It's almost time for the highly anticpated season 9 of American Idol, which debuts Tuesday January 12th. Hopefully you didn't have any plans for your Tuesdays or Wednesday from mid-January to March, because based on the schedule just released by FOX, it looks like it's going to be packed with American Idol.
After three weeks of Idol auditions, featuring rotating celebrity guest judges such as Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain, Idol will head back to Hollywood to determine semi-finalists. During the all important Hollywood round, not only will we meet the semi-finalists, we'll also get our first peek at new Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres who will join Simon, Randy, and Kara at the judges table.
Once the semi-finalists are chosen it's up to us America to chose our Idol, here's the full schedule up to the finals for you to set your DVR and to schedule your social calendar around accordingly.
There's been one last-minute change to Fox's midseason schedule: the returning
American Idol and the new action series
Human Target are flipping time slots.
It was previously announced that the ninth season of the singing competition will air on Wednesday nights at 8pm (apart from, of course,
Idol's Tuesday night show, also at 8pm), followed by the new Mark Valley-fronted series at 9pm. Now, Fox is changing the time slots of both shows:
Target will now air from 8pm, with Idol following it at 9pm.
As part of
American Idol third placer Danny Gokey's trip towards fame in the country music scene,
he's making a stop at the genre's biggest stage: the Grand Ole Opry.
Danny will be part of the Opry's show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Friday, January 8. His performance is part of the Opry's fifth annual
Sound & Speed event, which sees celebrities from the worlds of country music and NASCAR together to raise funds for ill children, as well as for the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Carrie Underwood has a lot to celebrate this holiday season. The former
American Idol winner's third album
Play On debuted at number one this year, she was nominated for a Grammy and Country Music Award and as of this weekend, she's engaged to be married to boyfriend Mike Fisher.
The engagement was confirmed today by Carrie's spokesperson, Jessie Schmidt. "I'm happy to confirm that Carrie Underwood is engaged to Mike Fisher, and the couple couldn't be happier."
Last night I had a chance to speak with Mary J. Blige as she got ready to sing her new single, "I Am," live at the finale of So You Think You Can Dance?
She's not tall; but everything about Mary J. Blige, from her rigid posture and efficient walk, to her laser-focused eyes and unwavering voice, makes her seem imposing. Her muscular shoulders lead down to arms emblazoned with jet black tattoos seemingly writ large for the stage. She has a stunning confidence and boldness to her, but surprisingly, beneath all of that is an obvious vulnerability most of us are too afraid to show. This is a woman who wears her emotions on the surface for the world to see, and she defies them to judge her.
