It is with heartbreak that I report the passing of Claudette Yamin. Those of us who watched Elliott blossom on American Idol will never forget his loving and supportive mom. Here is a Youtube of her appearance at an Etrain JDRF fundraiser:


Claudette's passing was reported on this thread on the Etrain.

InRich.com reports about Claudette's death here. They did an interview with her recently, which you can read here.

Two more Youtube videos have been posted of a radio station performance and interview that Elliott did while in Japan. Follow the links to listen:
Wait for You and One Word
Interview

Extended footage has appeared on Youtube of Elliott and Fantasia in Angola. Take a look:


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The song "Free" has been added to Elliott's myspace page in support of Amanda Jones, who is battling leukemia. For more information, check out this thread at the Etrain.

Elliott's name has been appearing here and there around the net, so we've got a brief round-up:

The Social Butterfly column on AccessAtlanta has a publicity blurb about Elliott performing at the JDRF Hope for a Cure gala on April 26. Scroll down the page and look for Elliott's photo.

American Idol News has announced an additional list of celebrity participants for Idol Gives Back, and Elliott's name is included. We don't know if this means he's singing or not, but we're sure hoping! The event is also listed on his myspace calendar.

The Washington Nationals website has a press release about opening day at the new ballpark. They mention that Elliott will be singing "God Bless America" prior to the 7th inning stretch.

Leah Turner blogs on her myspace that she has recorded a duet with Elliott in hopes it will be included in the soundtrack of the movie "Sweetwater."

More film has been posted on Youtube of Elliott's visit to Japan. A few fans watched through the glass as he was interviewed for radio. There are two videos. The sound is not very good, but you can watch Elliott interact with fans through the glass. Follow the links below the photo:



Video 1
Video 2

Thanks again to nurifujim-san.

From Idol Chatter: "Elliott sold 1,500, up from 1,200 and enough to push him over the half-million mark (501,000), a notable achievement for an independent album."

Congratulations, Elliott!

Elliott journeyed to Japan this week to do radio promotion for the upcoming release of his album there. Yuri2-san provided us with photos of his arrival:

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Elliott Yamin creeps ever closer to the 500,000 sales mark.

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The Etrain is taking questions for a Q&A session with Elliott. 10 questions will be selected by Elliott from those submitted by Etrain members. You can find all the details (and read the questions folks are submitting) right here.

Exactly one year ago Elliott Yamin was released. It was a momentous occasion for Yaminions everywhere! One year later the album is still selling steady in the US sales at about 1,000 units per week, and it will be released May 21 in Japan (link for more info, you have to be able to read Japanese) Not too shabby. Congratulations to Elliott!

Tonight's Idol show included a preview of Idol Gives Back, to air on April 9. They showed Elliott and Fantasia distributing malaria nets in Angola. Elliott was introduced to a newborn who, following the local tradition, was named after a visitor to the village: Elliott. Our guy reacted how you would expect. It was a very sweet moment. We have video posted by igrecman at Daily Motion:

Elliott appeared on What Perez Says About Reality Stars on VH1. You can watch the video at VH1 right here. The Elliott segment begins at -3:50. Elliott demonstrates pointy poses and playing to the camera!



If you're having trouble watching the VH1 video, try watching it here. Thanks to itslate for link.

AFN Heidelberg has a news report on Elliott's concert in Stuttgart last month. They show some concert footage, and the video is downloadable. Watch here.

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Elliott appears in this slideshow catching readers up on the doings of former Idols at US Magazine website. The website also asks you to rate the photo. I'm posting a cropped version.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is holding its annual Pop Music Awards on April 9th at the Kodak Theatre, and none other than American-Idol turned pop sensation Elliott Yamin will be performing. Read all about it here.

And with it comes baseball season. Elliott will be performing the national anthem on March 30th at the National's new ballpark in Washington DC. The game is already a sell-out, and it will be broadcast on ESPN. Also on Elliott's schedule is the national anthem for the April 4th opener at Edison Field in Anaheim. Here's hoping the performances end up on Youtube so we can show them to you.

