‘Back in the day, everybody was a falsetto singer; it’s just so unappreciated now,’ latest castoff tells MTV News. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Kelly Marino DeAndre Brackensick Photo: MTV News On Thursday night, “American Idol” bid adieu to its most follicly accomplished contestant, DeAndre Brackensick (no offense, Colton), who was given the boot following his performance of DeBarge’s “I Like It.” After his exit, Brackensick spoke to MTV News , expressing “no regrets” about anything he did during his run on “Idol” and remaining adamant that his falsetto — which somewhat mystified mentor Jimmy Iovine — wasn’t the reason for his departure. “Everyone has their opinion; my voice is one of the voices where either you love it or you can’t stand it, and I think Jimmy didn’t really have a feel for my voice,” he said. “But it’s fine, because I take everything he does say to me to heart, and I try to put it toward the next performance. I have much love for Jimmy.” And in keeping with both the “no regrets” sentiment and his belief in doing things his way, Brackensick said that he didn’t take his ouster — or the judges’ refusal to save him (no matter how hard Jennifer Lopez protested) — personally. After all, he feels he can leave the show with his head held high. “You always hope for the save, because [you] want to be with each other for another week,” he sighed. “But the saves happen for a reason; I’d already been saved once, so I can’t really be saved again. You only get so many chances in life. I’m just proud of myself and the accomplishments I’ve made already.” He’s hoping he’ll keep accomplishing things post-“Idol.” Like, for example, bringing back the sweet falsetto sounds of classic R&B and the genuine emotion of music — both of which he said are sorely missed in today’s music. “That R&B soul is just lacking nowadays in music. Back in the day, everybody was a falsetto singer; it’s just so unappreciated now,” he said. “That was one of the reasons why I wanted to sing an Eric Benet song. There’s so many talented people that are not getting the love they should, and I want to bring that old sound back. I don’t even want to be a huge star. I just want music to be known, and I want messages to be getting through, like it was back in the day.” Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 11 Top 13 Contestants
‘She seems to lose confidence by the week,’ said ‘Idol’ blogger MJ Santilli about Hollie Cavanagh. By Gil Kaufman DeAndre Brackensick and judges Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez on “American Idol” on Thursday Photo: Fox In years past, booted contestants offered bland platitudes about the helpful judges and their “amazing journey” on “American Idol” and how they’ve grown and learned so much from the show. But this season the gloves appear to have come off, with some singers flat out accusing Randy, Steven and Jennifer of messing with their heads by offering head-spinning advice that sends them sprinting in one direction one week only to turn around and jet the other way the next. “They are hurting the contestants with confusing advice,” said MJ Santilli, founder of the popular “Idol’ blog MJsbigblog . “What makes it worse are the ‘battles’ between the panel and mentor Jimmy Iovine. The finalists are often hearing one thing in the studio with Jimmy and his guest mentors, and something entirely different from the judges.” Aside from the seemingly horrible sartorial advice they’re also getting from fashion mentor Tommy Hilfiger, MJ said the mixed career messages are impacting the singers in widely different ways. They don’t appear to be messing with the head of self-assured growly rocker Phil Phillips, who she said may actually be hurting his own chances by arrogantly ignoring every note he gets from the show’s experts. But they’ve definitely made for some up-and-down weeks for the likes of potential R&B star rocker Elise Testone, country belter Skylar Laine and they are clearly hurting the teenage girl contestants. “Hollie Cavanagh is obviously not growing from her ‘Idol’ experience,” Santilli said of the 18-year-old who has a powerful voice, but a shaky stage presence that appears to be on increasingly rockier ground after weeks of confusing notes. “She seems to lose confidence by the week. And [just eliminated contestant] DeAndre Brackensick had potential, but the advice he was getting wasn’t focused enough to really help him.” The contestants themselves have even said it. “I felt confused every week, I’ll be honest,” Erika Van Pelt told MTV News after she was booted two weeks ago. “I felt there was a lot of