National Ledger - Apache Junction, AZ, USA - Ryan Seacrest is the hardest working man in show business.  He slams through a radio gig every single day in Los Angeles, hosts American idol and also has his hand, voice and face in many other television projects.  But has he grown tired of Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell?  Who could blame him?

But I'm thinking no.  But the host may be looking to fill a void soon as a new report from OK! Magazine claims that seven years of Idol may have finally taken its toll on Simon Cowell.  Will he soon be gone in what would be

Digital Spy - UK - American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson has revealed that she prefers the Canadian version of the show.

The 'Since U Been Gone' singer, who recently appeared as a guest on Canadian Idol, claimed that the programme is superior because contestants are allowed to play instruments.

"Your Idol is so much better! They don't let you near instruments on American Idol," Kelly told CTV’s eTalk. She added: "Yours is so cool."

Clarkson was voted as the winner of American Idol's first season in 2002. She recently released her third album, My December.

PR Newswire (press release) - New York, NY, USA - Blake Lewis, the popular runner-up on the sixth season of "American Idol," has been signed to 19 Recordings / ARISTA Records and is already working on his debut album with a stellar line-up of producers and songwriters. The album is due for release in late 2007.

"Blake has a strong music sensibility and knows who he is and what his music should represent." Says Clive Davis, Chairman CEO BMG Label Group "His collaborators are all knocked out by him."

Among the producers working with Lewis on his first album are Jonathan "JR" Rotem, who has worked with Rihanna (on her No. 1

PR Newswire (press release) - New York, NY, USA - Blake Lewis, the popular runner-up on the sixth season of "American Idol," has been signed to 19 Recordings / ARISTA Records and is already working on his debut album with a stellar line-up of producers and songwriters. The album is due for release in late 2007.

"Blake has a strong music sensibility and knows who he is and what his music should represent." Says Clive Davis, Chairman CEO BMG Label Group "His collaborators are all knocked out by him."

Among the producers working with Lewis on his first album are Jonathan "JR" Rotem, who has worked with Rihanna (on her No. 1

International Herald Tribune - France - Given the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning successes of fellow "American Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, is feeling pressure to make her own mark on the music world.

It is a lot to live up to.

"They've risen the bar so high and I'm like, 'I hope I can reach it,'" the most recent winner told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I'm trying to reach it! I just really hope that when (my CD) comes out it'll be great and maybe as good as theirs. And hopefully it'll sell well and people will like it."

The bubbly 17-year-old offers a taste of

People Magazine - USA - Surveying the current Hollywood landscape – and the mounting number of youthful casualties of late – former child star Brooke Shields says she has no particular advice to offer young stars.

"I think a lot of these girls are young, and it's all so tempting," Shields, 42, tells Redbook in its September issue. "For some reason I wasn't tempted. I don't know why."

Looking back, she says, "Sometimes I wish I was a little more tempted to have a little more fun. But then I see them" – Shields mentions no one by name – "and someone will ask, 'Well, what do

Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung) - Wein, Austria - After it was announced that Fantasia would take over the lead role in the Broadway musical «The Color Purple,» she recalls her co-stars as being warm, friendly and supportive. Still, she knew in the back of their minds that they had doubt about her casting.

Perhaps for good reason. The former «American Idol» champ was taking over for LaChanze, who won a Tony for her portrayal of the downtrodden «Celie,» and the 23-year-old's acting experience had been limited to a saccharine Lifetime TV biopic in which she played herself _ not exactly the most challenging of roles.

And then there was the

Palm Beach Post - FL, United States - Ryan Seacrest's quest for world television domination continues.

Fox announced that the overexposed American Idol host will join the network's coverage of Super Bowl XLII in February. Seacrest, of course, will do what he does best and that's flashing those pearly whites and working those cute dimples while interviewing a host of celebs. Now that James Brown is doing his thang in God's heaven, Seacrest is the hardest working man in show business. Check it: Dude has his own radio talk show, he's quickly become the new (and younger!) Dick Clark on New Year's Eve and he lords over that little

RTE.ie - Ireland - Simon Cowell has said he will be quitting 'American Idol' after three more seasons.

Yahoo music reports that Cowell, who has appeared in seven seasons of the show, admitted that he can't imagine being involved with the programmes after it hits its tenth year.

Cowell said: "There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can't keep doing this for ever.

"I have three more seasons under contract with 'American Idol' and that will be it. And it will probably come at the same time (for talent show 'The X

Reality TV World - Mansfield, MA, USA - An American Idol-inspired musical apparently had far less success than the Fox mega-hit it's based on.

Idol: The Musical -- "a satirical musical comedy" that followed a delusional Clay Aiken fan base consisting of soon-to-be high-school graduates -- closed on Monday after only one regular performance, Reuters reported Tuesday.

