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Friday, May 11, 2012

[Smells Like News] Phillip Phillips And Joshua Ledet: Let's Hope They Don't Win 'American Idol'

The track record for male winners on 'Idol' is spotty at best, and not promising for either man.
By Gil Kaufman

Joshua Ledet and Phillip Phillips on "American Idol"
Photo: FOX

When it comes to "American Idol", sometimes the only way to win is to lose. In general, the show has a checkered history of creating superstars, with only two winners who could legitimately claim that title: season one's Kelly Clarkson and season four's Carrie Underwood.

But until last season's anomalous Scotty McCreery (you kind of have to give him a pass because he's a country star and that's a whole different audience than the more fickle pop/R&B one), the show's track record when it comes to male winners  has been pretty dismal.

We bring this up because either Phillip Phillips or Joshua Ledet, or possibly both of them, will be in the "Idol" season 11 finale in two weeks. Both men have carved their own unique lanes and deserve a shot at the title, but unlike McCreery, at this point, neither of those lanes screams "platinum star."

Phillips has clearly skated through the contest on his good looks, earnest, "aw, shucks" demeanor, gritty vocals and did we mention how cute he is? But his foot stomping, growling Dave Matthews Lite sound is hardly the kind that is tearing up the charts these days. It's also hard to imagine all those squealing girl fans rushing out to buy a moody, jammy CD of introspective acoustic ballads seven months from now.

Similarly, Ledet has earned a legion of fans for his soaring, church-bred brand of old school soul. He has rightfully earned his praise, but his Al Green/Otis Redding delivery is an anachronism . Just ask Ray Charles impersonator and season five winner Taylor Hicks. Unless mentor Jimmy Iovine and his crew can figure out a way to pull a Bruno Mars on Ledet and make him seem contemporary, he could end up like Hicks, who followed his platinum debut by being dropped a year later by Arista Records and then plummeting into obscurity.

Hicks isn't alone among "Idol"'s male winners, either.

Season two champ Ruben Studdard rushed out of the gate with a smash debut in 2003, then followed with a poor-selling gospel album, a flop return to R&B form third effort and then, yes, a separation from his label and difficulty getting his swag back since.

Though he appeared on Wednesday night's show playing his new single, season seven champ David Cook has also gone from a platinum-selling debut to a second album that barely sold 120,000 and then being dropped from his deal.

The jury is still out on season eight winner Kris Allen. The first-week sales for his self-titled 2009 debut were the lowest-ever at that point for an "Idol" champ at barely 80,000, topping out just shy of 330,000. Allen's second major-label album, Thank You Camellia, is due out later this month.

The biggest cautionary tale of a cute male singer with a very specific sound and a seemingly inflexible will to do things their way is season nine winner Lee DeWyze. With a similarly low-key persona and guitar-strumming delivery, DeWyze set the new low bar for male "Idol" winner when his debut, Live It Up had the worst-selling first week ever for a champ (39,000), then fell 74 slots in week two before completely disappearing a short time later after selling less than 170,000 copies. He was, not surprisingly, let go by his label  a short time later and has been off the radar ever since.

Season 10 winner McCreery has turned things around, with a platinum debut and strong support from the country community, but with Ledet and Phillips unable to county on the loyalty of country fans to boost their post-"Idol" careers, they won't have the same built-in fanbase McCreery tapped into.

It's worth noting that even though female winners such as Fantasia and Jordin Sparks have not always reached the heights of Clarkson and Underwood, no female "Idol" winner has ever been dropped by her major label.

Do you think Phillips and Ledet have a chance at turning around the "Idol" male curse? Let us know in comments below.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Related Photos

'American Idol' Season 11 Performances

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 08:38:00 AM

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[Smells Like News] 'Dark Shadows': The Reviews Are In!

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's latest is 'ghoulishly endearing' but 'mostly unfunny,' critics say.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Johnny Depp in "Dark Shadows"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton's latest collaboration, "Dark Shadows," once again has the actor donning some white powder makeup, but this time around, their work isn't charming the critics as much as previous films.

The critics agree that Depp is in his usual top form and Burton's visuals still demand attention, but some issues with the script keep "Dark Shadows" from being all it can be.