No, Elliott didn't blog. I apologize for getting you all excited. It's just that I wanted to point out a couple of interesting blogs regarding Elliott.

First, here's a tongue-in-check breakdown of the Wait for You video by John Kordosh at Yahoo Music. Kordosh channels Elliott's thoughts on how to write good music, including this handy hint: "A stroll on the beach at sunset should help you realize how inconsequential you are. The beauty of nature is just a cruel joke to a miserable, short-lived worm like you."

On to the real world. The Evil Beet blog reveals to us that Elliott surprised Sing the Jingle winners at Mel's Diner a few days ago. Included was a picture:



Dedicated Elliott stalkers, er, fans notice something immediately when gazing at that picture. His ear is clearly visible! Where's the hair?? If you want a closer look, check out the photos at Getty Images or Wireimage. Unfortunately, he kept the hat on his head the whole time.

The March 17th issue of OK Magazine has a two-page spread about American Idol. Elliott's got his own corner:



You can also read an interview with Elliott on their website. Here's a sample: On his own music front, Elliot remains focused, having "already broken ground" on his follow-up album (he's planning for a summer release), but he'll always make time to follow his philanthropic side. Along with entertaining troops and "Idol Gives Back," Elliot, a type 1 diabetic, continues his campaign against the illness and recently opened the Johnson and Johnson Diabetes Institute in California.

iTunes is now listing Elliott Yamin Bonus version at $7.99. That's 16 songs, including Whiter Shade of Pale and In Love With You Forever, which haven't been available on any cd.

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In a short Boston Globe review of Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol. 1, Real Love, the Katharine McPhee-Elliott Yamin song, is singled out as an essential track. The reviewer points out that Elliott "sounds as if he's going to turn out to be an intuitive and convincing R&B presence". The cd is further said to lack coherence because it features so many different genres.

Ken Barnes of USA Today, on the other hand, remarks that Randy Jackson "gathers a broad range of artists and gets intriguing but uneven results". He complains that a number of artists whose work are included in the album, including Elliott and Katharine, don't stray from their comfort zones. He recommends consumers to skip Real Love.

Not trying to suggest anything, I just couldn't find a quick picture of Elliott and Katharine together in my hard drive apart from this screenshot from their American Idol days. In any case, you can now sample their song at Randy Jackson's MySpace. We've had reports from Katharine's fans that "Real Love" will be released sometime next week.

Mix 103.7 did an interview with Elliott while he was in Richmond for the JDRF Fundraiser. Elliott talks about working on his upcoming album, traveling to Africa for Idol Gives Back, and why he really didn't want to go meet the President while on the Idol Tour in 2006. To listen, go here and look for "Elliott Yamin at the JDRF Gala". You can see pictures here. If you're having trouble streaming that interview, you can try this download link. Thanks to Shipp!

Richmond Magazine has a small feature on Elliott in their March issue. It also appears on their website here. Elliott describes his best Hollywood moment: "I’m a big sports fan. I got to participate in a big celebrity bowling event and I bowled with NFL and NBA stars. [Lakers guard] Derek Fisher and [Saints running back] Reggie Bush were on my team, and we won. I couldn’t believe I was getting the chance to do that." Very cool! Maybe one day he'll be famous enough that his hometown magazine will spell his name correctly. Take a look:

Yahoo news published a little blurb about Elliott performing at the opening of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, and it included this picture:

It's been a full year and Wait for You is still on the charts!

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ETOnline has published an article about Elliott's work with Johnson & Johnson for diabetes. He recently performed at the opening of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute. You can read the article here.

Here's video from last Saturday's JDRF fundraiser held in Richmond. Elliott, handsomely attired in a tuxedo, acted as auctioneer and sang a few songs. Here's Free, courtesy of 1037jackjen on Youtube:

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The Idol Madness final poll continues until 11:59 pm Eastern time on March 2. The poll was restarted because of cheating, so if you haven't voted since early in the week you may be able to vote again. Only one vote per computer. Vote here.