Lauren Alaina to Drop Out of Finale of American Idol

I don’t watch the show, but this could definitely make for some interesting television this evening on Fox!

From TMZ:

Lauren Alaina may not get her shot to be the next “American Idol” because she has lost her voice …spies on the set tell TMZ … and it could be the break of a lifetime for Haley Reinhart.

We’re told during the rehearsal this afternoon, Lauren — who has been losing her voice — was supposed to sing three songs.  She got through the first, struggled through the second and was unable to perform the third.

Simon Cowell To Leave American Idol

Interesting. Simon Cowell announced today that he will leave American Idol after this season to bring his X Factor to the United States.

From Reuters:

Cowell told TV reporters in Los Angeles that he would be launching his own The X Factor” singing competition show on News Corp’s Fox in 2011.

“American Idol,” whose 9th season opens on Tuesday, is the most-watched TV show the United States.

“I am confident it will continue to be the No.1 show,” Cowell said.

From the New York Times:

“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell said on Monday he was leaving the top-rated Fox TV show at the end of his contract in May 2010.

Cowell told TV reporters in Los Angeles that he would be launching his own The X Factor” singing competition show on News Corp’s Fox in 2011.

“American Idol,” whose 9th season opens on Tuesday, is the most-watched TV show the United States.

“I am confident it will continue to be the No.1 show,” Cowell said.

Twitter Announcement: Paula Abdul Leaving American Idol

Oh, the power of social media and Twitter!

Paula Abdul announced via Twitter yesterday that she will not be returning to “American Idol” for the reality shows upcoming ninth season.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Abdul – along with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson – has been judging “American Idol’ since Season 1 in 2002. This surprising news comes just hours after it was confirmed that Kara DioGuardi is returning to the “American Idol” judging panel this season. Auditions in front of the judges begin Thursday in Denver.

Paula Abdul had been negotiating a new contract to remain on “American Idol.” She was said to be seeking a substantial increase to her current pay of between $2 million and $4 million. While Fox was said to be willing to go above $5 million per season, in the end the two sides could not agree on a final number.

Paula Abdul disclosed her decision to leave the show in a series of posts to Twitter. “With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to Idol,” came first, followed in quick succession by three more tweets: “I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon,” and then, “What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me” and, finally, “It truly has been breathtaking, especially over the past month.”

Dr. Lawrence Kutner Dies

Some of you may be asking…who?

Well, Dr. Lawrence Kutner is a fictional television doctor on House, starring Hugh Laurie, who committed suicide on last nights program.

I used to be a HUGE fan of the show but just haven’t had time to watch as much lately. Still, I’m saddened to see Kutner, played by Kall Pen, leave the show.

From the New York Daily News:

Popular television characters have been dying for years in stunning and unexpected ways, but few deaths have ever become the kind of instant communal experience that followed Monday night’s suicide of Dr. Harold Kutner played by actor Kal Penn on Fox’s “House.”

By the end of the show, viewers had been directed to an eerily authentic online memorial site, http://www.fox.com/kutner/.

The site includes a picture of Penn, Kutner’s birth and death dates, a mock obituary from a local newspaper, a handwritten note from fellow character Chris Taub saying he’s “p—ed off” and places for viewers/readers to add their own thoughts.

The site also offers a FaceBook link and other “information” about Kutner’s life, as well as memorial music composed by Hugh Laurie, the actor who plays Dr. Gregory House.

There’s a link to the real-life National Alliance on Mental Illness, which was promoted on-screen at the end of the show with a message inviting anyone with suicidal thoughts to call the Alliance number.

This blizzard of interactivity was almost as striking as the suicide itself, which came out of nowhere and left the characters on the show asking the same answer-less questions as the viewers.

Jessica Alba, Bill O’Reilly…The Latest Celebrity Feud

I love stories like this!

Jessica Alba is setting the record straight: Sweden was neutral during World War II.

From MSNBC:

Alba and Fox TV show host Bill O’Reilly traded punches last week after the presidential inauguration. After Alba told a Fox reporter that O’Reilly was “kind of an a-hole;” he retaliated by calling her a “pinhead” for telling a reporter to “be Sweden about it,” assuming she meant Switzerland.

“I want to clear some things up that have been bothering me lately,” Alba blogged on MySpace Celebrity. “Last week, Mr. Bill O’Reilly and some really classy sites (i.e.TMZ) insinuated I was dumb by claiming Sweden was a neutral country. I appreciate the fact that he is a news anchor and that gossip sites are inundated with intelligent reporting, but seriously people… it’s so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland.”

Although Switzerland is more frequently cited as an example of neutrality, Sweden did indeed follow a policy of neutrality during World War II. History point to Alba.

TiVo Now Selling Advertising

TiVo has announced that it has started selling ads on its pause menu, and marketers such as Mercedes-Benz and 20th Century Fox have already signed up. The ads can appear on the pause menu of either live or time-shifted programming. Pause Menu ads can be displayed on the pause screen of a live or time-shifted program, and TiVo will offer options to target genres or keywords within a program description.

From MultiChannel News:

TiVo, pioneer of the ad-skipping DVR, is looking to make money by selling sponsorships that appear when users hit the pause button.

The company said it has signed two initial sponsors for the “Pause Menu” ads: Mercedes-Benz USA, which will promote its GLK sports-utility vehicle in early 2009 by targeting football viewers, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which plans to promote the DVD release of Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who on Dec. 9.

“With the number of DVR homes on the rise, TV advertisers are facing a very serious commercial avoidance issue that must be addressed now,” TiVo vice president of marketing and product management David Sandford said in a statement. The launch of Pause Menu moves us another step closer to achieving our goal of providing a comprehensive suite of interactive advertising solutions designed to help the TV industry reach viewers in a DVR world.”