Idol’s Elliott Yamin In Chile When Earthquake Hit

American Idol Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin is currently in Chile and survived the massive 8.8 earthquake that struck early Saturday morning.

Elliott, who is in Viña del Mar about 90 miles from the epicenter, was in his hotel room on the sixth floor when the quake hit around 3:20am local time and immediately took to his Twitter account to report the news.

Here are some of Elliott’s tweets –

-Huge earthquake just now in Chile!!….I swear I thought this was the end of my life!!!!!

-I just escaped w my life,from an 8.3 earthquake!!!…is everybody ok?

-Complete and utter choas on the streets…no power…my heart is beatin outta my chest!….tsunami warnin…I am only a mile inland!

-Hey everybody…we r totally safe and sound 4 the time being…I’m finally calmer,and dawn is approaching,which will help!..thx 4 ur prayers

-I’m totally calm now….were all 2gether…got blankets from our rooms, and we’re all hudled on the street..no aftershox in a while..

-Oh shit!!..here come some more aftershox….sweet jesus,and baby jesus!!

-Just got word that the airport in Santiago is closed…the tarmac has been reduced 2 rubble…my blood sugar is really hi

-Imma Type 1 diabetic, and was sppsd 2 leave sunday.I only packed enuf insulin pump supplies 2 last til then….airports r closed!

-The next closest airport 2 where we r in vina del mar is 6 hrs away!!…we’ve felt about 30 aftershox already!!!

CNN began retweeting Elliott’s tweets and phoned him in for an on-air interview.

Elliott also spoke with NBC’s Today Show early Saturday Morning.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

According to CNN, at least 122 people have been killed and tsunami warnings have been issued for the entire Pacific basin.

Follow @cnnbrk and @elliottyamin on Twitter for updates.

Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta Return To Perform On Idol

Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta returned to Idol last night and performed during the results show.

Kris recently went to Haiti as a part of Idol Gives Back to aid in the relief effort and shared the footage from his trip while he performed ‘Let It Be’. You can download a copy of Kris’ performance on iTunes and all of the profits will be sent to Haiti.

Allison performed her new single ‘Scars’. The girl can definitely sing and she’s improved a lot since her days on Idol, but could someone hire her a media coach? Please! She’s so awkward and uncomfortable to watch.

Idol Recap: Tyler, Ashley, Janell, and Joe Eliminated

And there you have it. Tyler Grady, Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Muñoz were eliminated last night on American Idol’s first round of live eliminations.

I’m still in shock that Tim Urban wasn’t sent home. Joe deserved to stick around for awhile, but America voted and clearly didn’t like him, or people assumed that he would get enough votes and didn’t vote for him.

Ashley was a frontrunner during the audition rounds of Idol this year, but she chose the wrong song when she decided to sing Leona Lewis’ ‘Happy’. And during the judges critique, Ashley came off as quite arrogant, but she doesn’t have the talent to back it up. She clearly thinks she’s a diva and she’s not.

Janell’s elimination wasn’t a big surprise. Her voice wasn’t strong enough to last in this competition.

And Tyler…oh Tyler…I couldn’t be happier. He didn’t stand a chance at winning and I’m glad we won’t have to endure the pain of watching him anymore. However, seeing the clip of him rehearsing in his bathrobe was hilarious.

Hopefully, next week’s performances will be better. This was the worst first round of live shows and the early frontrunners failed to deliver strong performances.

Who do you think are the frontrunners after the first week?

Steven Tyler Plans On Touring With Aerosmith In Europe

NEW YORK (AP) — After turmoil that included public squabbling, threats of a lineup change and a rehab stint, Aerosmith is back and ready to rock.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have announced their “Cocked, Locked and Ready To Rock” European summer tour — with Steven Tyler.

The band made the announcement Thursday. It also posted a video on its Web site in which Tyler, sitting with the rest of the band, jokes: “I just auditioned and I got the gig.”

“We’re coming your way and rocking your world! Look out because here we come,” he says as he looks at guitarist Joe Perry and the group breaks out in laughter.

Aerosmith, which has been one of rock’s enduring bands over the past three decades, has been in limbo since Tyler fell off a stage during an August concert in South Dakota, injuring himself and forcing the band to cancel the rest of their summer tour.

