American Idol' Recap: a Shocking Elimination Brings Tears and Heartbreak

Ryan Seacrest, master of suspense, stretched out the announcement of the final two in the last 15 minutes of Thursday's results show, reducing the trio of talented sing-testants -- each deserving of the Idol title -- into quivering nervous wrecks. The first name announced: Candice! Because, duh. Because, that voice. BECAUSE I SAID SO. Then Seacrest cut to commercial break, further torturing Angie and Kree, who huddled together in anticipation as Seacrest milked the big reveal. When he said "Kree," a ripple of OMG OMG OMG's swept across the Idol-verse. Somewhere, distraught Angie fans captured video of themselves sobbing hysterically to post on YouTube and Adam Lambert, a supporter of the ballad-loving finalist, put down the guyliner and lit a candle to mourn the early exit of his soon-to-be duet partner. Kree's jaw dropped with legitimate shock, and instead of celebrating her victory, the maternal country singer comforted Angie as she struggled to keep it together while closing the show with Colton Dixon's "Never Gone." "Sorry," Angie told the studio audience, forcing a smile through her tears. In a genuinely touching moment (even for this Idol cynic), her family jumped up onstage to support the 19-year-old Massachusetts native; Kree and Candice, both crying, embraced Angie in a group hug. After a standing ovation, the judges stepped up to offer condolences. STORY: Randy Jackson Exits 'American Idol' The mood: funereal. But life goes on -- and, given her dynamic musical chops and successful run on Idol, so will Angie's recording career. Also, ask Adam Lambert and Colton Dixon and Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry: Winning isn't everything. Sometimes it's better to lose (less expectations) and most runners-up earn some kind of record deal along with the insta-fame that comes with being on the teevee. The post-season summer tour is another chance for Angie to try out some new original material that could get traction and gain popularity. Although her bubbly personality and passionate performances won raves from the judges' panel and viewers at home -- creating an assumption that she was a shoo-in for the finals -- footage of Angie's hometown visit on Wednesday was nothing compared to the emotional gut-punch of Kree returning to her native Texas and the home where she grew up. Both of her parents died when she was a girl, an unthinkable loss and revelation that humanized the subdued 22-year-old and highlighted her best character traits: grace, compassion and professionalism in the face of adversity -- whether it be childhood trauma or a high-pressure reality singing competition. "I don’t think people realize how much strength you have to have to be this young and have no parents. You sang it like a pro," said Nicki Minaj following Kree's rendition of "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts. Mentor Jimmy Iovine concurred on Thursday, saying: "Kree had the perfect combination of home story and song. It was so emotional and it killed me, and therefore I gave her that round." Next week's Candice-Kree match-up seems fairly even: Candice has the voice, but Kree has the backstory. It's a toss-up, IMHO, which means they'll need to be smart with song choices. NO BURT BACHARACH PLEASE. PHOTOS: 'American Idol' Season 12: Hometown Visits Moving on: Hours ago, Randy Jackson announced his resignation after 12 seasons as a judge. Eye rolls aside, I'm gonna miss Randy. Despite all his redundant gibberish ("for you for me for you," "yo dawg," etc), he is a familiar presence and reminder of the good old days when he was the laid-back buffer between iron-fisted Simon Cowell and high-strung Paula Abdul. "Maybe a heads up?" said Seacrest, ribbing Jackson on his impending departure. Also on this latest episode of The Hunger Games American Idol, a sound system failure during the finalists' performance of Selena Gomez's "Who Says?" rendered the mics useless and the voices mute. (That's probably a good thing, though, since that D-list track is treacly and boring, much like an Idol coronation song!) Idol alumna Lauren Alaina performed her single "Barefoot and Buckwild," and I can't say anything bad about her because she is LIKE SO NICE, and Alicia Keys tickled the ivories on "Tears Always Win" from her Girl on Fire album (which is great to Swiffer to, by the way). One of the highlights of the night: the premiere of the cheese-tastic music video for "Beautiful," Mariah Carey's new single with Miguel. Writhing and preening atop a motorcycle, Mariah showed lots of skin and lots of leg in a bold, barely-there ensemble that not even Amanda Bynes would leave the house wearing. Mariah: the new Madonna? Other pertinent questions, Idol Worshippers: how do you feel about Angie's departure? Who are you rooting for: Candice or Kree? And what, if anything, will you miss most about Randy?

