On May 26, 24-year-old Lee DeWyze was crowned the 2010 American Idol. The former paint store worker from Illinois beat out single mother Crystal Bowersox. The star-packed finale featured pairings of several of this year's finalists with the original artists. They included Hall & Oates, Alanis Morissette, Michael McDonald, Joe Cocker, Alice Cooper, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, the Bee Gees and Bret Michaels, who performed for the first time since his near-fatal brain hemorrhage. The finale also featured several tributes to judge Simon Cowell, who is leaving to create an American version of his British The X Factor reality show. The X Factor is scheduled to launch on FOX-TV in late 2011. Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze have already recorded their debut singles. Crystal covered Patty Griffin's "Up To The Mountain" and Lee released his version of U2's "Beautiful Day."
Sherzinger Wins Dancing With The Stars
The Pussycat Dolls' lead singer Nicole Scherzinger won the mirror ball trophy on this season's Dancing With the Stars. In the final competition, she and professional dance partner Derek Hough beat Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek and dancer Anna Trebunskaya. A combination of the judges' scores and viewer votes determined the winner.
Degeneres Launches Record Label
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has formed her own record label called eleveneleven. The first artist signed to the label is 12-year-old Greyson Chance, who was discovered on a YouTube video. Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, and Lady GaGa's manager, Troy Carter, will co-manage Greyson. On May 26, Ellen announced on her show that Chance was the $10,000 winner of her "Wonderful Web of Wonderment" contest. The next day, she gave $10,000 to a second newcomer, California native Joseph Vincent, who she also discovered on YouTube.
Aguilera Postpones Tour
Tour producer Live Nation has announced the postponement of Christina Aguilera's 20-date North American tour. Live Nation's statement says, "Christina Aguilera's summer tour has been moved to 2011 due to prior commitments that the singer had made to her film Burlesque and to the promotion of her new album Bionic. The singer felt she needed more time to rehearse the show and with less than a month between the album release and tour date this wasn't possible." Bionic is due out on June 8.
New Album Releases: June 1
"To The Sea" by Jack Johnson
"Tried & True" by Clay Aiken
"Skeletons" by Hawthorne Heights
"Armando" by Pitbull
"See You On The Moon" by Tift Merritt
"Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album" by various artists
"Playlist: The Very Best of the Dixie Chicks" by the Dixie Chicks
Musical Events-Festivals-Benefits
On May 30, the 2010 National Memorial Day Concert took place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The event was co-hosted by Tony Award-winning actor Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winning actor Gary Sinise. Performing at the concert were Lionel Richie, Blythe Danner, Brad Paisley, Katherine Jenkins, Yolanda Adams and Kelli O'Hara. The show will air live on PBS.
The 3rd Annual Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival takes place June 3-5 in Enterprise, Alabama. More than 40 acts will perform at this year's event, including Kenny Chesney, Train, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Rodney Atkins, and the Zac Brown Band.
