The Element of Freedom,” peaked at No. 2 on the US pop chart in December, ending an unbroken string of four chart-toppers. Its first-week sales were 44 per cent lower than those for her previous release, 2007’s “As I Am.” — Reuters

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Cowell exit not the only challenge facing ‘Idol’

1:11 AM / Posted by yusrizal / comments (0)


Cowell (centre) was leaving the top-rated show to start his own. — Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, May 28 — The finale of “American Idol” drew its smallest audience since 2002 after a lacklustre season that saw America’s most-watched show lose its biggest star and posed challenges over how to recapture its sparkle.

An estimated 24.2 million viewers tuned in to the Fox network on Wednesday evening to watch Lee DeWyze beat Crystal Bowersox, and to bid farewell to British judge Simon Cowell — an 18 per cent drop from last year, according to preliminary ratings figures on Thursday.

The nine-year-old TV singing contest was the No.1 US show of the night and has retained its top rating this season for the 7th consecutive year. But audiences were down nine per cent this season to an average 23.9 million, compared to a 2006 high of about 30.8 million.

Fox entertainment chairman Peter Rice told reporters earlier this month that there was “no bigger question this summer” for the network than the replacement of Cowell.

The acid-tongued British judge has quit to launch his own show on Fox in 2011, saying he was bored after nine years on “Idol.”

Cowell is not alone when it comes to “Idol” fatigue. Media watchers say Fox, a unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, and “Idol” producers need bigger fixes if the show is to recapture its buzz and retain its fans.

“If they are smart, they will look at this as a way to re-boot the show from top to bottom, starting with the auditions, which were once funny, to the weekly themes like Elvis and the Beatles, which are getting stale,” Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Slezak told Reuters.

The addition of talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as a judge earlier this year was widely seen as a disappointment.

“Ellen was really dull. After that casting disaster, the Simon replacement is a pretty important one,” said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.

DeGeneres signed a five-year contract with “Idol” and judges Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi have contracts that take them into 2011. But some “Idol” watchers think the entire panel should be thrown out.

“I would be really tempted to clean house on the panel and freshen the show up so much you would have to tune in because you know the dynamic would be so different,” said USA Today music writer Brian Mansfield.

“I think they will be in real trouble if they succumb to the temptation to bring in another celebrity judge,” he added.

Fox has already announced some tweaks to the 10th season, which starts airing in January 2011. The hour-long weekly results show will be cut by half, while contestants will get an extra 30 minutes in later stages of the contest to perform.

Aspiring singers can audition on MySpace for the first time in addition to try-outs before the judges in US cities nationwide this summer, Fox said on Wednesday.

“American Idol” creator Simon Fuller believes the format has life in it yet. “I think ‘American Idol’ will continue for a few more years for sure...It has had a fantastic run, so I am not complaining,” Fuller told Reuters earlier this month.

And Thompson said that although the show has a lot of problems to overcome, “’American Idol’ performing mediocre is better than most series at their best, which is why I think it is probably going to be around for a while. It just may not continue to be No.1 every week.” — Reuters

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Lee DeWyze wins ‘American Idol’ as Cowell departs

1:11 AM / Posted by yusrizal / comments (0)

DeWyze performs at the performance show in Los Angeles yesterday, May 25, 2010. — Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, May 27 — Former paint salesman Lee DeWyze was the surprise winner of “American Idol” yesterday, beating front-runner Crystal Bowersox on a night that saw all the talent show’s former champions reunite to bid farewell to Simon Cowell.

DeWyze, a 24-year-old Chicago native, won the coveted title and a recording contract after a nationwide phone and text vote based on the contestants’ performances the night before.

“Idol” judges had all but anointed Bowersox the winner after her three songs on Tuesday outclassed a nervous DeWyze. But Americans made up their own minds and chose DeWyze.

“I have never been happier in my life,” said a stunned DeWyze, choking back tears after the result was announced at the climax of a two-hour finale that featured performances by Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson and Joe Cocker.

Initially shy, he blossomed in later rounds of the show, and emerged as a serious threat to Bowersox after a rousing version of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah” last week.

His cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day” is expected to be released later this week. His debut album, on a Sony Music Entertainment record label, will likely follow in the fall.

Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees and Alanis Morissette were also among the guest performers yesterday, while Poison rocker and “Celebrity Apprentice” winner Bret Michaels played his first live gig since suffering a brain haemorrhage in April and a mini-stroke last week.

DeWyze and the show’s high-wattage guests had to share the spotlight with both Cowell, whose departure was described by host Ryan Seacrest as “the end of an era”, and former “Idol” judge Paula Abdul.

Abdul, who quit last year after a contract-renewal dispute, got a standing ovation from the 7,000-strong audience at the Nokia Theatre when she appeared on stage to bid her old sparring partner a teary farewell.

“My darling Simon. I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years... but none of them holds a candle to you, my friend.

“I have loved all the fun we had together. ‘American Idol’ is not gonna be the same without you. But as only I can tell you, it will go on,” she said.

Every “Idol” winner since 2002 — from original champion Kelly Clarkson to 2009 winner Kris Allen — appeared on stage singing “Together We Are One” in tribute to Cowell’s part in making them stars.

Pulled on stage after a series of flashback video clips of his funniest moments and most insulting remarks, Cowell seemed genuinely moved.

“I didn’t think I was going to be this emotional,” he said. “I am going to honestly, honestly miss you”.

Cowell announced in January that he would be leaving “Idol” at the end of this season to launch a US version of his “The X-Factor” talent show on Fox in the fall of 2011. His replacement has not been announced.

“American Idol” remains America’s most popular TV show of the last seven years. But this year audiences have slipped by about 9 per cent to an average 23.9 million viewers per episode, compared to a 2006 high of about 30.8 million. — Reuters

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