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Archive for the ‘American Idol Season 8’ Category

Danny Gokey

There appears to be a scam brewing with FramesDirect.com, the company claiming to be affiliated with Danny Gokey Eyeglasses. In a previous post I made on June 12, 2009, FramesDirect.com uses Danny’s picture to promote a Danny Gokey eyewear line stating that 10% of their proceeds go to Sophia’s Heart, Danny’s foundation for his late wife.  This is false!

Here is the proof:

June 16, 2009 UPDATE: Danny just tweeted this:
Many companies r claiming 2 partner w/ Sophia’s Heart (clothes, eyewear, ect).They r all SCAMS. We have not seen 1 penny nor been contacted

According to Danny’s tweet, proceeds DO NOT go to Sophia’s Heart Foundation.

More proof came when fans contacted FramesDirect.com for more information and the company replied that they were partnered with a Danny Gokey FANSITE, NOT Danny Gokey himself. As of to date no proceeds or donations have been made to Danny or his foundation.

‘We’ve never contacted Danny about our site, but we feel that he would really want this,’ Joe Monaghan of DannyGokeyGear.com says.

DannyGokeyGear.com — and the accompanying DannyGokeyBlog.com — are actually the property of Colorado Web Builders, a company run by a Denver Web designer named Joe Monaghan, and are in no way affiliated with Gokey himself, or his charity, though you probably wouldn’t know it by glancing at the main page of either site and that has, rather understandably, led to some confusion.

“But at that point, we were having problems with some of the glasses places in Denver, because they didn’t carry a brand that Danny wore on the show — Luxotica,” Monaghan continued. “So I called FramesDirect, and they were interested in helping us out. So we came up with a game plan — TV Guide would direct the viewers to our site, and we would refer traffic to FramesDirect’s site, where they would sell the glasses and donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.”

It all sounds well and good, until the confusion started. That led many to notice that the Gokey Gear site was not endorsed by the singer in any way, which, in turn, led FramesDirect to pull any mention of the Gokey glasses from the main page of their Web site. And that’s when alarm bells started going off across the “Idol”-sphere. Was this all some gigantic scam?

“To be honest, there’s been a lot of misinformation out there. So to clear it up, we’re not affiliated with the foundation or Gokey. They didn’t ask us to sell the frames for them,” Jennifer Cameron, a spokesperson for FramesDirect, told MTV News. “We were contacted by Danny Gokey Gear, and we decided to help out the Sophia’s Heart Foundation. It’s as if we’re doing a fundraiser for them. We’re not doing this to make money, and we still intend to donate a part of the proceeds to the charity.”

If there is no contract signed with Gokey or Gokey’s management to promote the eyewear line in his name, then this would be trademark infringement.

If you would like to find out how to hire Danny Gokey for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Danny Gokey booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. PFP is a top celebrity booking agent for American Idols, Christian speakers, entertainers, sports stars and celebrities.

Danny Gokey is back in his native town of Milwaukee for a few days at the Merrill Hills Country Club, home of The Greg Jennings Celebrity Golf Tournament, before preparing for The American Idol Summer Tour. Danny is still a big hit – so big that Greg Jennings, wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers, chose to give a 200K grant to Sophia’s Heart, Danny’s organization for his late wife. Milwaukee’s Habitat for Humanity will also benefit from the outing. The organization will receive 50% of the proceeds including money from auctioned items.

Danny confirmed that he is meeting with the 19 Record’s president to sit down soon with Sony National. Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta all have signed contracts. I am sure Danny will have no trouble getting a contract as well.

If you would like to find out how to hire Danny Gokey for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Danny Gokey booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. PFP is a top celebrity booking agent for American Idols, entertainers, sports stars and celebrities.

June 16, 2009 UPDATE: Danny just tweeted this:
Many companies r claiming 2 partner w/ Sophia’s Heart (clothes, eyewear, ect).They r all SCAMS. We have not seen 1 penny nor been contacted.

The June 12, 2009 post  is  false. 

See  June 16, 2009 story Danny Gokey NOT Affilated with FramesDirect.com

Danny Gokey, famous for wearing a different variety of glasses while performing on the American Idol stage, has started his own line of eyewear. FramesDirect and Danny Gokey are proud to announce that 10% of all the proceeds from Danny Gokey Eyeglasses will go to benefit Sophia’s Heart Foundation, a charity started by Danny Gokey in memory of his wife.

Danny has previously stated that he wanted to come out with a line of glasses. “I want to come out with a line of glasses,” says the third-place finisher, known for his fashionable array of eyewear. “And hopefully somehow tie into the foundation [his deceased wife Sophia's Heart Foundation]. Maybe some of the proceeds can help whatever we try to do for the foundation. I would really like to start a Danny line or a Gokey line.”

Danny stated he started out the season of Idol with only 15 pairs of glasses, but since appearing on the show, “glasses have been raining out of the sky,” and he’s up to more than 50 pairs. He also says he’d like to model eyeglasses as well.

In addition to having his own line of eyewear, Gokey says he’d jump at the chance to model glasses as well. “I would love to be an eyeglass model. I’m serious,” he says. “That would be so cool. I haven’t been offered anything yet because I’m just leaving the American Idol bubble right now. I hope I made glasses cool for kids. That was kind of the word that I got on the street—that kids were kind of excited to wear glasses again.”

“On the record, I would love to do anything glasses-wise,” he adds.