contradiction, and as an artist and someone who takes their singing very seriously, it’s hard for me to take critique of my work, period , and then when you feel like you sorta have people telling you one thing and then telling you something completely different the week after, it’s hard.” EVP had plenty of experience singing in front of audiences, but her frustration with the mixed messages from the trio behind the judge’s table, not to mention often contradictory words of wisdom from mentor Jimmy Iovine, was unabashed. “Because constructive criticism to me is something I can go home, work on, fix and come back and say, ‘Here, I fixed it,'” she said. “I feel what happened to me in this competition was I would take all the advice, I’d work on things, I’d bring something different to the table, and they’d tell me the complete opposite. It’s been really hard for me, I can admit that.” Brackensick appeared to have solved that problem by taking Phillips’ path and ignoring all the competing voices. “I’m just following what I want to do, not listening to what someone’s telling me to do,” he told MTV News after his elimination about his up-and-down ride on the show. Hollywood Reporter music editor Shirley Halperin said she’s definitely noticed some mixed signals from the judges, but she doesn’t necessarily put the blame on them. “In a way, the judges are not as connected with developing an artist as Jimmy Iovine is,” she said of the legendary Interscope label head who has helped guide the careers of Eminem, Lady Gaga and 50 Cent and whose opinion she often finds herself agreeing with. “Maybe they [the judges] can’t be that critical because they’ve never been in that position of developing an artist. That’s what Jimmy does for a living.” The judges, she said, have to face the camera (and the in-studio audience), while Iovine doesn’t, which is why his rougher criticism rings more true. She pointed to Iovine’s harsh predictions about Brackensick’s fate on Thursday’s elimination show as an example of how Jimmy can smell the career potential and talent of an artist in a way Steven, Jennifer and Randy can’t, and then pull no punches in evaluating their chances. The advisory disconnect is clearest for those who might also be tuning in to NBC’s rival show, “The Voice.” Instead of bland platitudes, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton are busy giving their charges good, constructive, specific advice on how to be better, more effective singers. And you see it in their performances from week-to-week, as the singers take the building blocks and incorporate them into their routines. “Idol” has gotten plenty of flack this season for the everyone-gets-a-trophy comments from the judges and the B-list talent in the finals. But considering that so many of its contestants are less seasoned that those on shows such as “The Voice” and “X Factor,” if “Idol” wants to keep pace with the competition nipping at its heels it needs to up the mentoring and spend more time shaping its charges instead of spinning them around like a prime-time game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
For reasons that defy comprehension, Kim Kardashian guest-hosted The Today Show this morning, sitting alongside Ann Curry and responding to a number of questions about her personal life. The most pressing at the moment, of course, being: Is she really dating Kanye West ? “Kanye and I have been friends for years,” Kim simply said, nailing the line given to her by her PR team. “You never know what the future holds.” Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Chatter on The Today Show Among other topics covered in the ratings stunt: What is her marital status? “We are still going through a divorce, so there’s not really much that I’m allowed to talk about. Out of respect for [ Kris Humphries ], I try not to talk about stuff involving him and regarding that situation.” Was the marriage a sham? Kim labeled such chatter “ridiculous” and blabbed: “I love really hard. I fall hard, and I followed my heart. When things don’t work out, that’s sometimes just how life is. What’s the point in dragging something out… when you know that it’s just not it for you?” How does she feel about PETA, following her recent flour bombing ? “It’s just a little odd to me that their whole message is non-violence towards animals yet they are violent towards humans… I have vintage furs that were my great-grandmothers that mean the world to me. I think it’s a personal choice, but I don’t think it’s okay to assault anybody.” Whatever. Let’s get back to Kim and Kanye: do you think they’ll last as a kouple?
