According to TMZ.com, Clay Aiken is going to be a father. But he did not go and do it the old fashioned way, his sperm was artificially inseminated into Jaymes Foster, a 50-year-old record producer and sister of David Foster that has worked on Clay's albums. Clay, 29, is said to be best friends with Foster.
So what exactly is this? A publicity stunt to jump start sales of his sinking album, On My Way Here, which has sold 127k copies to date? A way to dispel the gay rumors once and for all? Or just an honest gesture for a friend in need? No one knows, and Clay's reps aren't talking.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Clay impregnates a woman?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Cook and Arch on 'Today'
David Cook and David Archuleta performed on NBC's Today Show this morning as part of the venerable morning show's summer concert series. Arch sang "Think of Me," which can be viewed here, while Cook sang "The Time of My Life," which can be viewed here.
They also sat down with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira and were interviewed, which covered the usual topics like whether Cook was surprised he won and the whole "Dadchuleta" controversy. Below is video of their interview:
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Arch on 'Regis & Kelly'
David Archuleta took to the "Idol on Live" stage this morning on Live with Regis & Kelly to perform an unplugged version of "Angels." He also sat down with the show's co-hosts to chat about his tutoring sessions while on the show, as well as what his fans are called among other things.
But the funniest moment of the interview was when Kelly Ripa asked David if he remembered at the beginning of the competition when Simon told him "I wish I had would you have," which David could not recall, nor could Regis. Fortunately for Kelly, a few audience members remembered the same thing, and the issue was settled.
Below is video of the interview and performance of "Angels":
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Cook is favorite winner
In last week's IDOL LIVE poll of the week, we asked who your favorite American Idol winner is. And a resounding 56% of respondents chose newly-crowned winner David Cook as their favorite, followed by Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite American Idol runner-up is. You have one week to vote. And please feel free to sound off on the results. Do you agree with them?
Kelly Clarkson 21 (13%)
Ruben Studdard 2 (1%)
Fantasia 2 (1%)
Carrie Underwood 25 (15%)
Taylor Hicks 6 (3%)
Jordin Sparks 12 (7%)
David Cook 90 (56%)
Total votes: 158
'Idol' Hot 100: "The Time of My Life" #3
David Cook's "The Time of My Life" leads all other Idol-related entries on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the week ending June 6, 2008. His coronation single is just one of 10 tracks that made the chart, plus a few more that made the "Bubbling Under" chart. Full numbers, courtesy of bks over at Pulse, are posted below:
Hot 100
03 -- David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
05 05 Jordin Sparks, "No Air"
15 -- David Cook, "Dream Big"
19 37 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name"
22 -- David Cook, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
28 -- David Cook, "The World I Know"
36 -- David Archuleta, "Imagine"
42 -- David Cook, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
45 36 Daughtry, "Feels Like Tonight"
47 -- David Cook, "Billie Jean"
60 -- David Archuleta, "In This Moment"
67 -- David Cook, "Always Be My Baby"
73 -- David Cook, "Hello"
77 -- David Cook, "The Music of the Night"
92 -- David Cook, "Eleanor Rigby"
99 -- David Cook, "I'm Alive"
Bubbling Under
01 -- David Cook, "Little Sparrow"
02 -- Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
03 -- David Cook, "Hungry Like the Wolf"
04 -- David Cook, "Innocent"
14 -- David Cook, "Day Tripper"
15 -- David Archuleta, "Longer"
18 -- David Cook, ""All Right Now"
19 -- David Archuleta, "Think of Me"
24 -- David Archuleta, "Angels"
25 -- David Cook, "Happy Together"
"The Time of My Life" debuts at #3 on the Hot 100
Billboard today announced that David Cook's debut single, "The Time of My Life," will debut at #3 on tomorrow's issue of their coveted Hot 100 chart. In addition to "Life," 10 other songs by Cook will debut on the chart, which is the most ever for an artist since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking the data in December 1991. Below is a snippet from the release:
Cook's takeover of the Hot 100 shatters the mark for debuts set by Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) in the Nov. 11, 2006, issue, when she placed six new titles on the list. The 11 songs on the chart are the most in a week by any artist in the Nielsen Music era, which began in December 1991 when the chart converted to Nielsen BDS and Nielsen SoundScan data.Cook also has 14 songs that will debut on the Hot Digital Songs chart, which is a new record.
His haul also marks the most placements on the list since the Beatles charted 14 songs on the Hot 100 in the week of April 11, 1964.
David Archuleta, on the other hand, will see his highest of three entries on the chart debut at #36, which is his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine."
Cook signs with RCA, dispelling earlier rumors
A press release issued today has announced that David Cook has signed with 19 Recordings / RCA Records, not J Records as initially reported last week. Below is a portion from the release:
American Idol winner David Cook has been signed to 19 Recordings / RCA Records and is preparing to start recording his debut album which is due for release in fall 2008.The full release is posted on Cook's official MySpace page. Cook was also added to RCA's official roster, and has his own artist page.
"David Cook is an extraordinarily versatile and talented artist with an impressive sense of musicality," says Tom Corson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, RCA Music Group. "He is a natural performer and a true star. We are thrilled to welcome him into our family."
Cook, who's first single, "The Time Of My Life" skyrocketed to 1 on iTunes within 7 hours of being available, will be recording his album over the summer while on the road with the American Idol tour. The tour kicks off on July 1st in Glendale, AZ and wraps on September 13th in Tulsa, OK.
Other Idol alums currently calling RCA home are Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry.
Jordin's "One Step At a Time" video premieres
Jordin Sparks' video for her latest single, "One Step At a Time," premiered this afternoon on her YouTube channel. The premise of the video is fairly simple and fits the spring and upcoming summer months just right. At the conclusion of the video, Jordin holds up her palm to the camera, which reads "I love you Wendy," which is a message to the Sparks' family friend, who recently lost her battle with Stage 4 Melanoma.
The video will be embedded here as soon as an embeddable one becomes available.
UPDATE: Jordin has posted on IDF that the video was taken down due to some minor technical issues and will be reposted soon.
Digital sales roundup: "The Time of My Life" #1 (5/24/08)
In this week's digital sales roundup, an influx of Season 7 tracks clog the Top 200 of the latest edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, led by David Cook's coronation single, "The Time of My Life." The song raked in an astounding 236k in just four days, which should be good for a #3 debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Cook is represented by 17 tracks in the Top 200, and could see many Hot 100 debuts on this week's chart, which will be published tomorrow.
