Meet the American Idol Top 12

Here they are America, your Top 12!

After weeks of auditions and hard cuts by the judges, American Idol has revealed final 12 contestants.

But who has what it takes to actually become the fourteenth winner of the Fox reality series?

PEOPLE breaks down the contestants:

Quentin Alexander

Michael Becker / FOX

QUENTIN ALEXANDER, 21
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Audition City: New Orleans
Audition Song: "Royals", originally performed by Lorde
Why He Might Win: The Big Easy's own Harry Connick, Jr. has said that Alexander encapsulates the music scene of his hometown and his unique fashion and song choices certainly make him stand out from the crowd.
Why He Might Not: After an impressive first audition, Alexander has had a slow burn on the show with solid but quiet performances. And some viewers may not connect with his fearless fashions.

Clark Beckham

Michael Becker / FOX

CLARK BECKHAM, 22
Hometown: White House, Tennessee
Audition City: Nashville
Audition Song: "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World", originally performed by James Brown
Why He Might Win: Beckham is an experienced street performer who has already released his own EP. Having taught himself the guitar at the age of 12 and the piano at age 15, he's got a lot of ways to entertain the crowd aside from his bluesy vocals. Plus, there's that smile.
Why He Might Not: Beckham has not always gotten the best critiques from the judges, especially Connick, Jr., who didn't even think Beckham was ready to get a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Joey Cook

Michael Becker / FOX

JOEY COOK, 23
Hometown: Woodbridge, Virginia
Audition City: Kansas City
Audition Song: "King of Spain", originally performed by The Tallest Man on Earth
Why She Might Win: Cook definitely stands out in the crowd with her hair-of-a-different-color and quirky personality. Both her style and singing voice are reminiscent of another Fox talent, New Girl's Zooey Deschanel.
Why She Might Not: Cook's adorkableness her mission to make sure accordions become known for "more than just polka music" will immediately endear her to some but not others.

Sarina-Joi Crowe

Michael Becker / FOX

SARINA-JOI CROWE, 19
Hometown: Columbia, Tennessee
Audition City: Kansas City
Audition Song: "Love Runs Out", originally by OneRepublic
Why She Might Win: Crowe has the pipes of a Motown diva and the bubbly personality of someone you want to be your best friend. In other words, she's everything a classic Idol fan is looking for in a frontrunner.
Why She Might Not: Honestly, she's yet to stumble. But this would not be the first time Crowe was eliminated from the competition. This was Crowe's fourth time auditioning for Idol. Last season, she was eliminated at the Green Mile.

Adanna Duru

Michael Becker / FOX

ADANNA DURU, 18
Hometown: Diamond Bar, California
Audition City: San Francisco
Audition Song: "You and I", originally performed by Lady Gaga
Why She Might Win: The experienced singer has already weathered the stresses of a reality competition as a contestant on NBC's The Voice and has proven she is willing to take risks and change up songs to create interesting performances. Plus, Duru was personally selected by the judges to be put in the Top 12 as a wildcard.
Why She Might Not: As a wildcard, Duru was not voted into the Top 12 by America and therefore might not have the fan base necessary to make it to the finale. Then again, season 2 finalist Clay Aiken was a wildcard.

Nick Fradiani

Michael Becker / FOX

NICK FRADIANI, 29
Hometown: Guilford, Connecticut
Audition City: Brooklyn
Audition Song: "In Your Eyes", originally performed by Peter Gabriel
Why He Might Win: Fradiani previously competed with his band Beach Avenue on NBC's America's Got Talent and now he has gone solo with his Adam Levine-esque good looks and cool, rocker swagger that is sure to get the audience swooning.
Why He Might Not: Fradiani is the most experienced of the Top 12 contestants, but that is because he is the oldest – by many years. Younger Idol voters may not easily identify with the 29-year-old.

Jackie "Jax" Cole

Michael Becker / FOX

JACKIE "JAX" COLE, 18
Hometown: East Brunswick, New Jersey
Audition City: Brooklyn
Audition Song: "I Want to Hold Your Hand", originally performed by The Beatles
Why She Might Win: The teenager already has a rabid fan base complete with a name (" The Jax Pax") and a symbol (crossing their forearms into an X). And she has the musicality to back-up the adoration.
Why She Might Not: Cole's face bling and alternative image is part of why some viewers love her, but it could also cost her some potential votes.

Tyanna Jones

Michael Becker / FOX

TYANNA JONES, 16Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Audition City: San Francisco
Audition Song: "Wings", originally performed by Little Mix
Why She Might Win: Jones has a voice with a richness far beyond her 16 years. And her youthful energy is infectious.
Why She Might Not: Her energy (and nerves) often results in performances that can come off a little wild. She'll need to learn to rein in and harness her power if she wants to take the title.

Qaasim Middleton

Michael Becker / FOX

QAASIM MIDDLETON, 19
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Audition City: Brooklyn
Audition Song: "Sir Duke", originally performed by Stevie Wonder
Why He Might Win: Middleton is the showman of the group. Audiences have come to expect a high-energy, crowd-pleasing performance from him – and he has yet to disappoint.
Why He Might Not: The judges have already asked Middleton to show a different side of his talents and to choose songs that actually show off his vocal abilities rather than just his showmanship.

Rayvon Owen

Michael Becker / FOX

RAYVON OWEN, 23
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
Audition City: San Francisco
Audition Song: "Wide Awake", originally performed by Katy Perry
Why He Might Win: With his silky smooth voice and range for days, Owen might have the most commercially viable sound among his fellow male contestants. Also, it's already evident he can write a catchy tune!
Why He Might Not: Though Owen is clearly gifted, his quietness may get lost among the more boisterous performers.