TGIF! Happy Friday from some of your favorite stars, past and present! With all the problems and negativity in the world these days, everybody could use a smile on their face, right? That’s what we’re saying. Spread the love, people. Not hate. Scroll down slowly and feel the positive energy of these celebrity photos :
Is there trouble in paradise for Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney? And is her ex-beau Luc Carl the cause of it all? According to a new tabloid report … very possibly. Yes, Gaga and Taylor recently went on a double date with Emmy Rossum and her BF, but Luc Carl has always held a special place in the singer’s heart. A source tells Radar that her fling with actor Kinney, a model/actor who has appeared on The Vampire Diaries , is cooling off after many months of bliss. And guess what? Luc still has feelings for her. “They never really gave up on each other: they’ve been talking a lot lately,” the source says of Carl, who recently authored a book called The Drunk Diet. Seriously, he did. And he talks about their breakup in it. “The breakup with my girlfriend was rock bottom,” Luc explains in the book. “It took me about a week to realize she was right. I was f–king miserable.” The 26-year-old Gaga, who plugged Luc’s book to her 22 million Twitter followers March 25, is “impressed by how ambitious he’s become.” Interesting. “He wrote the book and is opening his own club,” the insider says, predicting that Luc and his longtime Lady will “ probably end up together again.” Having seen the error of his ways, whatever those were, he is expected to meet up with Gaga in their native NYC in the near future. Stay tuned.
Throughout his run on American Idol , which came to an end on last night’s results show , Deandre Brackensick was easily the most polarizing contestant on season 11. And the long-haired crooner knew it, based on an interview he gave to E! News soon after Ryan Seacrest broke the bad news to him on national television. “My style, you either love it or hate it,” Brackensick said . “And, you know, R&B is so unappreciated right nowadays and I really want to bring it back, so I kind of had a feeling somewhat. Things happens for a reason and it’s not the end. Just gotta keep fighting for it.” Jennifer Lopez said she tried to save Deandre last night, but she was outvoted by Randy and Steven. Still, you won’t hear this aspiring star complain. Quite the opposite, in fact. “I understand where the judges are coming from. I’ve already been saved once and you only get so many chances, so I wasn’t ready for America right now. I agree with them 100 percent. I agree with the judges, I agree with Jimmy [Iovine] and what happened. I’m just grateful I got to this point.” Do you think Brackensick should have been sent home this week?
Because Winehouse did not leave a will, the money will go to her parents. By Gil Kaufman Amy Winehouse Photo: Marc Broussely/ Redferns Amy Winehouse did not prepare a will before she died on July 23 in her London apartment. But records show that the 27-year-old singer did leave behind a nearly $5 million fortune. According to the Associated Press , Winehouse’s estate, worth approximately $4.66 million, will go to her parents. Probate documents revealed on Wednesday showed that Winehouse left assets totaling more than $6.7 million, with $4.66 remaining after taxes and debts. Winehouse’s father, Mitch, is listed as the administrator of her estate and nothing will go to her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, whom she divorced in 2009 after a tumultuous courtship that landed the couple in the tabloids, and jail, on numerous occasions. The singer passed last summer from accidental alcohol poisoning after years of struggling with drug and alcohol issues. In March it was announced that the charity established by Mitch Winehouse in his daughter’s honor, the Amy Winehouse Foundation , would fund a new performing arts scholarship. The grant will pay tuition for a child to attend the Sylvia Young Theatre School, where Amy trained as a teenager. A posthumous album of Winehouse’s final studio recordings, Lioness: Hidden Treasures , was released in December. Related Videos Amy Winehouse Remembered VMA 2011: Amy Winehouse Tribute Related Photos Amy Winehouse: A Life In Photos Related Artists Amy Winehouse
