Diana to perform at Music City Bowl band duel

Diana will emcee and perform at the battle of the bands today between the two school competing in Nashville's Music City Bowl tomorrow. Boston College and Vanderbilt University will see their marching bands and cheerleading squads face off for The Tennessean Spirit award at 6 p.m., which will be followed by performances by Diana and the Carter Twins at the intersection between Second Avenue and Commerce Street.

As many as 10,000 fans are expected to show up in anticipation of tomorrow's bowl game. The CMT-sponsored event is free to the public.

'American Stars' tour finished

Diana's month-long journey with Chikezie, David Hernandez and Kimberley Locke on Michael Orland's "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" wrapped up last night at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Ill. Revisit the tour by watching Diana's version of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" from the tour's stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., below:



Diana will next appear at The Listening Room Cafe in Nashville for a "writer's session" on Mon., Dec. 29, at 6:30 p.m.

Acoustic version of "Thank You"

Diana today posted the acoustic version of "Thank You" on her official music MySpace page. The song will be one of four included on her upcoming EP, Unplugged In Nashville, which should be due out on iTunes in the near future.

Diana has been selling a hard copy of the EP at the "American Stars" shows beginning with the two in Athens, Ga.

"American Stars" tour visits 'The Morning Show'

Diana and her fellow "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" cast mates paid Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy on FOX's The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet yesterday to perform a host of Christmas songs from their tour. Watch the performance below:

Diana, Chikezie, David and Kimberley performed a medley of songs that included "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song," "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," "A Wonderful Christmastime" and "Sleigh Ride."

'American Stars' tour hits Washington

The "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" tour rolled into the Toyota Center on Tues., Dec. 9, in Kennewick, Wash. Despite an audience that was few in numbers, Jeremy Dutton of Tri-CityHerald.com had a few nice things to say about Diana. Of her performance of "Grown-Up Christmas List," he said:

DeGarmo then came out in what would be several outfit changes during the night to sing a truly beautiful version of "My Grown-up Christmas List," which was dented by microphone problems she admittedly suffered with most of the night.

He also said her performance of "Thank You" was a "stirring tribute to the troops that elicited the lone standing ovation of the show" and said she "sang the pants off" of David Hernandez on their duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

"Thank You" (Athens, Ga.)

Diana performed "Thank You" for her home crowd when the "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" tour stopped in Athens, Ga., on Fri., Dec. 5. There are no words to describe the performance, it takes just one viewing:



The EP, Unplugged in Nashville, is scheduled for a digital release this coming week.

Rodney Ho chats with Diana

Rodney Ho of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "American Idol Buzz" was able to chat with Diana prior to her concert in Athens, Ga., last night for the "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" tour. Below are a few highlights from the interview, which were posted in a blog entry:

>Diana's EP will be released to iTunes next week. It will include her original song "Thank You," which she has been performing on the tour.

>She will be in Atlanta for Christmas and has not had time to decorate her home in Nashville for the holiday.

>She has been auditioning for more roles on Broadway in addition to working on her country album.

>In addition to writing songs for herself, Diana has been writing material for others (Melissa Lawson, perhaps?)

>She also recalls voting for Chikezie during the seventh season of American Idol.

Ho was not able to make it to either show but he may be receiving media from people attending.

Video: "American Stars" in action

There have already been an abundance of videos of performances from the "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" uploaded by fans from just the first few concerts. Below is video of Diana performing "Thank You," which she said should be hitting iTunes sometime next week:



There is also video of Diana singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You," "Breath of Heaven" with Kimberley Locke, "Grown-Up Christmas List" and a medley of Christmas songs or two.

The tour is currently in Athens, Ga., where it will have its second of two shows tonight.

'American Stars' show gets a rave review

Michael Palcsey of The McKeesport Daily News published his review of the premier show of the "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays," which launched in Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

Palcsey was extremely complimentary of the show, especially Diana's involvement. He said:

The second set began with a secular song from each of the four, with Hernandez getting the audience moving on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" before DeGarmo came on to steal the show again.

She sang a song she wrote about her experiences on a USO tour. Her performances were truly the most beautiful of the night, mostly motivated by her brother, who serves in the U.S. Army. She made certain to tell the audience to be thankful for those men and women serving our country and protecting our freedom, because freedom is not free.

Diana sang "Breath of Heaven" with Kimberley Locke and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with David Hernandez in addition to singing "Grown Up Christmas List." Palcesy continued to praise Diana and the show, finishing his review by saying:

"Displaying Santa Claus and the spirit of giving in the first set was playful, but closing with a meaningful and faithful arrangement of hymns and songs in preparation for the coming of Christ was extraordinary."