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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > February > 07
Thursday, February 7, 2008
2/7: Simon disses Kat, Disney’s new Idol attraction, Ferras farewell song, ratings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry, Kat fans, Simon has clamped his claws on Katharine McPhee with Extra!.:
“I don’t think she was a credible recording artist. Katharine will end up on Broadway!”
Well, that’s true, isn’t it? We’ll see soon if she can act, too.
This comes from Associated Press. It sounds like a good idea. You gotta wonder why they didn’t think this up five years ago!
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced plans Thursday to create a live performance attraction based on “American Idol” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park - formerly called Disney-MGM Studios - in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
“Our goal is to try to recreate the excitement of those 24 people who show up on that ‘American Idol’ stage,” Disney Parks chairman Jay Rasulo told The Associated Press. “We believe many, many viewers want to know exactly how that feels, and we’re going to try to reproduce that feeling for them.”
Much like the hugely popular Fox singing competition, the as-yet-unnamed attraction - scheduled to open in late 2008 - will allow theme park guests to audition then perform before a live studio audience inside the Hollywood Studios’ theater space.
Top audience vote-getters will compete in a grand finale show at the end of each day. Overall daily champs will win a special front-of-the-line pass at a regional audition for the actual “American Idol” show. Hindle says Disney winners won’t be given any special treatment during the real audition, just the ability to skip ahead.
And the rejection song this year for “Idol” is from an unknown, sort of like Daniel Powter two years ago with “Bad Day.” The song is by Ferras and is called “Hollywood Not America.” You can sample here on his MySpace page. or listen here, courtesy of DJ Slim (congrats on the upcoming baby!):
The press release says: “The song ‘Hollywood’s Not America’ is a bittersweet anthem that will serve to remind the young and talented Idol hopefuls that leaving Idol will not be the end of the road for them.”
You can see the video here at ew.com. Pronounce the guy’s name Ferras as fur-OSS.
The press release says it will air next week but I’m not sure if it will be used the rest of the season.
“Idol” ratings were down 16 percent Tuesday from a year ago with 27.9 viewers and only about 5% with 26 million Wednesday, based on preliminary numbers because there was a big dropoff a year ago for the eighth audition episode.
Randy Jackson told EW that he wants to produce Paula Abdul’s next full-length CD.. Paula also told TV Guide recently she was interested in doing “Dancing With the Stars” in the fall.
Tivo alert: Sanjaya is hosting a “Where are they now” Idols special Feb. 24 at 8 p.m on the TV Guide channel. More details here.