David Archuleta also had a strong showing, as his 12 tracks on the chart were led by his finale performance of "Imagine," which took in 71k. The only other Season 7 finalists to chart were Jason Castro (#81, "Hallelujah," #102, "Over the Rainbow"), Brooke White (#136, "Let It Be") and Michael Johns (#187, "Dream On").
Carrie Underwood saw a big boost in sales of "Last Name," as it rocketed #54-19 with 64k downloads on the heels of her sexed-up finale performance. Jordin Sparks also saw a boost for her latest single, "One Step At a Time," as it entered the chart at #76, selling nearly 20k downloads. Her hit duet with Chris Brown, "No Air," stayed consistent, rising 2% and remaining in the Top 10.
This week's chart supports the assumption that had Idol decided to report sales throughout the entire competition, the sales charts would have looked very similar to this. The chart is credited to bks over on Pulse, and all Idol highlights are posted below:
01 -- David Cook, "The Time of My Life" 236,024 999% 0 236,024
07 -- David Cook, "Dream Big" 111,052 999% 0 111,052
09 -- D. Cook, "I Still Haven't Found..." 97,868 999% 0 97,868
10 07 Jordin Sparks, "No Air" 87,518 2% 85,455 1,866,343
14 -- David Cook, "The World I Know" 79,907 999% 0 79,907
16 -- David Archuleta, "Imagine" 71,178 999% 0 71,178
19 54 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name" 64,143 193% 21,915 181,373
21 -- David Cook, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" 59,571 999% 0 59,571
24 -- David Cook, "Billie Jean" 56,344 999% 0 56,344
26 -- D. Archuleta, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down..." 50,653 999% 0 50,653
28 -- David Archuleta, "In This Moment" 49,134 999% 0 49,134
29 -- David Cook, "Always Be My Baby" 46,577 999% 0 46,577
32 -- David Cook, "Hello" 42,254 999% 0 42,254
41 -- David Cook, "The Music of the Night" 35,753 999% 0 35,753
51 -- David Cook, "Eleanor Rigby" 28,397 999% 0 28,397
60 -- David Cook, "I'm Alive" 25,206 999% 0 25,206
66 -- David Cook, "Little Sparrow" 23,512 999% 0 23,512
68 -- David Cook, "Hungry Like the Wolf" 22,875 999% 0 22,875
69 -- David Cook, "Innocent" 22,785 999% 0 22,785
76 -- Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 19,793 446% 3,627 74,065
81 -- Jason Castro, "Hallelujah" 19,312 999% 0 19,312
82 -- David Cook, "Day Tripper" 19,073 999% 0 19,073
84 -- David Archuleta, "Longer" 18,992 999% 0 18,992
90 -- David Cook, "All Right Now" 17,948 999% 0 17,948
92 -- David Archuleta, "Think of Me" 17,653 999% 0 17,653
96 -- David Archuleta, "Angels" 16,893 999% 0 16,893
97 -- David Cook, "Happy Together" 16,853 999% 0 16,853
102 - Jason Castro - "Over the Rainbow" 16,484 999% 0 16,484
107 - David Archuleta, "When You Believe" 15,863 999% 0 15,863
110 - David Archuleta, "Love Me Tender" 15,108 999% 0 15,108
128 - David Archuleta, "The Long and Winding Road" 13,675 999% 0 13,675
136 - Brooke White, "Let It Be" 12,254 999% 0 12,254
149 - David Archuleta, "Sweet Caroline" 11,050 999% 0 11,050
161 - David Archuleta, "You're The Voice" 10,279 999% 0 10,279
171 - David Archuleta, "Another Day In Paradise" 9,756 999% 0 9,756
187 - Michael Johns, "Dream On" 9,079 999% 0 9,079
Total sales are in bold.
There are also many tracks that were either performed on the finale or in some other way were tied into the show that saw huge boosts and were able to chart, and can be seen in the full chart here.
Michael Johns sings Anthem at Cubs game
Season 7's eighth-place finalist Michael Johns sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at yesterday's Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game at Wrigley Field to a great amount of applause. Watch video of his performance below:
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"Kimberly Caldwell" most searched term on Yahoo!
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Kimberly Caldwell, the seventh-place finalist from Season 2, was the most searched term on Yahoo!'s Buzz Index for today (Tues., May 27). She beat out other notable people, including actor/director Sydney Pollack, who died today, Obama and David Cook.
Kimberly was launched back into peoples' minds after she came up in a few of Cook's interviews as he has been making the rounds following his Idol victory. The two are now a couple, according to People.com:
"I'm just excited because I finally get to talk to you," he told her during an interview Wednesday night on the Idol Tonight show. "I've been hearing you say all these nice things about me all season, So I'm actually going to ask you to dinner right now."Since placing 7th on Season 2, Kimberly has been the host of TV Guide Network's Idol Tonight, which is where she and Cook met.
Idols perform at "David Foster & Friends"
Two former Idol finalists performed with other well-known artists at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Fri., May 23, as part of the "David Foster & Friends" concert special. Season 7 eighth-place finalist Michael Johns and Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee wowed the audience with their performances, along with Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Andrea Bocelli among others. McPhee performed "Unforgettable," "Somewhere" and a duet of "The Prayer" with Bocelli.
Below is video of Johns' performance of "St. Elmo's Fire."
A DVD of the concert will reportedly be released in December.
Cook on 'Regis & Kelly,' 'Ellen'
David Cook made the rounds this morning as he kicked off a week-long talk show blitz in which he was to address his fans since being crowned the American Idol less than a week ago.
After taping a two-night special with the rest of the Top 10 on CNN's Larry King Live that aired Friday and Monday night, Cook was interviewed on Live with Regis & Kelly and performed "The Time of His Life."
In the interview, Cook was asked the usual barrage of questions regarding his bartending skills (he said he does not even know how to make many drinks because his bar was more relaxed), and his new blossoming romance with Season 2 seventh-place finalist Kimberly Caldwell.
Video of the performance can be viewed below:
Following his appearance on Regis, Cook proceeded to tape an episode of Ellen, where he was also interviewed and performed "The World I Know." The interview and performance can be viewed below:
Monday, May 26, 2008
Keeping up with Josiah Leming
Josiah Leming, the car-inhabiting 18-year-old teary-eyed Top 50 contestant from Idol's seventh season drew a lot of sympathy from viewers when he was prematurely cut by the judges in the Hollywood week round, just shy of making the coveted Top 24. Josiah's story was one of the more primarily focused on from the audition stage, and it carried him far beyond Idol.
After the Morristown, Tenn., native performed his original composition, "To Run," on Ellen, Josiah was reserved to posting updates to his fans via his MySpace through videos of his performances of both original and cover songs. To top off all the legions of fans he has picked up following his short stint on Idol, MTV News last Wednesday reported that he signed an indie deal with Warner Bros. Records, and is already out in Los Angeles working on the disc.
