Simon Cowell on American Idol season seven
Simon Cowell participated in a brief conference call this afternoon to talk about the upcoming seventh season of FOX’s American Idol, and apparently a few completely unrelated topics as well. It was a strict question and answer format, so topics ranged from the style of the contestants to Simon’s opinions of the current crop of Presidential candidates here in the US.
The “I’m not trying to be rude, but…” judge spoke confidently about the talent in this season’s crop of contestants, stating that he felt the show was obligated to bring a better product to the screens than we had last year. Their job was to find better contestants and a stronger Top Twelve and he thinks they pulled it off.He also acknowledged that they will strive for more of a balance between the celebrity mentors (screen hogs!) and the contestants themselves, which I heartily agree with. When asked pointedly if he agreed that it was a mistake last year, he responded by asking what we knew about last season’s winner (Jordin Sparks). He feels the show didn’t let the audience inside the lives of that batch of contestants. More time should have been spent talking about where they were from, what their passions and hobbies were and humanizing them for their fans a bit more.
Here are a few more points that came up during the call
- On his thoughts on former winners Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks both being dropped by their label, he merely commented that it is indicative of the volatility of the record industry. “We’ve gotten it right more than we got it wrong.”
- On if he has any favorites this season, Simon said that luckily there are three our four very strong guy contestants and three or four strong girl contestants. He says the field is wide open and that while he has an idea on who could make the finale he wouldn’t spill.
- On whether or not Idol could exist without him and if he had an idea on when he might call it quits, he reiterated that his thoughts have been to see out his contract (through 2009), and do a nine season run, but even that’s not definite. He says it’s really up to when the people decide they’re sick of him and/or are growing tired of the show. He figures the ride can only last so long, but definitely believes the show can survive without him, saying it would “probably get better.”
- SPOILER! probably because I’m sure we’ll see it. Apparently Fantasia Barrino’s brother auditioned and was terrible, to the point the judges were questioning whether he was really her brother.
- It is “becoming increasingly like torture” to endure the horrible first rounds of auditions year after year, but in the end it’s all worth it when the good talent rises to the top and they can crown their new winner.
- He’s disappointed in the anemic sales of Jordin Sparks’ and Blake Lewis’ (1st runner up last year) debut albums, but again hearkens to the unpredictability of the industry. And probably a bit on the show’s failure to help America connect more with the contestants last season.
And in a few off-topic tangents:
- He believes it’s not too late for Britney Spears. She’s the most searched singer on the Internet so the interest is there. But she definitely needs help and she’s welcome to call him any time.
- He has no strong feelings on the writers’ strike as he doesn’t know the particulars well enough to comment. He feels, however, that it doesn’t impact their show as it’s still up to them to produce the best show possible, regardless of what the competition is or isn’t airing.
- He doesn’t think Hillary’s tears have harmed her campaign any. He thinks this is one of the most exciting Presidential races in years and is impressed with several candidates from both sides. He’s looking forward to watching it unfold, but predicts a Democrat will win the Presidency.
- When he was asked a question from a representative of Bloomberg News, he asked “Can you answer a question?” He then asked her “Is your boss going to run for President?” The answer was “He says ’No.’” to which Simon replied laughing, “That means he is.”
Will.i.am - Heartbreaker Video and Lyrics
Heartbreaker by Will.i.am feat Cheryl Cole, Music Video and Lyrics
“Heartbreaker” will be the third single released from rap singer will.i.am’s third album Songs About Girls.
The video will feature a cameo from Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, where she does some street dancing.
The appearance came about when will.i.am saw Cheryl filming for the forthcoming ITV2 show The Passions of Girls Aloud, where she street dances in Los Angeles.
Cheryl will also singing backing vocals on the song, including a line that hits out at her cheating husband.
