Latest news with #JesusTaketheWheel
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Carrie Underwood Feels Like a 'Proud Mom' Watching John Foster Perform on 'American Idol' — Here's Why (Exclusive)
Carrie Underwood is gushing over American Idol's John Foster! Speaking with PEOPLE in a roundtable interview after the live show on Monday, April 28, the "Before He Cheats" singer revealed why she has a soft spot for the contestant. "He's so sweet and fresh faced and he's one of those people that I feel like... don't even really know how good you are kind of thing," Underwood, 42, says. "Week to week, we have watched him progress so much," she adds. "We were talking after his performance, me, Luke [Bryan] and [Lionel Richie] and we were just saying he's probably the one that has grown the most since he's been here." Related: Watch American Idol's John Foster Deliver Tearful Tribute to Late Friend Maggie Underwood believes that the Idol audience "loves him" — and there's "so many reasons to want to root for him." But for the "Jesus Take the Wheel" singer, there's a personal connection. "I feel like he kind of reminds me of my oldest son," says Underwood, who shares two boys, Isaiah, 10, and Jacob, 6, with husband Mike Fisher. "When he's over there singing to me, I kind of feel like a proud mom. He's very good." On Monday night, Foster, 18, sang Randy Travis' 1987 hit "I Told You So," which Underwood covered for her 2007 album Carnival Ride. Toward the end of his performance, Foster approached the judges table and sang to Underwood directly. Reflecting on that moment, Foster says she's "the reason" he chose the song — and he knew he needed to sing it to her. "The fact that she was sitting there on the panel... the pressure was on. She has such a great version of the song but I knew that I had to sing to her and I knew that I had to let America know my passion for the song and music by connecting with her," he says. In addition to Foster, Josh King, Jamal Roberts, Mattie Pruitt, Thunderstorm Artis, Slater Nalley, Gabby Samone, Canaan James Hill, Kolbi Jordan and Breanna Nix are in the Top 10. Related: Why American Idol Is the 'Best Thing' to Happen to Breanna Nix: 'I Didn't Think I Was Worth Anything' (Exclusive) On April 20, Foster moved Idol viewers when he sang an original song, "Tell That Angel I Love Her," which he wrote about a friend who died suddenly in 2022. 'You've kind of been a wildcard for me the whole time, but what you just did there removed all doubts in my mind that you deserve to be here," said the "Kick the Dust Up" singer. "When you open your mouth on this song, you're country, but you're also storytelling country," Richie added. "Now whether that's old, new, happening now, later, whatever the case may be, it was so believable and I heard every word of every part of your story and that's what great music is about." American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Read the original article on People
Fox News
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
‘American Idol' judge Carrie Underwood admits it's 'difficult' to bring faith into Hollywood
Carrie Underwood has never shied away from leaning on her faith. During Monday's episode of "American Idol," the "Jesus Take the Wheel" songstress shared a heartfelt testimony after contestants Rylee and Breanna went head-to-head during a performance of Brandon Lake's "Gratitude" - a song dedicated to worshiping God. "I know how difficult it is to come into the entertainment industry and bring your faith with you," Underwood said while getting emotional. "It is a brave thing to do because there are a lot of outside forces that are going to tell you not to do that." The country star is no stranger to facing public opinion. Earlier this year, the "All American Girl" singer caught heat from fans for agreeing to sing at President Donald Trump's inauguration. "I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event," Underwood, who was joined by the Armed Forces Choir and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club, said in a statement. "I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future." With a widespread fan base, Underwood's political beliefs have often been at the center of debate. "There is someone I do support, but I don't support publicly," the country star told TV Guide in 2008. "I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate. It's saying that the American public isn't smart enough to make their own decisions. I would never want anybody to vote for anything or anybody just because I told them to." In 2012, Underwood faced both backlash and praise after seemingly speaking out in support of gay marriage. "As a married person myself, I don't know what it's like to be told I can't marry somebody I love, and want to marry," she told The Independent in 2012. "I can't imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love." "Above all, God wanted us to love others. It's not about setting rules, or [saying] 'Everyone has to be like me'. No. We're all different," she added. "That's what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It's not up to me to judge anybody." WATCH: CARRIE UNDERWOOD PERFORMS 'AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL' AT PRESIDENT TRUMP'S INAUGURATION As one of the most popular singers in country music, the eight-time Grammy Award-winner knows that she cannot please everyone. "The role-model word is really scary to me, because no matter what happens in your life, something you do, wear, say, sing, whatever — somebody somewhere is probably not going to like it too well," she told the Associated Press in 2012. "I just really try hard to do what I do and try to be nice to people and make great music, and if people think they can look up to that, that's wonderful. If not, that's OK, too."