USA Today included a feature article on Josiah's post-Idol success, going as far to get in jabs at finalists that actually went far in the competition but have had their contracts yanked, like Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee. In the article, Josiah talks of his hopes to get the album released by the end of the year, as his mother is battling terminal cancer. Per the article, Josiah said:
"It's a difficult balance between moving forward with my career here in Los Angeles, which makes my mom really happy, and trying to be with her as much as I can back in Morristown, Tenn. I want her to be here when the album comes out."Josiah, now 19, was best known for his rendition of Mika's "Grace Kelly" during the Hollywood week round.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
'Idol' finale draws 31.7 million
Wednesday's finale was the cherry on top of an awful season of American Idol ratings-wise, as nearly 32 million tuned in to see Cook but Arch in the battle of the Davids. That was up one million viewers from last year, when 30.7 million people witnessed Jordin Sparks defeat Blake Lewis.
The Tuesday performance episode netted 27.1 million viewers, which was also up from Season 6's 25.3 million. For the entire season, the show averaged 28.1 million per week, down from Season 5's 30.8 million, Idol's peak ratings-wise.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Cook signs with J Records
There are rumblings that David Cook has signed with J Records, which is where a few Idol winners have ended up, most notably Ruben Studdard (who was dropped earlier this year) and Fantasia. This comes on the heels of learning that David Archuleta has signed with another label under the Sony BMG umbrella - Jive. Look for a press release in the near future.
David Cook on Leno
David Cook kicked off his post-Idol major media tour on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night. Cook got a rise out of the audience when he flopped down on the couch, making fun of how he has not slept much at all since winning.
He discussed a wide variety of topics last night, from whether or not he was surprised he won to his infamous Guitar Hero commercial, and what that was like behind the scenes. Cook was very well spoken and seemed like he was having fun despite the fact that he must be extremely tired.
Jenna Bush, who was also on the show with her mother, Laura, said she voted 40 times for Cook on Tuesday, and that it was the first time she watched Idol.
Watch the full interview segment below:
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Archuleta inks deal with Jive
Not even 24 hours since learning he finished as runner-up on Season 7 of American Idol, David Archuleta has signed a deal with Jive Records. Per HitsDailyDouble.com...
A summer release seems way too early, especially when factoring in the Idols Live! tour, which runs until September. This would suggest the album is already put together and all that is missing are Arch's vocals.
Richard Palmese’s J/RCA Music Group promo team are already on the case working the debut single from last night’s Idol winner David Cook, “Time of My Life,” which is being delivered to radio as we speak. Meanwhile, runner-up David Archuleta will join the Jive label for his album debut, coming sometimes this summer. Going against tradition, a single from the second place finisher will not be released until close to the full-length release date.
David Cook's Q&A with EW.com
David Cook sat down with Shirley Halperin of Entertainment Weekly last night following his victory, and had a lot of interesting to say. Some of the more interesting tidbits from the Q&A are listed below:
-He wanted to win, and thinks it's "disrespectful" for anyone to go into the competition wanting to finish at any other place other than winning.
-He appreciated Simon's apology but said he didn't think it was necessary because he never felt disrespected.
-He received positive feedback from Ed Roland of Collective Soul regarding his performance of "The World I Know."
-If he had to choose a ban to tour with right now, it would be the reunited Led Zeppelin.
-He laughed when Halperin brought up his maturity, and said "you guys don't see me when the cameras are off."
-He thought the boxing theme would be goofy, but he said it went over pretty well.
To read the full Q&A session, see here.
"The Time of My Life" now #1 song on iTunes
After being released on the iTunes music store for merely a few hours, David Cook's winner's single "The Time of My Life" is already sitting atop the store's Top 100 chart. This is the fastest a winner's single has taken to get to the top, and the first one to hit #1 since Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud" reached the pinnacle in 2006 (Jordin Sparks' "This Is My Now" peaked at #2 last May).
Cook's three performances from Tuesday night are also sitting at #8 ("I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"), #9 ("The World I Know") and #10 ("Dream Big").
No surprises: finale recap and analysis
Although it seems the entire press was shocked upon hearing the revelation that David Cook had defeated David Archuleta at last night's Season 7 finale, I try not to sound cocky when I say I had it right all along. What needs to be acknowledged here is that this competition is a marathon, not a sprint.
First, let's analyze the results.
Although the online fanbases do not always reflect the general public's demographics, the online polls at various outlets all seemed to be going in Cook's favor throughout the duration of the Top 12, and an even better indicator was how he was able to sell his downloads. Remember back to "Billie Jean"? Despite the fact that none of the Idol studio versions were allowed to show up on the official iTunes charts, the popularity bars in comparison to the then-#1 song, Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body," were astoundingly higher when viewed through the loophole iTunes had.
For a song to be selling that much, you know the people buying it are invested fans, and voting is free, while buying the song on iTunes is not. So you do the math.
And then, of course, Simon and his infamous "subtle wink" at Cook after giving him a rather harsh criticism of his third performance sealed the deal. At the finale last night, Simon apologized to Cook for "verging on being disrespectful" with his comments, and on the red carpet minutes before the broadcast began last night, Simon had taken back his declaration that Arch delivered "a knockout."
Regardless of what he'll admit to, Simon was more likely than not using his signature reverse psychology with Cook to rile up his fans and give him the surefire victory. But by 12 million out of 97.5 million votes? A 56-44% split? That seems a bit of a landslide, which no one would have expected. One good thing to know is that DialIdol.com was more accurate than ever at this finale, as the two Davids were separated by 12 points in their results, too.
As for his reaction to hearing the good news, Cook was overwhelmed with emotion and had to walk it off, but he recovered very nicely and was spot on in his performance of "The Time of My Life." I'll admit, it was hard to keep a straight face hearing him sing about "magic rainbows," but he gets all the slack cut in the world because Idol fans know the coronation songs are about nothing but sugar and cheese. It was great to see everyone surrounding him and supporting him at the end, and even Arch seemed all smiles.
As for the show itself, it was better than last year's, but not as good as some of the finales from seasons past. The performances that stood out for me were the duet of "The Letter" by Michael Johns and Carly Smithson, Arch's duet on "Apologize" with OneRepublic and Carrie Underwood's performance of "Last Name."