"[Production closed] due to a lack of advance ticket sales, a lack of positive feedback from audience members and critics and a lack of sustainable financial resources," producer Todd Ellis said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Idol: The Musical first debuted in Syracuse, NY earlier this year with a 10-person cast before it

Hellenic News of America - Havertown, PA, USA - Constantine Maroulis made American Idol?s 2005 season exceptional. His delivery of the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” electrified audiences and became that year?s must see performance. His black leather jacket, smoldering good looks, rock ?n roll attitude and charismatic stage presence made him stand out from the other contestants, but that wasn?t entirely unexpected. Constantine is a seasoned professional; a mutli-talented actor, singer, arranger and performer who?d put in years of hard work before Idol landed him in the national spotlight.

In the past two years, Constantine has continued his winning streak. He?s headlined the Summer 2005 American Idol Tour, was personally

BuddyTV - USA - Constantine Maroulis gained fame on the fourth season of American Idol for his sultry, smoldering looks to the camera.  Now his debut, self-titled solo album will finally be released tomorrow, August 7, two years in the making.  He took the time to make it the best he could, releasing it under his own label of Sixth Place Records, an homage to his finish on American Idol.

Since that time, his career has soared with opportunities on television and on Broadway.  His latest gig is as one of the stars of The Bold and the Beautiful in which he plays a singer

BuddyTV - USA - It was announced yesterday that season six American Idol finalists Sabrina Sloan and Sundance Head will record a duet album on Universal Records Motown.  The record company has signed a deal with Sabrina Sloan, who will first record the duet album and then follow it up with her first solo record.  The duo is set to hit the studio in mid-August and are targeting a November 2007 release date.  It is reported that just days after Sloan's elimination from American Idol, representatives from Universal Motown contacted Sloan's camp about a possible record deal.

It is widely believed that Sloan and Head

OCRegister - Orange County, CA, USA - Sabrina Sloan made the final 16 on "American Idol" this year before she was eliminated – sooner than the judges and many fans had expected.

But there's nothing like a major-label record contract to ease the sting of that defeat.

Sloan, a 1997 graduate of Mission Viejo High School, signed a two-album deal with Universal Records Motown, her publicist announced Thursday, with the first album slated for release this fall.

She'll debut with a collection of duets with fellow "American Idol" contestant Sundance Head – eliminated the same night she was, and like her, a singer who initially looked like he'd go deeper

Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA - Blake Lewis may be an American Idol with thousands of rabid fans throughout the world, but his heart is still in Seattle.

"I'll never not live in Seattle, I love it so much," the famous Bothell beatboxer, aka "Bshorty," said in a phone interview while en route to an "American Idols" concert in Alabama.

"People ask me, 'Are you moving to California?' I say, 'Like, hell no.' Seattle is so wonderful."

But it isn't just the scenery that makes Seattle wonderful. It's the music scene.

"There's the fact that people moved away after the grunge scene died and there's no spotlight on this town

BuddyTV - USA - American Idol host Ryan Seacrest is juggling multiple projects, including moderating the highly-rated reality competition, heading his own radio show in Los Angeles and hosting the E! network's E! News.  However, amidst his busy schedule, Seacrest has given some thought to something more personal: having children of his own.

"I think it would be tough, but I definitely look forward to a little girl and a little boy," Ryan Seacrest told In Touch Weekly in the magazine's July 23 issue.  "I want more than five but less than 10."

The 32-year-old radio and television personality and American Idol judge Simon Cowell went

San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA - There would be no "ponyhawk" during Tuesday night's American Idols Live! tour stop at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Sanjaya Malakar's celebrated mane went through only slight variations, alternately looking like Debra Winger's do from "An Officer and a Gentleman" and Robert De Niro's from "Cape Fear." If there was a hair straightener backstage, none of the others were letting Sanjaya use it.

The producers played it very safe during the nearly three-hour performance, which included four disco balls, three Bon Jovi songs and not a single unscripted moment. Audience members who wanted spontaneity had to settle for watching the swimming

New York Post - New York, NY, USA - NBC is putting a novel spin on "American Idol" with a new series called "Phenomenon," in which self-professed spoonbender Uri Geller and "mystifier/artist" Criss Angel will search for the next great mentalist.

The live talent show is adapted from "The Successor," a hugely successful Israeli TV show hosted by Geller, whose claim to fame is his "ability" to bend metal objects with his mind.

On the show, which doesn't yet have an airdate, Geller and Criss Angel, who currently hosts A&E's "Mindfreak," will judge a talent pool of 10 contestants, who'll perform a series of "mystifying talents" each week.

The contestants will be

National Ledger - Apache Junction, AZ, USA - American Idol cutie Kellie Pickler is in for a big surprise - her mother desperately wants to reunite with her after more than a decade apart. Mom wants to explain that she didn't abandon the singer when she was a child, insiders have revealed to the National Enquirer. The twenty-one year old budding country star has told interviewers she was deserted by her mom in interviews.

But pals of Cynthia Morton (who goes by her maiden name) want her daughter to know that Cynthia acted because she feared for her life. Kellie, who was raised by her paternal grandparents