American Idol Singer Elliott Yamin: Home is Where the Heart Is

"American Idol" singer Elliott Yamin, who's on the lineup of performers for tonight's "A Capitol Fourth" concert special on PBS, admits that with his long list of current touring and recording activities, "I haven't had much time to spend with friends and family for a long time. My brother was with me the first week of my solo tour, and we had some quality time, so that was nice.

American Idol Singer Elliott Yamin: Home is Where the Heart Is

It does get kind of tough being away from your loved ones and friends you're used to being with all the time." Still, he says his nearest and dearest are being very supportive. "My time is now, and everyone is kind of aware of that. They understand it. This is what I've been waiting for all my life," says Yamin, who has recently been at work on both a Christmas album and a pop album. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams, Bebe Neuwirth and "Heroes'" Hayden Panettiere will also be on the "Capitol" show, hosted by Tony Danza.

Life Intensifying For Rising Teen Idols The Jonas Bros: Teen idols The Jonas Brothers are taking the Fourth of July holiday off -- but that's just about the only breathing room that 19-year-old Kevin, 17-year-old Joseph and 14-year-old Nicholas are getting this summer. Their self-titled first album for Disney's Hollywood Records is on the way for Aug. 7 release, they have a tour in full swing, a guesting on buddy Miley Cyrus' "Hannah Montana" in the can, the video for their "S.O.S." single completed, and their own recently shot "J.O.N.A.S." series pilot for the Disney Channel a shoo-in to make them TV stars.

"We went through a week and a half of martial arts training to get ready for it," reports Kevin, speaking of the show in which they're using their pop stardom as a cover for high stakes espionage activities. "J.O.N.A.S." is an acronym that stands for Junior Operatives Networking as Spies, you see. "We had to do stunts. We were on cables and all that kind of stuff, and it was absolutely awesome. We actually trained with a guy named Koichi [Sakamoto]; he's the man who trained the Power Rangers, which was exciting for us."

As their stars rise, they're seeing differences in the crowds waiting for them month to month, even week to week. These days, they're being rushed into and out of concert venues, surrounded by security, through swarms of screaming fans. "It's really amazing going back into the markets that we've played before, especially if we haven't been back for a while," comments Kevin. "We hadn't been in New York in about two, three months, and the fan reaction and the fan turnout this latest time was amazing -- so we're really excited for the rest of the tour and to see what's going to happen."

FROM COLD TO HOT: Emmy-winning soap opera icon Eric Braeden reports he totally left behind the calm, calculated villainy of the inimitable Victor Newman he's played on "The Young and the Restless" for almost three decades in the recently wrapped western "The Man Who Came Back." "I play a plantation overseer who is falsely accused of lynching someone, goes to prison for it, and they kill his family in the process," says Braeden. "After several escape attempts he comes back and kicks a-- and takes no prisoners." The actor, who also exec produced the film, says it was a welcome change of pace. "Victor gets even, too, but Victor gets cold … this is a little hotter." Armand Assante, Billy Zane and Sean Young also star in the film that starts off with the second bloodiest strike in American history in the 1870s South after the Civil War and Reconstruction. "Armand is playing the part of the ruthless sheriff in town. He and the characters played by Zane and James Patrick Stuart form the power elite that are after me, and I'm after them."

Braeden, who's been going straight from "Y&R" shooting to post-production on "The Man Who Came Back" daily, says he's as thrilled as his longtime soap fans that he's finally getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame July 20. "It's a great honor and deeply touching, to be honest with you," says the ever-gracious Braeden, who'd invited one of his diehard fans -- a totally shocked and delighted Naomi Snyder from Sacramento -- to the "Y&R" set for her 80th birthday the day we visited. "It means a hell of a lot to me because it's sort of symbolic of what America is about, and I came here (from Germany in 1959) with pennies in my pocket."

OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Looks like trouble ahead for "Boston Legal's" Denny Crane (William Shatner). Casting has been underway for an actress to play a gorgeous and brainy thirtysomething "ex escort" who goes on a date with that bad old lawyer -- then has the nerve to turn out to be an undercover policewoman.