With Michael and Carly, the two of them had so much chemistry during the performance, and the way they acted it out, it made it even more special. I had picked them to be the Top 2 at the beginning of the season and they sure looked like a Top 2 last night. With Arch and OneRepublic, I thought Arch outsang lead singer Ryan Tedder by a mile and a half, and I kind of wish he had performed it on Top 3 night rather than "With You." And then Carrie's performance was (in the words of one Randy Jackson) blazin', molten hot! She looked beautiful in her short white dress and sounded better than she ever has on that song.
Some other good performances were Cook's duet of "Sharp Dressed Man" with ZZ Top, during which he showed his true rocker cred, and Brooke White's duet with Graham Nash on "Teach Your Children," which was touching to say the least. Jason Castro's reprise of "Hallelujah" was another treat, though it lacked the magic that his first performance had. And George Michael's performance of "Praying For Time," although a little too long, was very moving considering the atmosphere of the ominous, dimly-lit Nokia Theatre.
Some letdowns were the Jonas Brothers (big surprise), the hologram performance of Gladys Knight singing "Midnight Train to Georgia" with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Iron Man himself - Robert Downey, Jr. and (as much as I love her) even Jordin Sparks' performance of her new single, "One Step At a Time." I also thought Syesha Mercado would have been better off singing "Waiting For You" without Seal, but that would have taken away the cool factor, so it is what it is. And then the Top 6/12 numbers with Bryan Adams and Donna Summer were kind of nice, but nothing special. It was great to see all 12 of them on stage together again, though.
And like all finales, it would not have been the same without a visit down memory lane to look at the trash that were bad auditions, taken out long ago and forgotten about until now. The "let my peebul gohhhhh" guy and the "frosty mountain" guy were classic, but of course it was Renaldo Lapuz who finally got a golden ticket to Hollywood, albeit not the one he was expecting, and landed a prime performing spot at the finale. He belted out "We're Brothers Forever" accompanied by a marching band and cheerleading squad (I knew we would be seeing more of him for the finale as soon as his audition aired). And surprisingly, there was no sign of Josiah Lemming, the famous British-sounding, car-inhabiting 18-year-old who just missed out on a spot in the Top 24.
So all in all, this was a pretty good finale to end an above average season, but there are still many problems that need to be worked out. This season will be remembered for many things, among them the issue of having "plants" as contestants, the legitimacy of the judges' comments thanks to Paulagate, and a continuing slide in the ratings. Yes, there were many great moments that came out of this season, including memorable performances from many of the contestants ("Billie Jean," "Angels," "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right," "Here You Come Again," "Hallelujah," "Imagine," "Always be My Baby," the list goes on...), Simon's "WTF face" during Fantasia's performance and the many great Idol alums' performances.
So no matter what, this season will be remembered infinitely more than Season 6. Now the question is, will this season's batch of finalists be able to hold onto solid careers, or will they suffer "flash in the pan"-itis? It's way too early to tell, but it looks like David Cook will for sure be a bona fide star. Thanks America, for getting it right.
Listen to "The Time of My Life," now on iTunes
The studio version of David Cook's winning single, "The Time of My Life," is featured on AOL's PopEater blog. Click here to listen to it.
You can also download the single on iTunes.
Despite the cheeseball lyrics as usual, Cook does an above average job considering what he has to work with. A job well done.
Davids in their Guitar Hero 3 commercials
Both David Cook and David Archuleta were featured separately in commercials promoting the video game Guitar Hero 3 during the finale's broadcast. In the commercials, the Davids reenacted Tom Cruise's famous scene from Risky Business, which involves them running around a house playing a guitar in their underwear.
Below is Cook's
Below is Arch's
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Congrats, Cook!
Congratulations to David Cook for winning Season 7 of American Idol by 12 million votes! Here is video of Cook winning and his performance of "Time of My Life."
IDOL LIVE Blog - Season 7 Finale (5/21/08)
At long last, the end is here. Tonight we blog during the seventh season's two-hour grand finale at 8 p.m. ET, which will be held at the Nokia Theatre and will feature countless special guest performers, Idol alumni and surprise collaborations. Which David will win? There's only one way to find out, so please follow along!
David Cook, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Eleanor Rigby (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "The Music of the Night (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Innocent (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Smoky Mountain Memories (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Longer (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Sweet Caroline (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Think of Me (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
Top 2 Week Poll Results - Favorite Remaining Finalists
David Archuleta - 167 (40%)
David Cook - 245 (59%)
Total votes: 412
Coronation song: "Time of My Life"
It was revealed today by USA Today that neither of the songs that were performed last night - "Dream Big" nor "In This Moment," - will be the winner's single. It will in fact be Regie Hamm's "Time of My Life," which apparently won the competition. The song is leaps and bounds better than either of the other ones and has a country feel. It's still no "Something Like Heaven," which should have won hands down, but it will do the job. Below is an excerpt from the article in USA Today...
More than 500,000 voters chose Time of My Life from the 20 audio clips posted online. What gave Hamm's tune the edge?To listen to "Time of My Life," see here.
Its feel, its groove, the message," King says. "The lyrics aren't too sappy, and it's contemporary."
Both Davids impress with final performances
In an epic battle of the ages, 17-year-old David Archuleta and 25-year-old David Cook took to the Nokia Theatre stage and delivered stunning performances. Going into the night it was anyone's game, but there were certain events that took place during the broadcast that swayed the momentum in one person's favor.
Just an aside: the theatre was too big and there was no excitement compared to past finales. It was too dark and dull, plus the stage was overwhelming.
Beginning with the cheesy and childish mock boxing introduction complete with Michael Buffer serving as the emcee, we knew the show was off to a rocky start. Especially when Arch was introduced as weighing "100 lbs. when soaking wet." Yes it was a joke, but please.
Once all the seriousness began, things seemed to get back on the ground. Clive Davis the crypt keeper was there in all his glory, despite being demoted over at Sony BMG earlier this year. And Andrew Lloyd Webber made an appearance, seeming that he cannot get enough of this show. The two helped coach the Davids in their song choices, which amounted to just fluff. If they do not know how to perform by now, they are not fit to be the next idol.
So after a long, drawn-out montage we finally get something noteworthy, as Cook kicks off the show with Clive's choice for him, U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Although upon hearing he would be doing this song days ago it sounded like a sure thing and would fit his voice perfectly, it did not sound special at all. It was virtually a straight-up rock cover of the song, which Cook is not always amazing at. Randy seemed pretty impressed, and said it was a "great way to start off this duel of 2007." He brought up the fact that they were competing for the "King of the Nokia" for the first time of the night, but definitely not the last. Right. Paula was a little more creative, even though her "You may not have found what you're looking for but we sure have" comment was scripted to the core. She said Cook had arrived and said "Amen" three times. And then Simon even cut him some slack when he said the performance was "phenomenal" despite the fact that he was tense.
