Taylor Hicks’ new single, “What’s Right Is Right,” is available at all digital retailers today!  The track will appear on Hicks’ forthcoming album, The Distance, which is set for release on March 10th.

The American Idol Season 5 winner is keeping plenty busy on the road playing the role of Teen Angel on a national US tour of Grease.  In addition to the Grease performances, he will be headlining shows in select markets.  Check out confirmed dates below, and head over to iTunes to download ’What’s Right Is Right” today.

Please visit taylorhicks.com for more info.

Upcoming Taylor Hicks Tour Dates

Headlining Show in tour market

Jan. 20-Feb. 1                Proctor & Gamble Hall                Cincinnati, OH
**Jan. 24        20th Century                           Cincinnati OH
Feb. 3-8                        Hippodrome Theatre                  Baltimore, MD
**Feb. 7          Rams Head Live                      Baltimore, MD
Feb. 24-March 1             Music Hall                                  Tucson, AZ
March 3-8                      Civic Theatre                             San Diego, CA
**Mar. 5          Belly Up                                  San Diego, CA
March 10-22                  Pantages Theatre                       Los Angeles, CA
**Mar. 18        Roxy Theatre                          Los Angeles, CA
March 24-April 19           Golden Gate Theatre                  San Francisco, CA
April 21-26                    Keller Auditorium                       Portland, OR
April 28-May 10             Orange County PAC                    Costa Mesa, CA
May 12-30                     5th Avenue Theatre                    Seattle, WA
June 2-7                        Fox Cities PAC                            Appleton, WI
June 9-28                      Fisher Theatre                           Detroit, MI
July 7-19                       Kimmel Academy Music              Philadelphia, PA
July 21-26                     National Arts Centre                   Ottawa, CANADA
July 29-Aug. 2                Broward Center                         Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Aug. 11-16                    The Fox                                     Atlanta, GA
Aug. 18-23                    Tampa PAC                               Tampa, FL
Aug. 25-30                    Orpheum Theatre                       Memphis, TN
Sept. 1-6                       Bass Hall                                   Ft. Worth, TX
Sept. 8-20                     Hobby Center                            Houston, TX
Sept. 22-27                    BJCC                                         Birmingham, AL
Sept. 29-Oct. 1               Durham PAC                              Durham, NC
Oct. 12-18                     The Long Center                        Austin, TX
Oct. 20-25                     Bob Carr PAC                             Orlando, FL
Oct. 27-Nov. 1               Times Union                              Jacksonville, FL
Nov. 3-8                        Barbara Mann PAC                     Ft. Myers, FL
Nov. 10-15                    Kravis Center                             West Palm Beach, FL
Nov. 17-22                    Landmark                                  Richmond, VA
Dec. 1-6                        Ovens                                       Charlotte, NC
Dec. 8-13                      King Center                               Melbourn, FL
Dec. 15-20                    Chevrolet Theatre                      Wallingford, CT
Dec. 22-23, 26-27          Civic Center                               Des Moines, IA

Gary Barlow says that Simon Cowell feels a bit sorry about not singing in Take That many years ago. Gary denied that Simon Cowell ever insisted that Gary leave the band for him to join. He said: “No, Simon didn’t say that. I can see it’s a great story and he gets quoted saying it but I’ve asked him and it’s not true. He pointed us towards RCA. And you know what? I think he’s gutted he did that.” That might be so, but hey, Simon Cowell has a lot more fun nowadays shattering people’s hopes and dreams. Who knows, maybe not singing in Take That made him chose the path he still walks on today, like a sociopath who never got any hugs from his parents when he was a kid, and now runs around skinning people alive for a living.

If American Idol wannabe Emily Wynne-Hughes, the one who was willing to sell out her band for a chance at the show, manages to stick around for a while, you might get to see the first contestant perform with an alcohol monitoring bracelet. It turns out that the singer is smack in the middle of a DUI fiasco and has been ordered to wear a SCRAM bracelet. She’s also been placed on 3 years probation. The whole thing is over an arrest last summer where cops arrested her for allegedly driving drunk in West Hollywood. She copped a plea to a lesser charge of reckless driving.

David Cook, winner of American Idol Season 7 and the newest rock crooner in the block, is finally a free man after he separated with girlfriend Kimberly Caldwell. Caldwell is Cook’s fellow alumni at the American Idol talent search show and they in fact started dating after Cook won in 2008. Sources said the split up happened just before the holidays but the two have remained friends.

The separation came as a surprise to their friends considering that Cook was allegedly scouting for a ring to give his girlfriend. Among the selections included a 2-carat ring made of diamond and platinum which reportedly costs $54,000 at Tiffany’s. Rumor-mongers however claim the split-up was a result of Caldwell’s flirting and making out with handsome bar manager Ryan Der last December. Apparently, the cheating issue was enough for Cook to slam the door on Caldwell. This raunchy news might as well be a good opener for Season 8 of American Idol which will air Tuesday night on FOX.

Fox’s Jill Hudson is refusing to comment on reports from an American Idol fan site that American Idol is canceling its annual charity event, Idol Gives Back. For the past two years, the Idol Gives Back special has collected donations to benefit needy kids in the US and in Africa. The specials have included such big acts as Bono and Miley Cyrus. The rumor is that the event has been canceled for this year. Why? Apart from the finale, it’s probably their most watched show. More viewers means more ratings means more money. They’re going to be losing on that one if they do decide to nix the special.