Daniel Seavey

Michael Becker / FOX

DANIEL SEAVEY, 15
Hometown: Vancouver, Washington
Audition City: San Francisco
Audition Song: "Hallelujah", originally performed by Jeff Buckley and "Straight Up", originally performed by Paula Abdul
Why He Might Win: The young girls in the audience go CRAZY for this talented – and adorable – teen. And though he is only 15, Seavey has already mastered multiple instruments and has been diligently working on his vocals as his voice changes.
Why He Might Not: Throughout the audition process, the judges frequently debated whether Seavey is old enough to handle the competition. Connick, Jr. is always quick to point out that Seavey does not have the same polish as his older competitors.

Maddie Walker

Michael Becker / FOX

MADDIE WALKER, 17
Hometown: Ankeny, Iowa
Audition City: Brooklyn
Audition Song: "Suitcase", originally performed by Gwen Sebastian
Why She Might Win: Walker has the unusual distinction of being the only country artist in the Top 12. This gives her a built-in fan base but she has the vocal chops to earn their votes and isn't afraid to tackle other genres, which will serve her well as the competition goes forward.
Why She Might Not: The judges had Walker do a sing-off against another contestant and she barely won out. And the judges eliminated her last season because of inexperience. Has she grown enough over the past year to win the whole thing?

American Idol airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

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Tyson Beckford Is Joining the Chippendales!

Tyson Beckford just upped your bachelorette party game.

The model and actor (featured in PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive 2013 issue – see below!) will be joining the Chippendales in Las Vegas as their celebrity guest host this spring.

"I am really excited to join the Chippendales show in Las Vegas," Beckford tells PEOPLE exclusively. "These guys provide a flirty and sexy yet playful experience for women, and being a part of that party each night just seems like fun."

Beckford, 44, will hit the stage and show some skin with the iconic male revue from April 30 to May 24 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Sin City.



He follows previous celebrity guest host Ian Ziering, who sold out two engagements in June 2013. Also featured in the Chippendales' newly-revamped Vegas production? Veteran Chipps (and Amazing Race alumni) Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis.

See you in Vegas.

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ÉquipeCéline vous informe Comments for this News article

Le Président et Chef de la direction des Productions Feeling, Aldo Giampaolo, confirme la nouvelle que les musiciens Claude « Mégo » Lemay, Yves Frulla, André Coutu et Jean-Seb Carré ne feront plus partie du band de Céline, leur contrat se terminant le 15 mars cette année.

« C’est une décision qui a été des plus difficiles à prendre mais que j’ai jugé nécessaire pour donner un souffle nouveau au spectacle », commente Aldo. « Céline et René se joignent à moi pour les remercier d’avoir partagé leur grand talent au cours des dernières années et nous leur souhaitons à tous les quatre le meilleur des succès dans leurs projets futurs ».

Par ailleurs, M. Giampaolo tient à rassurer le public et les fans de Céline quant à son retour prochain sur scène. Pour l’instant aucune date n’est déterminée.

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Hillary Clinton Defends Use of Private Email Account: 'It Was More Convenient'

Hillary Clinton has responded to critics accusing her of not being transparent in using a private email system, saying it was simply easier to rely on one phone.

"When I got to work as secretary of state, I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed," Clinton, 67, said during a televised news conference Tuesday. "I thought it would be easier to carry just one device ... looking back, it would have been better if I simply used one [email account]."

The politician addressed the controversy after giving a speech on women's empowerment at the United Nations. Clinton came under fire earlier this month when the public learned she had used a private email address and "home-brew network" during her time in President Barack Obama's cabinet from 2009-13.

That's a problem for journalists requesting records through the Freedom of Information Act and Benghazi investigators who have subpoenaed Clinton.



But Clinton insisted it is "undisputed" that the State Department okayed her email arrangement. Furthermore, she said most of her messages were sent to federal government employees to be "captured and preserved immediately," and that she already supplied officials with nearly 55,000 pages of work-related emails – and went a step further by urging the department to publicly release them.

"We went through a thorough process," she said. "At the end, I chose not to keep my private, personal emails, about planning [my daughter] Chelsea's wedding or my mother's funeral arrangements."

In the end, the likely 2016 presidential candidate said even though she didn't break any rules and never sent classified information over her private email, hindsight is 20/20.

"Looking back, it would have been better ... to use two separate phones," she said. "I thought one device would be simpler, and obviously, it hasn't worked out that way."

Until Tuesday, Clinton had only addressed the controversy with a brief Tweet.

I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2015

When she took the podium Tuesday, Clinton first spoke about her passion for gender equality ("There has never been a better time in history to be female") and blasted a group of Republicans for writing an open letter to Iran about nuclear negotiations.

"The recent letter from Republican senators was out of step with the best traditions of American leadership, and one has to ask what the purpose of this letter was," she said. "Either these senators were trying to be helpful to Iranians, or harmful to the commander in chief."

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Is Kaitlyn or Britt the Next Bachelorette?

So … who's the next Bachelorette?

Stop reading now if you don't want spoilers about Monday's finale of The Bachelor or who will be handing out the roses on the next season of The Bachelorette.

After we learned which lady Chris Soules is now calling his "soulmate," another question remained: Who among the rest of the women would be chosen for her own journey to find love.

Well, if you've been wondering whether it would be Britt Nilsson or Kaitlyn Bristowe for season 11, you've been asking the wrong question – it's not an either/or scenario.



Both ladies will be kicking off next season of ABC's hit reality romance franchise.

For the first time in Bachelorette history, the premiere of season 11 will have 25 potential suitors choosing whether they want to get to know one woman or the other.

Host Chris Harrison announced the big news during the After the Final Rose special on Monday. "See, sometimes I'm actually being honest when I say it's a shocking moment," he joked.