But as soon as Cook left the stage, Arch took to it and belted out Clive's choice of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me." The much overdone song sounded great coming from him, and is completely the right genre of music for him to be pursuing. Suddenly Clive's crazy song choice seems alright. Aside from the vocals, Arch incorporated his annoying arm-stretching, but it did not take away too much from the overall performance. Randy went above and beyond with his syrupy praise of Arch, calling the performance "molten hot" and his vocals "crazy" among other things. He was so blown away, in fact, that he kept repeating "crazy" even as Paula was giving her own critique, which was another unoriginal "The sun is never gonna go down on you' kind of thing. She did say she got chills, though, so that probably was not in the script. Simon declared Arch the winner of round one, saying the performance was his best so far.
So after getting Clive's songs out of the way, Cook retook the stage and delivered a rocked up version of Emily Shackleton's "Dream Big," which he chose from the top 10 vote-getters in the AI songwriting competition. The song completely fit his style, but the cheesy as ever lyrics anchored it down. It also did not feel like a "winning" performance. Randy let everyone know that the song was "just ok" but Cook "sang his face off." Paula was just mesmerized and sat in awe of him, and Simon gave the performance a "6.5 out of 10," using the boxing analogy to say it was "a bit of a lightweight" and "didn't sound like a winning moment."
When it was Arch's turn, he took on "In This Moment," which was even cheesier than Cook's choice, but to his credit it actually sounded like an Idol song. He was able to hit the high note while the song;s lyrics were fairly inspirational and sugary. Randy again was not crazy about the song but pulled out one of his five usual compliments in telling him he could "sing the phone book" and that he was "in the zone." Paula told him some more bland statements in saying the performance had "magic" and that was why he was in the final two. Simon again said Arch was in fact the winner of round two, claiming he chose the better song and it fit the night better, and saying he liked the "egotistical lyrics.' You would, Simon.
As for the contestants' choices in round three, Cook finished out his performances with Collective Soul's "The World I Know," which everyone could see had some meaningful connection to him. It started off acoustic but then the band came in and he even showed off some of his rare falsetto. Upon finishing, Cook started to tear up, which added even more fuel to the audience's fire of applause and cheering. Paula gave him a standing ovation. Randy said he did a very nice job and that this was the kind of record he could see him releasing. Paula again stood and applauded him, saying he was "standing in his truth" and that he delivered performances "with integrity and originality." Simon started his comments off by calling Cook one of the nicest, most genuine contestants they had ever had on the show, but brought spirits down when he told him he should have sung "Billie Jean" again and that his choice was "completely and utterly the wrong one."
So then Arch came out and took on his most memorable performance in "Imagine," again starting at the second verse and not changing the arrangement up from hi earlier performance. His vocals were no better than either of his two prior performances that night, but the mood seemed perfect, and that he had a "winner's moment" with the song. Randy said the best singer of Season 7 was "standing right there!" and that he was what this show is all about. Paula basically echoed Randy's comment, adding that he "left her speechless." And Simon, who had been praising Cook on every show he was on promoting the finale (mainly Leno and Ellen), said that Arch came out to win, and that the audience had witnessed "a knockout," and once again declared that round three in fact went to him. Arch did his best to hold back tears, and definitely seemed like he realized he had just won.
Following the final performance, Ruben Studdard moseyed out to sing this season's "Bad Day" and "Home" in "Celebrate Me Home," set to a montage of some of this season's most memorable moments.
Despite what would seem to be an unequivocal blowout in an Arch's favor, this is far from the case. Simon's one mistake in trying not to cover up his "grand plan" was giving Cook a "secret wink" after he gave his final critique. Translation: Simon was being extra hard on Cook because he knew it would stir up the fans and get them to vote even harder. All week the odds were heavily in favor of Cook winning, and in order to keep the stars aligned, this was his weapon of choice. So now no one should be surprised when Cook is crowned the winner tonight, but legions of casual viewers will surely be shocked. Either way, they both should be fine no matter what, but Cook's emotions and Simon's technique were enough to give him the win.
Now off to tonight's supersized finale, which will hopefully not (but most likely will) feature hologram duets with dead singers. At least Carrie will be there to save the show.
Prediction:
Winner: David C.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 2 Perform (5/20/08)
Tonight we blog during the final performance show of the season when the Top 2 perform a coronation song selected from the Top 10 vote-getters from the songwriting competition, a new song/reprise, and a song selected by Clive Davis. Who will strike a chord with viewers? Which David will steal the show? There's only one way to find out, so be sure to spread the word that IDOL LIVE is the best place to get a live play-by-play of tonight's action!
David Archuleta, "Angels (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "When You Believe (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Billie Jean (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Always Be My Baby (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
Ruben Studdard, "Celebrate Me Home" - download on iTunes
A look ahead to tonight
A few quick notes and spoilers regarding tonight's performance show (all spoilers are from IDF)...
-David Archuleta won the coin toss last week, and elected to go second (duh).
-Clive Davis, despite being demoted over at Sony BMG, chose a song for each of the Top 2 to sing. It was revealed that he chose Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" for David A., but his pick for David Cook has not been revealed.
-David A. will sing "Imagine" for his reprise, while David C. will sing U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as a new choice rather than a reprise.
-Each David got to choose which coronation song they would like to perform out of the Top 10 chosen by viewers' votes. Or so they claim...
UPDATE: David C. has chosen "No Turning Back," while David A. has chosen "Here I Am."
Looking ahead to tomorrow night's finale...
-Carrie Underwood will perform her new single, "Last Name."
-Bo Bice and Jennifer Hudson have confirmed they will appear, and two former contestants from every season will perform.
-Both Davids will do a duet to OneRepublic's "Apologize." OneRepublic will also be there.
-The Top 5 contestants will each perform with an "idol" (kind of like what happened in Season 5). Bryan Adams is one of those rumored to be performing with someone.
-The Jonas Brothers will perform their hit single "S.O.S."
-Paul McCartney is rumored to be performing.
-The Top 2 will each perform with Mariah Carey and Neil Diamond.
UPDATE: David C. will perform with Carey in a duet of "Always Be My Baby."
That's about all I've got for now. Keep checking back later for more.
Simon on The Tonight Show
Simon was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night to promote the seventh season's finale. After a drawn out roast of Simon, with topics ranging from his first kiss to his long hair when he was younger, he offered some of his infamous opinions on what he wants to see happen and who he thinks "deserves" to win.
