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Watch: X Factor USA Auditions (Episode 2)
first week of X-Factor USA auditions has come to a close and we have the most memorable performances for you here.
Viewers had the opportunity to see a lot of talented individuals over the 2, 2-hour episodes but there are three that stand out to me.
The first is Chris Rene. Viewers of the show will undoubtedly remember Chris Rene. He’s the 28-year-old recovering addict who performed a song he wrote the music and lyrics for called Young Homie. Immediately after he was featured on the show, he became one of the most searched terms on YouTube.
The second most memorable audition (in my opinion) is Stacy Francis. Stacy is a 42-year-old mom who’s ex-boyfriend told her she was too old to make it as a singer. She performed with soul and instantly touched the hearts of millions. She told Simon “I don’t want to die with this music in me, Simon.”
The last most memorable audition for me was likely not one that everyone remembers. The trio The Anser really struck a chord with me and I absolutely adored them. I know they didn’t have quite the story that some of the other contestants had but they seem like raw talent and a group that I would actually buy a record from. They performed a unique version of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep combined with Britney’s Til The World Ends and they nailed it.
Viewers had the opportunity to see a lot of talented individuals over the 2, 2-hour episodes but there are three that stand out to me.
The first is Chris Rene. Viewers of the show will undoubtedly remember Chris Rene. He’s the 28-year-old recovering addict who performed a song he wrote the music and lyrics for called Young Homie. Immediately after he was featured on the show, he became one of the most searched terms on YouTube.
The second most memorable audition (in my opinion) is Stacy Francis. Stacy is a 42-year-old mom who’s ex-boyfriend told her she was too old to make it as a singer. She performed with soul and instantly touched the hearts of millions. She told Simon “I don’t want to die with this music in me, Simon.”
The last most memorable audition for me was likely not one that everyone remembers. The trio The Anser really struck a chord with me and I absolutely adored them. I know they didn’t have quite the story that some of the other contestants had but they seem like raw talent and a group that I would actually buy a record from. They performed a unique version of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep combined with Britney’s Til The World Ends and they nailed it.
Anti-American Extremists Among Libyan Rebels US Has Vowed To Protect
WASHINGTON -- In 2007, when American combat casualties were spiking in the bloodbath of the Iraq War, an 18-year-old laborer traveled from his home in eastern Libya through Egypt and Syria to join an al Qaeda terrorist cell in Iraq. He gave his name to al Qaeda operatives as Ashraf Ahmad Abu-Bakr al-Hasri. Occupation, he wrote: “Martyr.’’
Abu-Bakr was one of hundreds of foreign fighters who flocked into the killing zones of Iraq to wage war against the “infidels." They came from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Oman, Algeria and other Islamic states. But on a per capita basis, no country sent more young fighters into Iraq to kill Americans than Libya -- and almost all of them came from eastern Libya, the center of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion that the United States and others now have vowed to protect, according to internal al Qaeda documents uncovered by U.S. intelligence.
The informal alliance with violent Islamist extremist elements is a coming-home of sorts for the United States, which initially fought on the same side as the Libyan fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s, battling the Soviet Union.
According to a cache of al Qaeda documents captured in 2007 by U.S. special operations commandos in Sinjar, Iraq, hundreds of foreign fighters, many of them untrained young Islamic volunteers, poured into Iraq in 2006 and 2007. The documents, called the Sinjar documents, were collected, translated and analyzed at the West Point Counter Terrorism Center. Almost one in five foreign fighters arriving in Iraq came from eastern Libya, from the towns of Surt, Misurata and Darnah.
On a per capita basis, that’s more than twice as many than came from any other Arabic-speaking country, amounting to what the counter terrorism center called a Libyan “surge" of young men eager to kill Americans.
During 2006 and 2007, a total of 1,468 Americans were killed in combat and 12,524 were badly wounded, according to Pentagon records.
Today, there is little doubt that eastern Libya, like other parts of the Arab world, is experiencing a genuine burst of anti-totalitarian fervor, expressed in demands for political freedom and economic reforms. But there also is a dark history to eastern Libya, which is the home of the Islamic Libyan Fighting Group, an anti-Gaddafi organization officially designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization.