‘There were so many people that still believed in me and supported me, that’s when I realized I really want to do this,’ Han says. By Kelly Marino Heejun Han Photo: MTV News LOS ANGELES — The “American Idol” top nine took the stage once again Wednesday night hoping to avoid yet another elimination by singing their hearts out … and did they ever. Taking on songs by their own personal idols, the two-hour broadcast was filled with tearful moments, five standing ovations and, in Mr. Randy “In It to Win It” Jackson’s words, strong contenders for the title. Heejun Han may have made the biggest surprise comeback after being blasted last week by Jimmy Iovine and Steven Tyler for not taking the show seriously. Not to mention his leaving half of America scratching their heads as to why he was still in the competition after his goofball antics. This week it was obvious Han had a wake-up call as he took to the stage with a sincere rendition of Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for You,” ultimately bringing the judges to their feet. “What I can tell you at this point,” Han explained backstage after the show, “is that when someone doesn’t believe in himself and at that point someone said, ‘You don’t belong here. I’m not going to sign you. You’re not going to win,’ then my automatic reaction has to be ‘I know. I don’t want this.’ I never actually believed in myself anymore and even before. But from last week there were so many people that still believed in me and supported me, that’s when I realized I really want to do this. I’m not going to let anyone down anymore and that was a turning point.” And speaking of turning points, let’s not forget “Idol” contestant DeAndre Brackensick, who was also one of the five performers to get a standing ovation from the judges after being in last week’s bottom three. Taking on Eric Benet’s “Sometimes I Cry,” Brackensick even had J.Lo begging the audience to pick up their phones and vote. So, with some finalists back on the “Idol” radar while other’s outshined their own performances from the week before, who will America vote for to stay in the competition? Will this be yet another shocking results week, bringing the final nine down to eight, or will the judges finally be forced to use their one and only save for this week’s stellar performances? “No matter who is in the bottom three tomorrow [Thursday] night, they are going to be shockers because there were five standing ovations,” Colton Dixon, who sang himself to tears opening the show with Lifehouse’s “Everything,” explained. “Tonight was a great night for ‘American Idol.’ It was for every single one of us. We all left everything we had on the table and on the stage.” “I definitely think [Thursday] night will be shocking,” added Joshua Ledet, who brought the house down once again singing Mariah Carey’s version of “Without You.” “Honestly, I think everyone was so great tonight that the judges might use their save tomorrow because it would be crazy if they didn’t.” “It’s gonna be hard for us because, you know, when you get a standing ovation, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are gonna go pass through,” Han said. “It’s not really a matter of who’s on bottom three, but it’s really a matter of who’s going home and who’s gonna stay. At this point, I’m really happy with what I did, and if I were to go home, then this is the happiest moment where I can go.” Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
‘Welcome to Twitter. You’re still banned from my show,’ Morgan writes to Madonna. By Gil Kaufman Madonna and Piers Morgan Photo: Getty Images CNN talk-show host Piers Morgan has not been shy about his feelings about Madonna . The former “America’s Got Talent” judge has been going in on the singer for months, calling her everything from a “con artist” to “gruesome,” and making fun of her super-toned physique and Super Bowl halftime show. But on Monday, Morgan escalated the feud, sending a snippy message to Madonna in which he welcomed her to Twitter while smacking her down once again. The “Girl Gone Wild” singer had set up a special Twitter account on Monday in order to chat with her fans and Morgan wrote , “Welcome to Twitter @MadonnaMDNAday -you’re still banned from my show. Love Piers.” That crossed the line for Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, who responded with his own snap-tastic tweet , posting a letter from October 21, 2011, that says Morgan is “delighted to invite Madonna to be a special guest for his L.A. recording of his U.K. chat show — where she would be welcome to promote her new film and forthcoming album release (and perform two numbers).” Like a demented game of Hollywood power-broker tennis, Morgan fired the ball back, tweeting , “Madonna’s only been banned from my #CNN show @guyoseary – not my UK show, which sent that invite. But I’m now banning her from that too.” And he still wasn’t done! Morgan then banned Oseary from all his shows too, due to what he called “guilt by association.” Morgan has apparently felt slighted over the years by Madonna, especially during his days as an editor at England’s Daily Mirror newspaper, where he claims he was lied to by the singer’s publicist in order to ensure that a rival paper got Madge’s pregnancy announcement. Morgan caught Madonna on the same day she was finally extinguishing another feud, this one with EDM superstar deadmau5 , who had taken the 53-year-old pop icon to task for seemingly making a drug reference during her appearance last weekend at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. What do you think of Morgan’s Madonna ban? Tell us in the comments. Related Artists Madonna