Simon said he didn't think it really mattered either way who won, but that he wants David Cook to take the title. He thinks he deserves it more than "the other guy" (another name for David Archuleta I guess?) because he has had life experience and worked as a bartender. Personally, I'm not sure how much sense this rationalization of his opinion makes, but this is Simon we're talking about.
He also went on to say his now world-famous reaction shot to Fantasia's performance on last week's results show meant to say "what the bloody hell was that?" Simon had no problem letting loose on the performance, saying it reminded him of "a first round audition" and that he Loved Fantasia, but it was not her at her best. He said Randy and Paula had the same kind of reactions.
And then Leno asked him of Paulagate, which he laughed at but said he had to try to defend Paula, and went into whatever rehearsed explanation Nigel had instructed him to use. Still no true explanation of what happened, but at this point we never will have one.
Monday, May 19, 2008
'Idol' by the numbers
Nielsen recently released a report with its findings on the numerics of the American Idol franchise, in which different statistics were compiled to demonstrate just how gargantuan the series is. The report includes rankings of the show's top corporate sponsors, sales figures of various Idol alumni and web traffic to AmericanIdol.com. Below are a few excerpts from the report:
-Kelly Clarkson is the top selling former finalist with a combined album and digital sales total of 18.9 million, compared to Carrie Underwood's 15.7 million.
-The most-watched season on average was Season 5 (30 million viewers), while Season 7 is averaging 27 million.
-The most popular Idol contestants at the current time according to registered members of HeyNielsen.com are as follows: Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, David Archuleta, David Cook and Kelly Clarkson.
-The biggest month for AmericanIdol.com in terms of Web traffic was in March 2007, when the site was visited by 7,273,000 unique viewers.
-The top advertiser for Season 6 was AT&T, followed by Ford and Coca-Cola.
-The average fan voted via text message 38 times in April 2008.
To read more of the report's findings, see here.
Keeping up with Leah LaBelle
Leah LaBelle, Paula's wild card pick back on Season 3 of Idol, had a short stay on the show, placing 12th. But she has been smart with her post-Idol career, which has all the markings of big things to come.
Leah, who was born to Bulgarian parents and former pop group members Troshan and Anastasia Vladowski, is currently attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. She chose to hone her craft by going to school rather than jump right into the music industry, which was a very savvy idea.
Leah has found a new friend in YouTube, on which she has established a new channel dedicated to reminding fans (and gaining new ones) of her R&B sound. In total, she has recorded five videos, not including a cover of J. Holiday's "Bed" that used to be on her channel and featured up-and-coming R&B singer Steph Jones, who is on Def Jam with Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace Records.
Below is one of her latest attempts at showcasing her unique vocals, this time on Rihanna's current hit single "Take a Bow." The video was uploaded on April 24.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Carrie wins at ACM Awards
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Two Idol alums appeared at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Carrie Underwood won Top Female Vocalist, the only award she received a nomination for. She also performed twice, kicking off the show with a high-powered performance of her latest single, "Last Name," and singing a duet of the late Eddy Arnold's "Make the World Go Away" with Top Male Vocalist award-winner and former tour mate Brad Paisley.
Kellie Pickler was the only other former Idol finalist to be on-hand, as she lost her only nomination for Top New Female Vocalist to Taylor Swift. She did, however, use the Awards to launch her new single, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful."
Kelly Clarkson was also nominated for an award, as she and host Reba McEntire were up for "Vocal Event of the Year" for their duet of "Because of You."
Cardin McKinney in new Jimmy Wayne music video
Season 7 Top 50 finalist Cardin McKinney has been keeping busy since failing to make the Top 24. In her latest project, Cardin stars as the lead role in country music singer Jimmy Wayne's new music video for "Do You Believe Me Now." The video premiered on CMT.com and can be viewed here.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Digital sales roundup: "No Air" #7 (5/17/08)
In this week's digital sales roundup, an upgrade to the Top 200 of the latest edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart shows that there are plenty of Idol alums consistently selling, they just are not selling enough to get into the Top 50. Jordin Sparks once again leads all tracks with "No Air," her duet with Chris Brown, which falls to #7 with 93,462 downloads sold this week. Jordin also is represented by "Tattoo," which comes in at #73.
Carrie Underwood is the most represented Idol, as her latest single, "Last Name," speeds ahead from #91-69, and "All-American Girl" finally goes gold as it passes the 500k mark. Full numbers, courtesy of 2m from Pulse, are posted below.
07 05 Jordin Sparks, "No Air" 93,462 -10.9% 104,868 1,693,370
69 91 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name" 18,286 35.7% 13,480 95,315
72 69 C. Underwood, "All-American Girl" 16,690 -4.7% 17,518 503,848
73 60 Jordin Sparks, "Tattoo" 16,356 -12.6% 18,722 1,613,760
80 59 Daughtry, "Feels Like Tonight" 15,481 -18.5% 19,000 400,334
128 119 Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats" 9,523 0.0% 9,520 2,317,066
166 156 Daughtry, "Home" 8,161 -2.1% 8,334 1,472,101
Total sales in bold.
Friday, May 16, 2008
And the coronation song is...
Well, no one knows for sure, but I'm sticking by my original prediction of "Something Like Heaven," which lyrically is the least embarrassing and is malleable enough for either David to personalize and make something listenable out of it.
Even if the whole songwriters' competition was nothing more than to give FremantleMedia a quick buck and only gives writers with prior connections to TPTB a chance, it would be an extreme letdown to see the season be deflated by a lousy song choice.
There are now rumors circulating that "Here I Am" and "All You Will Need" are the coronation/runner-up songs, which are in fact a step below last season's "This Is My Now." but like most rumors, they have no credibility. But if TPTB are truly interested in offering more than the standard drab that will inhabit the adult contemporary wasteland for a few months before falling into obscurity, they will see to it that "Something Like Heaven" wins.
Listen to "Something Like Heaven" below.
'An Evening with the Idols' set for Saturday
Six Idol alums will take to the stage tomorrow night in An Evening with the Idols at the Suffern High School auditorium in Suffern, N.Y., in support of the Good Samaritan Hospital’s Chemical Dependency Unit. The former contestants include Ayla Brown (Season 5, Top 16), Asia'h Epperson (Season 7, Top 16), Kevin Covais (Season 5, 11th place), Brenna Gethers (Season 5, Top 20), Gina Glocksen (Season 6, 9th place) and Melissa McGhee (Season 5, 12th place). They will be joined by four local talent show winners, who were chosen earlier this year in an Idol-style competition.
Chris Richardson was originally slated to appear at the benefit but had to pull out due to a scheduling conflict.