Will.i.am - Heartbreaker feat Cheryl Cole Lyrics
Look out [3]
Where it’s at
I know karma’s coming to pay me back
I’m with the sweetest thang thats on the map
I broke her heart in 30 seconds flat
In 30 seconds flat
Now how did i
Just how did I become that kind of guy
To look at girl and lie right in the eye
My momma told me willy that ain’t right
Boy now that ain’t right
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break your heart [2]
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break ya
B b b b break it baby
Look baby
I’m a heartbreaker [6]
I’m a heart
A h h h h I’m a heart
A h h h I’m a
Where she go
I got some things I gotta let her know
To fix the love now its impossible
But baby baby if we take it slow
If we take it slow
We can make it work
We just cant throw the love down in the dirt
You probably think that I’m a f**kin jerk cause the way I let you down it made you hurt
I didn’t mean to make you hurt
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break your heart [2]
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break ya
B b b b break it baby
Look baby
I’m a heartbreaker [6]
I’m a heart
A h h h h I’m a heart
A h h h I’m a
Break it down
Lets break it down [roughly 15]
So so so sorry
So so so sorry
A la la la
La la la la
La la la la
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break your heart [2]
I’m s s s sorry
I’m s s s sorry
I didn’t mean to break ya
B b b b break it baby
Look baby
I’m a heartbreaker [6]
I’m a heart
A h h h h I’m a heart
A h h h I’m a
Will.i.am - Heartbreaker Song Info
Released United States 2007
Recorded 2006/2007
Genre Pop rap
Length 5.28
Label will.i.am Music Group, A&M
Producer will.i.am
source wikipedia.org
Janet Jackson Biography
This black pop diva of the 1980s and 90s is the youngest of the nine members of the Jackson musical dynasty. Janet Jackson enjoyed her first multi-million seller with “Control” in 1986, an album which produced hard-driving, danceable hits including “Nasty” and “What Have You Done for Me Lately?”. She followed up with the even more successful “Rhythm Nation 1814″ in 1989, which produced seven Top Five singles (including “Miss You Much” and “Escapade”), four of which made it to Number 1.
Jackson began performing with her family at age seven (doing a Mae West imitation as part of a Las Vegas stage act), and acted during the 1970s and 80s in recurring or supporting roles on the TV series “Good Times”, “Diff’rent Strokes” and “Fame”. She made her feature acting debut as the sensitive poet Justice in the John Singleton misfire, “Poetic Justice” (1993). Her hit single “Again” (which was also featured on her wildly successful album “janet.”) was prominently featured in the film and earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song. She returned to the big-screen in the summer of 2000 as the scientist fiancee of Eddie Murphy’s Professor Klump in the comedy “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”. Once again, a Janet Jackson song (”Doesn’t Really Matter,) was included on the film’s soundtrack album.
Although an effective supporting player and pleasant minor comedienne, Jackson displayed her real passions and talents through her music and dancing. Virgin Records acknowledged this in 1996 when it offered her an $80 million deal that made her the music industry’s highest paid performer. She justified Virgin’s faith by releasing “The Velvet Rope” (1997), a collection of highly personal, very emotional songs that went triple-platinum within a year of its release. The album addressed Jackson’s battle with depression, her own self-image problems, family woes and how she escaped an abusive relationship. The recording also set the rumor mill a-spin when two of her songs hinted at a romantic interest in women. Whether drawn to the album’s honesty or controversy really didn’t matter, Jackson’s fans turned out for her “Velvet Rope” world tour en masse. In addition to her usual energetic singing and tireless dancing, Jackson treated audiences to a show she “created and directed” and which looked more like a splashy Broadway musical than a rock concert with its eight back-up dancers and enormous video screens.
Unlike her siblings Michael and LaToya, Janet Jackson had largely avoided courting controversy throughout her career (minus a long-secret nine-year marriage to Rene Elizondo Jr.), until February 1, 2004. While Jackson was performing a duet with pop star Justin Timberlake during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVIII, Timberlake reached over at the climax of the segment–on the lyric “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song”) and pulled off a breakaway black leather bustier cup on Jackson’s bustier, exposing her right breast (and sunburst-shaped nipple clamp) on live global television. The incident incited a massive media frenzy and much public uproar: broadcaster CBS announced its outrage and disavowed advance knowledge of the stunt, blaming its corporate sibling and halftime producer MTV, which had promised a “shocking” show; Timberlake issued a public apology and called the incident a “wardrobe malfunction,” explaining that a red brassiere cup under the black bustier intended to cover her breast had inadvertantly been torn away as well; and the NFL and FCC launched investigations into the incident. A day after the furor erupted Jackson announced that she had privately concocted the stunt on her own and issued her own public regrets in a videotaped apology.
In the wake of “Boobgate”–which to some seemed suspiciously timed as Jackson had a new album pending after several years of professional inactivity–Jackson was asked to withdraw from an appearance on the Grammys to deliver an award to Luther Vandross, although Timberlake was allowed to perform on the show. It was later revealed that CBS would have allowed her to appear if she issued another apology from the Grammy stage, as Timberlake did. The various broadcast tlelevision networks also had knee-jerk reactions to the stunt, with NBC and ABC adding stricter censoring of partial nudity on series such as “ER” and “NYPD Blue,” and ABC issuing the first-ever five-second broadcast delay on the Academy Awards ceremony.
