News & Notes

Just thought I'd throw a few tidbits at you, fast and furious, since I wanna keep you up to speed!

FOR THOSE OF YOU LOOKING FOR THE LISA TUCKER INTERVIEW: Three options. (a.) Scroll down. (b.) Download it from here, or (c.) all of the above. (UPDATE: Switchpod is being fussy, and is down at the moment, so the mp3 archive is not available at the moment. I will have it up ASAP.)

SITE NEWS: I've just upgraded to "Blogger in Beta," which is an upgraded service for Blogger users. It has a few nifty tweaks, a couple of annoying faults, but other than that, it's been pretty decent. I love how publishing time is cut down to nearly nothing. On the other hand, though, it has completely screwed up my Atom feed, so if you subscribe to this blog via a newsreader, you should update to the RSS feed, which is at http://jdmatthews.blogspot.com/rss.xml and if you don't know what a feed or newsreader is, don't worry about it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: American Idol 5's Heather Cox celebrates her birthday today. She emailed me today and let me know that she's now signing with a new manager and that a couple of major record labels have expressed interest in signing her to a contract. Here's hoping!

IDOL INTERVIEW: I have been told by my sweet little friend Paris Bennett that she will be calling to do an interview this weekend. That now makes 8 of this year's Top 24 that have made appearances here on this site. (That's one third, for those of you trying to do the head math.) Princess P will talk to me a little bit about American Idol, the tour, and life after. I have also gotten word that a couple of others from other seasons are interested in interviewing, but I won't spoil that just yet.

MIKALAH GORDON: Mikalah's mom told me this week that Meek has been co-hosting a comedy festival at Caesar's Palace in Vegas this week. She also confirmed that Mikalah is going to be hosting American Idol Extra again this year, so we can look forward to seeing her more.

CONGRATULATIONS!: April Walsh landed a part in a TBS Humor Lab commercial. From April's blog: "The pay is fabulous and the exposure will, hopefully, be good. I know those commercials are funny and get tons of airtime. The only thing I don't completely know is what exactly I'll be doing. The audition was all about crazy laughs. Let's hope that, if that's the thing I gotta bring, I bring mass quantities."

WINTER FANTASIES: Will Makar will be headlining a Christmas show called "Winter Fantasies" at the Main Stage Theater - Montgomery Community College in The Woodlands, Texas. He'll be appearing with Jeni Lynn, Kaitlin Knippers and Anthony Glover. The production team for this show has credits including Disney, Broadway, and Vegas, so expect it to be dazzling. The show is two nights, December 9-10. Tickets are available at www.winterfantasies.com. I really wish I could be there to see this show. Look for more on this show to come to this site later.

REMEMBER THE FIREMAN? The big guy who auditioned for A.I. dressed as a fireman is not so big anymore. Check out Jordan Southerland's Myspace blog to find out how he lost a tremendous amount of weight. He's looking lean and mean! He's also setting up an audition for Sony Music, so keep your fingers crossed!

VINTAGE LOVE LETTERS: Roxie Mae's new album Vintage Love Letters is now available for pre-order. I got my advanced copy (luv ya Rox!) and I have been enjoying it greatly. Look for me to write a bigger review in the coming days. Head on over to www.roxiemae.com to sample a track or two, and while you're there, go ahead and pre-order. I'm told that all pre-orders come autographed! Be Roxie's friend at myspace.com/roxiemaemusic

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS: Bobby Bennett tells me that he is headlining another show at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret that he wants you to attend. It's December 17, 2006 at 7:30PM (doors open at 6:30). Tickets are available at www.lannies.com or by calling 303-293-0075

ASHLEY MELNICK: I got a letter from Ashley, and she says she's currently in the Texas Teen Pageant. Best of luck, Ash. We should really hook Ashley and Will Makar up. Talk about a good lookin' couple! (Check out her smokin' hot voice at myspace.com/ashleymelnick)

BILLY FROM GOODBYE has a new demo out, or so Brooke Barrettsmith tells me. (She also told me she was sending me a Brooke and Leah CD, so we'll see.) But you should check out his single, "Fire," at Myspace.com/BillyAdamsMusic

And that's it for News and Notes right now. Big shouts out to the folks at AnthonyFanClub.com, KellieFans, and jplewismusic.com who have been showing me much love here and at Idol Waves. Y'all rock!