Though they'll ultimately be opponents, Britt and Kaitlyn walked onstage hand-in-hand. When she learned that she wouldn't be the sole Bachelorette, Kaitlyn said, laughing: "I think what went through my mind was, 'That's not ideal.' "

"I'm super grateful," said Britt. "I think it's an amazing opportunity."

Get your applications ready, gentlemen – Britt and Kaitlyn promised to spend some time in the same hot tub together. "It will be fun," said Britt. "It will be a lot of things," Kaitlyn added. "Fun might be one of them."

Ever since Britt's departure from The Bachelor in advance of the hometown dates, she has been a polarizing figure. Love her or hate her, there's no way you don't have an opinion on Britt (and her fabulous array of lip colors).

Equally equipped with a dazzling collection of lipstick was Kaitlyn, whose casual beauty and absurd – sometimes dirty – sense of humor made her an easy favorite.

That said, given this dramatic new twist, it's clear that either Britt or Kaitlyn's next chance at Bachelorette fame will be as short as Jillian's shorts.

This is the second time that the franchise has pulled this trick. All the way back in 2004, season 6 of The Bachelor held a "Ladies' Choice Ceremony," where 25 women were offered the choice between Jay Overbye and Byron Velvick.

As any Bachelor scholar knows, Velvick ended up being the ladies' choice. He proposed to Mary Delgado in the finale, and the couple split five years later.

Now that the Bachelorettes have kind of been chosen, we're left with the same question as before: Britt or Kaitlyn? Who do you want to see for an entire season of The Bachelorette?

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Lena Dunham: I Won't Marry Jack Antonoff Until Everyone Can Get Married in All 50 States (VIDEO)

Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff have been dating for three years, but don't expect them to get married any time soon.

The actress and producer, 28, revealed to Ellen DeGeneres that she doesn't intend to wed until gay marriage is legal in all 50 states.

"Well, it's something that … the idea of having a celebration that can't be fully shared among all the people in my life and all the people that we love just doesn't really feel like a celebration at all," Dunham shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday.



"So, until that's something that everyone can join into with no sense of being left out on any level, politically, emotionally, it's just not something that we're gonna do," she said.

Earlier this year, Dunham and Antonoff were dogged by engagement rumors when she stepped out wearing a ring on her engagement finger. However, it was just a friendship ring she shared with friend and co-executive producer on Girls, Jenni Konner.

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Man Films Himself Singing 'All by Myself' Alone in Las Vegas Airport (VIDEO)

It's certainly more productive than going to Cinnabon.

Stuck in Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport overnight, Richard Dunn decided to put his time (and space) to good use. He shot a video of himself lip-syncing to the Eric Carmen cheese-rock classic, "All by Myself" (the Celine Dion version, FYI) throughout the empty airport.

Dunn's video, shot entirely on his iPhone, has gone viral, proving both the unsurprising durability of "All by Myself" and the surprisingly affecting nature of long, lingering shots of an empty airport.



Dunn's haunting dissolves and transitioning shots show a real flair for music video editing. Depending on the amount of layovers in his life, he could make this a real cottage industry. Next time: Pat Benatar's "We Belong," during an overnight stop at LAX, perhaps?

Like us on Facebook for more stories like this!

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Céline Dion Postpones Las Vegas Residency and Cancels Asia Tour Due to Husband's Cancer

Céline Dion has postponed her Las Vegas residency, canceled her Asia tour and postponed all of her show business activities indefinitely because of her husband's ongoing health issues.

René Angélil had a tumor removed from his throat last December, and his illness has caused "a very difficult and stressful time," the singer says in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.

"I want to devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband's healing, and to do so, it's important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children," Dion tells PEOPLE. "I also want to apologize to all my fans everywhere, for inconveniencing them, and I thank them so much for their love and support."

Dion, 46, is also suffering from inflammation in her throat muscles, which has prevented her from performing her show at Caesars Palace since July 29.

Angélil, 72, and Dion have three young children, René-Charles, 13, and fraternal twins Eddy and Nelson, 3½.

• Reporting by JENNIFER GARCIA

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Two Teens Kidnapped and Held for Ransom After Their Stripper Sister Stole Drug Dealer's Cash: Police

Two Indianapolis teens were kidnapped and held for ransom after their sister stole money from her ex-boyfriend.

According to a federal complaint obtained by Michigan Live, Whitney Blackwell – an exotic dancer at Club Venus in Detroit – stole $120,000 in narcotic proceeds, cocaine and OxyContin pills from alleged drug dealer John Thomas, prompting him and five others to abduct Blackwell's underage siblings on Monday morning.

"He went and kidnapped my brother and sister because he couldn't find me," Blackwell, 27, told the Indianapolis Star in a jailhouse interview where she is being charged for drug dealing.

"If I would have just stayed, he would have just killed me and my kid and he wouldn't have hurt my brother and sister." Blackwell claims she only stole $46,000 in order to escape town with her boyfriend and child.

After armed invaders allegedly came looking for the stolen money in their Indianapolis home, Aaron, 16, and Emma, 13, were bound with zip-ties, blindfolded and taken to separate locations.

The kidnappers reportedly forced Aaron to call Blackwell's brother, Stanley Pernell, and demand "envelopes of money" to be delivered to a rendezvous location in Miami and, if he didn't comply, they would "chop the kids' fingers off."

Officers set up surveillance on Aaron's suspected location and found him in the luggage compartment of an SUV after a high-speed chase. Emma was transported to an Ohio Taco Bell by her kidnappers where she was given $200 and told to take a taxi home.

Officers also tracked Pernell to a home with large amounts of money stashed in several locations, including under a pile of trash in the basement. Police also found evidence of drugs and identification for Blackwell.

Thomas and the other suspects identified as Bernando Reeves, Ali Hussain Ashore, Mohammed Karkash, April Sandell, and Alaa Al-Salehi are being charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The each face up to life in prison if convicted.

