Bowersox signs with 19/Jive label

6/23/2010
BLADE STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Crystal Bowersox perfoms earlier this month on NBC's 'Today' show.
Crystal Bowersox perfoms earlier this month on NBC's 'Today' show.

It's official. Crystal Bowersox has signed with major-label 19 Recordings/Jive Records.

This season's American Idol runner-up inked the deal Monday.

"I'm really grateful to be given this opportunity to make an album and let people hear my music," Bowersox said in a release announcing the recording contract. "And I'm looking forward to working with all of the folks at 19/Jive."

The 24-year-old from Elliston, Ohio, was the first female to reach the American Idol finale since Jordin Sparks won the title in 2007. Bowersox recently entered SoundScan's Top Digital Tracks chart with her singles "Up To The Mountain" at No. 32 and "Falling Slowly," a duet with American Idol winner Lee DeWyze, at No. 38.

"Crystal is one of the most naturally gifted and talented singer-songwriters to have ever come out of Idol," said Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. "The breadth of her talent is inspiring."

Added Barry Weiss, chairman and CEO of RCA/JIVE Label Group: "In addition to being a gifted singer, Crystal has demonstrated that she has a dynamic stage presence, and fans really connect with her sincerity and straight-forwardness. Crystal is in a league of her own and we look forward to working with her."

Look for Bowersox's debut album to drop this fall, most likely in November.

She, along with the nine other American Idol finalists, are rehearsing for the upcoming American Idol Live tour, which kicks off July 1 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit. The concert will land in Toledo Sept. 2 at the Huntington Center. Remaining tickets are priced at $50.50, and $70.50. At this point, the $40.50 tickets are sold out, but more may be released later. Tickets are available at livenation.com, all Ticketmaster locations, the Huntington Center ticket office, and charge-by-phone by calling 800-745-3000.

Fox said Monday that the age eligibility to audition for the upcoming 10th season of American Idol would be lowered from 16 to 15 years old. The maximum age to audition remains 28.

Auditions for the next season will begin July 17 in Nashville. Other audition cities include Milwaukee, New Orleans, San Francisco, East Rutherford, N.J., and Austin.

"The Bachelor" is flying solo again.

Jake Pavelka and Vienna Giraldi, the lovey-dovey couple who met and became engaged in front of millions of viewers on the 14th season of the ABC dating series, have called off their engagement, according to Pavelka's spokesman.

After choosing 23-year-old marketing representative Giraldi on The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love, 32-year-old pilot Pavelka competed on the 10th season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars and was eliminated fifth from the competition.

Only four of the 13 previous couples who met on The Bachelor are still together.

Poet Maya Angelou is inviting fans of Michael Jackson to be represented in a pointillism portrait of the late singer, who died almost a year ago.

Angelou met Monday at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., with artist David Ilan, who is putting together the tribute. Ilan placed a dot representing Angelou in the heart area on the portrait.

Ilan says he hopes 1 million people will each ask through a Web site to be represented by one of the free dots. So far, the portrait has 250,000 dots, representing fans in 180 countries. Pointillism is an art technique in which small dots are used to form an image.

To sign up for a dot: www.michaeljacksontributeportrait.com