Life after 'American Idol': Ryan Seacrest, La'Porsha Renae, Phillip Phillips, Kelly Clarkson

E!

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

E!

This was posted Thursday, April 20, 2017 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

Ryan Seacrest has extended his deal with E! to host and executive produce major red carpet events such as the Oscars, the Emmy's and the Grammy's.

Variety says "Live from the Red Carpet" remains a solid draw on TV and digital viewing. In the 2017 awards season, E! brought 165 million total engagements across platforms,  up 23 percent versus 2016. (I'm not sure what that really means per se but it sure sounds impressive!)

Without "American Idol," this keeps Seacrest in the public eye on TV on a semi-regular basis. He also is on ABC every New Year's Eve.

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Carrie Underwood performed the National Anthem before the Nashville Predators' game 3 playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Of course, she sounds great. Her hubby Mike Fisher is the team captain:

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Season 15 runner-up La'Porsha Renae said on "The Real" she opted to sleep with women after being molested by a man. Then she found spiritually and "chose" to go back to being straight. Or something like that. Here's what she told ladies on the show:

Jax, runner up from season 14, showed on Harry Connick Jr.'s talk show. She survived thyroid cancer and is now releasing new music. She will join Postmodern Jukebox for several dates on their North American tour and Casey Abrams will join her on some dates as well.

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Talk about stupid outrage. Kelly Clarkson shows a video of her daughter sampling Nutella. So some folks thought she was a terrible mother for providing awful food choices. Really?

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Christian artist Moriah Peters, a season 11 contestant, told "Idol" she planned not to even kiss a boy until she got married. She was gently made fun of by the judges for not having enough experience to sing well. She didn't appreciate the judges' treatment.

But that led to her releasing a couple of Christian albums and landing a few minor hits.

Now she's doing a movie that mirrors her experience called "Because of Gracia." The film is set to air Sept, 15, 2017, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"I honestly thought the director built Gracia’s character around my high school experiences," Peters said to the publication. “I was allowed to simply be myself, and it wasn’t difficult to dive into the controversial and tense circumstances.”

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Season 11 winner and Georgia native Phillip Phillips sang the National Anthem for the first ever Braves game at SunTrust Park. I wish I had known that. I would have tried to snag an interview with him.