Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest is reportedly finalizing a deal that would make American Idol's front man one of the highest-paid reality TV hosts.
Seacrest, whose pact with Fox's juggernaut expires at the end of next season, now pulls just shy of $5 million a year for his Idol work. His new deal with Idol producer 19 Entertainment, would extend his run by three years and deliver a "major pay raise," sources tell the Hollywood Reporter.
Read how Ryan Seacrest keeps Idol pitch-perfect
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Nigel Lythgoe by Mathew Imaging/ WireImage.com
Nigel Lythgoe is stepping away from the American Idol juggernaut, which he has helped exec-produce since its inception, so as to focus on So You Think You Can Dance as well as a brand-new project. But contrary to some online reports, he is not ending his overall relationship with Idol producer 19 Entertainment.In a statement explaining his decision, Lythgoe says, "Due to the huge success of So You Think You Can Dance, my summer will be taken up by travels to South Africa, Australia and Canada, to work on local versions of the show. [As such] I will step back from my day-to-day producing work on American Idol and will be devoting my time to a new venture with [Dance cocreator] Simon Fuller."Fuller, says Lythgoe, "is without doubt a man of vision, and I look forward to partnering with him on new and exciting challenges."Fuller in turn hails Lythgoe as "the best producer I have ever worked with. We are a great team and have shared phenomenal success. Under our stewardship, 19 [Enterta...
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Jordin Sparks courtesy Fox
Have you written a song deserving of all the glitz and cheese that is the American Idol finale? Then today's your lucky day. For the second year in a row, Idol creator Simon Fuller and his company 19 Entertainment are scouring the country looking for the perfect song for this season's finalists to perform. Last year's winning number, "This Is My Now," beat out 25,000 songs to become the first single for Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks.Songs must be submitted online between today and March 31. The entries will be narrowed down to 20, and the winner will be chosen by fans through an online vote that begins April 10. The winning track will be announced and performed at the Season 7 finale on May 20. — Adam Bryant
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Simon Fuller by John Shearer/WireImage.com
American Idol producer Simon Fuller is known for producing shows with high pop-music star wattage, but for his next series, he'll be going inside a less glamorous profession: ER surgery and life as an EMT.His upcoming drama pilot, Austin Golden Hour, has been green-lit by the CW and will follow action in real time, starting from each show's big starting trauma. The show will follow a group of tight-knit ER surgeons and EMTs in Texas, centering on their work and, of course, their personal lives.If this sounds familiar, the storyline was birthed from the experience of ER alum Lance Gentile, who cowrote the pilot. Think Fuller's up to made-up drama? Or will this series need resuscitation? I'm biding my time in the waiting room. — Anna DimondWatch American Idol clips in our Online Video Guide.
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The man who gave us Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and, um, William Hung — Simon Fuller — will receive the Producers Guild of America's Visionary Award on Feb. 2 at their awards dinner. Sadly, his beef tenderloin will still be overcooked, and his mashed potatoes lumpy.... For his charity work, Richard Gere has been given the Marian Anderson Award by the city of Philadelphia. — Ben Katner
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Jordin Sparks by Kevin Terrell/WireImage.com
It’s official: Jordin Sparks has signed a contract with Jive Records in conjunction with 19Recordings, the label managed by American Idol creator Simon Fuller. The contract was part of the prize the young singer won for nabbing the top spot on Idol. Her debut album is scheduled to be released in November. Her first single, “Tattoo,” is due to hit radio waves on Aug. 27. —Reporting by Marissa Klein
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Victoria Beckham by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
She may be Posh, but Victoria Beckham wants to set the record straight. “I’m just a normal girl from London,” says the British tabloid queen who hopes American viewers will see that side of her on her upcoming NBC special, Victoria Beckham: Coming to America.Perhaps that’s why you won’t see famous friends like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on the one-hour special, which airs July 16 and will chronicle the star’s move with her family to Los Angeles as husband David Beckham prepares to join the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.“It’s more a documentary than a reality show,” she says. Still, a major part of her real life won’t be seen on TV — her three sons, Brooklyn, 9, Romeo, 4, and Cruz, 2, won’t appear on the special. “We don’t ever allow our children to be photographed or filmed.”But she doesn’t rule out the possibility of future TV appearances. Simon Fuller, the creative force behind the Spice Girls, as w...
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The producers of American Idol will be back on the Fox primetime schedule this fall with a new series that will launch The Search for the Next Great American Band.According to Fox insiders, the new (and tentatively titled) series is American Idol for groups rather than solo performers. The show is expected to be on Fox's new fall schedule to be unveiled on May 16.Like Idol, auditions will be held throughout the country for bands that will compete for a recording contract. After the auditions and the usual scrutiny from a panel of judges (which is not expected to include Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul or Randy Jackson), 10 semi-finalists will perform live in front of a studio audience. Viewers will then vote for the favorites via telephone or text-messaging, with a competitor eliminated each week.Unlike Idol, there will be no age restriction on the performers who enter the competition. The groups will be asked to perform a variety of musical genres during the course of the competition.Fo...
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• As her soccer star hubby does his thing for the L.A. Galaxy, Brit beauty Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham will while away her time fronting a half-hour unscripted series for NBC. Exec-produced by American Idol's Simon Fuller, slated for a summer bow and revolving around Beckham's transition to life in Los Angeles, the show "will cross all genres, and hopefully surprise a few people," Fuller tells Variety. Beckham herself touts the venture as "really something different.... It's pushing the boundaries."• Bob Barker will play himself on an upcoming How I Met Your Mother, when "a voyage of self-discovery leads Barney to [The Price Is Right's] Showcase Showdown," exec producer Carter Bays tells Variety.• HBO has greenlit Generation Kill, a seven-hour scripted miniseries based on the true story of Marines fighting in the early stages of the Iraq war. The Wire's David Simon and Ed Burns will write and exec-produce.
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