Have you got plans for the weekend? Watching the Super Bowl...well, that's a given. I'll be doing that too, with some friends. Play some cards, eat some chili, watching the game. Sounds like a "Super Sunday" to me! Tomorrow, I'm meeting with organizers of various poker runs around central Ohio, so the Central Ohio Ride Guide for 2012 will be back on the website, soon! Have a great weekend!
Now...Music & Entertainment News:
KELLY CLARKSON: GETTING READY FOR HER SUPER SPOTLIGHT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ It's one of those performances that Kelly Clarkson is probably wishing that everybody will see _ but few will remember. The gig is the one she has coming up on Sunday: singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. She will belt on the Star Spangled Banner before the New York Giants and England Patriots clash on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. While one can imagine that Clarkson doesn't mind the high-profile exposure, no singer wants to be remembered after the game like Christina Aguilera was after last year's big game. She flubbed a line during the anthem _ and it got a lot of attention on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. She had to release a statement in an effort to quiet her critics. Others who have performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl include Clarkson's fellow ``Idol'' graduate Carrie Underwood, as well as Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond and Mariah Carey.
MIRANDA LAMBERT/BLAKE SHELTON: TO PERFORM AT SUPER BOWL PREGAME SHOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ It won't be the same as putting on pads, slapping on a helmet and trying to sack New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, but it is shaping up as a busy Sunday for Blake Shelton. He will be both on TV at the Super Bowl and on a show after it. Shelton and wife Miranda Lambert will team up for part of the pre-game package, singing ``America the Beautiful.'' And after the game, Shelton will be featured as one of the judges on ``The Voice.'' NBC is televising the game _ and will air a special edition of the singing contest afterward. The network hopes football fans will stay tuned and watch _ or at least not change the channel, so they can reap credit for at least some of that huge Super Bowl viewing audience.
KENNY CHESNEY/TIM McGRAW: BEFORE THEY WERE STARS
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) _ It wasn't quite like a scene from the old TV show ``The Odd Couple'' _ mainly because they didn't actually share an apartment. But Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw did once live in the same apartment complex. And it sounds like the two had some interesting memories. McGraw says he and Chesney have been friends for the past 15 or 20 years. And Chesney suggests it was McGraw who was responsible for most of the drama. He says he remembers that a girl once busted the windshield of McGraw's car with a baseball bat. And he says McGraw wasn't exactly timely with paying bills. He says it wasn't unusual for the lights to be cut off for nonpayment _ or for eviction notices to be hung on his door. But that never stopped McGraw from inviting Chesney over to sing and play guitar together.
``AMERICAN IDOL'' ROLLS THROUGH ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Single mom Rachelle (rah-SHEL') Lamb gets a golden ticket to Hollywood. She did a Faith Hill song for her ``American Idol'' audition, with her daughter standing by her side. Lamb told the judges she wanted to be a professional but her husband took her dreams away. He's gone and now she hopes to be on her way. Lamb is one of the 46 people from the St. Louis auditions to make it. Next week, the Hollywood round starts.
BILLY RAY CYRUS: SIGNS WITH AMAZON.COM ON BOOK DEAL
NEW YORK (AP) _ Billy Ray Cyrus is getting ready to tell all _ or most, anyway _ in a book. The singer is planning a memoir, due out next spring. The book will be published by Amazon.com _ as the online retailer continues to stretch into the realm of publishing books, as well as selling them. The company says Cyrus will discuss with ``great candor'' his career, both as a musician and as father of his daughter Miley. Don't go looking for the book everywhere. Barnes and Noble says it won't stock any of the releases of its book-selling rival.
``THE VOICE'' RETURNS AFTER THE SUPER BOWL
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- ``The Voice'' comes back for a second season after the Super Bowl. A second episode will air in the show's regular time slot the next night. Look for some changes this season. Miranda Lambert has been added to her husband Blake Shelton's team, along with Kelly Clarkson. Alanis Morissette and Robin Thicke will join Adam Levine's team. Jewel and Lionel Richie are being added to Christina Aguilera's team and Babyface and Ne-Yo will join Cee Lo Green's team. There will be nine hours devoted to the blind auditions, more than twice what there was before. And the battles will be two hours each instead of one.
SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS
UNDATED (AP) -- The Super Bowl's not until Sunday, but you've probably already seen all the cool commercials. Matthew Broderick returns as Ferris Bueller to hawk Hondas. It's been seen more than six million times on YouTube. An even bigger hit is Jerry Seinfeld's commercial for Acura, where he bribes a guy with money and soup from the Soup Nazi to be the first one to drive the NSX, but ends up losing to Jay Leno. That one's been seen more than seven million times. An Audi commercial showing how headlights can be dangerous to vampires has nearly 3 million hits already.