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This quiet coffee shop turns into one of Tacoma's best bars five nights a week
When this coffee shop closes, a cocktail bar opens. Five nights a week, Proof — a new concept from one of Tacoma's most respected bartenders — takes over Anthem Coffee in Tacoma's Old Town off Ruston Way, transforming the cafe into a neighborhood haunt with excellent drinks and snackable food to match. Owner Chris Keil and his team, including fellow en Rama vet, chef Meghan McLean, introduced the project in mid-February. The industrial space, simply adorned with dark-wood tables and Edison pendants, is surprisingly adept at its new evening persona. When Anthem closes at 3 p.m., Keil and his team get to work. A heavy curtain covers the ordering counter, hiding the espresso machine and other coffee happenings from customer view. They 'just kind of straighten up the room,' said Keil, 'setting the vibe' in just under an hour. 'It's weird because it seems like a bigger lift than rolling into a pre-existing space, but oddly enough it's easier than any other bar.' The cafe, one of six Pierce County locations for the Puyallup-based company, already served beer and wine. It expanded the liquor license to allow for spirits. Proof added a backbar, the shelves now stocked with spirits and liqueurs. A display nook shows off various ingredients that, along with two decades of experience and experimentation, make the drinks here special: super-fruity and floral beeswax, loose-leaf teas, whole spices. The cocktail menu offers three styles: Jesus Take the Wheel (spirit-driven), It's an All Night Thing (low-ABV or 'sessionable drinks for the long haul') and Let's Party (batched drinks that use time and hyper-specific dilution to create 'approachable' sippers). For the uninitiated, that all might sound terribly intimidating — but don't be. 'Proof is just a neighborhood cocktail bar,' said Keil in a March phone call. 'We want it to be pretty low-key, pretty casual, no reservations. We wanted to be the kind of place that people drop in, like, once or twice a week, maybe for a happy-hour drink and a snack or something.' Working in the confines of the modest cafe setup, McLean serves house focaccia to enjoy with pimento cheese and pickles, as prosciutto toast with whipped citrus and herb ricotta and lightly dressed arugula, or as the vehicle for a BLT and tuna melt. Truffle-salt popcorn, a generous vegan Caesar umami-ed with miso, new spring potatoes with 'dilly-dally' sauce, and hand pies with pizza vibes or broccoli cheddar complete the drink-friendly menu. 'It's kind of based around being snack-y and having fun,' said Keil. For anyone who has followed Keil through his many years at the forefront of Tacoma's cocktail scene, the candid description might sound familiar. He opened en Rama, the intimate Courthouse Square restaurant known for handmade pastas and cocktails, in 2018, hanging that hat in the summer of 2023. (The developers of the building sold the restaurant to new owners last year.) Before then, he operated 1022 South J in its original form, Hilltop Kitchen and Marrow, that Sixth Ave space now home to Busy Body. In the past couple of years, Keil has spent his professional energy largely on bar consulting; locally, he helped build the cocktail program at Holy Moly, a similarly chill neighborhood spot with light bites and board games. All of the above rolls into what Proof is offering out of the gate: some of the finest cocktails in Western Washington blended with mindful service and food you'll want to eat. Take, for instance, the Woman in the Dunes, already a leader among the spirit-forward, stirred numbers. Japanese whiskey rests in a big, beeswax-lined jar before infusing with apple blossoms in a sort of fat-washing technique. It's stirred simply with a pinch of salt and poured over a big, clear cube. From the session section, the sherry old fashioned stands to alter any lingering confusion around this mystifying fortified wine, combining a medium-dry amontillado and darker, sweeter Pedro Ximenez with amargo de chile and moscatel. They 'took the architecture of the old fashioned and made that, just using sherry,' explained Keil. 'You get this big, flavorful, chewy drink, but it's not high-octane.' The 50/50 martini takes a similar tact, splitting light and floral Japanese gin with a Spanish vermouth blanc, not the typical dry, diluted precisely by 20% with flat mineral water. Other drinks imbue unique flavors through sourced ingredients, such as Naomi Joe Coffee beans co-fermented with watermelon in the boulevardier, yerba mate in the sake-based Check Mate with house ginger beer, and coconut-washed gin with lime leaf and lime juice in the delicately tropical gimlet. Things have already grown more playful from there. The name Proof doesn't so much honor the colonial-era term coined for liquor tax as it does the notion of 'proof of concept,' said Keil, which, in practice, means an opportunity for this group of pros to showcase 'different concepts, genres and styles of bar programs.' Like a band might cover songs of their good friend's band, Proof will play with themes every third Wednesday. Recently they created limited-edition menus for Mardi Gras and a Daylight Savings-induced ode to beachy drinks, including a tea punch and a classic daiquiri. Throwback Thursdays will provide a field for retro recipes, forgotten cocktails and favorites from the crew's previous bars. (Baby Netflix and Chill, with multiple rums, grapefruit, ginger beer, grenadine, lime and Jäger — yes, that Jäger, which is really just a German digestif! — is always on the happy-hour menu). The idea will extend to collaborations with other bars and bartenders, said Keil, who also wanted Proof to serve as a testing ground for consulting clients. Word of this 'unqiue situation' of coffee-shop-by-day/bar-by-night has spread quietly online and organically around the neighborhood, which has become something of a haven with the recent additions of Tacoma Wine Merchants and Bordeaux Wine Bar, joining one of the city's oldest bars in The Spar. ▪ 2312 N. 30th St. (inside Anthem Coffee - Old Town), Tacoma, ▪ Tuesday-Saturday 4-10 p.m. (happy hour 4-6 p.m.) ▪ Details: neighborhood cocktail bar from Tacoma industry vets in coffee-shop-by-day; follow Instagram for specials and limited-run menu updates ▪ Need to know: walk-ins only, 21+, NA drinks available but no coffee
