Do you believe American Idol is the “gold standard” over all other singing competition shows? In a new promo, Randy Jackson sure thinks so, and he’s got the success stories to prove it. Scotty McCreery has released a music video for “Christmas Comin’ Round Again,” off of his recent holiday album. Ryan Seacrest gives his two-cents on the Steven Tyler/Nicki Minaj feud. And find out where some of your favorite country music Idols will be appearing on TV in the upcoming week.

Carrie Underwood Cast as Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music >>>

Randy Finally Gets His Own Idol Promo

The past several weeks have seen the Idol promos focusing on the new judges. But finally, the original “dawg” himself, Randy Jackson, gets his own. And it’s very much in line with some of the previous ones where they take digs at their competitors while showing how American Idol has a proven track record of success.

Randy says, “American Idol is the gold standard now of singing competitions. We have people selling [millions] of records … And this show has truly permeated the whole world of entertainment. We are the original. We’re the Picasso. You can try to copy, but never duplicate.” Okay, that mention of Picasso is a little cheesy, but there’s no denying the point he’s making there is true. Names and faces of the Idol superstars flash across the screen throughout, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Daughtry, Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips.

Scotty McCreery Music Video: “Christmas Comin’ Round Again”

When Scotty McCreery’s Christmas album was released back in October, it sold 41,000 units and debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 chart. It even has been certified gold, meaning it has shipped half a million units so far. Now he’s come out with the music video for one of the holiday tunes, “Christmas Comin’ Round Again,” in which we see home videos from when he was younger as well as footage of him recording in the studio.

Ryan Seacrest Responds to Steven Tyler/Nicki Minaj Feud

The tiff between Steven Tyler and Nicki Minaj, as far as we can tell, is over. But that doesn’t mean we still won’t hear other people’s opinions on what went down. If you recall, Steven called out Nicki on her judging skills and said, “If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield.” Nicki pulled the race card in her response back, to which Steven then apologized and said he’s not racist.

In an interview with MTV News, Ryan Seacrest responded to the feud, or whatever you want to call it. He said, “Steven rarely says anything seriously; a lot of times when Steven says something, it’s in jest and he’s having fun. So my opinion is that he’s probably not saying too much seriously, he’s probably just having some fun.”

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Of course, Ryan couldn’t end the interview without promoting season 12 of American Idol: “You’ve got the legend of all legends, one of the greatest living singers [in Carey], so you’ve got some incredible perspective. Nicki Minaj is a candid and spirited and fashionista-type judge, and Keith Urban, [he’s] one of the nicest guys, a singer-singwriter-musician, and then Randy Jackson is the glue that holds it all together.” Is Randy really the “glue that holds it all together”? The producers/network demoted his position to mentor over the summer before reversing it, so he’s obviously not worth a whole lot. What do you think?

Upcoming TV Appearances: Country Music Edition

Carrie Underwood
CMT Artists of the Year (Saturday, 10pm, CMT)

Casey James, Scotty McCreery & Lauren Alaina
American Country Awards (Monday, 8pm, FOX)

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(Image courtesy of WENN)

Jeff Dodge

Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.