The teens' mother, Kathleen Blackwell, told investigators that she believed that Whitney was hoping to keep the money and had "little concern for her kidnapped brother and sister's safety."

Backwell faces up to 30 years in prison if she is convicted of conspiracy to sell cocaine. Meanwhile, Pernell also faces the same conspiracy charge, along with a burglary charge.

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Céline Dion 'Trying to Stay Positive' as She Helps Husband Heal, Friend Says

Those close to Céline Dion were not shocked to learn the singer decided to postpone all of her show business activities indefinitely to care for her husband, René Angélil.

"They are each other's lives," friend Robin Leach tells PEOPLE of Dion, 46, and Angélil, 72, who currently reside in Las Vegas with their three children, René Charles, 13, and fraternal twins Eddy and Nelson, 3. "He and her family come first and she's always made that clear."

Leach adds that Dion had been contemplating an extended leave ever since Angélil underwent surgery in December to remove a cancerous tumor from his throat.

"René was making great progress and was out and about," Leach says. But the recovery process remains ongoing.

"Last time I saw him, he was very thin and frail," she adds. "Céline had to take a step back, and her decision is a realization that you have to hold onto everything while you've got it."

But when it comes to Angélil's prognosis, the family is "trying to stay positive," an insider says. "They're optimistic. "

• With reporting by MARK GRAY

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Scandal: Courtney B. Vance Opens Up About Ferguson, Race and the Show's Powerful Episode

There was nothing scandalous about Thursday's Scandal: The drama was too raw, the plot – a young, unarmed black man being shot by police – all too familiar.

But that's what made the episode so moving, and why Twitter is already clamoring for guest-star Courtney B. Vance to win an Emmy.

Vance, 54, is known for his work in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and being the proud husband of actress Angela Bassett. He also has an upcoming role as O.J. Simpson defense attorney Johnnie Cochran in Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story

On Scandal, he played Clarence, the father of the slain teen Brandon Parker, who incited a police stand-off when he rushed the crime scene and raised a shotgun, refusing to leave his son's body until justice was served.



"Some people called me and said 'I'm still crying over it,' " he tells PEOPLE. "If nothing else, it will hopefully keep the dialogue open, which was one of the tragic things about Ferguson and other situations. Let it go to trial. Let's talk it out. When you change that process, people don't get the chance to hear it all and flesh it out.

"If that doesn't happen, then all we're left with is our anger."

Vance discusses the powerful episode, House of Cards's take on race and working with Kerry Washington below:

Did you expect such a huge response from the episode?
When we started it, it came very quickly to me, and I had to make a decision on it very quickly. There's a lot going on in the Bassett-Vance household, a lot of balls in the air. So I was kind of sitting back on it a bit, and my representatives kind of nudged me and said, "You gotta do this one," and so I jumped in. I read it through one time, but I really didn't read it again until I saw it, last night. Kerry and I and Cornelius, when we finished our sections, we said to each other, "This is an epic episode."

I hear Shonda [Rhimes] was moved to do something and say something about what's going on with the Black Men Matter situation. So yes, we knew it was huge, and it's all a matter of editing. But the way it was edited and put together, it's a huge, huge episode. When that young white officer goes on a rant about us and them, you realize how big this issue is and how far apart we all are. It's the O.J. situation, where when the verdict came down, white folks were on one side of the fence and black folks were on the other. The question is, why?

It goes to the heart of how we were all raised. We were raised, in the black community, not to trust the police, and I believe in the white community, they were raised to actually be a policeman.

Which scene was the most difficult to shoot?
The scene where I'm sitting in the lawn chair and I'm talking about how I did everything, I did everything, and my son is still laying in front of me, dead. I did all the right things. And [Olivia] says, "We're going to fix this," and I say, "We both know that this is unfixable. You know where I'm going to end up. I'm going to end up dead or in jail, and that's the way this ends," because that's just the way things end. That's just the way things go. And that's the tragic thing, that there's no dreaming. Black boys and black men and black girls and black women, in those scenarios, which is what my character said, they have no dreams. You know the way this is going to go. They have one of two outlets, and one of them ends in death or jail. The other one, you can play basketball and get out, maybe. It's bleak.

We have to give people dreams, we have to give people hope. In terms of government, in terms of society, that's our goal. You can't have a group of people that don't dream, that see themselves as dead or in jail. We're not doing our job.

When Clarence said he put a University of Maryland bumper sticker on his car so his son wouldn't get pulled over, that really got to me.
That's the reality. That's black folks' reality in the 'hood. I was watching House of Cards last night, and the chief of staff for the president got pulled over and he forgot his wallet. And he was shook by it. He said "Wait a minute, I'm the chief of staff!" "No, it doesn't matter." Now, if it was a white chief of staff, they would have given him the benefit of the doubt.

If it's a white man, you could lose your job. If it's Remy (Mahershala Ali), as a black man, they're going to get their hands slapped, maybe a desk job for a week or two, and they're back. That's why they don't think before they act, with black boys and black men. With white men and white men, they have to think first, because the consequence is severe if they're wrong: they could lose their job.

Kerry Washington (as Olivia Pope) and Courtney B. Vance (as Clarence Parker) on Scandal

While the episode was airing, Shonda Tweeted that she was blown away by and didn't expect your reading of the line, "He doesn't carry a knife." How did you decide to act it out the way you did, with such hurt and anger?
That whole idea that I know my boy. I raised him I've raised him the right way. He does not carry a knife. I know him. Parents know their children. "I know my son, I know my daughter. She wouldn't do that. No, no, no, no, she wouldn't do that." That was his line in the sand. "I know that's not my son's knife. I will kill everybody around here if they tell me that he got shot because he was carrying a knife. He did not carry a knife."