 News source:rewired.hollywoodreporter.com

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The Great Gatsby's Box Office Could Be Greater Than You Think

The lavish Leonardo DiCaprio 3-D drama, already accused in more than one headline of being a "flop," is on track for an opening-weekend debut north of $40 million, the latest projections say. A debut of that size almost assuredly won't be enough to dethrone the massively popular Iron Man 3, which even if it were to drop like a big metal rock should still come up with at least $52.5 million (and, should it prove resilient like The Avengers, maybe as much as $87.5 million). NEWS: Iron Man 3 scores second-biggest opening weekend of all-time Still, a $40 million-esque weekend for Gatsby would mark a career best for director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) and rank the film up there with Shutter Island on DiCaprio's list. More key, it would avoid the box-office disaster some (or some headlines, at least) seem to be bracing for. "The Great Gatsby needs to open with at least $35 million," Exhibitor Relations box-office analyst Jeff Bock said in an email, "which it should be able to achieve if it connects with women and younger audiences." The Great Gatsby, once slated for a Christmas release, is a summer anomaly; it's based not on a superhero comic book but on F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous 1925 novel of jazz-age infidelity. NEWS: DiCaprio "reluctant" to step into Gatsby's shoes In a Wall Street analysis of the summer movie slate that was widely reported by the Hollywood trade press last week, Cowen and Co. analyst Doug Creutz wrote that Gatsby's very distinctness would make it one of the season's 12 biggest hits of the season, and predicted the film would hit $150 million domestically. (No spare art-house drama, Bock said the $125 million-plus film will to need clear about $300 million worldwide to considered a box-office success.) But the run-up to Gatsby's release—the movie arrives as early as tonight at some theaters—has been less about bullish projections and more about disappointing reviews. At last look, its RottenTomatoes score was at 47 percent (and climbing, for what it's worth); the Atlantic Wire compiled a list of blurbs the movie would never want blurbed.

 News source:www.eonline.com

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Kerry Washington wears high-waisted shorts on Elle cover (Photo, Poll)

The 36-year-old actress, who is known for playing the headstrong Olivia Pope in ABC's "Scandal," appears on the cover of Elle for the magazine's June issue. Donning fierce red lipstick, Washington dazzles wearing high-waisted shorts and a cashmere cardigan -- all by Marc Jacobs. The "Fantastic Four" actress opened up to the magazine about her (many) recent successes, saying that she has absolutely nothing to complain about in terms of her career. "I'm the luckiest broad in Hollywood now," she says in the magazine, which hits newsstands on May 21. "To be the lead actor on 'Scandal' and to be in the highest-earning Tarantino movie ["Django Unchained"] - I don't get to ask for more." As a star on the buzzworthy series "Scandal," Washington plays a former White House Communications Director for the president who leaves her post to start her own crisis management firm. She is a professional "fixer" who makes problems go away, but struggles to resolve her own problems -- like her on-and-off-again affair with President Fitzgerald Grant (played by Tony Goldwyn). Washington also appeared alongside Jamie Foxx in Tarantino's recent Oscar-nominated film, "Django Unchained," which earned the actress a great deal of positive attention. While she admits that she loves her on-screen roles, she also loves another aspect of being in the limelight: the fashion. "I found out I enjoy the process (of getting ready)," she says in the magazine. "All these people show up at my house, they all have kits, someone has dresses. And it's like, let's have fun. It's not all about me. We're able to create stories on the red carpet." (Check out PHOTOS of Washington at the 2013 Met Gala on May 6, 2013.) Washington is next set to appear in Tyler Perry's comedy drama, "Peeples," alongside Craig Robinson. While she enjoys making movies and shows, she did talk about the career she always thought she'd pursue ... and it's definitely not acting. "I imagined I'd be a clinical psychologist, with a focus on how performance shapes identity," she says in the interview. "I'd figure out ways to use role-playing in the healing of people." The starlet never thought she'd be a model or actress, gushing: "I was not that girl -- I was a kooky theater kid, silly and goofy and academic." Washington is also known for her powerful role in films including "Ray" and "The Last King of Scotland." Her show, "Scandal," airs on Thursdays at 10/9 CT on ABC.

