American Idol Live Tour 2011 Update – Scotty Rules, Durbin Rocks “Guns and Roses” – Video

For all you American Idol fans who thought this year’s shows ended too soon you still have a chance to see your favorite idol live in concert in one of their 47 concert shows that run through September.

The 2011 Summer American Idol Live Tour kicked off last week in West Valley City Utah and all indications are that producers have put together one heck of a show.

The show rundown seems pretty well mixed between individual numbers and lots of duets, and crescendos with a group performance at the end.

Hard rocker James Durbin gets the crowd warmed up with Guns and Roses “Sweet Child of Mine before the entire ensemble bounces in and out doing individual and small group numbers.

Watch James Durbin Sing Sweet Child of Mine Live


Our spy’s on the inside say that Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone do a duet of Rihanna’s "California King Bed”, and Casey Abrams hits it out of the park with a version of Santana's "Smooth" while playing his signature stand-up bass.

All the girls join together for a tribute to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, and of course runner up Lauren Elaina gets the stage to herself for “Like my Mother Does.”

Related: Lauren Elaina sings “Like My Mother Does” - Video

Hailey Reinhart also gets a moment alone on stage for Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets”, and Pia Toscano blows away the crowd with “Empire State of Mind.”

Watch Idol Live Show Compilation Concert Video


Leading off for the guys is veteran singer Paul McDonald with his version of Rod Stewarts “Maggie Mae” followed by heart-throb Stefano Langone playing the piano while performing Bruno Mars “Grenade.”

Watch Paul McDonald Sing Maggie Mae Live


After a few mare solos, all the guys join on stage for a group rendition of “Animal” by Neon Trees. This was probably the worst and most awkward performance of the night.

But one of the best performances, and the one wanted by the crowd, was by odd man Casey Abrams who brought out his standup bass to croon to Santana’s “Smooth.”

Watch Casey Abrams sing Santana's "Smooth" Live


Once Casey hit the stage you could definitely hear a change in the tone of the crowd – they started to really get into the groove and as you know, Casey has that unusual groove that plays out well in front of an arena crowd.

After a short intermission Thia Megia belted out “Who Says” by Selena Gomez and Stefano brings out the rest of the girls for Usher’s “DJ Got Us Falling in Love.”

James Durbin gets the crowd wound up again with “Uprising” by Muse before Jacob Lusk performs “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross, and then is joined by Pia, Naima and Stefano for “You’re All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye.

Related: American Idol Jacob Lusk Arrested

And then it happens.

Scotty McCreery comes on stage for a group number and the crowed explodes. Scotty then starts his own private little musical set and gets the crowd on their feet with Josh Turner's "Your Man.”

Watch Scotty McCreery sing "Your Man"


McCreery follows with “Are You Going to Kiss Me or Not” by Thompson Square before launching into his hot single “I Love You This Big.”

Watch Scotty sing "I Love You This Big"


The crowd goes wild.

Scotty then joins with Lauren for a duet of “When You Say Nothing At All” by Alison Krause before the entire ensemble comes back on stage for the huge finale.

Watch American Idol Live Tour 2011 Group Finale


The American Idol Live Tour 2011 has only just started and tickets are still available for Los Angeles, Ontario, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Grand Prairie, Houston, New Orleans, Orlando, Duluth, Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Rosemont, Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Atlantic City, Newark, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.

As for next season, the American Idol producers have already hit the road for Idol season 11 auditions in Pittsburg, Detroit, Denver, St. Louis, Portland, and San Diego.

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Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald Engaged

We know Nikki Reed from the “Twilight” series.

We know Paul McDonald from American Idol.

Soon we will get to know them as husband and wife.

Just 6 months ago nobody knew who Paul McDonald was, but after his audition on American Idol that all changed.

The raspy voiced “Rod Stewart” sound-alike was eliminated midway through the season, but not before building a huge fan base.

When news broke midseason that Paul and Nikki were dating it took us by surprise as they had just recently met and both had busy schedules.

By the end of American Idol they were dating and appearing in public together, and just last night they attended the MTV Movie Awards together where she flashed a big fat engagement ring.

And today they announced they are engaged and have plans to get married.

Wow, things sure do move fast in Hollywood!

McDonald admits that he has never seen any of the Twilight flicks but now plans to watch them and see what they’re all about.

Nikki told E! News,

"He's the one. I love him and I don't care. I've never met anyone like him. I've never met anyone who has such a good solid heart and comes from such a good solid family and is just a genuine person. We have the exact same sense of humor. I've never laughed so much with anyone as I do with him."

Paul will hit the road later this month with the American Idol Summer Concert tour and Nikki is gearing up for the next “Twilight” Breaking Dawn release.



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Ex American Idol Paul McDonald Confirms a Relationship with Twilight Star Nikki Reed

I guess it really is a small world – even in Hollywood.

Paul McDonald, who was voted off American Idol last week, has admitted to a relationship with Twilight actress Nikki Reed.

McDonald told reporters in New York,

"Nikki is super cool, She's been real supportive of this whole American Idol thing. She's actually pumped up now because she likes my original material way better than all the stuff I have done on the show."

Paul says the two are officially dating but don’t have the chance to spend a lot of time together because of their schedules.

Nikki is currently filming the movie sequel “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” and is then scheduled to start work on the thriller “Downers Grove” - a thriller set at a high school gripped by an apparent curse that claims the life of one student every year, and the student who thinks she's next.

And Nikki is no stranger to Hollywood and the movie industry. She has spent the last ten years in some of the biggest movies out there like “Eclipse”, “Privileged”, “New Moon”, “The Last day of Summer”, “American Gun”, and “Lords of Dogtown”.

McDonald, in addition to his appearance on season 10 of American Idol, is the front man and lead singer for a band out of Nashville called “The Grand Magnolias”.

The group already has a new album ready for release and has a great preview of the tracks and featuring videos from the road shot during the winter of 2010.

The single “Sing Out” has become popular on the Nashville circuit and is one of McDonald’s favorite songs.

Watch Paul McDonald & The Grand Magnolias Album Preview Video


Watch Paul McDonald & The Grand Magnolias - "Sing Out" Live Video

Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone Entangled In American Idol Drama Off the Set.

It seems that some American Idol fans were so upset when favorite Pia Toscano was voted off the show last week that a grassroots campaign has been launched on Pia’s behalf.

Fans think there was a great injustice done by keeping Stefano Langone in the competition, and have been calling and sending emails to producers at Fox saying that Pia should be brought back to the show.

They have also been bombarding Stefano’s email and twitter accounts telling him he should bow out and quit.

But before everybody gets too excited they should know that Pia just signed a record deal with Interscope Records – ran by Jimmy Iovine, who has also been acting as mentor for American Idol this season.

Interscope released a statement saying,

"Pia is being signed to a deal with Interscope Records who are rushing her into the studio to record an album ASAP. We have started calling every top songwriter and producer in town to get an album together and rush release it. Papers are being finalized. It's basically a done deal. She's signing. They rushed everything but she's so excited."

In addition to the album, Pia will also be touring with the other top ten finalists on the American Idol summer tour – so everything has worked out nicely for her.


But what I don’t understand is why everybody turned on poor Stefano? He is actually a pretty good singer.

I would have thought that before going after him, people would have set their sights on Scotty McCreery or Paul McDonald.

I suspect this week we will see one of them eliminated.