[Clarence] turned the gun on O.P., on Olivia Pope. That lets you know that that man knows his son. Now if it turned out the boy had carried a knife, he would have been shattered to his core.

You had some really intense scenes opposite Kerry Washington. What was it like working with her?
I've never encountered anyone like her, other than my wife, other than Angela Bassett. Somebody that can stand there and be completely professional, be ready for running monologues in rehearsal and at the same time is giving as anybody I've ever known. I'm a mess because I'm new, I don't know the rhythm of the show, I don't know the rhythm of the characters, so my lines are harder to get in my head, so she was so helpful and so supportive of me. My first scene, I thought I was showing up for a costume fitting, and then threw me into the last scene of the episode.

She was so supportive, she held my hand as I was at the door. I was like, 'Oh this is so helpful, I'm so nervous, I'm scared, help me!" And she was there for me.

Tell me more about that final scene, when Clarence breaks down in Fitz's arms. You've been talking about how this episode demonstrated stark differences, but that was a really beautiful moment of two fathers from vastly different circumstances crying together over the loss of their sons.
And I think, from what I understand, that was the exact same spot where [Fitz] broke down when he found out about his son. In the episode, the director Tom [Verica], we were fighting against the emotion the entire episode. There were scenes where I was broken, but he said, "Courtney please, hold back that so we get the payoff at the end."

Also a part of it too, in that moment, was about the fact that [my character], in my wildest dreams, I never imagined that I would end up in the White House. I'm supposed to be in jail. I'm supposed to be dead. They should have shot me.

It's relief, when I say my son's name and the recognition that he's actually gone, it's all of that. I did all that I did for him, and I failed him. I failed my boy, and he's not here. I did all the things I was supposed to do, that any father could do, and I couldn't do any more. And he's not here.

That was a heartbreaking and beautiful scene at the end, but there was also a little bit of a sense of injustice in that, yes, Brandon was cleared and Clarence didn't have to go to jail, but the police officer was charged with tampering with evidence. No one said, "You murdered this young man." What do you hope viewers take away from this?
I think that [the police officer's] rant at the end there really lets you know what he feels, it's us versus them. They're there to protect and serve, but at the same time, they're a group. They're a club. They're a unit. They're a brotherhood and a sisterhood. They protect each other, that's what keeps them alive in the field, but at the same time, they're torn between their loyalties. They're supposed to protect us, but in order to protect us, that have to protect each other in the streets. It's a very difficult job. Who do you protect first? Do you protect your fellow police officers or do you protect who you're supposed to protect and serve? But then, as he's saying, "You all are supposed to respect us."

There's a lot of dialogue that needs to happen on both sides so that we can co-exist and get back to the place where they're there to take care of us and begin to see police as our protectors and not our enemies. Work needs to happen on both sides to heal our breach. The work that needs to happen in Ferguson has to happen all over. What happened in Ferguson could happen anywhere.

It goes back in the black community that the police are not your friends. That's an old, old, deep understanding that we have, that it's going to take a lot to undo that in our minds. That's deep. That goes back to the South. ... And something is wrong with that reality, that it's us versus them. That's not the way it's supposed to work.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Fashion Queens Star Bevy Smith Sounds Off on Kim Kardashian's 'Jarring' Blonde Hair, Saying Goodbye to Jared Leto's 'Jesus Locks'

03/ 06/ 2015 at 04:31 PM ET

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You’re probably still processing Kim Kardashian and Jared Leto’s platinum dye jobs. So is TV personality Bevy Smith. The star of Bravo’s Fashion Queens stopped by the PEOPLE Now studio to share her feelings on the new Hollywood blondes.

“It’s a little shocking,” Smith tells PEOPLE of Kim’s new look in the clip above. “We’re so used to seeing her with her brunette locks. That’s how she came to fame. This blonde is a little bit jarring — once we get used to it, I think we’ll probably get into it a little bit more.”

RELATED PHOTOS: 5 Things Kim & Jared Have in Common – Besides Blond Hair

Marc Piasecki/GC Images; Pierre Suu/Getty

As for Jared’s major hair transformation, Smith says she’s having a harder time getting used to it.

“Jared Leto being platinum blonde is not the problem,” she explains. “Jared Leto getting rid of those Jesus locks is the problem. What’s going to happen? Now we can’t get the man bun anymore. The blonde short crop makes him look like a [James] Bond villain, which is good for this role as The Joker.”

Whose look do you like better? Are you still grieving over Jared’s Jesus locks? Share your thoughts below.

–Brittany Talarico

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Scandal Recap: Fitz and Mellie Plan Her Political Future as the Show Takes on Ferguson

In its first episode since Olivia Pope's ( Kerry Washington) escape, Scandal didn't pull any punches.

The ABC drama doesn't openly discuss race often, but when it does – from Olivia's searing "I'm feeling a little, I don't know, Sally Hemings/Thomas Jefferson about this" jab to her father's mantra that she had to be "twice as good" – it's a raw reminder that, even in Shondaland, America is far from color-blind.

Thursday night's episode handled the shooting of a young, unarmed black man – a clear statement on Ferguson's Michael Brown – with profound grace, exploring police brutality, racial identity and grassroots activism from all sides.

Most Scandalous Moments

• Olivia – lying to Jake ( Scott Foley) about working instead of resting – arrived at a crime scene where a black teen, Brandon Parker, had been shot dead by a police officer who'd stopped him because he matched the vague description of a cell phone shoplifter: African American, young, tall ... you know how it goes. The cop, Officer Jeff Newton (Michael Welch), claimed Brandon had reached for a knife during their confrontation, so he had to shoot to protect himself. Sound familiar? But as Olivia started to "fix" the situation as usual, Brandon's father, Clarence Parker ( Courtney B. Vance), burst onto the scene with a shotgun and fired into the air, demanding justice.