 News source: www.ontheredcarpet.com

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Video: Leonard Nimoy Faces Off Zachary Quinto in New Audi Ad Read more

Old Spock is coming face to face against the new Spock in new commercial for Audi. The ad shows a rivalry between Leonard Nimoy who plays the human-Vulcan officer in the original "Star Trek" series, and Zachary Quinto who has been tapped to take the reins in the latest movie adaptations. Nimoy first beats Quinto in a game of chess. In an effort to make up for his lost, the "Heroes" actor then challenges his elder to a race to a golf course. "Whoever gets to the club last buys lunch," he says, to which his senior confidently replies, "Stand by to have your wallet emptied by a tractor beam." Quinto becomes the first to arrive at the country club. While Nimoy struggles to get his clubs into his car, his successor arrives at their destination without any trouble. The younger actor even manages to sing along to his jolly 1968 song "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" during his car ride. However, like in the game of chess, just as Quinto thought he won it, Nimoy reveals his secret weapon. In a callback to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", the pensioner knocked Quinto unconscious by giving him a Vulcan nerve pinch before he can cross the finish line. "Technically we're not inside yet," Nimoy says before adding, "I have been and always shall be your friend." The cunning 82-year-old actor gives his signature Vulcan salute and calmly walks into the golf club, leaving Quinto lying on the pavement. Read more:

 news source:www.aceshowbiz.com

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Lead singer of heavy metal band held in murder-for-hire case

SAN DIEGO -- The lead singer and co-founder of the heavy metal band As I Lay Dying was arrested Tuesday in Oceanside on suspicion of trying to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said. Tim Lambesis, 32, a resident of Carlsbad, was arrested without incident while shopping. He is accused of attempting to find someone to kill his estranged wife, who lives in Encinitas. Lambesis, a guitarist and member of the group since it formed in 2000, was booked into the Vista jail on suspicion of soliciting a murder. He had attempted to hire an undercover sheriff's detective for the murder, authorities said. The meeting was arranged after detectives learned of Lambesis' desire to have his wife killed, authorities said. The San Diego County-based band specializes in music that includes "thrash metal" sounds and "beat-down hard-core punk." Lambesis provides guitar riffs and what are described as "growled vocals." In various interviews, Lambesis has insisted that while the lyrics may seem harsh, the five band members are Christians and the songs include Christian themes of forgiveness and struggle.

 News source:www.latimes.com

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GOOD READS: ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a classic tale for the ages

In literature, when a work of fiction is referred to as a “Great American Novel,” it generally means that its author has captured the spirit of America and the unique American experience during a certain time period in such a way as to make it a literary epic. Novelist and short story writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece “The Great Gatsby” has earned a spot on that very short and prestigious list because, simply put, there is no other American work of fiction that describes as well the wretched excess that engulfed and destroyed upper crust northeasterners in 1920s America. Fitzgerald, a mid-westerner from St. Paul, Minn., based the novel’s characters on people he knew – both admired and despised – and a lifestyle he emulated that would eventually lead to his early death. His characters partied away their hours in worthless pursuits of personal pleasure – drinking, carousing, gossiping, traveling, and living lives of people with too much money and too little sense. Nick Carraway is the story’s narrator, a young Midwesterner and recent Yale graduate who goes East to work on Wall Street during the stock market craze of the 1920s. He calls himself the “only honest man he has ever known.” Jay Gatsby is a millionaire of questionable background and a hollow soul, most likely a bootlegger, who spends lavishly on parties with the hopes of winning back the heart of Daisy Buchanan, the woman he is obsessed with but who scorned him to marry another. Daisy and her husband Tom are rich but selfish and idle acquaintances and cousins of Carraway’s, and Myrtle Wilson is Tom’s mistress, whose husband will be Gatsy’s undoing. “The Great Gatsby,” at 180 pages in the paperback version, is not a novel to be hurried through, but one to be savored. Read a page, and then read it again. You might pick up a word or phrase you missed the first time. “The Great Gatsby,” written in 1925, was Fitzgerald’s third novel and the most successful in his short and tragic life. It details a time – The Jazz Age – that many of us have only read about and only a few can remember. It was a time when Prohibition gin was the most popular drink and sex was the most popular pastime. At least among the “smart crowd.” I doubt that was the case with my ancestors – poor dirt farmers who toiled the southern soil. “The Great Gatsby” has been filmed five times, the most recent one starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby set for release next week. I remember seeing Robert Redford cast as Gatsby in the 1974 version, and realize now how miscast he was in the role. I hope DiCaprio is more true to Fitzgerald’s vision of the character. “The Great Gatsby” has also been called the second greatest novel of the 20th century by The Modern Library Publishing House. It follows “Ulysses,” by James Joyce, published in 1922. Do yourself a favor and read, or re-read if your first attempt was in high school English class, “The Great Gatsby” as an adult. Novelist Jonathan Franzen, author of “The Corrections” and “Freedom,” has been quoted as saying he reads it yearly. I might do likewise. The words are so beautifully crafted it would be a pleasure each and every time. Editor’s Note: Good Reads is a weekly book review column written by staff members of The News. To recommend a book for review,

