music (12 posts)

Michael Becker / FOX

If you've got some Benjamins riding on a David, be warned: Only one of them is Cooking. At least according to the bookies.

The online oddsmakers at BetCRIS.com have unveiled the favorite to take the American Idol crown...let's just say Papa Archuleta may have to be restrained.

Former bartender and Missouri's favorite rocking son David Cook is the odds-on pick to succeed Jordin Sparks during next week's finale, given a 74 percent chance of winning the whole shebang, per the online bookies.

Despite starting the season as the overwhelming favorite, tween dream David Archuleta has just a 32 percent possibility of becoming Simon Cowell's newest protégé, per the betting line.

Of course, last we checked, Gambling 101 was not a part of a grade-schooler's course load, meaning the actual voting demographic might not jibe with the oddsmaker's pick and it still could be anybody's contest.

Michael Becker/FOX

Millions will vote for the latest American Idol. Only nine will spend the summer with him.

Tickets for this summer's annual American Idols Live! Tour are set to go on sale Saturday for the more than 50 stops on the North American trek.

The top 10 contestants will all be hitting the road July 1, with the two finalists, Davids Cook and Archuleta, leading the way.

Fellow also-rans Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Chikezie Eze, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns and Ramiele Malubay will make up the numbers for the stage extravaganza, which fans will no doubt get a taste of next Wednesday. Producers historically put their show ponies to work in several cheesily staged group numbers, aka filler, on the two-hour finale show.

Full itinerary after the jump.

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John Shearer/WireImage.com

The Redneck Woman is now an educated one, to boot.

Country star Gretchen Wilson received her General Equivalency Diploma in a ceremony in Lebanon, Tenn., Thursday night at the age of 34.

"This is something I promised myself a long time ago I would do," the new grad said. "I'm sure the fact I have a little girl in school is part of it. I want to be able to help her with homework when the time comes."

The Grammy winner donned the traditional black cap and gown for her strut across the First Baptist Church's stage almost 20 years after dropping out. Wilson, who left school in the ninth grade at age 15, has frequently paid lip service during interviews to the importance of her earning a diploma, not only for her own sake, but to set an example for 7-year-old daughter Grace.

Last year, Wilson finally took the steps toward completing her schooling, getting coursework from the Adult Learning Center in Wilson County to complete while touring. She took the final test on April 12.

If ever an occasion called for a "Yee-haw!" surely this is it.

Michael Hickey/WireImage.com

Forget her heart, Taylor Dayne is going to tell it to her judge.

The pop star, who broke through to the masses with 1988's particularly dated "Tell It to My Heart," was arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge in Beverly Hills earlier this year after failing a field sobriety test.

Just after 1 a.m. on March 6, the 46-year-old singer, whose real name is Leslie Wunderman, was taken into custody by Beverly Hills' finest and held for seven hours before ultimately being released on $5,000 bail.

While it's unclear why she was pulled over and tested in the first place, her attorney adamantly denies any excessive imbibing on his client's behalf.

"We intend to vigorously defend this case," lawyer Scott Spindel said. "Her blood alcohol was below the legal limit."

Dayne pleaded not guilty to the charge on April 16 and is due back in court on June 2. She's expected to be roundly forgotten again shortly after that.

Jerome Ware/ZUMA Press

As the saying goes, no T-Pain, no BET gain.

Based solely on his work with some of hip-hop's biggest brand names, T-Pain leads the list of nominees for the 2008 BET Awards with five nods.

The rapper grabbed three nominations in the Best Collaboration category for guesting on Kanye West's "Good Life," Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" and Flo Rida's "Low." Additionally, "Good Life" is up for Video of the Year and "Kiss Kiss" is contending for Viewer's Choice.

West and R&B singer Keyshia Cole tied with three noms apiece.

Guaranteed to go home with some hardware is Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and soul icon Al Green and Quincy Jones, who will be feted with the Humanitarian Award. The June 24 ceremony in L.A. will also feature performances from Nelly, Usher, Lil' Wayne, Mary J. Blige and Mrs. Nick Cannon.

Complete list of noms after the jump.

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BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM

Still the one? Not anymore.

Country crossover Shania Twain and her record-producing hubby, Robert "Mutt" Lange, have separated after nearly a decade and a half of marriage.

"Shania Twain and her husband, music producer Robert 'Mutt' Lange, are separating after 14 years of marriage," the couple's told E! News. "This is a private matter and there will be no further comment at this time."

The musically inclined duo tied the knot Dec. 28, 1993, six months after they met. Lange was the first to make contact, reaching out to the up-and-coming singer and offering to produce songs for her after hearing samples of her work.

They went on to work extensively—and on Twain's part, nearly exclusively—together throughout her career, sharing numerous producing and songwriting credits on the singer's multiplatinum albums.

Twain, 42, and Lange, 59, who split their time between the U.S. and Switzerland, took their collaboration outside the studio as well, welcoming their only child, son Eja D'Angelo, in August 2001.

Nancy Kaszerman/ZumaPress.com, Freedom Rock/Lustramusic.com

Music today all sounds the same.

Still, the L.A. band Lustra is wondering whether the Hannah Montana song “Rockstar” sounds a little too similar to its song “Scotty Doesn’t Know,” which was used in the movie Eurotrip in 2004.

A spokesperson for Hannah Montana mouthpiece Miley Cyrus directed us to Hollywood Records; the label has not yet responded a request for comment.

The band, of course, did have something to say in a press release. “If Hannah Montana wants us now, who is next? The Jonas Brothers?” asks Lustra’s frontman, Chris Baird.

Yes, we get the feeling he might be enjoying this.

Give the two tunes a listen after the jump. Then tell us what you think in the comments.

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Michael Becker / FOX

We're going to have a real humdinger next week.

With 56 million votes giving Simon Cowell the pairing he hoped for, Syesha Mercado was eliminated Wednesday, meaning David Archuleta and David Cook are left to sing it out on the seventh-season finale of American Idol.

"There's too many words...I don't know what to say," Mercado said before launching into her final song, an encore of last night's Alicia Keys cover, "If I Ain't Got You." "I just want to say thank you."

So, with that out of the way...

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HIStory, indeed.

Michael Jackson's Thriller, the 1982 album that turned the Gloved One into a pop superstar and went on to become the biggest-selling record of all time, is among 25 musical works selected today by the Library of Congress to be preserved in perpetuity.

Thriller and the two dozen other recordings added the National Recording Registry were deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" to America's aural history.

Thriller spent a year in the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts, spawned seven Top 10 singles and sold upwards of 100 million copies worldwide. A 25th anniversary edition was released last year.

Other notable inductees: the 1956 original cast recording of My Fair Lady; Roy Orbison's 1964 signature hit, "Oh, Pretty Woman"; Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' 1965 gem "Tracks of My Tears"; Joni Mitchell's 1972 album For the Roses; and Herbie Hancock's 1973 jazz fusion smash, Headhunters.

The latest batch brings to 250 the number of recordings contained in the registry. The full list of new additions after the jump.

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