andPOP » Jewel

NBC Finds Its ‘Voice’ For Season Two With New Celebrity Mentors

@coltondaniel — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:36:28 +0000

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NBC’s ‘The Voice’ has announced that they’ve enlisted more celebrity talent for their upcoming season – this will surely challenge those over at ‘American Idol’ the most watched show on television.

According to Rolling Stone, each of the show’s panelists will now be joined by two celebrity advisors from the music industry. Cee-Lo Green will be joined by other R&B heavyweights, Ne-Yo and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. Maroon 5′s frontman Adam Levine will have some help from Alanis Morissette and Robin Thicke while mentor Christina Aguilera will be joined by Jewel and industry-icon, Lionel Richie.

“I trust the show more than I trust the record industry at this point,” said Levine about reality show singing contests, in a recent Reuters interview. “It is a very tired format, but in a way this is a very fresh way of doing it.”

Another mentor, country-star Blake Shelton is pulling in two reality-show veterans – his wife, Miranda Lambert and Kelly Clarkson. That’s right, Seacrest.

“I chose Miranda and Kelly because they both survived reality television shows,” Shelton told reporters at an annual gathering of TV critics. “I just wanted somebody who could talk to them about what they were going through.”

Executive producer and reality show innovator Mark Burnett admits that the show’s success hasn’t yet fulfilled its expectations. Last year’s winner Javier Colon (who?) released his album and peaked at no.134 on the Billboard 200 album chart. That doesn’t even come close to the success of “Idol” winners in the vein of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

It’s impossible to predict success in the ever-changing music industry and even making a name for yourself in the Billboard chart is a huge feat. Though this season could change everything, again.

The new season of ‘The Voice’ premieres February 5 on NBC.

‘Something New’ Goes To Memphis and Meets Jewel’s Ex-Boyfriend

andPOP Staff — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:34:37 +0000

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Memphis, TN. The birthplace of Rock & Roll. The land of milk & honey for rock enthusiasts worldwide. Or is it? Korey & Jordan head to Memphis to experience its modern-day music scene.

Jewel Is Pregnant

andPOP Staff — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:43:05 +0000

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Jewel posted on her blog Tuesday that she is expecting a baby with her husband Ty Murray.

“We’re so excited to be expecting our first baby,” Murray told PEOPLE. “We always knew we wanted to have a child, and this time in our lives feels right.”

Jewel is currently in her second trimester, and the couple waited until now to break the news.

“I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive!” said the singer. “It was so hard to keep it a secret. I was worried I’d start throwing up on set, and everyone would be like, ‘Oh, she’s pregnant.’”

Jewel Elopes With Rodeo Star In The Bahamas

andPOP Staff — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:47:25 +0000

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Jewel and her long-time love have made it official–the couple eloped yesterday in the Bahamas.

The 34-year-old pop singer married former bull-rider Ty Murray, 38, during a private ceremony.

“They got married Thursday on the beach in the Bahamas,” an inside source tells PerezHilton.com. “Jewel is thrilled! It was so romantic. She looked beautiful! Her dress is gorgeous. The ring is gorgeous. They can’t be happier!”

The couple may be newlyweds, but they have been together for more than a decade.

Jewel first hit it big as a folk singer in the mid-1990s with “Foolish Games.” She has since released a pop album and a country album, and served as a judge on the country talent show Nashville Star.

Her husband, Murray, is a well known rodeo star. He has won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s All-Around world championship title a record seven times.

Jewel To Make The Move To Country Music?

andPOP Staff — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:51:52 +0000

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Pop-folk singer Jewel isn’t renewing her contract with Atlantic Records and is looking to make a country music album in the future.

The singer is hosting the next season of Nashville Star, a country music version of American Idol.

“I’ve been wanting to do that [release a country record] my whole career, and now might be a good time to do it,” she says.

Atlantic plans to release a best of Jewel compilation in 2007.

Jewel: At Home on the Range

andPOP Staff — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:50:20 +0000

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Though they’re 3000 miles and millions of records apart, Jewel Kilcher’s lives in Alaska and Texas don’t feel all that different. Sure, her childhood homestead in Alaska had an outhouse, while her current Texan ranch has full plumbing. And she doesn’t make her own butter or grind her own flour anymore. But in either place, the view through Jewel’s window is always of rolling fields, always of the open space she craves – always of room to grow.

That’s exactly what she’s tried to do on her latest record, “Goodbye Alice in Wonderland.” Like most Jewel albums, it’s full of introspection, self-reflection and a little bit of loss. But it’s not a boy this time – she’s still happily with her rodeo beau, Ty Murray. Instead, Jewel’s saying farewell to the fairytale side of fame, the side of fame she maybe got caught up in a bit too much on her last album.

Called “0304,” the record was Jewel’s first foray into the world of pop. And with a slick video for the lead single, “Intuition,” it was the first time most of the world saw Jewel in a bikini; a lot of people weren’t quite ready for that from the sweet Alaskan folkie.

“I think the press just made a bigger to-do over it than anything,” Jewel told andPOP from her home in Stephenville, TX. “And I don’t think they listened to the record, honestly. I don’t even think they listened to the lyrics of ‘Intuition’ or really saw the video to see that it was a satire. My fans that have seen me tour a lot know I do everything from country music to rock music, so it didn’t really surprise my core fan-base.”

Luckily, though, her core fans are all that Jewel has to worry about. While most artists would be devastated by the kind of critical failure that “0304″ was for Jewel, the negative reactions barely registered on her radar. And they sure didn’t influence the making of her new album.

“I’m in a funny position, because my first record sold 11 million copies,” she says without a hint of egoism. “I went from being homeless to being rich over night, and I’ve never cared that much for fame. Ever since then, I’ve got to do exactly what I’ve felt like because I’ve never needed anything. So I’ve always been able to follow my muse and do what I feel like was authentic.”

But there was one thing that Jewel didn’t feel completely authentic about during the promo campaign for her last record. That single, “Intuition,” was used by Gillette in a major marketing campaign for their women’s Intuition razors.

“I didn’t own 100 per cent of my licensing on that song, and so there were factors involved that I didn’t have total control over,” explains Jewel. “I wasn’t real happy about it either, but everything I’ve done since I do have 100 per cent control over my licensing, so it can’t happen again.”

She did repeat one part of that ill-fated album, though. “Fragile Heart,” a song from “0304,” was rerecorded for “Goodbye Alice in Wonderland.” It’s an odd move, considering one record is full of danceable pop songs and the other sees Jewel returning to more familiar, country-tinged territory. She just loves the tune.

“I felt there were so many good tracks on ["0304"] that nobody listened to,” she says, almost sadly. “I thought ‘Fragile Heart’ is a stand-out. I thought it deserved a shot – it may still not be the third single, it may never get a shot, but I thought it deserves it.”

Another piece of creative output from Jewel that may never get a shot is her latest book, a collection of love poems written for Murray. It was completed years ago, but she says that after considering how her boyfriend’s mom might react to the book, she shelved it. And though she still writes frequently – “I don’t always save it, but I write all the time” – Jewel doesn’t have plans for another book.

As far as Jewel’s concerned, she’s also finished with acting. Back in 1999, she appeared in Ang Lee’s film, “Ride with the Devil.” And in 2003, she had a guest spot on an NBC legal drama called “The Lyon’s Den.” But after some soul-searching, she realized that acting just wasn’t a priority.

“I was working constantly on my singing career and writing, and then I would have three days off and I would go to auditions. I just started thinking, ‘What am I doing? I don’t want to be more famous, I don’t want to be more rich,’” she says. “And I miss acting – I find it really challenging and scary and exhilarating, but not so much that I wanted to turn 60 and realize, ‘Holy shit, I missed the point.’ So I really let it go.”

Now, fully back on track with a new album, Jewel’s found a balance in her life between simple country living and the starry-eyed world of musical fame. There’s still a bit of “Alice in Wonderland” lingering in Jewel – she is one of the music industry’s biggest rags-to-riches stories, after all – but it’s a much more grounded version of the fairytale.

“I have the best of both worlds,” she says of her life on the ranch in Texas. “Ty pretty much runs everything himself, so I get to enjoy the ranch and ride horses and write. But it’s kind of funny because we’ll be at home, riding horses through the cattle, and then the next day we’ll be on a plane and we’ll be at an Oscar party. It’s kind of a kick.”

CD Review: Jewel – Good-bye Alice in Wonderland

andPOP Staff — Sat, 20 May 2006 14:21:09 +0000

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Singer Jewel seems to have given up her aspirations from her last album to be another Britney Spears and has almost gone back to her roots with her new CD, “Good-bye Alice in Wonderland.”

Jewel began her career with her folky-popish CD “Pieces of Me.” Up until her last album, that was pretty much how she stayed. But then there was a new Jewel who was no longer a girl with a guitar asking who will save our souls, but instead was a girl showing some leg, whose soul needed to be saved.

Luckily for Jewel fans, the old Jewel we all remember has returned with her new CD. “Good-bye Alice in Wonderland” is a collection of Jewel songs that die-hard fans will love. However, the CD is missing the pop hook that made her debut CD, and then her sophomore CD so wonderful, which means non-Jewel fans may not find it as exciting.

The songs chronicle her journey from her home of Alaska to her move to California before she was so famous. However, the CD does not have any songs that will be monster hits like “Who Will Save Your Soul” and “You Were Meant For Me,” but it does showcase Jewel’s amazing songwriting skills with songs like “Again and Again.”