AMERICAN IDOL

Alabama's central source for American Idol contestants with local connections

The "American Idols Live" tour, with the TV show's top 10 finalists, will come to Birmingham July 12 at the BJCC Arena. Dates were announced this week on the show's official Web site (www.americanidol.com).

Tickets for the Birmingham concert go on sale at 10 a.m. May 19 through Ticketmaster. Prices haven't been confirmed, but Birmingham is one of about 50 stops on the cross-country trek. Performers will include Chris Sligh of Greenville, S.C., who auditioned here for the sixth season of the Fox reality series.

Now that he's gone from "American Idol," fans shouldn't expect to get their hands on Sanjaya Malakar anytime soon.

"I'm definitely ready to hire a bodyguard," the 17-year-old singer said. "I'm looking into that right now."

Anonymity isn't a possibility for the breakout star on the most popular reality series in the nation. Millions of people know Malakar's name -- even if they can't pronounce it -- and in just three months, he has evolved from billowy-haired wannabe to pop-culture phenom.

"It's crazy," said Malakar, who was voted off "Idol" on Wednesday. "I knew the show was big, but I had no idea how big. I had no idea a Seattle boy like me had so much impact."

The soft-voiced teen from Federal Way, Wash., (about 25 miles south of Seattle) made TV viewers cringe and grin this season with his limp performances and eye-catching hairdos.

Controversy erupted over Malakar's presence among the top 12 finalists, as he outlasted contestants with much stronger voices and endured severe tongue-lashings from the "Idol" judges, particularly Simon Cowell.

Somehow, Malakar hung on and made it to seventh place. He developed a large, defiant group of admirers in the process, was lampooned on "Saturday Night Live" and prompted some must-see television.

"I was just trying to get past each week," Malakar said Thursday during a teleconference with reporters. "I was going to stay as long as I possibly could."

It must have stung when Cowell rolled his eyes and labeled Malakar's vocals "absolutely horrendous" or when Randy Jackson called him "karaoke, dude." Even the supportive Paula Abdul shook her head at Malakar a time or two.

But the singer said he holds no grudges and bears no ill will to anyone, especially Cowell.

"I think Simon saw potential in me and he was kind of disappointed," Malakar said. "He's very opinionated, but I learned more from him than anyone else on the show."

Malakar said he expected to be booted from the "Idol" elite after the judges' negative reaction to his Tuesday cover of Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About."

"I was in the dumps all day on Wednesday," he said. "I kind of knew."

Malakar stopped short of admitting that he worked on his hairstyles as strenuously as his song choices. But the singer -- who appeared in Farrah Fawcett waves, a curly Afro, a slicked-back 'do and a wild "ponyhawk" -- said he realized the ever-changing coifs had become his trademark.

"The ideas were mainly mine," Malakar said, adding that he usually relied on a "hair person to execute it."

No word yet on endorsement offers from Clairol or Bed Head, but Malakar says he's going to keep his career classy, with an eye to singing, modeling and acting.

"I'm not going to do something just for the money," he said.

Malakar also nixed the notion that unscrupulous folks in the entertainment business might exploit him, a la William Hung.

"I have a lot of support," he said. "My mother is an amazingly smart woman. My main thing is that I choose the right things for me. If I do that, money will come."

WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK: Eight contestants tackled the intricate rhythms of Latin music, with help from Jennifer Lopez. Her style as a tutor was down-to-earth and friendly, just "Jenny from the block." Nevertheless, this was a tough assignment for the "Idol" singers, most of whom struggled to get in the groove and stay there. Results ranged from silky (Blake Lewis' "I Need to Know") to shrill (Chris Richardson's "Smooth").

HIGHLIGHT: Definitely the "American Idol" band, led by Rickey Minor. This crack ensemble seems to handle any genre with ease. It was a pleasure to hear them perform this week -- all slippery guitars and throbbing percussion -- and a welcome distraction when the lead vocals were lacking.

LOWLIGHT: The embarrassing group performance of Enrique Iglesias' "Bailamos." No heat, no passion -- not even cheesy fun.