After that, Perry expressed anger that the group had been sidelined and said Tyler needed to get his act together. For his part, Tyler was quoted as saying he was interested in going solo, and soon the band was talking about replacing Perry with another singer.

In December, Tyler checked in to rehab for a painkiller addiction, a problem he blamed on years of injuries suffered while performing with the band.

In an interview this week, bandmate Joey Kramer said: “Everything right now in Aero-land is very copacetic. … We will carry on and do what we do best.”

As far as their latest drama, he said: “The one common denominator that we still all have is that we all love to get up on stage and rock out, play music and bring joy to people. And we let the other drama, as of late, kind of filter itself out by the wayside and concentrate on more of what’s important, which is the playing and the business at hand. ”

The band, best known for hits like “Walk This Way,” has a long history of discord and overcame heavy drug abuse in the 1970s and early 1980s, but has been a mainstay in rock since enjoying a revival more than two decades ago.

Their tour starts in Sweden on June 10.

Justin Bieber and Rihanna To Perform At Kids’ Choice Awards

Nickelodeon has picked the hottest young star in music to headline the upcoming Kids’ Choice Awards. Justin Bieber is set to headline the upcoming awards show guaranteeing ratings gold for Nickelodeon.

Headlining along with Bieber will be Rihanna, who comes as a bit of a surprise. Her image isn’t very kid friendly since the release of her album Rated R.

The Kids’ Choice Awards will take place on March 27th, just a few days after the release of Bieber’s upcoming album My World, 2.0.

Bieber Fever has swept the nation and fans can get up close and personal with Bieber by entering to win an all access pass for four to see the show, walk the orange carpet, see Bieber soundcheck and meet him before the show.

For more info on the contest, check out the Kids’ Choice Awards Official Site.

Patti LaBelle Is Afraid Idol’s Judges Comments Could Lead To Contestant Suicide

Patti LaBelle is so concerned about being the American Idol judges being to harsh on contestants. She is afraid that some of the judges negative comments could lead to a contestant killing themselves.

LaBelle has been approached to appear on the hit show but she declined the invitation and now she feels that the panelists are “not qualified” to give contestants proper feedback.

She tells the Associated Press, “Some of the judges, I don’t think they’re qualified to even judge. The comments that were made, they could make you like, wanna kill yourself.”

She believes that a more positive-inspirational approach would benefit the contestants more.

She continue to say, “If you believe in yourself, just go for it. What do you have to lose? And when people tell you ‘You can’t', you have to say, ‘I can’.”

Do you think Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres are too harsh this season? Do you agree with what Patti said?

Jennifer Lopez Clears The Air About Her Label And Upcoming Album

I can’t believe people actually care about Jennifer Lopez’s music career since she hasn’t done anything significant in the past couple of years, but people seem to be talking about her upcoming album and her relationship with Sony Music/Epic Records.

Rumors started swirling that Lopez had been dropped by her label and her upcoming album Love?scrapped. But, Lopez is speaking out to clear the air and assures fans that her album has found new home and will be released this year.

“I am making this statement to put an end to any confusion in regards to my next album, titled Love? I have belonged to the Sony family since the beginning of my career as a singer and together we’ve had great success,” the statement read. “I have fulfilled my contractual responsibilities with Sony/Epic up to this point, and we have both reached friendly terms about my departure from the label. I’m also happy to say that we’ve found a new home for my album Love? and that it is slated for release in the summer of 2010.”

So, there you have it. You can pick up your copy of Lopez’s new album this summer. You know you want it.

Idol Recap: Top 12 Guys Fail To Deliver

Photo:Fox

First off, what the hell was wrong with FoxHD tonight? The broadcast got off to a pretty rough start with all of the interruptions in the feed. We completely missed the opening of the show and the audio was all over the place throughout the show.

When it was finally time for the guys to take the stage, it was one disappointment after another. Something is seriously off this season. Where is the talent? Is Idol proving that it’s lost it’s thunder?

Here’s what went down -

Todrick Hall – ‘Since You Been Gone’ – Kelly Clarkson – When they announced his song choice, I thought it had potential with a male vocalist, but Todrick’s version was awful. I’d love to hear Kelly Clarkson’s thoughts…

Aaron Kelly – ‘Here Comes Goodbye’ – Rascall Flatts – Great song choice for his voice. It’s refreshing to see a young guy who can sing and doesn’t even know how good he is. The judges said he needs more confidence, but they all liked him Simon even called him ‘very cute’.

