Julianne Hough Web

Julianne Hough has a lot on her plate. In addition to possibly returning to “Dancing with the Stars” next season (she’s playing coy on that one), she is putting the finishing touches on her second solo album and working on two films.

Hitfix went to a listening party for her new album yesterday at the Mercury Nashville offices. We’ll get to the music in a second, but she also filled in folks on the latest with the ever-moving status of the “Footloose” remake.

She remains attached to the project as the female lead and said a new draft has brought back some of the “edge” of the original as opposed to making it into a full blown musical. “Hustle & Flow” director Craig Brewer is now helming the project after Kenny Ortega left the movie. She said shooting begins this summer, despite the absence of a confirmed male lead for the part originally played by Kevin Bacon. After Zac Efron and Chace Crawford both dropped out, Paramount has now been conducting an on-line video search.

Hough also appears in “Burlesque,” which stars Cher and Christina Aguilera. She plays against type in the movie, playing someone “red head and pregnant.”

But the focus on the event was music, with Hough introducing four new tracks including first single “Is That So Wrong,” which is about not wanting to be alone “when a friend is not enough.” Hough co-wrote the mid-tempo ballad with Sarah Buxton and Blair Daly.

Hough also played another mid-tempo tune about heartbreak, “That’s What the Night is For.” “This one is moody and I see all kinds of visual things, like at awards shows, hanging from the ceiling,” she said, leading her record company executives blanched as they had a visual of their own: The amount of money it would take to make such a performance happen.

She also previewed the up-tempo, spunky “Too Good to Be True,” a song that, as Hough puts it, makes you want to “dance your butt off,” as well as “Wildfire,” about a girl who gets scared and always burns the man she’s with (not literally, of course.” This song is about me to a T,” she said. “I wish I’d written this song.” Is Chuck Wicks, her former beau, listening?

The album, produced by Dann Huff, best known for his work with artists like Faith Hill and Keith Urban, finds Hough displaying a confidence missing from her 2008 self-titled debut. That set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, but failed to produce any significant singles beyond “That Song in My Head,” which stalled at No. 18. No release date for the new set has been announced.

Source:  http://www.hitfix.com

JULIANNE Hough and Chuck Wicks are still pals — despite ending their romance.

The pair — who recently split after dating for over a year — attended the Country Music Association Awards together on Wednesday.

But Hough admits that despite their public show of unity, she and Wicks are no longer an item.

“We’re both just really, really busy with our careers, and we spend a lot of time apart from each other — so we’re just taking a little break right now,” the Dancing with the Stars pro, 21, told People magazine.

“Honestly, Chuck and I are such good friends — we still hang out all the time, and we’re still writing together.”

Wicks, 30, recently revealed that he and Hough grew closer this past spring when they were paired up together on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

Hough “makes me learn some difficult steps sometimes,” he said. “She doesn’t just let me dance around her. She challenges me, makes me pay attention and makes me want to pay attention.”

During their time as a couple, Hough and Wicks also dodged their share of wedding rumors.

While he was on DWTS, Wicks vowed that he would never pop the question. “I promise to you I will not propose to Julianne on the show,” he said in a radio interview this past April.

“We’ve been together almost a year now. We have a great relationship, and we definitely always talk about what’s in the future and the next step and marriage.”

The pair had intended to spend the holidays together.

“Last Christmas, Jules and I stayed home, here in Nashville,” Wicks said last month. “We just relaxed because we had been so busy. Anytime we get to come home, and just chill out with family and friends, watch a movie and go to dinner, it’s great.”

Source: Show Bizspy and other sources.

Julianne Hough is in New York this week to perform classic songs from “The Wizard of Oz” with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on Tuesday night. (You can catch the JHud/Julianne version of “The Wizard of Oz” for free streaming from Netflix on October 3rd.)

After the two women met for rehearsal yesterday, FOX411 sat down to talk about Julianne’s return to “Dancing With the Stars” this season, her predicted winner, and updates on her “Footloose” remake with Chace Crawford.

“I want to come back and dance on the show!” Julianne tells FOX411. “My brother, Derek, and Mark Ballas are going to sing with their Ballas Hough Band and I want to come back and dance while they rock out. I’m working on hooking that up. When I performed my single on ‘DWTS,’ they danced for me. Now it’s my turn!”

Hough says its hard being on the sidelines this season, to a point.

“I am competitive and I do miss ‘DWTS.’ It’s nice to relax a little and watch everyone else. I don’t have to stress out every five seconds to see if my partner’s doing okay! That’s very nice for the time being!”

She does of course have a favorite. “I hope my brother with partner Joanna Krupa are the front runners this season! I haven’t had a chance to watch a full episode, but I get online and watch the dance numbers. My early prediction is that Mya, Donny Osmond, Melissa Joan Hart, Joanna and Aaron Carter all have a great chance to make it to the semi-finals and finals.”

Julianne makes sure keeps her winning partners, Helio Castroneves and Apolo Ohno, on her speed dial. “I still stay in touch with Apolo Ohno a lot,” she says. “We text message and I always offer him tickets to my shows. When I was in Seattle, where his dad is from, I texted to see if he could come to the show, but he was in Beijing. He’s super focused on training for the Olympics in 2010.”

“I also try to keep up with Helio Castroneves,” she adds. “I talk to Apolo the most, but I also follow Helio on Twitter and he Tweets in Portuguese too much. I never understand what he’s saying but he texts me all the time and always cracks me up.”

Once the blonde country star finishes touring the country, she will begin wardrobe fittings and rehearsals for “Footloose” with co-star Chace Crawford from “Gossip Girl.”

“Chace and I are really in pre-pre-production for ‘Footloose.’ We don’t start until next year in March, but I have met up with him a few times and we’ve done a couple of things together – I’m excited! It is going to be true to this era and time with interesting flares of the original!”

We see early 80’s dresses and big hair. We likey.

Source: FOX News

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