‘DeAndre is a hot dude who appeals to the female demographic,’ ‘Idol’ blogger explains, while Han is backed by Vote for the Worst website. By Gil Kaufman Heejun Han and DeAndre Brackensick Photo: Getty Images There’s almost always a singer on each season of “American Idol” who makes it way deeper into the competition than expected. But season 11 of the show has seen two unlikely finalists — Heejun Han and DeAndre Brackensick — stumble into the top 9 and onto this summer’s cast tour despite a string of, respectively, jokey and lackluster performances that have drawn assorted raspberries from the judges and outright derision at times from music-industry icon and show mentor Jimmy Iovine. Their resilience got MTV News wondering if perhaps they have a special magic that some of the other eliminated finalists haven’t discovered yet. We spoke to some of our favorite “Idol” experts to take a look at the dynamic duo’s social-network presence to try to figure out how they’ve done it. For Brackensick, it doesn’t appear to be thanks to Twitter , where he had just 31,660 followers (dubbed “DreDreamers”) as of Tuesday evening and spent most of his time thanking fans for their support or complaining about poor WiFi at the “Idol” mansion. “DeAndre is a hot dude who appeals to the female demographic,” said leading “Idol” blogger MJ Santilli of MJsbigblog about the strange allure of the singer with a sky-high voice and hair-commercial-ready curls. “He’s sung well enough to give the impression that he’s got potential. The ‘Master Blaster’ performance — which Jimmy and the judges loved — was enough to keep him going for a week or two more, but if he doesn’t step it up, he’s going out mid-pack, too.” Heejun’s following on Twitter was a heftier 86,663 on Tuesday, putting him near the top of the social-networking heap among his fellow finalists. Not surprisingly for the yuk-loving singer, his interactions with fans are much sillier and more playful than most of the others, with a loose vibe that matches his onscreen persona, including lots of candid photos and suggestions that fans adopt the nickname “Hanimals.” He also has the dubious distinction of being the subject of this year’s target on the Vote for the Worst website. “Finally, the man we were waiting for comes out to play,” the site said in a banner promoting the vote. “Welcome to VFTW, Heejun. We love you. Here are lots of votes.” “Idol” expert Jim Cantiello said he gets Heejun’s appeal. OK, he doesn’t get it get it, but he can see how Han attracts attention by being a spectacle while everyone else is singing ballads — all the time. “His silliness supplies good .gifs for tumblr and easy fodder to tweet about,” said the former MTV “Idol in 60 Seconds” host. “Trust me, just like Sanjaya, the first time he has a performance that provides zero water-cooler talk, he’ll be dropped. Or as soon as it seems like powerhouse singers are in jeopardy, casual ‘Idol’ fans won’t be as quick to call in a vote for the clown.” Cantiello suspects Han has another thing going for him as well, whether it was all part of his devious plan or not. “Heejun’s got the whole bromance thing with Phil Phillips going on,” Cantiello said of the buddy-comedy vibe between the joker and one of this year’s leading male contenders. “So some of Phil’s fans are automatically into Heejun, and they’ll vote him through to keep seeing them be silly on TV together.” MJ agreed that Heejun is just good TV. Not only did he bring some unneeded extra drama to the Hollywood rounds by sparring with annoying Richie “Cowboy” Law, he’s shown his vulnerable and sensitive side as well. “Up until now, viewers wanted him on their TVs and most definitely wanted him on the tour, where he is likely going to be super-entertaining,” she said. “But now that he’s beginning to knock off vocally gifted finalists like Erika [Van Pelt], watch the backlash begin. I don’t think he’s got more than a couple of weeks left in the competition.” How do the seven other finalists match up on the Twitter tote board? Pint-sized cute Hollie Cavanagh actually comes in below Brackensick with 30,792 “Holliepops,” while faux-hawk flying singer Colton Dixon has one of the highest Twitter tallies at 92,458, putting him just ahead of foot-stomping Dave Matthews-alike Phillip Phillips , with 90,116 followers. Solidly in the middle of the pack is leading female contender Jessica Sanchez with 69,825 followers, while country girl Skylar Laine rounds out the bottom with 33,122 “Skoutlaws,” just ahead of gritty Elise Testone (23,969) and R&B crooner Joshua Ledet (23,618). Why do you think Heejun and DeAndre have survived this long? Let us know in comments below! Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
