‘American Idol’ notes: celebrity judges auditions begin, Kelly Clarkson, Maddie Poppe, Adam Lambert

Originally posted Wednesday, October 10, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
The second phase of "American Idol" auditions began last week in Denver with the celebrity judges and Ryan Seacrest taping for season 17 - or season 2 on ABC, which is how ABC is defining it.
Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan are back. "Idol" has not identified the other cities yet though I know Atlanta won't be one of them.
“They’re fun,” Seacrest said, of his fellow mates, on his “Live with Kelly and Ryan” show.
Richie does a terrible version of “This... is American Idol!”
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Kelly Clarkson will cover "Never Enough" for a new "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack.
She is also going to voice a character Delta Dawn in the “Trolls” sequel and will sing an original song for the film.
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Season 16 winner Maddie Poppe released a peppy version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
She is in Los Angeles right now, presumably working on her new album and meeting some famous folks, like Kate Flannery of "The Office' fame:
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Jimmy Fallon duets with Carrie Underwood on "Islands in the Stream."
Carrie has a new ballad out “Love Wins,” which just entered the country top 40.
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Adam Lambert is lending his voice to the animated "Playmobil: The Movie." He will also offer up an original song. Others involved: Daniel Radcliffe, Jim Gaffiganand Meghan Trainor.
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A little wit from Katharine McPhee's Twitter feed. She has a tour this fall though she is not coming to Atlanta.
The mainstream media will NOT report on this since it’s not SMASH related. Sad!
— Kat McPhee (@katharinemcphee) October 3, 2018
but for real- get your tix: https://t.co/wphqVwR0ah #PresidentialAlert pic.twitter.com/Hw0qXqoYLq
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Clay Aiken Tweet of the week is purely inspirational:
https://t.co/eKcevlZzKg pic.twitter.com/pCvi0iE7Jj
— Clay Aiken (@clayaiken) October 4, 2018