Jermaine Sellers – ‘Get Here’ – Oleta Adams – My ears hurt. Why did he sing in his falsetto so much?! Of all the songs to choose, why do people pick such obscure songs on the first night. Sure, it’s a classic, but I felt like I was watching season one all over again. It’s season 9. Pick something current.

Tim Urban – ‘Apologize’ – OneRepublic – They brought him back? Yikes. And could he please cut his hair. That hairdo is so 2009. Kris Allen did apologize last season and nailed it. Tim should have remembered that when he was choosing his song and picked something else. He even admitted the song was a last minute switch.

Joe Muñoz – ‘You And I Both’ – Jason Mraz – He’s young. He’s cute. Sang well. Kara liked him and said he was the best so far, but has a long way to go. Simon said he’d forget the performance within 10 seconds. Nonetheless, he’s safe this week.

Tyler Grady – ‘American Woman’ – Guess Who – He was born in the wrong decade and God help us all if he lasts in this competition. I completely agree with Kara that he belongs in a band, but Idol isn’t for him. This isn’t a screaming competition. Next.

Lee Dewyze – ‘Chasing Cars’ – Snow Patrol – My favorite performance so far. Started of well, but hit a few wrong notes when he got to the chorus. The song was a bit too high for him to be completely comfortable singing it. What I loved about this performance was his voice. It’s authentic and natural. He’s definitely got potential to go far this season.

John Park – ‘God Bless The Child’ – Billie Holiday – What in the world was he thinking? So awkard. ‘God Bless The Child’…really?? Goodbye.

Michael Lynche – ‘This Love’ – Maroon 5 – The only reason his performance stood out from the other lackluster ones was because he chose an upbeat song, not because he delivered a memorable vocal. And I don’t remember his voice being that nasally. He’ll make it through because of his personality.

Alex Lambert – ‘Wonderful World’ – James Morrison – Another guy that needs a haircut. The mullet is not cute. He was so uncomfortable to watch because of his nerves. There’s a quality in his voice that could be great, but he’s got a lot of work to do. It would be cool to see him grow as a performer this season, but the pressure of the competition and the cameras might get the best of him.

Casey James – ‘Heaven’ – Bryan Adams – The judges spent way too much time joking around about his looks. And the banter with Kara needs to stop. The song was a good choice for his voice. I’m just not sure how well his voice will hold up in the coming weeks as the genres of music change. The female vote alone should keep him around for a while.

Andrew Garcia – ‘Sugar, We’re Going Down’ – Fall Out Boy – It was an odd arrangement of the song, but his voice was the strongest of the night. He’s by far the most talented of the contestants this season and I wish the judges had recognized that in their critique. He’s got my vote.

Not a good night. This season has started off on such a terrible note….

After the first two nights, who are you guys voting for?

Idol’s Adam Lambert Disses Susan Boyle

Adam Lambert is on the attack in his latest interview with Britain’s Gay Times.

Lambert’s debut album For Your Entertainment sold 200,000 copies in it’s first week and was kept out of the top spot by Boyle’s massively successful debut album I Dreamed A Dream

“If only it weren’t for Susan Boyle! I’m happy for her success, but that album is terrible. “Wild Horses” is the one that made me laugh the hardest. I just died when I heard it, I was crying with laughter. It was the most horrendous, sacrilegious treatment of that song!”

Wow. Boyle’s album might night have been your cup of tea, but c’mon Adam, she blew everyone’s albums away, not just yours. Just accept it. The old cat lady beat you.

Rapper 50 Cent To Drops 65 Pounds For Movie Role

50 Cent is going to be changing his famous muscular physique by dropping 65 pounds for an upcoming movie titled, “Things Fall Apart.”

Not only did 50 Cent co-write the screenplay, he will be acting in the film as well. The screenplay is about a college football player that is suffering from cancer, hence why he is losing so much weight.

The films co-producer Randall Emmett tells Variety, “Fifty is in the process of losing 65 pounds for the role.”

This isn’t the first time 50 Cent has been on the big screen. He starred along Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 2008′s Righteous Kill, as well as in the semi-autobiographical film, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. “Things Fall Apart” is scheduled to begin shooting in Michigan in May following 50 Cent’s latest concert tour.

50 is gonna be skinny!

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