Tag Archives: Jimmy Iovine

Acevedo Named to the Social 25 as Part of Social Media Week Los Angeles

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Beatriz Acevedo is being feted for her social media skills…

The 45-year-old Mexican entertainment executive and Emmy-winner is among this year’s honorees in the Social 25 as part of the upcoming Social Media Week Los Angeles conference and other festivities.

Beatriz Acevedo

Acevedo is the founder and president of MiTu Network, which provides Spanish-language lifestyle programs on YouTube. When the network launched, it had 30 channels with about 15 million monthly views. MiTu now has more than 700 channels, and about 100 million monthly views.

MiTu provides content in English, Spanish and Portuguese, because many Latinos, Acevedo said, though they are Spanish speakers, prefer to search in English and watch English videos. Most traditional networks offer only game shows, soap operas and sports in Spanish, but MiTu provides “culturally relevant content,” including shows on Mexican cookery and raising bilingual children — free of charge.

“You have to pay a high premium for most Spanish channels, except for us,” she said.

Acevedo joins actors Sophia Bush, Caitlin Crosby and Marlon Wayans; Endemol Beyond USA president Will Keenan; Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind of All Def Digital; Beats founders Jimmy Iovine, Doctor Dre and Ian Rogers; Danny Gabai of Vice Media; and YouTubers Grace Helbig, DJ Skee; the Fine Brothers; Jonathan Skogmo of Jukin Media; the 26MGMT management company and Meridith Rojas of live-event company Digitour on the list.

The L.A.-based list recognizes the year’s “25 most outstanding individuals, companies, and brands influencing the future of social media.”

Honorees will be part of an event on September 22, opening night of Social Media Week Los Angeles.

Other honorees on the list include: Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins of charity Omaze; Sean Rad of Hollywood’s favorite hook-up app, Tinder; Jim Redner of virtual-reality company Oculus Rift; Jonathan Shokrian of online retailer MeUndies; author and speaker Marianne Williamson; and musician ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, whose social-media-driven latest album was the biggest in his decades-long career as a parodist.

The list also includes chef, author and starter of the food-truck revolution Roy Choi; Tony Horton of Beachbody Fitness (the P90X fitness empire); Bastian Lehmann of “Uber of stuff” site Postmates; Jason Nazar, CEO of small-business documents company Docstoc; and Abhi Nemani, the city of Los Angeles Chief Data Officer.

Along with attending the VIP event, some of the honorees will serve as keynotes and panelists during the four-day Social Media Week LA conference in Santa Monica.

Arbos the Last Man Standing on “American Idol”

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Lazaro Arbos isn’t only the last Latino standing on American Idol… He’s also the last man standing!

The 21-year-old Cuban American singer is the only male contestant left on Fox’s reality singing competition after Burnell Taylor was sent packing on Thursday’s results show.

Lazaro Arbos

Taylor is the fourth guy in a row to get the boot, following the eliminations of Curtis Finch Jr., Paul Jolley and Devin Velez.

Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine had predicted Taylor would be in the bottom two for his performance of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” along with Arbos.

Surprisingly, Lazaro whom Jimmy thought would be sent home was one of the week’s top three vote-getters along with Angie Miller and Kree Harrison. Even more shocking, Janelle Arthur landed in the bottom two along with Burnell despite her solid performance.

Carey Takes Her Place at the American Idol Judges’ Table

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Mariah Carey has taken her seat at the (judge’s) table…

Fox released the first official photo of the new American Idol judging panel on Sunday, with the 42-year-old part-Venezuelan singer sitting pretty at one end of the desk.

American Idol Judges

The photo, taken on the first day of auditions for the upcoming 12thseason, was released just hours after Fox officially confirmed that hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj and country singer Keith Urban would join Carey on the panel this season.

Original Idol judge Randy Jackson was also confirmed to return as a judge, after talks with Enrique Iglesias stalled.

The image shows Jackson sitting in his usual seat at one end, with Carey at the other end of the judges’ table. Urban sits on Carey’s immediate left, and Minaj is positioned between him and Jackson.

Ryan Seacrest, also pictured, is returning as host, while Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine is expected to return to provide commentary.

Auditions kicked off Sunday in New York. Other audition cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, NC, San Antonio, Baton Rouge, LA and Oklahoma City.

American Idol returns in January.

Sanchez Lands Record Deal with Interscope Records

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It’s official… Jessica Sanchez will be recording music in the near future.

The 16-year-old half-Mexican American Idol runner-up—who will be making a multi-episode appearance on Glee next season—has signed a new record deal at Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records.

Jessica Sanchez

News of Sanchez’s signing should come as little surprise to Idol viewers, who saw Iovine repeatedly sing her praises throughout Season 11.

Sanchez, who recently sang a rousing rendition of the National Anthem at the NBA Finals, will be releasing her debut album in October.

It will reportedly feature a more urban flavor devoid of the middle-of-the-road ballads Sanchez performed on the show.

Sanchez Delivers Three Standout Performances on Idol…

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She’s the last female finalist standing… But could Jessica Sanchez be the last contestant standing on American Idol? That’s the bold prediction made by Steven Tyler.

During Wednesday night’s performance episode, which included clips of the three remaining competitors’ emotional hometown visits, the finalists each delivered three performances. And, the 16-year-old half-Mexican singer did not disappoint.