Tickets range from $25-50, with a backstage pass costing an extra $20. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a 6:30 pre-show, with the show kicking off at 7 p.m.
Taylor Hicks to join the cast of 'Grease'
Taylor is not the first former finalist to the Great White Way, nor will he be the last, as Tamyra Gray (Season 1, fourth place) starred in Rent and Bombay Dreams, Clay Aiken (Season 2, runner-up) was in Spamalot, Diana DeGarmo (Season 3, runner-up) played a supporting role in Hairspray, Frenchie Davis (Season 2) starred in Rent, Fantasia (Season 3, winner) was in The Color Purple, as was LaKisha Jones (Season 6, fourth place) among others.
Taylor is also reportedly working on another album after he was released from his contract by J Records earlier this year after his self-titled album failed to sell 1 million copies, stalling at 700,000 copies.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Syesha exits on a classy note
In all seriousness, did anyone not think Syesha Mercado would get the ax last night? That said, she accepted her elimination with grace and class, and was able to sing herself out on a high note one last time with "If I Ain't Got You." She gave a simple "thank you" to her fans and looked relieved upon hearing the bad news.
The night was very anticlimactic, since the results were a mystery to no one. Ryan seemed less engaged as usual, the audience was kind of out of it, and the Top 3 all had tired, worried faces the entire night, beginning with the opening shot of the three of them standing center stage. The 56 million votes cast were basically just a formality in sending Syesha on her way.
But one thing the producers did very well was showcase the finalists' hometown visits. The montages gave a very personal look into how the three contenders are received by their fans. They all went to their past (and current in David Archuleta's case) schools, rode atop car rooftops in parades and performed for hundreds of fans that turned out for the celebration. Syesha was able to take a ride in her local FOX affiliate's chopper, while David Cook surprised his elementary school music teacher with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss and David A. sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Utah Jazz's playoff game.
One thing they all had in common was they all cried upon seeing the outpouring of support they had. David A. even apologized for his crying, followed by a nervous laugh. The Top 3 all appeared on their local FOX affiliate morning shows and select radio shows as well. And finally, all three of them received honors awarded to them by their hometowns, whether May 9, 2008 was declared "David Archuleta Day" or they simply received a plaque congratulating them on their achievements, as in David C.'s and Syesha's cases.
There were also some funny moments when a woman threw her baby at Syesha, asking for her to take a picture with her, to which she obliged but after the fact thought it was crazy. Also, David C. signed a fan's poster, and she cried.
Another portion of the show that the producers deserve credit for is the Top 3's "journey" videos. All three of them were done well and featured different songs that reflected who they were.
Ryan messed up when reading the recap of David C.'s judges' critiques, saying Chaka Kahn sang "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Following David's journey video, he corrected himself and said it was in fact Roberta Flack, and chalked it up to "bad research on my part."
But the highlight of the night (and possibly the highlight of the season) was when one of the smartest camera guys ever scored s two-and-a-half-second shot of Simon making the biggest WTF faces ever, including an eyeroll, during Season 3 winner Fantasia's performance of "Bore Me." Believe me, there was nothing boring about the performance. Fanny took the stage with three back-up singers dressed in Beyonce-like black dresses, while she herself was decked out in three sizes too small black pants and backless top, complete with sunset red, barely-there hair and earrings the size of pieces of toast. She lolled her way around the stage, letting out painful spasms and screeches that 33 million people mistook for singing four years ago when the crowned her the American Idol over 16-year-old Snelville, Ga., native Diana DeGarmo. Simon's reaction was classic and will go down in Idol history as one of the best facial expressions ever. Fanny's performance was both the worst and most memorable guest performance this season, and for that she truly has shown America what it means to "act ugly."
So as we look ahead to the finale next week, it will be interesting to see how David A. winning the coin toss will affect the outcome of the competition. History is on his side, as the winner has always performed second except for Season 2, when Clay Aiken went second and lost by a slight margin of merely 134,000 votes to Ruben Studdard. But this season has been very predictable up until now, so in all likelihood something is bound to surprise us.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Fanny's performance...
This could not wait until my recap tomorrow morning. Enjoy Simon's reaction to Fantasia's "performance" of "Bore Me" on the Top 3 results show.
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 3 Results (5/14/08)
Tonight we blog during the Top 3 results show beginning at 9 p.m. ET, when the Top 2 is revealed and Fantasia performs. Links to download songs featured in tonight's blogcast will be posted at the conclusion of the show.
Carrie Underwood, "Last Name" - download on iTunes
Carrie Underwood, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" - download on iTunes
Carrie Underwood, "So Small" - download on iTunes
Carrie Underwood, "Wheel of the World" - download on iTunes
Carrie Underwood, "Wasted" - download on iTunes
Syesha Mercado, "If I Ain't Got You (Live)" - download
Syesha Mercado, "Fever (Live)" - download
Syesha Mercado, "Hit Me Up (Live)" - download
Top 3 Week Poll Results - Favorite Remaining Finalists
David Archuleta 193 (50%)
David Cook 164 (43%)
Syesha Mercado 22 (5%)
Total votes: 379
And the 'Idol' bus keeps on rollin'
The producers have been gunning for a David 2x, David-squared, David vs. Goliath (whatever you want to call it) finale since the early stages of the season. So why should they stop now?
Of course they should not stop now, and that's exactly what they told America last night. Upon first reading the song spoilers chosen by the judges, I thought all three were poor. But after watching the Top 3 actually perform the choices, only two were clunkers.
To start off the show, David Archuleta followed Paula's wishes by singing Billy Joel's "And So It Goes." Vocally, he was as strong as ever on the performance, but it was a total snoozefest. Simon was the biggest critic of the performance, calling it a "bit predictable" while maintaining it was still good. Paula called David a storyteller, and Randy thought Paula chose a "dope song" and that he was "in it to win it."
As for his personal choice, David inexplicably picked "With You" by Chris Brown. After a little confusion on when to walk out onto the stage to prepare for the performance, David opened with the words "my boo," which alone was worth any price of admission. Seeing him try to dance and keep up with the tempo of the song was great, and he had all the girls in the audience (and probably at home) screaming. To be fair, David actually did get to show off his personality better than ever before, so he did score a few points in that department. Randy complained about not believing him saying "my boo," but he maintained that he was actually stepping out of his comfort zone. Paula thought it was a different side of David, and Simon compared him to a chiuauha trying to be a tiger, which earned him heaps of boos.
