Originally posted Thursday, September 5, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Kelly Clarkson's new talk show had booked Kevin Hart as her very first guest set to air Monday, September 9. But Hart messed up his back in a well-publicized car accident over the weekend. (He was a passenger.)
So his buddy and "Jumanji" bud Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson cut short a honeymoon to fill in.
Her talk show will air at 2 a.m. in Atlanta on WSB-TV so set up your DVR.
“He left his honeymoon…his wife probably hates me…to come here and take Kevin’s place,” said Kelly in a clip below. When the Rock entered, Kelly said, “I think they like you!”
I'm sure the three original judges of "Idol" will pop up at some point, as Simon Cowell promised. But will Carrie Underwood? RadarOnline, which isn't necessarily the most reliable source of news, claims no.
She told USA Today, while promoting her new show, that the time after winning "Idol" in 2002 was difficult because people in the biz didn't always accord her respect. That's part of the reason she coaches on "The Voice" with sucy joy: to pay it forward. (Two of her singers have won the show and she brought two of them on her tour.)
“The first three years of my career was me just paying for winning a talent show,” she said. “I got real bitter. I was just looking for anyone to talk to who knew what I was going through. And that’s why I like to do that for artists on ‘The Voice.’ It’s actually healed that bitterness I used to carry, being able to be that for somebody else.”
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Fantasia recorded the original theme song for Tamron Hall's new syndicated talk show, which debuts September 9.
“Fantasia in a word is everything – she has been an inspiration and a friend to me for many years,” said Tamron Hall in a press release. “Her story, her life and her presence shake me to my core – from the first time I saw her on ‘American Idol’ to the time I saw her perform and move the crowd at The Apollo. I knew I wanted to partner with her in some way; I didn’t know then that it would be for the theme song for my daytime talk show, but I knew we were destined to do something together. She embodies what it means to be a woman – she is loving and giving to others, and she shines.”
Fantasia said: “It was a pleasure and honor to record ‘Shine’ - the theme song for Tamron Hall’s new daytime show. I’ve been a fan of hers for many years as she represents all women out there who are strong, smart, hardworking and resilient. Women who are taking care of business while operating at high levels as great mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces, etc. This song represents the positive energy that these types of women fight to bring into their own communities, and I know Tamron will bring the same approach to viewers nationwide with her new show.”
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Adam Lambert released a new song and video. Both are funky and fresh.
"I feel like there's a lot of groups of people that get discriminated against or get ostracized," Lambert told Capital FM in a Facetime interview. "I kind of wanted to make a song to make people in that situation feel like they didn't have to take it."
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Pop singer Maren Morris, when she was 17, tried out for "Idol" 12 years ago in Dallas and didn't make it past the first round, she told Seth Meyers on his show last night.
"You don't see Paula [Abdul] and Simon [Cowell] and Randy [Jackson] in the first go audition. It's like a stadium cattle call," she said. "You audition for, like, a 20-year-old producer who probably has no music cred. You just sing for like eight seconds and sing your heart out."
Morris said her entire group was cut and she had to do "the walk of shame."
"I just remember being, like, 17, and I had to, like, walk through the walk of shame out to the parking lot and find my mom's car and just cry on the way home with her," she said. "But, I mean, it all worked out."
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Madison Vandenburg, third place finisher for "Idol" this year, released a single "What I'm Looking For."
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Chartwatch
Carrie Underwood edges up to No. 4 with "Southbound' on the Mediabase 24/7/ airplay chart, behind only singles by Justin Moore, Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan.
There are five songs in the top 20 featuring women, which is unusually high: Miranda Lambert at No. 20, Lady Antebellum at No. 17, Lindsay Ell with Brantley Gilbert at No. 11 and Runaway Jane at No. 7.
Unfortunately for Scotty McCreery, his single "In Between" barely cracked the top 40 (at No. 39) and is now at No. 41.
Fantasia holds at No. 2 with "Enough" on the urban AC chart.
Danny Gokey's previous No. 1 song "Haven't Seen It Yet" is now down to No. 10 in its 30th week on the Christian AC chart.
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