This was posted on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Some insider keeps feeding info about ABC's 'Idol" to TMZ. The latest judge speculation: youngster and pop sensation Charlie Puth. If they add veteran hit-maker Lionel Richie, they'd have a nice, diverse trio along with Katy Perry.
Puth, 26, broke out singing vocals on Wiz Khalifa's 2015 hit "See You Again," which is now the most viewed YouTube video of all time. He followed that up with a string of hits including "Marvin Gaye," "One Call Away" and the current song "Attention."
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, who was previously brought up as a candidate, appears out of the running.
TMZ also brought up Leesburg native and country megastar Luke Bryan as a possibility given ABC's ties to the country music business and the CMA Awards. And former "Idol" judge Keith Urban's name came up, too. ( Hollywood Reporter followed TMZ with similar info.)
Bryan, who is often included in the informal "bro-country" category, has had a string of 20 top 10 hits since he came out in 2007 including "All My Friends Say," "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)," "Crash My Party," "That's My Kind of Night," "Home Alone Tonight" and the current single "Fast."
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Scotty McCreery forgot to take a handgun out of his bag and was caught at a security checkpoint at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on July 13.
The news came out last week. He had previously gone to a gun range and didn't realize it was still in his bag.
"I have been a concealed carry permit holder for awhile now after being robbed at gunpoint in 2014, and I take gun safety very seriously," McCreery, 23, told People . "While in-between tour dates last week, I went to go target shooting with a friend a few days before an early flight out of my hometown Raleigh-Durham airport."
He was released by authorities and took the next scheduled flight.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
More great reviews for Adam Lambert fronting Queen. Wish he was coming to Atlanta! I'd be there!
The fulcrum of the set's success was, of course, Lambert, who impressively handled both Queen's most popular (and schlockier) material, including "BoRhap" (probably the emotional pinnacle in a set chock-full of lump-in-the-throat moments), "Somebody to Love," "We Are the Champions" "Bicycle Race" and "Fat Bottomed Girls," and turbo-charged rockers, including the show-opening one-two punch of "Hammer to Fall" and "Stone Cold Crazy." On all of these, Lambert recalled Mercury's style, but fell admirably short of mere imitation. Instead, he used his own vocal gifts to build upon Mercury's foundation.
[Original frontman Freddie] Mercury himself would have probably noted that a concert — particularly a large-scale show with songs embedded in the pop firmament — was about the audience as well as the performers onstage, and on that level, the show delivered. While Lambert's vocal pyrotechnics contrast with the approach taken by the exceedingly precise Mercury, his obvious enthusiasm for the material was infectious. The version of "Under Pressure" with Lambert taking Mercury's part and Taylor handling the late David Bowie's vocals was surprisingly moving, while his swooning "Somebody to Love" showed how he could maneuver around one of the band's trickiest songs.
All by himself, Lambert can't hit every single note the scientifically proven awesome Mercury did in his prime. (As impressive as their collective performances were, neither could the dozens of famous rock stars who gathered to pay tribute to the late singer at Wembley Stadium back in 1992.) But after instantly commanding the stage with strong takes on early-era Queen rockers like "Stone Cold Crazy," Lambert really blossomed when taking on more ornate material such as "Killer Queen" and "Don't Stop Me Now."
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Lee DeWyze has released his latest single "Breakdown."
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Clay Aiken prefers Pepsi over Coke and he proclaimed it loud and clear on Twitter based on this hunt:
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