Jessica Sanchez

In the first round, which consisted of songs selected by the judges, Sanchez performed Mariah Carey’s  “My All.” Jennifer Lopez chose the ballad, which she called one of her favorites, for its tenderness. And, the pint-sized singer with the big voice—dressed in an elegant navy blue mermaid dress, with her hair swept to one side—killed it, as la Lopez predicted.

“That was absolutely beautiful; perfectly the right song for you,” decalred judge Randy Jackson. “I think it’s one of the best times a Mariah song has been performed on TV.”

Meanwhile, Lopez said Sanchez sang the challenging song “so beautifully,” while Tyler predicted she’d be the last one standing at the end.

“When you sing, you make people hang on every night,” professed the Aerosmith front man.

In the second round, which consisted of songs chosen by the contestants, Sanchez took the biggest risk of the night by performing Aerosmith’s massive hit “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”

Dressed in a brown jumper with a chunky turquoise and diamond necklace, Sanchez flawlessly performed the Diane Warren-penned song from the film Armageddon and got a standing ovation from the man who originally recorded the song back in 1998.

“You just took a great song and made it greater,” exclaimed Tyler. “Beautiful!”

Hearing Tyler’s critique, Lopez told Sanchez, “You do not know what a big deal that is!” and commented on the finalist’s colossal finish.

“That note at the end. Oh wow! Sent everyone into the heavens,” said Lopez.

In the final round, which consisted of songs chosen by the show’s mentor Jimmy Iovine, Sanchez performed “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5. It’s a song Iovine believed would appeal to older audiences while allowing Sanchez to maintain her youth.

Dressed in a red blazer with sequined pockets, black pants and chunky ankle boots, delivered a Michael Jackson-esque rendition of the song that received mixed reviews.

“Perfect song, perfect voice,” said Tyler. “You nailed it!”

But while Lopez complimented the “perfect tone” in Sanchez’s voice, Jackson deemed the performance good, but not great.

“There was never a ‘moment’ moment,” said Jackson.

Sanchez Saved by Idol Judges Following Shocking Bottom Three

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In what could be considered a shock heard ‘round the nation, American Idol finalist Jessica Sanchez was thisclose to being eliminated on last night’s results show.

The 16-year-old part-Mexican singer, long considered “the one to beat” earned the lowest amount of votes after this week’s performance show, causing jaws to drop and drawing boos from the stunned studio audience.

Jessica Sanchez

While Sanchez’s fellow finalists were left in shock and awe, Sanchez began singing in a last-ditch effort to snag the judges’ save.

But before the San Diego-native could finish her rendition of Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson rushed the stage and took the microphone out of Sanchez’s hand.

“You ain’t going home! Go sit down!” declared Lopez, hugging a shell-shocked Sanchez, who had wowed the audience the night before with her pitch-perfect rendition of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stuttering.”

Moments later, Jackson implored America to think before they vote.

“We are saving Jessica without any doubt. For myself, Steven and Jennifer, this girl is one of the best singers in America. Please everybody … vote for the best!”

It was the first time the judges had rushed to join an Idol hopeful on stage, following the use of their special “save” privilege, according to Ryan Seacrest.

When asked if she expected to be the lowest-vote-getting finalist of the night, Sanchez diplomatically replied: “No, not at all. I don’t expect anything. I just do what I do. Whatever happens, happens. I just want people to know I’ve been working hard my whole life.”

But Sanchez wasn’t the only frontrunner to end up in the unexpected bottom three. : Fellow one-to-watch Joshua Ledet, whose high-octane performance had wowed the judges the night before, was also in the bottom three.

“Everybody did a good job last night but that shouldn’t be the bottom three,” said Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine, sitting in the crowd.

Idol’s Sanchez Continues to Slay the Competition

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It looks like there’s no stopping Jessica Sanchez…

Once again, the petite 16-year-old part-Mexican American Idol finalist with the gigantic voice showed her maturity and sheer talent during last night’s songs-from-2010-and-beyond-themed show.

Jessica Sanchez

During her rehearsal of the song she’d tackle this week—Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stuttering”—music executive/producer and mentor Jimmy Iovine couldn’t help but marvel at Sanchez’s singing chops.

“That voice can move anything,” declared Iovine of the pint-sized singer who has already wowed America with her interpretations of songs like Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”, Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” and Billy Joel’s “Everybody Has a Dream.”  “She’s got soul, power, finesse. She is unbelievable with that voice!”

Meanwhile, guest judge Akon commented on Sanchez’s maturing, telling her “You’ve got so much control for that age!”

And, when it came time to take the stage, Sanchez didn’t disappoint…

Sitting atop a piano in a shimmering metallic dress, black leggings and black knee-high boots, the San Diego native delivered a moving interpretation of Sullivan’s rare track.

“That was superb, I mean that was like at the highest degree,” decreed AI judge Randy Jackson. “You did an amazing job!”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez gushed about how beautifully Sanchez performed the song and encouraged her to take the American Idol audience and viewers at home on a journey every week.

“You have an amazing opportunity to take this audience… on a ride” said Lopez. “Take us on the ride every week; you can show us something we’ve never seen!”

Later, Sanchez returned to the stage wearing a shoulderless white blouse and pants with pink piping to  perform an energetic rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” as a trio with fellow finalists Joshua Ledet and Hollie Cavanagh.