If you would like to find out how to hire Danny Gokey for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Danny Gokey booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. PFP is a top celebrity booking agent for American Idols, entertainers, sports stars and celebrities.

Adam Lambert appears on 20/20 Friday night on ABC at 10/9c. Lambert talks about his sexuality, stating that he was never out but always in. In the preview clip below Adam rehearses “Starlight” by Muse for the tour.

Below are several videos from the 20/20 interview including the preview and actual excerpts

Watch Adam Lambert 20/20 interview video preview

Adam talks about Rolling Stone Cover

Adam discusses his sexuality more in detail

Kris Allen

According to PR Newswire, Kris Allen has officially signed with Jive Records.

The following is an excerpt from the press release:

NEW YORK, June 8 /PRNewswire/ — It was announced today that 19 Recordings has signed Kris Allen, and his recordings have been licensed to Jive Records.

“As exciting as the last few months have been, I’m really looking forward to what is next,” says Kris Allen. “I’m very grateful to be working with Simon Fuller and his team at 19 Entertainment, along with Barry Weiss and Jive Records on my debut album. Everyone’s been asking me what it’s going to sound like. It will be very similar to what you heard from me on the show — definitely in the pop/rock genre. I can’t wait to get started!”

Jive Records has also signed previous American idol runner ups David Archuleta and Jordin Sparks.

Jive is also home to Pop/R&B acts like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and the Backstreet Boys.

Arkansas native David Hodges, formerly of Evanescence, wrote with Kris Allen yesterday according to his twitter. Hodges has worked with other Idol contestants such as Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, David Archuleta, and Blake Lewis.

Kris’s new album is expected to be released in the Fall 2009.

June 7, 2009 Staples Center – Kris Allen sings the National Anthem at the second playoff game of the NBA Finals between The Los Angeles Lakers and The Orlando Magic.

Kris Allen admits that he never sang the National Anthem in public before today.  “I just want to get through it and not make any mistakes,” he said Saturday.

Kris does a beautiful job. I really loved it! He sings a heartfelt and moving version.

Watch Kris Allen National Anthem video

The Los Angeles Lakers won the first playoff game against The Orlando Magic last Thursday.
The Lakers beat The Magic in OT Sunday night and now lead the series 2-0

Allen also said he would love to meet Kobe Bryant. It may just happen.

June 3, 2009 – Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly conducts his Idolatry interview with American Idol winner Kris Allen. Kris discusses his journey through American Idol and how he was shocked everytime he made it through another round. He tells the story of how Idol producers made him and his wife wear matching aprons to be shown in their video package. They didn’t want to wear them, but the producers insisted it would be good TV. Kris also discusses his “Renegade” duet with Danny Gokey and other interesting anecdotes  from the show.

Watch the Kris Allen Idolatry video and interview

If you would like to find out how to hire Kris Allen for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Kris Allen booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. PFP is a top celebrity booking agent for American Idols, entertainers, sports stars and celebrities.

May 30, 2009 – Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly interviews Adam Lambert. Adam discusses his journey on American idol with Michael Slezak who conducts  one of his famous interviews. Adam gives credit to Dilana, the runner up from the reality show Rock Star Super Nova for his interpretation of “The Ring of Fire”. I was a huge fan of Rock Star Super Nova because of Dilana. I would love to see a Dilana and Adam duet.

Listen and watch the Dilana Ring of Fire video

Adam mentions the Bill O’Reilly segment about his homosexuality and doesn’t make a big deal about it. He felt that it appeared to be a fair commentary.

Watch the Adam Lambert Idolatry Interview

If you would like to find out how to hire Adam Lambert for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Adam Lambert booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. PFP is a top celebrity booking agent for American Idols, entertainers, sports stars and celebrities.

May 30, 2009 – Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly interviews Danny Gokey in a five part interview. Danny has been frequently criticized throughout the season, but after watching the interview, I found out many things I did not know until this interview. Danny actually was at a disadvantage. Coming from a gospel background, Danny admitted that most of the songs he sang he did not know and he had to learn them from scratch.

Unlike many of the idol contestants, who were familiar with the songs that they chose, Danny had to learn the words and music. Danny also discusses the scream heard round the world and admits that he had no idea at the time how bad it really was. Danny also speaks of his wife’s untimely death and how he tried to not let that be the center piece of his story. I admire Danny Gokey for staying true to his values and his strong Christian faith. No one can deny that Danny Gokey’s gritty gospel voice has the ability to move people. With songs like “Come Rain or Come Shine” and Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”, Danny proves that he is not only an amazing singer, but he is a true inspiration. 

Watch Danny Gokey Idolatry Video

Danny Gokey is not only a strong performer, but he is one of  many popular inspirational speakers and Christian Speakers found at our agency. If you would like to find out how to hire Danny Gokey for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, you can request Danny Gokey booking agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency.

According to The Official American Idol website, tickets for the 2009 Summer Tour are on sale NOW! All top 10 finalists: Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy, Michael Sarver, and Scott MacIntyre, will take the stage on a 50 city tour beginning July 5th.

Here is the complete list of dates,  locations and where to buy tickets. Do you see your city?

Please note: All American Idol 2009 summer tour tickets went on sale on May 9th at 10am with the exception of the July 8th date in Vancouver, BC. Tickets for that show went on sale on May 9th at 12pm.  Disclaimer: Tickets sales are not affiliated with PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. Links to ticket sales were obtained form the American Idol Official website and are offered as a convenience. Click on the venue name to buy tickets!