Jennifer Hudson News

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Natalie Cole called being left out of the finale of "American Idol" "very offensive," in an interview that was broadcast live today on CBS. Check it out below!

AXS TV will broadcast Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park exclusively in North America with performances from Bon Jovi, Elton John And His Band, Lionel Richie, and Jennifer Lopez, it was jointly announced today by AEG Live UK, The Royal Parks and AXS TV. The television concert event will air Saturday July 13 and Sunday July 14 from Hyde Park in London and will also feature Gary Clark, Jr. among other artists to be announced.

KIDZ BOP, the #1 kids' music brand in the U.S., has partnered with RCA Records and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX), the world's largest regional theme park company, to launch the 2013 KIDZ Star USA Talent Search.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Discovery Networks International (DNI) today announced the continued international expansion of OWN with a weekly block of OWN programming that will air in Australia exclusively on Discovery Home & Health.

Today AMERICAN IDOL executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick confirmed recent reports that they are exiting the show prior to the start of Season 13. The announcement follows a season of dismal ratings for the once-time reality show juggernaut.

Joanna Gleason won the Tony Award for her leading role of the Baker's Wife in Into The Woods, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. She launches this season's Broadway @ The Art House season in Provincetown on June 28 and 29 with An Evening with Joanna Gleason. Each performance will combine the East Coast premiere of a the hilarious and moving one act play Bloom, written for her by Emmy and Golden Globe winning writer Michael Patrick King (creator of Sex and The City & Two Broke Girls) with a second act of songs featuring special guests Well-Strung, and hosted by pianist/host Seth Rudetsky. For tickets, please visit www.ptownarthouse.com or call 800-838-3006.

When I found out the divine musical comedy was headed to the DFW area, I jumped on the chance to see it; buying tickets as a mother's day present for my own mom. To be honest, I went in with pretty high expectations. All of which we met and in some cases exceeded.

You know those dreams you have when you wake up suddenly, and all you want to do is fall back asleep and continue the dream? If you are lucky enough to see Dreamgirls at Maine State, you will leave the Pickard Theatre feeling the same way.

Waterwell announces that Smokey Joe's Cafe conceiver, director-choreographer Otis Sallid, and musician Aaron Jones will create a new musical based on The Pied Piper for their summer program. They join the previously announced Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer"), Bobby Cannavale("Boardwalk Empire"), Stephen Adly Guirgis (Tony Nominee, The Mother****** with the Hat), Megan Hilty ("Smash"), Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) and Beau Willimon ("House of Cards") who serve as Master Class Artists for the company's inaugural Summer Theater Lab. Casey McClellen and Kyle Pleasant also join the faculty.

News Corp's David Hill will now oversee AMERICAN IDOL and THE X FACTOR for FOX, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Today we are talking to a titanically talented and charismatic actor coming to a whole new audience this week with the highly anticipated premiere of the exceptional new USA series GRACELAND, although he is assuredly already known to audiences for his formidable stage and screen performances in a vast array of exciting and impressive roles over the course of his career - ranging from his early work in Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT in Central Park through to Richard Greenberg's TAKE ME OUT, and, most recently, CYRANO DE BERGERAC on Broadway to memorable TV roles on series like RESCUE ME, 30 ROCK and SEX & THE CITY to his appearances in films like last year's THE DARK KNIGHT, as well as GONE, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and many more - Daniel Sunjata. Touching upon many of his most celebrated previous roles onstage and onscreen, Sunjata eloquently explicates his process as an actor in playing various characters thus far - most of all, and with a special focus, on his current (and future) one on GRACELAND - in this extensive conversation. Additionally, Sunjata discusses his preferences for plays over musicals, teases his upcoming film LULLABY, expresses his enthusiasm for a DEVIL WEARS PRADA follow-up film, reminisces about 30 ROCK, recounts working with Woody Allen on MELINDA & MELINDA and more.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMERICAN IDOL's executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick will be leaving the show. No formal announcement has been made, and negotiations have yet to begin with FOX.

Thirty years after directing and choreographing the Odyssey Theatre's award-winning West Coast premiere, and following a wildly successful off-Broadway revival at the York Theatre last season, Bill Castellino reunites with musical director Gerald Sternbach to charm audiences with a revitalized, updated version of Ionescopade at the Odyssey Theatre, beginning May 31. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

BWW Asks, are viewers happy to say 'good riddance' to the dueling divas, or perhaps, were their antics the most exciting and inticing feature of this season's lackluster performance?

What happens when you cram together the star quality of Barbra, the riffs of Beyonce, Whitney, and Mariah, the sass of Stevie, and the deep, emotional soul of Aretha? You get Broadway star and old-school soul revivalist Shoshana Bean. A gifted powerhouse vocalist, Ms. Bean is one of those entertainers you just have to listen to live on a stage. When she sings, it's not just a performance---it's a full-bodied experience. Bean will perform one final free outdoor concert at the Americana at Brand on Sunday, June 2, from 3-6pm.

Nicki Minaj has joined fellow American Idol judge Mariah Carey in officially leaving the FOX singing competition show. Today, May 30, Minaj confirmed the news via Twitter.

Today, May 30, the diva took to Twitter to confirm the news, after months of rumors. She retweeted a post from her publicists, which said: 'W/ global success of '#Beautiful' (#1 in 30+ countries so far) @MariahCarey confirms world tour & says goodbye 2 Idol.'

After wrapping up his rookie season as a judge on FOX's American Idol Season 12, Keith Urban tells the Washington Post that the prospect of returning next year is still up in the air.

JOHN FOGERTY'S much-anticipated album WROTE A SONG FOR EVERYONE will be released May 28th on Vanguard Records, his first for the label.

To mark the Today, May 28 release of his much-anticipated new album WROTE A SONG FOR EVERYONE, JOHN FOGERTY will perform a very special one night only album release and birthday bash concert on the same day at the El Rey in Los Angeles.