News source: www.tullahomanews.com

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Broadway's Jekyll Hyde to Close

The first-ever Broadway revival of Jekyll & Hyde will end its run at the Marquis Theatre on Sunday, May 12. Directed by Jeff Calhoun, the fan-favorite Frank Wildhorn-Leslie Bricusse musical arrived in New York following a 25-week national tour. Conceived by Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, the musical is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and stars Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis in the title roles, with Grammy nominee Deborah Cox as the prostitute Lucy Harris, and stage veteran Teal Wicks as Jekyll's fiancée, Emma. Also included in the cast are Laird Mackintosh as John Utterson, Richard White as Sir Danvers Carew, David Benoit as Bishop/Spider, as well as Stephen Mitchell Brown, Jerry Christakos, Dana Costello, Wendy Fox, Brian Gallagher, Sean Jenness, Mel Johnson Jr., James Judy, Ashley Loren, Courtney Markowitz, Aaron Ramey, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Rob Richardson, Blair Ross, Doug Storm, Haley Swindal, and Jason Wooten. The production features scenic and costume design by Tony Award nominee Tobin Ost, lighting design by Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter, sound design by Ken Travis, and projection design by Daniel Brodie. Orchestrations are by Kim Scharnberg. Musical supervision and arrangements are by Jason Howland. Read TheaterMania's review of Jekyll & Hyde here . To see TheaterMania's photos from the production's opening night on Broadway, click here. Click here for more information and tickets to Jekyll & Hyde. Tags: BroadwayClosingFrank WildhornJekyll and HydeConstantine MaroulisDeborah Cox 212 2 2 2 NEWSLETTER SIGN UP BE FIRST TO GET OUR TICKET DEALS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX! EMAIL: ZIP: MOST POPULAR TODAY THIS WEEK THIS MONTH Molly Ringwald — Except Sometimes Molly Ringwald — Except Sometimes CD Review Irish Actress Helena Carroll Has Died Irish Actress Helena Carroll Has Died Obituaries Actor David Kelly Has Died Actor David Kelly Has Died Theater News Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde to Close Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde to Close Theater News First Reactions from Broadway's 2013 Tony Award Nominees! First Reactions from Broadway's 2013 Tony Award Nominees! Theater News MOST POPULAR STUDENT BLOG POSTS TheaterMania U TODAY THIS WEEK THIS MONTH Top Six Most Romantic Broadway Love Songs Top Six Most Romantic Broadway Love Songs Catherine Reid The Best Musical Theater Songs By New Composers The Best Musical Theater Songs By New Composers Nicole Pietrangelo Top 5 Musical Theater Songs that Bring the Waterworks Top 5 Musical Theater Songs that Bring the Waterworks Catherine Reid So, You Think You Can...Be On Broadway? So, You Think You Can...Be On Broadway? Mary Anna Dennard Broadway Or Bust: Behind The Scenes Broadway Or Bust: Behind The Scenes Mary Anna Dennard SHARED ON FACEBOOK X More in Theater News New York Drama Critics' Circle Names Vanya Best Play, Matilda Musical of 2012-2013 Read Now »

 News source: www.theatermania.com

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