Gaddafi Defies Ceasefire As Forces Attack Rebel Stronghold Of Benghazi
Gaddafi's forces advance into Benghazi pre-empted an international meeting hosted by France on Saturday to discuss military intervention in Libya. The meeting will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders.
"We saw Gaddafi's tanks, cars and missile trucks less than five km away," a rebel figher giving his name as Mohammed told Reuters.
Libya had declared a unilateral ceasefire on Friday after the U.N. Security Council authorised a no-fly zone over Libya.
But the United States accused Gaddafi of defying international demands for an immediate ceasefire, and France's U.N. envoy predicted military action within hours of the Paris meeting on Libya on Saturday.
Libyan rebels said they were being forced to retreat by Gaddafi's forces. Black plumes of smoke could be seen on the road to the west of the city, a Reuters witness said.
"They were 60 km (40 miles) away yesterday, today they are 20 kms away and they can be here in a half hour to 90 minutes," rebel fighter Khalid Ahmed told Reuters at a rebel base on the western edge of the city.
"We have no hope in the Western forces," Ahmed added as around him rebel forces pulled back from the advancing frontline.
Elsewhere in the city, rebels also reported skirmishes and strikes by Gaddafi forces.
"Fighter jets bombed the road to the airport and there's been an air strike on the Abu Hadi district on the outskirts," Mohammed Dwo, a hospital worker and a rebel supporter, told Reuters.
He was speaking at the scene of an apparent firefight between rebels and what they claimed were two mercenaries who had infiltrated the city and were driving in a car which they said contained a crate of handgrenades.
The two men, in civilian clothes, had been shot and killed and rebels produced blood-soaked identity papers they said showed them to be of Nigerian nationality.
"We were sitting here and we received gunfire from this vehicle then we opened fire and after that it crashed," rebel fighter Meri Dersi said.
LANDING BY BOAT
Jamal bin Nour, a member of a neighbourhood watch group, told Reuters he had received a call to say government forces were landing by boat, but it was impossible to confirm the information.
The city has been so rife with rumours and hearsay that it is virtually impossible to verify due to lack of communications.
A unilateral ceasefire declared on Friday by the Libyan government appeared to have done little to convince outside powers to hold off on plans for air strikes to force an end to an increasingly bloody civil war.
Within hours of President Barack Obama saying the terms of a U.N. resolution meant to end fighting in Libya were non-negotiable, his U.N. envoy, Susan Rice, asked by CNN whether Gaddafi was in violation of these terms, said: "Yes, he is."
Gaddafi said there was no justification for the U.N. resolution.
"This is blatant colonialism. It does not have any justification. This will have serious consequences on the Mediterranean and on Europe," he said in comments reported by Al Jazeera television.
France, which along with Britain has been leading a drive for military intervention, will host a meeting on Saturday on Libya which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders.
"So I guess that after this summit, I think that in the coming hours, I think we will go to launch the military intervention," the French ambassador to the United Nations ambassador Gerard Araud told BBC's Newsnight.
Obama made clear any military action would aim to change conditions across Libya -- rather than just in the rebel-held east -- by calling on Gaddafi's forces to pull back from the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata as well as from the east. "All attacks against civilians must stop," Obama said, a day after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorising international military intervention.
"Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya ...
"Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable... If Gaddafi does not comply ... the resolution will be enforced through military action."
In Tripoli the government said there had been no bombing since it announced the ceasefire.
"We have had no bombardment of any kind since the ceasefire was declared," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told journalists when asked about reports of continued government operations in Misrata and other parts of the country.
Kaim said Libya was asking China, Germany, Malta and Turkey to send observers to monitor its adherence to the ceasefire.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Friday everything was ready to launch military strikes in Libya.
The United States, after embarking on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had insisted it would participate in rather than lead any military action. Obama said the United States would not deploy ground troops in Libya.
Wonder Woman' Adrianne Palicki in Costume- What do you think?