• Olivia convinced the police not to shoot Clarence because a crowd of witness videotaping everything with cell phones had formed, and she promised to get Attorney General David Rosen ( Joshua Malina) there to oversee the investigation fairly. But David was busy with White House matters, so Olivia became embroiled in the negotiation, clashing with a local activist, Marcus Walker (Cornelius Smith Jr.), who brought Clarence a lawn chair to sit on while he guarded his son's body.

• Meanwhile, Fitz ( Tony Goldwyn), David and Cyrus (Jeff Perry) decided they could likely use the 25th Amendment to replace Andrew (Jon Tenney) without having to impeach him. Fitz promised Mellie (Bellamy Young) he'd choose a weak, boring VP so she could shine while running for president next term, but Cyrus steered him toward the New Mexico governor, a Republican Latina who posted a video online denouncing Brandon's murder and the police stand-off with Clarence.

• After Marcus leaked the identity of Jeff to the media, the police chief cordoned off the press from the crime scene and the cops put on riot gear. Infuriated, Olivia quit the job and crossed over to the other side of the yellow tape, joining the demonstrators to chant, "Stand up, fight back, no more black men under attack." In other words: Black lives matter.

• Marcus and Olivia convinced Clarence to let them touch his son's body to see if he really did have a weapon in his pocket when he was shot, and, sure enough, they discovered a knife lying beneath his corpse. Clarence broke down, aiming his rifle at them and shouting, "He doesn't carry a knife! He doesn't carry a knife!" Sure enough, Huck ( Guillermo Díaz), Quinn (Katie Lowes) and Jake discovered the shadow of a man sitting in Jeff's patrol car before the shooting.

• Olivia accused Jeff of finding the knife on that suspect and then planting it on Brandon's body, and he cracked, confessing that he did it in a frustrated, impassioned and truly terrifying monologue about risking his life to protect "those people": "Questioning my authority was not his right!" he bellowed. "His blood is not on my hands." Oh, but it really, really is: Brandon was simply reaching for a receipt proving he had bought, not stolen, the cell phone when Jeff pulled the trigger. He got charged with perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice, and David launched an independent federal investigation into the D.C. police department.

• Cyrus became furious with Mellie, thinking she'd leaked the New Mexico governor being vetted to The New York Times after the paper called for comment on the fact that she owned a prison in her constituency. Total Mellie move, but nope: Fitz admitted he'd sabotaged the plan to please his wife, who ultimately chose former Pope & Associates client and new Virginia Senator Susan Ross (Artemis Pebdani) – a passionate, rambling politician with a big heart but bad foot-in-mouth syndrome – as the new VP.

• In the episode's most poignant scene, Olivia took Clarence to the Oval Office after he could finally leave his son's body and was promised he wouldn't be charged with any crime. The grieving father collapsed in the president's arms, crying; Fitz was probably thinking of his own child, little Jerry, who was torn from the earth too early simply because of who he was.

Best Quotes

• "You're not getting your black card validated today." – Marcus, to Olivia

• "The fact that they stand in groups and say things you don't like does not make them a mob. It makes them Americans." – Olivia

• "... Take genital warts." – Susan
"Let's not." – Mellie

• "I mean, no offense, but your job is the worst job in the entire world." – Susan, to Fitz

Questions for Next Week

• Will Fitz successfully replace the VP, and could Susan steal the spotlight from Mellie in the end?

• How will everyone's actions while trying to free Olivia come back to haunt them?

• Is Olivia really over her trauma?

This Thursday, We're Team ...

Jake. Fitz and Mellie were on the same page for the first time, like, ever, and it's nice to see them working as a team. Olivia didn't really have time for either guy while fixing this week's incredibly dark crisis, but Jake seemed genuinely concerned about her going back to work too soon and being overwhelmed by the intensity of the case.

Scandal airs Thursdays (9 p.m. ET) on ABC.

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Hillary Clinton Tweets as Troubles Mount: Let Them See My Email

Responding for the first time to political oddsmakers and cable news anchors buzzing about whether she was hiding something with her private email account for official State Department business, Hillary Clinton took to Twitter just before midnight Wednesday to address the matter herself.

"I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible," she Tweeted in response to speculation over the New York Times's scoop published on Monday.

I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2015

The State Department press office followed Clinton's Tweet with an email statement just before 1 a.m. assuring reporters that the bureaucracy will review Clinton's cache of old email for public release "as quickly as possible." But, cautioned spokesperson Marie Harf, "given the sheer volume of the document set, this review will take some time to complete."



Clinton's directive via Twitter capped a day that saw fresh subpoenas from congressional investigators (looking for emails related to the fatal 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya), a new Freedom of Information Act filing from watchdog group Judicial Watch (they mysteriously want to see what Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin might have said in email about – and to – the wife of ousted wife of ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi), and threatened legal action by The Associated Press, which wants action on its own year-old FOIA request for Clinton emails.

The pileup of inquiries and timing of Clinton's first words on the controversy led Bloomberg Politics reporter Dave Weigel to Tweet 10 minutes after Clinton did: "Nothing says 'I hate you, media' like making reporters scramble at 11:45 p.m. ET."

Clinton's use of a private, "homebrew" email server – with addresses at @clintonemail.com that were also given to Abedin and Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, using the alias Diane Reynolds – apparently was news to even the White House Counsel's Office. The AP reports that President Obama's lawyers did not know at the time that his then-Secretary Clinton was conducting business exclusively on her own email server.

Questions now swirl about whether the private account violated government record-keeping rules.

Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said that "both the letter and spirit of the rules permitted State Department officials to use nongovernment e-mail, as long as appropriate records were preserved." Merrill went on to point out that the current Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, is the first one to use an official e-mail account for State business.