WHO'S GONE: Haley Scarnato, 24, of San Antonio. Over the past few weeks, she evolved from a saccharine balladeer into a hot-pants hoochie mama. Flaunting her physical assets kept Scarnato in the running for a while, but viewers apparently lost their taste for eye candy. A silly cover of "Turn the Beat Around" sealed her fate.

FYI: More than 35 million votes were cast this week, according to series host Ryan Seacrest.

QUOTABLE: "That was really karaoke for me tonight. I could have been anywhere, in any bar." -- Randy Jackson, giving a thumb's down to Haley Scarnato's "Turn the Beat Around."

WHAT'S NEXT: The top seven singers perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Fox 6.

Taylor Hicks, who recently concluded a Broadway run in "Grease!," will star in a national tour of the musical, his publicist announced today.

Hicks, 31, a Hoover native, will take on the same role -- the rocking Teen Angel -- when the tour begins Dec. 2.

Although the schedule for "Grease!" doesn't include Birmingham or the Southeast, stops in 14 cities are planned through May 30. They include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Chicago.

Hicks made his Broadway debut this summer at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and had a successful three-month stint. Fans applauded his small but showy part, singing the number "Beauty School Dropout." Hicks also was highlighted at the end of the show, singing and playing the harmonica in a "megamix" segment with the cast.

The gray-haired soul singer, a former nightclub performer, struggled here for years before earning fame on "American Idol."

Hicks won the title on the Fox reality show in 2006, and earned the devotion of fans who call themselves the Soul Patrol. He has since released a major-label CD, and re-released some of his independent material.

Soul Patrol takes NYC: Hoover native Taylor Hicks, who's been performing on Broadway in "Grease!," will bid farewell to the musical on Sunday after a three-month run. His performances as Teen Angel have drawn fans to the show in droves, according to a report in the New York Post.

"An insider says Hicks is worth at least $150,000 in extra ticket sales a week," columnist Mike Riedel has said. "Whenever Hicks whips out his harmonica, the audience goes nuts. They're having such a blast that the 'Grease' megamix at the end of the show -- this is where the critics ran screaming from the theater -- now runs 10 minutes, with Hicks singing the title song and then playing it on his harmonica."

That's no surprise to the Soul Patrol, a group of enthusiasts who discovered the gray-haired soul singer on "American Idol." They've followed Hicks' career, and cheered his accomplishments, ever since he won the crown in 2006.

Meantime, producers for "Grease!" must be hoping to extend the "Idol" worship. They've hired singer Ace Young, another veteran of the reality series, for the role of Kenickie. He joins the cast on Tuesday.

Continue reading "Taylor Hicks and his harmonica have made 'Grease!' groovy" »

8 p.m. today, Alabama Adventure, 4599 Alabama Adventure Parkway, Bessemer, $15.99-$31.99 park admission, 481-4750 or www.alabamaadventure.com. With Heidi Newfield.

Phil Stacey is one of those rare beings who gets creative when he's tired.

Although the rest of us yawn and moan from sleep deprivation, Stacey's brain begins to hum in a highly productive way -- or so he says during a recent phone interview.

"For some reason, I think better," he says.

That's how he came up with "Old Glory," a patriotic tune that was released to radio stations on July 4.

"I wrote it a few years ago, when I was at a naval station in Jacksonville, Fla.," Stacey says. "It was 1 a.m., and I saw a frigate, which is a big ship, that had an American flag on it."

Inspiration hit Stacey -- then a member of the U.S. Navy and lead singer in the Navy Band Southeast -- and a five-minute song emerged.

This year, it was rearranged, tweaked and trimmed by the country-pop singer and his label, Lyric Street Records, just in time for the holiday.

Continue reading "LETTING FREEDOM RING: Phil Stacey's proud to sing about the red, white and blue" »

"MJ" is the most comprehensive and popular American Idol blogger on the face of the earth (visit mjsbigblog.com). With the Top 50 from last season eligible to try out again, MJ expects "at least a few of them to make Season 8's Top 24." More importantly, she wants "to see Cardin McKinney try again and make it this time."

Continue reading "MJ Votes for Cardin" »

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Continue reading "Cardin's No. 1 Already!" »