We now have our first look at Adrianne Palicki in costume for David E. Kelley’s upcoming Wonder Woman TV series. The look? None more pleathery. While I assumed that the TV show would go with a more natural looking costume along the lines of Jim Lee’s recent redesign, it appears that the show will go with a more old-school/we-bought-this-off-the-rack-at-Party-City approach. However, unlike the traditional Wonder Woman costume, this one will have pants. They’re tight, clearly uncomfortable pants that probably squeak every time she moves, but it’s a step up from the granny panties of Lynda Carter’s costume of the 1970s TV series. The costume for the new TV series also, ahem, “lifts and separates.”
Hit the jump to check out Palicki in costume. The pilot, which also stars Elizabeth Hurley and Carey Elwes, is currently filming.
The pilot was written by Kelley, who also serves as executive producer with Bill D’Elia (Boston Legal, The Practice, Harry’s Law). Jeffrey Reiner (The Event) is directing. Based upon DC Comics characters, Wonder Woman is from David E. Kelley Productions and Warner Bros. Television. 2011 NBC/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Justin Lubin.
Michigan Crushes Tennessee 75-45, Advances To Second Round
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michigan coach John Beilein was so worried about rebounding a day before facing Tennessee he joked he was going to box out a reporter in the hallway.
His undersized but plucky and relentless team got the message and then some – enough to send Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl to an early offseason of uncertainty.
Zack Novak scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers in a decisive spurt to start the second half, and Michigan beat listless Tennessee 75-45 on Friday in the West region to end a season of distractions for the Volunteers.
In only their second NCAA tournament appearance since 1998, the eighth-seeded Wolverines (21-13) turned a four-point halftime lead into a rout when they got hot from the outside and found a way to stop Tennessee freshman Tobias Harris.
After scoring 19 points and not missing a combined 13 shots from the field and foul line in the first half, Harris went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting as ninth-seeded Tennessee was outscored 42-16.
Stu Douglass, Matt Vogrich and Tim Hardaway Jr. all scored 11 points for Michigan, which shot 52 percent from the field and held a 36-26 rebounding edge in its 10th win in 14 games.
The loss was the eighth in 12 games for the Volunteers (19-15) as Pearl's future as coach is in question after he admitted lying to NCAA investigators.
Pearl has since served an eight-game suspension, forfeited $1.5 million in pay over the next four seasons and is working without a contract.
Athletic director Mike Hamilton, who had strongly supported his coach, wavered this week in a radio interview in which he said "the jury is still out" on whether Pearl will return.
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl Rips, Rebuffs 'Glee'
Dave Grohl don't wanna be "Glee's" monkey wrench. And Ryan Murphy isn't his hero.
Song play on words aside, the Foo Fighters won't be on "Glee" anytime soon.
Grohl, the band's lead singer, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the high school choir dramedy's penchant for using current pop music. He's not a fan of the pressure the show's creator puts on bands to give permission to use their songs.
"It's every band's right, you shouldn't have to do fucking 'Glee,'" Grohl told The Hollywood Reporter. "And then the guy who created 'Glee' is so offended that we're not, like, begging to be on his f**king show... f**k that guy for thinking anybody and everybody should want to do 'Glee.'"
The rocker went on to mention the dispute Murphy and Kings of Leon had earlier in the year; Murphy was upset that the band didn't want their music on the show, and their drummer, Nathan Followill, struck back.
"F--- you, Kings of Leon," Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter in January. "They're self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a 7-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument. It's like, OK, hate on arts education. You can make fun of Glee all you want, but at its heart, what we really do is turn kids on to music."
In response, Followill said, "Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating 7yr olds how to say f**k."Those comments were seen as homophobic by some -- Murphy is openly gay -- and following the criticism, Followill apologized for the words, though not for refusing the show.
Ironically, it was a dispute that "Glee" guest star Gwyneth Paltrow helped mediate, and "Glee" cast members have since been seen at Kings of Leon shows.
Still, it doesn't seem like that's in the cards for the Foo Fighters -- Grohl revealed that he's no fan of the show himself.
"I watched 10 minutes. It's not my thing," he told THR.
For much more on Grohl's dispute with "Glee," click over to The Hollywood Reporter
