In today’s Roundup, find out what each judge thinks they will bring to the show in terms of their judging style. Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks and Adam Lambert will be appearing on VH1 Divas this weekend. Phillip Phillips is featured in a parody video for The Soup. And read on to see where the current winner ranks on the Billboard 200 chart this week.
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Nicki, Mariah and Keith on Their Judging Styles
American Idol has been filming Hollywood Week for season 12 over the past several days. Fortunately, the judges were able to take some time away to talk with reporters about how the season is progressing. And when talking to TV Guide, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban described what they’re like as judges. Nicki says that she’s “kooky. Never a dull moment with my judging style. That’s for sure. I try to never plan what I’m going to say or how I’m going to feel. I just try to stay in the moment and allow some craziness to come … We can’t really sit there and be stiff and say the same things.” This sounds in line with what everyone’s expecting from her. And it’s what I’m looking forward to most — as long as she doesn’t turn into a Steven Tyler-like judge.
I’ve said before that Mariah is probably going to be like a nurturing mother to the contestants. And she says as much, but instead thinks of herself as a fairy godmother. “I try to speak as frank as possible, as kindly as possible — not like sugar-coating the whole thing because that does nobody any good. And I think it would be boring for people to watch. But I feel like my experience as a recording artist and a producer and a writer has helped me get to a point where I can sit there and say, ‘I’m not sure if you hit this part correctly’…” Some have worried that she’ll be like the other big diva stars on these singing competition shows past and present who don’t offer a whole lot of critique or substantive comments, so I hope what she says here comes across on TV come January.
When it comes to season 12, most of the focus has been on Mariah and Nicki. But what about Keith? He says, “I try to not absolutely destroy somebody in front of millions of people, but at the same time, if someone’s not really on, and everyone at home knows it, that’s the difficult part too. … And for me, if any of the emotions are present — the joy, the vulnerability, the insecurity, the uncertainty, the anger, whatever it is — if I can feel that in them, I’m interested. Even if they’re a little bit out of tune.” Let’s hope he doesn’t disregard pitch entirely, because that’s still an extremely important element of what makes a strong performance.
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The Soup Parody with Phillip Phillips
The Soup, hosted by Joel McHale, never shies away from making fun of reality TV, or pretty much anything on TV, for that matter. But it’s always great when stars can poke fun at themselves and not take things too seriously. A bonus video from The Soup has been released online featuring Phillip Phillips in a parody commercial in which he joins a Phillip Phillips super group called Wilson Phillip Phillips. They just keep performing different versions of “Hold On.”
Make sure to stick around to read the text on the screen for how to order the album: “Not available in stores or in real life. Allow 3 to 4 years delivery.”
Upcoming TV Appearances
Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks & Adam Lambert
VH1 Divas (Sunday, 9pm, VH1)
Kelly Clarkson
The Voice Finale (Tuesday, 8pm, NBC)
The Top Idol Album Sales
Speaking of the current winner, Phillip Phillips’ debut album is still holding pretty strong on the charts, only dropping four spots while still sticking around in the Top 10. This is good news that it’s not dropping fast and furious, and no doubt the continued success of “Home” is helping. According to USA Today, there are four Idols (all winners) on the Billboard 200:
Phillip Phillips’ The World from the Side of the Moon at #9, Selling 65,000 units (Total Sales: 309,000)
Scotty McCreery’s Christmas with Scotty McCreery at #15, Selling 41,000 units (Total: 245,000)
Carrie Underwood‘s Blown Away at #24, Selling 31,000 units (Total: 1.067 million)
Kelly Clarkson’s Greatest Hits — Chapter One at #36, Selling 21,000 units (Total: 120,000)
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(Images courtesy of FOX and WENN)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