Check out what the critics are saying about "Dark Shadows":

The Story
"As a child, Barnabas and his wealthy family sailed from England in 1750 and founded the fishing village of Collinsport in coastal Maine. They spent 15 years building the grand Collinwood Manor, where a maid named Angelique (Eva Green) loved Barnabas passionately, but he never returned her affections. Because she felt scorned — and happened to be a witch — she turned him into a vampire, chained him up and stuck him in a coffin in the ground. Nearly 200 years later, a construction crew unearths him and sets him free." — Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Johnny Depp
"Depp's performance is more than just funny — it's ghoulishly endearing. He caresses each line with great care, as if it were a piece of candy he's unwrapping, and he gives Barnabas, in his very 'demonic' intensity, a quality of almost elfin innocence that recalls the characters Depp has most memorably played for Burton: Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Willy Wonka. But 'Dark Shadows,' entertaining as it is, is a milder echo of those earlier collaborations." — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

The Script
"It's hard to suppress my preference for talking about the original over Tim Burton's film, which isn't a remake so much as a mostly unfunny camp sendup. The script by Seth Grahame-Smith is witless and meandering — and I wouldn't mind the witless so much if it moved, or the meandering if it were droll." — David Edelstein, NPR

Compared to Other Depp/Burton Films
"And yet I wonder if the ongoing Depp/Burton collaboration has its pitfalls. Depp often settles for posing and making droll faces, in reaction-shot mode, instead of building an eccentric comic portrait of any size. I long for the energy and invention of a performance such as Depp's Ed Wood in Burton's 'Ed Wood.' But then, that wasn't a $125 million international export." — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

The Final Word
" 'Dark Shadows' isn't among Mr. Burton's most richly realized works, but it's very enjoyable, visually sumptuous and, despite its lugubrious source material and a sporadic tremor of violence, surprisingly effervescent." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Check out everything we've got on "Dark Shadows."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos

MTV Rough Cut: 'Dark Shadows'

Related Photos

'Dark Shadows' Premiere

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 08:11:00 AM

[Smells Like News] Kelly Thomas Death: Two Officers to Stand Trial For Homeless Man's Beating

Two police officers in Fullerton, Calif., have been ordered to stand trial for the death of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old mentally ill homeless man.

Thomas died in July 2011 from injuries sustained during a violent arrest by six Fullerton officers, part of which can be seen in the video below.

Fullerton police officer Manual Ramos approached Thomas while responding to a call that someone was peering into cars at the town bus depot.

Surveillance video at the depot was running during the incident, and officer Ramos was also recorded by a device he was wearing on his uniform.

Kelly Thomas Video

Synced together, the audio and video formed the key evidence shown in court during a preliminary hearing to decide whether to try the officers.

Kelly Thomas, who is shirtless and sporting a full beard the night of the arrest, was a well-known fixture at the bus depot before that night.

In the video, Manual Ramos approaches him and tells him repeatedly to extend his feet in front of him and to put his hands on his knees.

After several minutes, the tape shows a visibly annoyed Ramos putting on latex gloves and, using expletives, threatening Thomas with his fists.

The confrontation escalates, and Thomas is seen trying to run from Ramos, who hits him with a baton. Soon after, another officer assists Ramos.

Thomas apologized and insisted that he can't breathe. In all, six officers tried to subdue Thomas, who is heard in the recording crying for help.

Thomas fell into a coma and died five days later after being taken off life support. Kelly's father, Ron, says the recording is too difficult to watch.

The judge reviewing the evidence this week halted proceedings as audience members gasped and cried out as the video was screened.

Ron Thomas says those haunting cries have pushed him to seek justice for his son.

For weeks last year, dozens of supporters rallied in front of Fullerton's police headquarters demanding that the officers be prosecuted.

Under pressure, the chief of police took a leave of absence, then resigned, and three City Council members have been targeted for recall.

Orange County D.A. Tony Rackauckas personally presented the case and took the extraordinary step of charging Ramos with second degree murder.

Officer Jay Cicinelli faces lesser charges, including involuntary manslaughter.

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 07:12:00 AM

[Smells Like News] Hollie Cavanagh Will 'Keep Going' After 'American Idol'

After her elimination, Cavanagh tells MTV News, 'It doesn't mean that my music career is over. It's just beginning.'
By Kelly Marino

Hollie Cavanagh performs on "American Idol"
Photo: FOX

After weeks of finding herself in the bottom three, the inevitable happened Thursday night: Hollie Cavanagh was voted off "American Idol" after failing to make America love her.

Cavanagh's voice always had incredible range but it was her lack of emotional connection to songs that was the judges' main concern. While the 18-year-old finally seemed to be coming out of her shell, she backtracked Wednesday night when covering Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." But Hollie insists her nerves never got in the way.

"I didn't really feel nervous singing that song," Cavanagh told MTV News after the show. "I really did love that song, and I definitely felt it, but I've said this every time. It's one thing for me to feel it, but if nobody else does, then that's not how a song should be performed.

"I definitely understood when Jennifer's like, 'You should have sang that to America,' but I think the way I've always been singing that song was just to a boy perspective. So that was my mindset. I love that song, and I don't regret that song at all, but maybe it just wasn't the right song for this kind of competition."

It's anyone's guess how the Southern belle with a peculiar accent managed to stay in the game for so long, but with only two weeks left until the finale, it's fair to say she put up one heck of a fight. However, she suspected her bullet-dodging streak was over this week, despite judge Randy Jackson's recent claims she was "peaking at the right time."

