Fan Fare

Joining (or leaving?) the ranks of singing divas on “American Idol”

There were just two certainties on “American Idol” after inspirational theme night with mentor Alicia Keys.

1) Singing anything by Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston is going to be a no-no when Randy Jackson is on the judging panel (and singing a song that both divas have already “made their own”  is just asking for trouble);

2) Crystal Bowersox must surely already be this year’s “Idol” winner;

Bowersox — dubbed Momma Sox by fans — abandoned her guitar to stand alone and sing a cappella for the first verse of “People Get Ready.”  And then she capped off a stellar vocal performance by breaking down in tears , uncharacteristically, on the final line.

Randy gave her a standing ovation, Simon said it was in a “different class,” and Crystal said she had got all emotional when she saw her father in the “Idol” audience in Los Angeles for the first time.

The “Idol” producers must be giving daily thanks that the young mom did not quit the show a few weeks ago when she was missing her family most.

But another early front-runner, Siobhan Magnus, should perhaps have known better than to have attempted the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston double “When You Believe” — even given her impressive range.

George Benson recounts “criminal” encounter with Beatles

As The Beatles take center stage in the music world this week with the much-anticipated reissue of their albums, it’s easy to forget that the Fab Four were not exactly adored by large swathes of the musical community back in the day. Jazz artists, especially, looked down on the noisy pop stars (or were more likely envious of their fame and fortune). 

“It used to be a crime for a jazz musician to even mention the word ‘Beatles,’” jazz guitarist George Benson recalled on Thursday, during a promotion for his new album at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles. 

“There was such a divide between rock music and jazz music … We just didn’t discuss anything like that.”

There were some notable crossover efforts, including Ella Fitzgerald with her versions of “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Got To Get You Into My Life.” 

“But among the instrumentalists, it was not possible,” said Benson, who was forced to keep his admiration for The Beatles a secret. ”I liked The Beatles. It just was against the law,” he said. 

But within weeks of the 1969 release of The Beatles album “Abbey Road,” Benson found himself in the studio, at the best of his label boss, doing a jazz version of the album with a chamber orchestra. ”The Other Side of Abbey Road,” complete with a cover that showed Benson carrying his guitar across the road, scrambled the order of the tunes, recasting most of them in medley form. He also sang on the album for the last time until his smash 1976 Warner Bros. label debut “Breezin.’” 

“It took me to a place I had never been before,” he said of the “Abbey Road” sessions, singing the first line of “Golden Slumbers” for good measure. 

Miley Cyrus “kinda bummed” about early release of Walmart EP

Miley Cyrus said via Twitter on Wednesday she’s “kinda bummed” that her new Walmart-only EP “The Time of Our Lives” went on sale earlier than planned, denying her a chance of topping the U.S. album charts.

The seven-track disc sold 62,000 copies during the week ended Sunday, Aug. 30, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, after hitting shelves on Friday. Albums are normally released on Tuesday, not Friday, but the shortened time span of three days of sale for Cyrus’ album was good enough to land it No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Wednesday.

The CD had originally been set to come out on Monday, head-to-head with Whitney Houston’s first album in seven years, “I Look To You,” which is now the unchallenged pretender to the Billboard 200 crown next Wednesday with estimated sales of about 200,000 copies. Cyrus is unlikely to match that, if for no other reason than the fact many of her fans already picked up her album over the weekend.

“Kinda bummed,” Cyrus wrote on Twitter (pictured at left in happier times, performing at the “Today” show in New York last Friday.) “My E.P. got put on shelves (with) my clothing line and got released 3 days early on accident “      A source close to the situation said the EP is tied in with her “Miley & Max” fashion line, which boasts a big presence in Walmart’s junior clothing department.

“In order to be prepared for street date, and subsequent assembly and stock placement of a huge number of display units, they put her CDs out early,” the source said on condition of anonymity. 

Emails sent to Walmart and to Cyrus’ Walt Disney Records label were not immediately answered.     It’s not clear if Cyrus would have gone to No. 1 anyway. Her previous release, the soundtrack to her “Hannah Montana” movie, opened at No. 2 in April with 136,000 copies. It hit the top two weeks later with 196,000 copies, buoyed by the movie’s first-place debut at the North American box office. She previously went to No. 1 in July 2008 with a 371,000-unit start for “Breakout” — her first album under her own name as opposed to her Hannah Montana alter ego.