In 2005 Jackson was at the center of two new scandals which broke within days of one another: first, reports claimed that at age 18 the singer was the mother of a secret daughter born during her brief 1984 marriage to James Debarge and allegedly raised by her sister Rebbie, which Jackson vehemently denied, and a paparazzi video clip showing Jackson sunbathing nude made the rounds of the Internet before the popster’s attorney had it removed, threatening legal action to anyone showing it.
- Also Credited As:
Janet Damita Jo Jackson - Born:
on 05/16/1966 in Gary, Indiana - Job Titles:
Singer, Actor, Dancer, Songwriter
Family
- Brother: Jackie Jackson. born on May 4, 1951; was a member of the Jackson 5
- Brother: Jermaine Jackson. born December 11, 1954; former member of the Jackson 5; has had such solo hits as “Dynamite”
- Brother: Marlon Jackson. born on March 12, 1957; member of the Jackson 5
- Brother: Michael Jackson. born August 29, 1958; began as a member of the Jackson 5; has had many solo hits since the 1970s; played the Scarecrow in “The Wiz” (1978)
- Brother: Randy Jackson. born on October 29, 1961; member of the Jackson 5; sentenced to two years’ probation for beating his wife, Eliza Shaffy Jackson, and their 14-month old daughter, Steveanna in November 1991; admitted to committing bankrupcy fraud in August, 2001
- Brother: Tito Jackson. born on October 15, 1953; was a member of the Jackson 5
- Father: Joseph Walter Jackson.
- Mother: Katherine Esther Jackson.
- Sister: LaToya Jackson. born on May 29, 1956; married manager Jack Gordon in September 1989; wrote “LaToya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family” (1991); has appeared as host of a latenight psychic network infomercial
- Sister: Rebbie Jackson. born on May 29, 1950
Significant Others
- Companion: Justin Timberlake. rumored to have dated in 2002
- Husband: James DeBarge. eloped when Jackson was 18 in 1984; lived at the Jacksons’s Encino ranch for several months before she had the marriage annulled; singer with the family pop group DeBarge; had a serious drug problem according to some reports
- Husband: Rene Elizondo. born c. 1963; together from c. 1985 until they separated in 1999; filed for divorce in May 2000, bringing their nine year secret marriage to light; married on March 31, 1991
- Companion: Jermaine Dupri. announce that he has been dating Janet since 2001
- Companion: Johnny Gill. reportedly dated in spring 1999
- Companion: Justin Timberlake. rumored to have dated in 2002
Milestones
- 1969 Moved with her family from Indiana to California before she was two (date approximate)
- 1974 Began singing in her family’s Las Vegas act when she was seven; became noted for doing an impersonation of Mae West (date approximate)
- 1976 Appeared with her family on the short-lived CBS variety series, “The Jacksons”
- 1977 Played recurring role of Penny Gordon on the popular CBS sitcom, “Good Times”
- 1979 Played JoJo Ashton on the very short-lived ABC sitcom, “A New Kind of Family” (Dec-Jan)
- 1981 Had recurring role of Charlene DuPrey on the NBC sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”
- 1984 Appeared as Cleo Hewitt on the syndicated series “Fame”
- 1986 Released the album “Control”, which went on to sell over eight million copies and produce five hit singles (date approximate)
- 1989 Released even more successful follow-up album, “Rhythm Nation 1814″, which was the first album in rock history to produce seven Top Five hit singles (four of which made it to Number 1); album also sold over eight million copies, becoming the top pop album of 1990
- 1990 Went on first solo concert tour
- 1992 Was played by actress Maya Nicole Johnson on the ABC-TV biographical miniseries, “The Jacksons: An American Dream”
- 1993 Album “janet.” reached Number 1; spawned Number 1 single, “That’s the Way Love Goes”
- 1993 Made film debut in the title role of John Singleton’s romantic drama, “Poetic Justice”; also co-wrote and performed song “Again”; received Oscar nomination for Best Song
- 1995 Collaborated with brother Michael on the Number One hit “Scream”
- 1997 Released “The Velvet Rope”, a collection of emotionally charged songs that drew on her battles with depression, self-image problems and a past abusive relationship; album went triple platinum
- 2000 Returned to features starring opposite Eddie Murphy in “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”; played Professor Klump’s scientist fiancee Denise; also wrote and performed original song on the soundtrack
- 2002 Headlined the HBO special “Janet Jackson: Live in Hawaii”
- 2004 Appeared as the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live, spoofing her infamous wardrobe malfunction; her first network TV performance since the notorious Super Bowl halftime show
- 2004 Guest-starred on the NBC sitcom “Will and Grace” playing herself (September); making this her first TV acting role in nearly two decades
- 2004 Performed with Justin Timberlake at Superbowl XXXVIII halftime show; resulted in scandle when a bodice-ripping stunt by Timberlake exposed her pierced nipple
- 2004 Received two Grammy nominations for her album “Damita Jo”
Cheryl Hines Biography
Quick-witted and charming Cheryl Hines found television stardom while playing the tolerant and sarcastic wife to Larry David’s miserable and annoying self-parody on HBO’s hit comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm†(2000 - ). Unlike anything else on television, this critically acclaimed series keeps dialogue fresh and genuine by improvising each episode. In place of scripts, scene outlines are provided for the cast who then make up lines as they go, which help maintain a level of spontaneity and uniqueness. Holding her own while working alongside established performers as David (co-creator of “Seinfeldâ€) and Jeff Garlin, Hines has swiftly proven her sharp knack for comedy and parlayed her passions of being a successful actress into reality.