The North Carolina home of former American Idol winner, now complete has-been, Fantasia Barrino has reportedly been seized and is going up for sale next week via auction. The house will be awarded to the highest bidder. I’m not surprised considering that she doesn’t have work. At least none that I know of. Plus, I doubt she got much from her previous Broadway gig after it was reported that she failed to show up for a good bulk of the shows. It sucks for her because I don’t think she has enough to pay to get her house back. That is why you have to work hard folks and not just make lots of excuses.

Kelly Clarkson has reportedly finished recording her fourth album and her new single is said to be called ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’. Producer Dr. Luke told EW that she will be back with a new song as early as next month. He also said “This one, which I think is the first single, we had the chorus a while ago and added the verse more recently. They were going to have it out on Nov. 20, but it just got too late. So now they’re thinking Dec. 8 for a worldwide release, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being early January.”

American Idol champ David Cook’s album is soon to be released. It’s scheduled to drop on November 18th. Check out the new album cover for it! The track list has also been revealed. The album has 12 tracks plus 1 bonus track which ism his winning piece on American Idol, ‘The Time of My Life’. The track lists goes as ‘Declaration’, ‘Heroes’, ‘Light On’, ‘Come Back to Me’, ‘Life on the Moon’, ‘Bar-ba-sol’, ‘Mr. Sensitive’, ‘Lie’, ‘I Did It For You’, ‘Avalanche’, ‘Permanent’ and ‘A Daily Anthem’. Well, we all know how ‘Light On’ sounds. I can’t wait to hear the rest of his stuff!

Blogging Friends

Does the name Carrie Stork sound good to you? Sources are saying that American Idol champ Carrie Underwood might be dating former Bachelor Dr. Travis Stork. The 25-year old singer has been touring America with her ‘Carnival Ride’ tour. According to the country music blog Nashville Narc, the 36-year old former reality show star was spotted with Carrie backstage at one of her concerts. Apparently, he had an all-access pass to one of her concerts. Travis, an ER doctor, is also the host of the CBS daytime talk show ‘The Doctors’ which is a spin-off of Dr. Phil which is a spin-off of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

American Idol champion David Cook has finally released his first official single called ‘Light On’ on Popeater. The chorus goes “Try to leave a light on when I’m gone/Something I rely on to get home/One I can feel at night/A naked light, a fire to keep me warm/Try to leave a light on when I’m gone/Even in the daylight, shine on/And when it’s late at night you can look inside/You won’t feel so alone.” Not only did David Archuleta beat him to releasing a first single but I think the little David will beat him in the long run. I’m sorry to all Cook fans but I just don’t think that the song is going to cut it. I think he’s better off with making covers – that or he needs a new set of writers.

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks told Entertainment Weekly that she stands by the comment that she made at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards but she wishes that she could have reworded it a bit. She said “It’s something I feel strongly about. I wish I would’ve worded it differently — that somebody who doesn’t wear a promise ring isn’t necessarily a slut — but I can’t take it back now. It was a split-second thing, and it came out kind of wrong. Still, I don’t regret it.” When she was asked about how she felt about 2008 MTV VMAs host Russell Brand, Jordin said “I have nothing against him at all.”

Believe it or not but Bucky Covington has a big fan base. It’s so big that an Illinois festival is actually trying to move mountains just to accommodate him. So it may just be the Grundy County Corn Festival but the fest’s entertainment director says that they are currently petitioning to use a new space. They haven’t gotten a yes or no. If they are denied, the 5,000 Bucky fans expected to be in attendance will have to squeeze into a venue fit for only 2,000. It’s being said that Bucky’s the biggest artist that the festival has even seen. The rest of the bill sees Slippery When Wet (a Bon Jovi cover band) and duelling pianos.

There’s something wrong going in your life when you’re booked to perform at a country fair with a load of American Idol rejects. Vanessa Hudgens needs to rethink a couple of things. Visitors to the Midland County Fair in Michigan were treated to the sites of Vanessa, former Disney star Raven Symone and American Idol alum Bucky Covington. Vanessa sang a few songs from the HSM soundtrack. According to reports, Vanessa also “displayed dance routines more adult in nature than the audience of mainly girls 10 and younger.” At the beginning of her set, Vanessa said, “This is me, on my own terms.” Apparently, her terms suck. A concertgoer says Raven was better saying “She was really funny, talking to us about her childhood. Vanessa was more into singing, but she wasn’t funny. She was really serious, and we could see her get all sweaty, too.”

If you said you were having American Idol auditions, you would expect a lot of people to show up right? In the case of Puerto Rico, forget it. American Idol held one of their typical open call auditions in San Juan, Puerto Rico recently and instead of the usual capacity crowds that line up practicing their awful renditions of tired Whitney Houston standards, El Nuevo Dia reports that only around 300 hopeful fool turned out. In contrast, 7,000 wannabes camped out overnight at auditions held in Northern California last month. In other words, don’t expect any of the current American Idol champs to come out with any Spanish-language albums anytime soon.