By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com , originally filed Monday, November, 23, 2015
Jordin Sparks, eight years removed from winning season six of "American Idol," came to Atlanta for a chilly Macy's Tree Lighting Sunday night at Lenox Square Mall to sing a few Christmas ditties.
She was also given the honors to croon "O Holy Night," the traditional tune that led into the actually lighting of the Macy's tree on top of the store. You can watch her performance here:
Here she is performing "O Holy Night" as the tree is lit:
I also caught up with Sparks for a few minutes after the fireworks. She loves Christmas and also attended the recent tree lighting in Chicago as well. She would love to do her own Christmas album one day.
Plus, she is truly a lover of "Idol" and will certainly be back next year during the final season.
Although the tree lighting was moved four days earlier from its traditional Thanksgiving Day spot to accommodate earlier store opening hours, a publicist for Macy's said the crowd was bigger than it had been the past couple of years. I had only been to this event once before in 2006 to interview season 3 finalist George Huff, who was joined that day by LeAnn Rimes and Third Day. I have no perspective on the crowd size but there was plenty of space for everybody.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
"Idol" went through the 15th and final Hollywood rounds last week. They will also do a spotlight performance concert like they did last year at House of Blues, according to MJ's Big Blog, sometime next month. Since the House of Blues was torn down, they will have to do it at a new venue.
Spotlights were a great way last year for the judges to ascertain talent's ability to perform in a live setting. It went well, they are bringing it back.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Carrie Underwood won favorite country female artist at the American Music Awards last night.
She's been nominated eight times for this honor and this is the third time she has taken home this particular AMA. She has won nine total AMAs.
She also performed "Heartbeat," her next single.
Her current single "Smoke Break" briefly hit the topped the airplay chart on Mediabase 24/7 and is at No. 2 right now. It's also No. 3 on the Billboard country airplay chart.
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Ryan Seacrest expects Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson to return at some point for the final "Idol" season but I think it will be a very modest role at best.
And this final season is happening amid a legal tangle between "American Idol" management and Phillip Phillips. (Boring details here.) Hopefully, they get this resolved in time for the 15th season.
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Kelly Clarkson's latest single is "Piece by Piece." It's an emotional song about her father who abandoned her and how her husband has been able to fill that void for her. Her daughter River Rose shows up at the end of the video:
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