A Florida native, Hines always had an inkling that acting was in her path, as she studied theater and television production at various institutions including the University of Central Florida, where she graduated. From here, the keen actress saw a move to LA as a chance to gain real experience in the world of comedy, but had little luck with sparse jobs coming her way. It wasn’t until Hines landed a coveted gig as a regular for the Groundlings Theater, which housed many burgeoning improv big-shots, that she got her first break. Trained by experienced comedic talents like Lisa Kudrow, Hines perfected her craft of improvisation and refined her comedic chops while doing several local showcases. Her charismatic and unique presence on stage quickly caught her sights on-screen, as the budding actress showcased her talents on TV. Small bits on popular, Emmy-Award winning sitcoms such as “Friends†(NBC, 1994) and “Everybody Loves Raymond†(CBS, 1996) put Hines front-and-center for exposure and helped catapult her visibility as a serious comedic actress.
While gaining credibility on the small-screen, Hines still performed at the Groundlings Theater, which provided her the much experience required for the role of Cheryl David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.†It was here, after landing the coveted role, that Hines quickly garnered praise for her cunning improvisational skills and earned herself a Golden Globe nod for Best Supporting Actress (2004), along with 7 other nomination for the show itself. With so much attention on the small-screen, Hines ventured into feature films with a small, but lasting part in the hit comedy “Along Came Polly†co-starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller (2004).
Earning respect and kudos for her vast talents, Hines soon found herself sought after by famed exec Jeffrey Katzenberg for the female lead of the new NBC CGI-animated series, “Father of the Pride†(2004). As the voice of mother lion, Kate, Hines was cast alongside veteran performer John Goodman and comedian Orlando Jones in a tale of a family of white lions who work for famed illusionists Siegfried & Roy. She then appeared in the G-rated kiddie feature, “Herbie: Fully Loaded†(2005), starring a cute and loveable Volkswagen Beetle, and Lindsay Lohan. After a sharp performance as a rapier-tongued ad saleswoman in the straight-to-video romantic comedy, “Cake†(2005), Hines appeared in the studio comedy “RV†(2006), playing the wife an over-worked executive who drags his family on a road trip from hell to Colorado in an RV he barely knows how to drive. Along the way, they encounter a clan of fanatical RV enthusiasts, forcing them to band together and become a family again—if they can avoid driving each other insane. Despite poor reviews, “RV†took its opening weekend with a $16 million haul at the box office.
- Born:
on 09/21/1965 in Miami Beach, Florida - Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Daughter: Catherine Rose Young. born March 8, 2004; father is Paul Young
- Mother: Rosemary Harbolt.
Significant Others
- Husband: Paul Young. married December 30, 2002
Education
- University of Central Florida, radio and television, BA
- Florida State University
- West Virginia University
Milestones
- — Moved to Los Angeles and studied at the groundlings theater; her first teacher there was Lisa Kudrow
- — Will star opposite Patrick Fugit in “Bickford Schmeckler’s Cool Ideas” (lensed 2004)
- 1996 Starred in the independent feature film “Cheap Curry and Calculus”
- 1998 Appeared on an episode of “Suddenly Susan”
- 1999 Cast as Cheryl David in the HBO special “Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a mockumentary about Larry David, the co-creator of “Seinfeld” considering a return to stand-up comedy
- 2000 Portrayed Cheryl David on the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
- 2002 Guest starred on the CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”
- 2003 Cast as the trailer park lady in an episode of “Reno 911″
- 2004 Played a catering manager in the comedy “Along Came Polly,” with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston
- 2004 Was the voice of Kate in the animated series “Father of the Pride” (NBC)
- 2006 Cast opposite Jeremy Piven and Garry Marshall in the indie comedy “Keeping Up with the Steins” directed by Marshall’s son Scott
- 2006 Starred in the road-trip comedy “RV” with Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels