This Day in Music…June 10

**adds a blinged out glittery gnome to the long forgotten Gnome Project To Do List**

Now this, I have to see!

OK, I like Rod Stewart’s music as much as the next person but…

But the fangirls knew the words and sang along! That kind of fangirl dedication must be incredibly rare, a once-in-a-lifetime moment for any artist…it has to prove something!

Yet another “voting” article:

Reality television shows are depending more than ever on viewer participation to guide the outcome of their competitions, asking audience members to vote on who stays in the jungle on “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!,” who should stick to a diet on “The Biggest Loser” and who keeps waltzing on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Those votes sometimes have more in common with Politburo polling, however, than with democratic elections. So when auditions for the next season of “American Idol” begin in Boston on Sunday, singers who dream of standing in the winner’s spotlight next spring will need more than just a set of well-trained vocal cords.

New York Times

As reported last night:

ANOTHER IDOL SIGNING: Simon Fuller continues to build his stronghold of Idol talent by inking Top Four finalist Allison Iraheta to his 19 Recordings label and licensed it to Jive Records. The 16-year-old red-haired rocker was the youngest contestant ever to make it into the Top 12. She had aspired to be on the show since its debut in 2002 when she was only nine. Her defining moment on the show was a performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” in the Top Eight round. She will go out on the American Idols Live! Tour 2009, which starts next month. (6/10p)

Rumor Mill

A new player in the concert industry:

In 1992, Ariel Zev Emanuel, a young operative with the struggling InterTalent agency, had a problem with the rent on a $639-a-month walk-up in the city’s modest Fairfax district. The landlord took him to court seeking eviction, and won.

Today, Mr. Emanuel has a $10 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood; a pipeline to the White House through his brother Rahm, its chief of staff; and a sprawling new talent agency of his own design, called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

which brings us to:

Mr. Emanuel is on the Live Nation board, but directors of the combined companies have not yet been named.

Mr. Emanuel’s position will be complicated by the merger of Endeavor, which had no significant music business, with William Morris, a music powerhouse whose performer clients will find their fortunes affected by deals with the new concert company.

New York Times

More sound & fury on the proposed PRA:

ON THE ATTACK: NAB continues to play hardball in the media as it lobbies to defeat the Performance Rights Act. Responding to a complaint filed with the FCC Tuesday by musicFirst alleging an airplay boycott of artists who publicly support the legislation, NAB EVP Dennis Wharton fired back: “This allegation is nothing more than an act of desperation by a record label lobby losing on Capitol Hill and in the court of public opinion. On one hand, it highlights the unparalleled promotional value of free radio airplay, which has propelled countless artists to stardom. We would also note that Will.i.am, a vocal proponent of the performance tax, and his group Black Eyed Peas are currently #1 on Billboard’s Pop 100 Airplay Chart with the song ‘Boom Boom Pow.’ If there’s an FCC probe involving the music business, it ought to focus on claims from numerous artists—from The Beatles to Prince to Cher—that they were cheated out of royalties by their record labels.” Go get ’em, tiger…although investigating royalty issues isn’t traditionally the province of the FCC. You’ll note that Wharton continues to hammer home the suggestion that the bill is a “tax”; very clever these broadcasters. (6/10a)

Rumor Mill