Traveling in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Kerry did not sound like he has carefully followed the stir. Asked if State had all of Clinton's private-server emails to review for release – or only those Clinton selected to provide to State – Kerry replied, "I think we have all the ones that are state.gov, which are appropriately the ones in the purview of the Department. But let me check on that when I actually have time to pay attention to such an important issue when I get home."

Earlier Wednesday, a TMZ photographer caught up with Clinton at Reagan National Airport and asked her about the email "blunder."

Clinton, accompanied by two men who appeared to be security, simply smiled and kept walking.

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Stephen Fishbach's Survivor Blog: Good Naked, Bad Naked and a 'Classic Overplay'

Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and has been blogging about Survivor strategy for PEOPLE since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.

"I will do what everybody feels most comfortable doing. I don't care what that is." –Todd Herzog, Survivor: China winner

People on Survivor just want to feel safe.

Before you ever hit the beach, you've suffered months of preparation.



You've passed the grueling gauntlet of casting, where you are assessed against a dozen people who look vaguely like you.

You have trained – swum, sprinted and Crossfit WOD-ed until you had nothing left to snatch.

You have bid adieu to your work and said au revoir to your family.

So when contestants enter the game, they really want to stay there. They want safety and security.

That's why people break down in the first few days. All the stress of leaving your life is exponentially compounded when you see how remorseless the game truly is.

Poor Nina. She thought she was being judged for her disability. She was actually being judged for her attitude.

Nina kept waiting for a handwritten invitation to the latest skinny dip. "I thought that the people on my tribe would try to make me feel like I belonged," she said.

Why on Earth would you count on people who are explicitly your enemies to be your friends?

But you can also understand why she cracked.

And you can understand why Will flipped his vote.

Strategically, it made sense for Will to ally with Vince and Nina and vote out Jenn. He knew that Gorgeous Joe and the Girls were a tight threesome. They valued him more for his votes than his sandwiches.

But when Nina told Will that Vince was concerned about his health, he panicked. The question was not just this vote, but also who would go next.

That's why Will voted out Vince. He eliminated the guy who was doubting him, and he kept around his friend … who could be the next target.

Nina wins a special anti-Fishy for sabotaging her chance to take power.

But there are no Fishies this week. Gorgeous Joe and Jenn got lucky. Their plan to split the vote was a classic overplay, fretting over idols when they should have been counting numbers.

They should have known that Will was tight with Nina. Joe saw that they were spending all their time together, but he discounted it.

Here's a tip for Survivor players: Alliances are mostly just hyped-up friendships. If two people spend their time together, odds are they're also voting together. Jenn was only saved by Nina's flub.

Vince went home – but the real losers here are the viewers. We missed out on the solid-gold hilarity that Vince brought to every interaction.

He was like Coach 1.0 in Tocantins – before he started playing the role of "Coach": cocky and vulnerable and completely un-self-aware.

Vince. Gone too soon.

Good Naked and Bad Naked

In 1997, Seinfeld taught us the difference between "good naked" and "bad naked." This week, Survivor fans learned that lesson again

Naked nymphs playing in the surf? Good.

Your naked history professor washing the pots and pans? Very, very bad.

What on Earth was Max thinking? The last person on Survivor you'd want to evoke is Richard Hatch, who is renowned for his devious, backstabbing game. Max himself noted last week that you should never give people a reason to target you.

"I'm using it a little bit strategically in order to get a little bit of alone time," he said.

Max is a smart guy – but you never want to be alone on Survivor. We saw how well that worked for Aras in Blood vs. Water.

On Blue Collar, Mike fell into another classic trap and became frustrated with his lazy tribe.

Here's another rule: Do what the rest of the tribe is doing, whether it's playing basketball or keeping on their clothes.

Survivor: Worlds Apart airs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on CBS.

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Kim Kardashian Plays Guest Editor for PEOPLE! 5 Things You Need to Know Before You Pick Up the Issue

03/ 04/ 2015 at 09:00 AM ET

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Reprint

Kim Kardashian West is everywhere we look, but we still have unlimited questions about her beauty routine. So when it came time to pick a guest editor for this week’s beauty pages in PEOPLE, she was a natural choice — after all, she recently got a killer new haircut and her haircare line just hit stores. You’ll have to pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE for all the scoop (trust us: You want to hear her opinion on the current state of her eyebrows), but here’s a sneak peek of all the excitement in store.

Jeffrey Mayer/Wireimage;AKM-GSI; Splash News Onlin

She’ll splurge on beauty products, but she loves affordable finds too: While her favorite moisturizer is $455, she’s also got a fair number of drugstore finds in her arsenal as well. (Her favorite shampoo and conditioner? No spoilers, but they retail for $3.49 at Drugstore.com.)

Her favorite red-carpet look is an oldie but a goodie: “Maybe because I was 20 pounds skinnier and I loved how I looked then, but I posted a photo of Kourtney and me at the Emmys [in 2009, above left] and I was wearing some white dress and my hair was pulled back. We had no hair extensions, we just put my hair in a bun and it was a really simple look, and I just thought it was really clean.”

RELATED PHOTOS: The 11 beauty products Kim Kardashian swears by, from head to toe!

Her favorite accessories are pretty glam: “Always my ring, and I’m really into chokers right now [like the one above, top right!]. I would say this big Cartier choker is really my favorite thing. I love chokers and a hint of fur.”

She’s not sure about bangs on herself: “There are pictures from when I was, like, eight years old, and I swear Kourtney cut my bangs and it looked pretty bad. I will say, I did cut my bangs when I was pregnant, and you should never make a drastic hair change when you’re pregnant!”

