Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > August > 23 > Entry
8/25 American Idol Rewind rewound, Simon Cowell promises changes, Ruben Studdard’s tax woes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“American Idol Rewind” gets a revamp after two years in syndication and will likely air on different stations. (Locally, it was on WATL-TV and WGN-TV nationally.) Instead of focusing on one season, seasons 3 and 4 are both featured. I’m not sure besides TV Guide Channel, which local TV station will air it this fall. I’ll post that as soon as I know when and which network.
From TV Week:
“This year will be more highlight-driven as we focus on the journeys of some of the contestants from seasons three and four who became household names,” said Tracy Verna Soiseth, executive producer of “American Idol Rewind.” “With some of the names ranging from Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia to Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice coming out of these shows, there is a lot of fun stuff for us to explore where you get to see the best and worst of ‘Idol,’ including [cult favorite] William Hung.”
The new season will focus more on the memorable moments and unaired footage, from auditions to the finale. Season three takes the stage for the first half of “Rewind” and season four is the focus of the latter half. In addition, producers have planned a Carrie Underwood special for the final episode of the season.
I kind of liked the old format of re-living specific episodes but we’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out.
-I missed the Simon Cowell press conference by phone Friday afternoon for a work-related meeting. He was there to talk about “America’s Got Talent” but he naturally got into “American Idol,” too. Access Hollywood summarized what he said here..
He said there will be changes and he’ll get more involved with Nigel Lythgoe gone. No details, though. He said season seven felt kind of tired and he got a bit bored partway through.
“I started to get bored because of the middle sections of the show because we had 24 people. By the time we hit say, show five of the live show I felt I had known them for years. The other problem was that they were so media savvy, these contestants, that they never showed us, or you, their true personality. In parts they were like robots. I didn’t know much more about them at the end then I did at the beginning. I think it could be just more interesting and controversial than we did last year and that will change.”
-Ruben Studdard owes the IRS and state of Alabama nearly $200,000 in unpaid back taxes, according to AL.com.
Byron Perkins, a Birmingham attorney representing Studdard, said the singer is in good shape financially and should be able to pay any debts.
-Obsessive fans alert: poor David Archuleta brought a female friend to a concert and his fans just went after her though I have no clue how those fans got her email address based on this account below:
I just had to ask: Does Archuleta have a “Crush” of his own? “I’m just afraid to mention anything now,” confessed Archuleta. And he’s right to be afraid. Recently, after one of Archuleta’s female friends attended his show, she received a deluge of hate mail from Archuleta’s fans. “They said, ‘You’re not good enough for him, and you’re ugly,” Archuleta said, shuddering. “You can see why people want to keep things to themselves.” Despite the fact that his rabid fans harassed his guest, however, Archuleta continued to defend them. “They’re just really protective,” he concluded.
-TMZ reports that Kevin Covais is in the hospital because of the stress of his press tour for the upcoming film he’s in “College,” TMZ says. Details are sketchy.
-I went to a nightclub MJQ Concourse on Ponce de Leon tonight and guess who I saw? Bryan Gaynor, the awesome robot dancing dude with scoliosis from “So You Think You Can Dance” last year. Here’s a reminder of his performance:
Comments
By Deirdre
August 23, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this
Those Archie fans ought to be ashamed of themselves…
I hope some of the changes that Simon makes to AI are for the good of the show and not just for the ‘controversy’.
And I saw a “College” trailer. Kevin Covais looks like he fits in to that format.
By Justin
August 23, 2008 9:04 PM | Link to this
Nooo! Simon’s gonna ruin the show. I can see it now :(
I like it the way it is I don’t want to go off and get used to something new. We all know Simon is always so unhappy with everything so he’ll probably screw it up til he’s happy and everything is the way he likes it…damn. Who knows I guess we’ll have to see :\
Nigel- Thanks a lot! Why in the world would anyone want to step down from the most popular TV show in America?!
By Justin
August 23, 2008 9:05 PM | Link to this
Nooo! Simon’s gonna ruin the show. I can see it now :(
I like it the way it is I don’t want to go off and get used to something new. We all know Simon is always so unhappy with everything so he’ll probably screw it up til he’s happy and everything is the way he likes it…damn. Who knows I guess we’ll have to see :\
Nigel- Thanks a lot! Why in the world would anyone want to step down from the most popular TV show in America?!
PS: Archuleta fans- pathetic!
By Justin
August 23, 2008 9:06 PM | Link to this
Nooo! Simon’s gonna ruin the show. I can see it now :(
I like it the way it is I don’t want to go off and get used to something new. We all know Simon is always so unhappy with everything so he’ll probably screw it up til he’s happy and everything is the way he likes it…damn. Who knows I guess we’ll have to see :\
Nigel- Thanks a lot! Why in the world would anyone want to step down from the most popular TV show in America?!
PS: Archuleta fans- pathetic!
By JTesla
August 24, 2008 1:16 AM | Link to this
Haven’t we been down this road before?
By ,,,=^..^=,,, from home
August 24, 2008 1:35 AM | Link to this
aye JT, tis a road well traveled, me thinks.
By tanning lotion
August 24, 2008 2:13 AM | Link to this
I hate to hear about Reuben’s tax problems. You see this a lot.
tanning lotion
indoor tanning
By War Eagle
August 24, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this
Put that tanning lotion up your crap hole.