"I definitely woke up a bit nervous this morning — definitely a different feeling then I usually have every Thursday," the British-born Texan admitted. "But I felt like if I get through, that's great, but if I don't, I can't have any regrets. I can't think, 'Oh, I should have done this, I should have done that' 'cause if I do, I'll just drive myself crazy. So, I'm just thankful I have made it this far.

"I'm going to take the whole 'I'm peaking at the right time' just to keep going. Just because I am out of the competition doesn't mean I'm not going to grow. It doesn't mean that my music career is over. It's just beginning. This is just a door opening, so I'm just really excited to see how much more I grow and what happens in the future."

Moving forward, Holliepops, her nickname on the show, said she would love to make music people can connect to the way she connects with some of her favorite artists. And who might be one of her favorites?

"I love Mariah Carey," the pint-sized blonde said with a smile. "Her lyrics are just so powerful, and those are the songs you go to when you are going through something. I want people to feel that with my music. I just want to make hits. I want people to love my music, and I want people to feel what I feel when I am signing them. So, I'm just excited to just start singing for the love of it."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Did you agree with Hollie's elimination Thursday night? Sound off below!

Related Photos

'American Idol' Season 11 Performances

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 06:34:00 AM

[Smells Like News] 5/11/2012 09:26:00 AM

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 09:26:00 AM

[Smells Like News] Joe Jonas Hopes To Work With Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry In Pepsi Ads

New 'Live for Now' campaign encourages fans to live in the moment, Jonas Brother tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena

Joe Jonas
Photo: MTV News

What do Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Joe Jonas have in common? Well, aside from being internationally renowned pop stars, all three are involved in a new campaign Pepsi has just launched. "Live for Now" focuses on the motto "carpe diem" and celebrates spontaneity through events, digital marketing and, of course, musical partnerships.

For Jonas, the opportunity to spread that message fits with his own philosophy about living life to the fullest. "It's, I think, a good match. A lot of stuff that I love to do is spontaneous, last minute and living in the moment," he explained to MTV News. "And what better way to encourage people and my fans to be able to live in the moment? 'Live for Now' is tweeting about it and getting them involved."

As for being the face of the campaign alongside Perry and Minaj (whose Pepsi ads already debuted), well, for Joe, that was icing on the cake. "I'm in great company: Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, more people to come, it's an incredible little circle right now," he explained.

"So, hopefully, we'll all be able to do something together one day. But, as for now, just being able to do it individually and encourage their fans, my fans to get out there, or whomever, and be able to send in their little videos or pictures of them doing things that are in the moment."

And, he added, those moments can be big or small. "I love being able to travel, take trips," he said. "I called my buddies up. I literally called one of my best friends [brother-in-law Mikey Deleasa], he showed up to my house in New York, and I'm like, 'Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Let's go to Vegas. Let's do it!' We had an incredible trip. We went to the Mayweather fight, and living in the moment and having a good time.

"But, if you can't take Vegas trips on the weekend, there's amazing things to do probably in your area," he added. "Or, a road trip with your friends is always great."

Earlier this month, Pepsi announced that Michael Jackson, who struck a deal with the brand in 1984, will be featured on Pepsi cans as a part of the campaign. The cans arrive Stateside later this month.

Whose Pepsi ad are you most excited to see? Share your pick in the comments below!

Related Artists

Joe Jonas

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/11/2012 05:44:00 AM

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Sophia Rossi - Pink Chair

Profession: Model and Porn Star
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Country of Origin: United States
Province / State: IL - Illinois
Place of Birth: Las Vegas
Date of Birth: Unknown
Birth Name:
Aliases: Darlene Lust Maven
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 170 cm - 5 feet and 7 inches
Weight: 57 kg - 125 lbs
Measurements: 38D-25-35
Tattoos: none
Piercings: none

Rossi was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She began her modeling career at the age of 15. By the time she was 18 she had expanded her modeling career by traveling to Japan and Hawaii. Shortly after, she modeled in Europe which she described as "very romantic".

Then she took some time off, moved from Los Angeles, California to Scottsdale, Arizona and had two children. In 2002 she returned to modeling in Las Vegas for Mainstream Modeling. She had by this point appeared in ad campaigns for Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort and Harley Davidson, and worked as stage dancer for Kid Rock.

She has two daughters who she says look exactly like her, by an ex-husband. Rossi has full custody of her children as "her husband's insane and was molesting her children. The divorce is believed to have happened around 2003.

By early 2005 she was dating one of Jenna Jameson's bodyguards who arranged a meeting between the two of them. She was then signed to Club Jenna in March 2005 and had her first scene with Jameson in the film Sophia Syndrome.

She appeared in the October 2005 edition of Penthouse and was the "Hustler Honey" in the December 2005 edition of Hustler.

In 2006, it was reported that the Secret Service detail of former president Bill Clinton, who was golfing nearby, had interrupted a fireworks display of Rossi's then-five year old daughter Savanna.

In May 2007 she was released by Club Jenna after only three movies had been released to date.

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