She loves nude makeup, but sometimes she’ll surprise herself: “It’s not a huge beauty risk, but I remember Mario [Dedivanovic] was doing my makeup in N.Y.C. recently for the John Legend release-slash-birthday party [above, bottom right], and he was like ‘Let me give you blue eyeshadow,’ and I was like ‘No, you cannot give me blue eyeshadow.’ I wasn’t paying attention and he did my eye all blue and he was like ‘Okay, you’re all done! You’re all blue!’ and I ended up loving it. It was like this really dark smokey eye, but it was a blue color, and I wouldn’t have had let him do it if I were paying attention, so it was good, but he wishes that I would do more things like that.”

For more from the star, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on stands now! And tell us: What’s your fave Kardashian beauty moment? Anything you’re dying to know from the star?

–Alex Apatoff, reporting by Jennifer Garcia

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The Bachelor's Britt: 'I Cried Every Day' After I Was Sent Home

While the Women Tell All special was emotional for all parties, no ousted Bachelor contestant was more affected by the proceedings than Britt.

Given that she essentially got herself kicked off the show by revealing her hurt over Chris giving a group-date rose to Kaitlyn rather than herself, it was no surprise that the Tell All had Britt, well, telling all.

We spoke to Britt following the taping of the Tell All, and she talked about her hurt over Carly's betrayal and over Chris deciding to send her home, and whether or not she'd consider becoming the next Bachelorette.

On How She Was Portrayed

Britt had "no idea" what the girls were saying behind her back and revealed, quite interestingly, that the contestants have to sign a contract "that's like, 'We can humiliate you, we can deface you, blah blah .....' " She says she decided to approach the show "with integrity" and that she was going to be "nice to everybody."



"I feel betrayed," she tells PEOPLE. "We were very close in the house. It's like summer camp. I've never seen anything like it, and I'm glad that I wasn't aware of it because I feel like it gave me a better experience.

"It would have been absolutely awful if I knew how they felt about me," says Britt.

Unsurprisingly, Britt was not necessarily thrilled with how she was portrayed. "It wasn't the person I am," she says. "I have family and even strangers who have been really supportive, which has been shocking to me, because I'm almost like, if I watch that, I would think I'm a bad person."

However, she is aware of the reality of, well, reality TV: "The way they chop it up is so … it's was hard for me. I understand. What, are they not going to show people talking s---? Are they not going to show it? They have to. It's TV. But it was hard to watch."

On Carly

As you may expect, Britt "partially" blames Carly for being sent home. "There was more complexity [in my relationship with Chris] than what any one person said, but there's just no denying that our connection was super on-point – and then she talks to Chris, and it's gone. Totally gone."

Naturally, Britt has not spoken to Carly since, "because the only question I have for her is, Why did she fake it to me and pretend that we were close the whole time and not bring it up to me?"

Adds Britt, "I don't think I don't think she's a bad person. I think she's a broken person."

On Becoming the Next Bachelorette

"If you asked me right after I left, I would say, 'No way. This is too hard. No human being can do this,' " she tells PEOPLE of rumblings she's in the running to become the next Bachelorette. "But now I'm healing up and, yeah, I was really having real feelings for somebody and that didn't work out, but I'm watching it work out for other people and I do think I could. Yeah, I think I would totally try it."

After all, Britt has been single following the taping of The Bachelor. "I've been pretty emotionally raw, because it was pretty hard for me after I left. I went home to Michigan, and I just, like, cried every day. I didn't know what was going on with myself."

Now that she's back in Los Angeles, Britt is back to waitressing but the airing of the episodes has left her with "a whole new thing to navigate emotionally. Now that it's over, I'll be a human again."

On Regrets

Finally, Britt admits that she shouldn't have processed her "private emotions out loud" and that she "should have kept those inside."

"Of course everyone wants those feelings," she says. "I want to feel a connection with you, and I want to know that you feel it, but yeah, I regret it because Kaitlyn's awesome. I don't want to steal her moment. I even regretted making Carly feel uncomfortable, and I apologized immediately, and I apologized over and over again because that was unacceptable. The timing was bad and I should have kept that to myself."

That said, she thought that Chris was too hard on her.

Other than that moment, however, Britt has no regrets about being a part of The Bachelor.

The Bachelor airs Mondays (8 P.M. ET) on ABC.

• Reporting by NICOLE SANDS

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On this day...

2015/03/02 2:00PM

Céline's father Adhémar Dion would have been 92 years old today.
Here are her words to him as they appear in the 'Miracle' album booklet, which was released one year after his death:
''Papa, our world is filled with your memories, your laughter, and your music. Your essence is still in the air that I breath, and I see your eyes every day, in my son’s bluer-than-blue ones. We so very much love you.''

Click here to watch the video of the beautiful song " Parler à mon père"

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Pennsylvania Woman Convicted of Euthanizing Her Neighbor's Dog Will Head to Jail

The Pennsylvania woman convicted of euthanizing her cancer-stricken neighbor's Siberian Husky will serve jail time.

Gisele Paris, 58, was sentenced to three to six months in jail on Friday, followed by 18 months of probation, WPXI reports.

Paris made headlines last December when she was found guilty of cruelty to animals, receiving stolen property and theft.

She was accused of stealing her neighbor's healthy dog, named Thor, in November 2013 and then, three months later, having the dog put down in her home. Paris insisted the dog was sick and had been neglected by his owner, Mark Boehler, who is undergoing treatment for stage 3 cancer.

In a victim impact statement, Boehler tearfully lamented the loss of his pup, CBS Pittsburgh reports.

"It wasn't her dog. She took it into her hands to bury on her property with her family pets," he said. "It was my family pet. I had him for over eight years. She had him for two months. He didn't last two months with her, but he lasted over eight years with me, so who treated him right?"

But Paris's cousin called the verdict "unjust."

"The problem here was the maltreatment and abuse of the animal in the first place by its owner who has performed theatrics for you, the media, happily and in the courtroom," Barry Paris told CBS Pittsburgh.

However, an investigation of Boehler's home turned up no evidence of abuse.

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