On his final performance, David tried his best on Dan Fogelberg's "Longer," which he was dealt by the producers. The choice was awful, boring with a capital B, and although he was vocally on par with his first performance, the lifeless song left him with a forgettable performance. Randy and Paula were not disappointed, as they agreed that it was a "hot one" and that they "expecting nothing more" from him. Simon was wise in choosing who to critique, as he said he would not go after him for his singing but instead accusing the song of being "gooey" and having awful lyrics. He did follow it up by saying he thought David did enough to make the finale.
On to Syesha Mercado, who was able to show more of her spunky side. In round one, Syesha had to sing Randy Jackson's choice of "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, which on paper would be a perfect fit for her but in actually performing, came off as a karaoke-wannabe showcase. Randy of course said she did amazing, while Paula said she was glad Syesha was the last girl standing. Simon criticized Randy's song choice for being "not challenging enough," though he did say she looked stunning.
For her personal choice, Syesha decided to step it up a notch and did a sizzling rendition of the Peggy Lee classic "Fever." Wearing a short silver dress, Syesha danced around a chair and gave props to the musicians, especially the cellist, in what could only be described as a sultry display of soul in the vein of "One Rock 'N Roll Too Many." When it came time for the judges to deliberate, no one saw what was coming. After calling the song choice "interesting, Randy said she sang it very well. But when it came time for Paula, she started off with her panic-inducing "you look lovely tonight" blah comment, then said she did not think the performance showed her Syesha, and that she was surprised she picked that song. Simon went a little further, calling the performance "lame cabaret" and that she would probably regret it tomorrow. So the Idol bus kept on rollin' with Syesha underneath once again.
But it was her third performance that was the most blatant evidence that TPTB would stop at nothing to ensure her departure. Syesha was handed Gia Farrell's "Hit Me Up," which is prominently featured in the movie Happy Feet. Syesha did what she could with the mess, moving around on stage and putting her power vocals into it. Sadly, she could only do so much. Randy said he could see her singing something Rihanna-esque and that it was "just okay" for him. Paula was harsher, saying she did not think it was enough to get her into the finale, and brought up the fact that it was from Happy Feet, which got a rise out of Simon, saying the song was "about penguins." Simon took the cake with his comments, though, saying he was hoping she would have a "defining moment." How could she have a defining moment with that song!?
As for David Cook, his song choices were by far the best of the three. He started off with Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," which Simon bragged about being challenging compared to Randy's choice since he chose it. David was able to change up the arrangement enough to give the song a completely new life. It was not on the level of "Billie Jean" nor "Always Be My Baby," but it was masterful in its own way. The way he was able to make do with just the piano and a guitar in the first half of the song showed his vocal craft. Randy said he had been a fan of David's for a long time and said he wished Simon had chosen something "less predictable" because he wanted more rock, for which he was booed. Paula said David was her second favorite singer to sing one of her favorite songs, while Simon took all the credit for the choice and declared "round 1 goes to Cook and Cowell."
On his personal choice, DC tackled Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move," which was not his best performance by a mile. There was vocal straining to hit the high notes and a bit of pitchiness, which Randy addressed in his critique. Paula did not like how the song was arranged to fit into the one-and-a-half-minute format, and said she wanted more, to which everyone would agree with. Simon said it was what he expected, and that all three of the finalists had an "okay" middle round.
But it was on the producers' choice that David shone the brightest. On what normally would be thought to be a cheesy song, DC brought the house down with Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." Although he jumped right to the bridge from the first verse, David was able to hit a few great high notes and the performance, which included a host of strings, was the best of the night. It was as if TPTB were prepping for a Cook coronation song. Randy was only a little impressed, and called it "very predictable," for which he was incessantly booed. Paula told David she'd "see ya in the finals!" and Simon called the song "one of greatest of all time," taking note that Diane Warren, the song's writer, was prominently seated in the audience, and told David he had won the night.
So the Idol bus going the speed limit last night with DC and Arch inside it and Syesha stuck underneath all the while. That is not to take anything away from the Davids, though, but they were all pretty much even last night. Syesha was just stuck with the worst songs and got no love for "Fever," which was severely underrated. But there was probably little she could have done to defend against the imminent third-place finish. She will go on to have a healthy career, and maybe she'll even end up on the silver screen a la Jennifer Hudson. But Syesha should not complain, because placing third on Idol is a huge step up from being shown on ABC's failure of a talent show The One for four episodes.
Prediction
Eliminated: Syesha
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 3 Perform (5/13/08)
Tonight we blog during the Top 3 performances at 8:00 p.m. ET, when the finalists take on one song picked by a judge, one song picked by the producers, and one song chosen by themselves. Links to songs featured during the blogcast will be posted below the live blog at its conclusion.
Jason Castro, "Mr. Tambourine Man (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
Ayla Brown, "I Quit" - download on iTunes
Elliott Yamin, "A Song For You" - download
Melinda Doolittle, "Have a Nice Day (Studio Version)" - download
Katharine McPhee, "Who Wants to Live Forever (Live)" - download
Clay on Leno
Currently on a promotional tour for his new album, On My Way Here, Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken brought his humor and hair to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, where he was both interviewed and performed his new single, "On My Way Here," which can be viewed below.
Monday, May 12, 2008
The "Dadchuleta" saga continues
By now, the story about David Archuleta's dad, Jeff, being banned from going backstage with his son during the show's performance episodes has been covered by every media outlet from TMZ.com to Good Morning America and everything in between. Idol judges have also spoken out about the controversy, but have offered little insight into the specifics surrounding the whirlwind.
Randy Jackson today told The Canadian Press the judges do not have much interaction with the contestants, never mind any time with them backstage. He also shrugged off the story, saying it was more of a media creation.
"I think there's probably more of a press story there than a reality."
Simon Cowell also told Extra! he is not sure what all the fuss is about.
"To be fair to him, I don't really see him -- I don't know what he does. He hasn't said anything to me."
Now, David is finally speaking out about the whole ordeal. In a feature article on the Top 3 finalists in this week's edition of TV Guide magazine, David says the following:
"I've heard some of the weird things that people have been saying, and it's kind of a bummer," he says, not gigging at all. "I think I, of all people, would know what's going on, and he's been great. He's given me a lot of good advice and helped me from making any dumb decisions. He understands more than anyone what I want in music, and I've felt really blessed to have someone like that.It will be interesting to see how this is addressed, if at all, during tomorrow's performance show.
David seems a bit worked up now. "I don't really care what people say," he continues, "but I know it's affected him and stressed him out." As for reports that his dad withheld water from him during a recording session, the Idol insists, "That's kind of stupid. I'm 17! I think I'd be able to stand up for myself if he were to take my water away."
Keeping up with Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson, the only Academy Award-winning Idol alum, has found a home on the silver screen since placing seventh on the show's third season. After playing the role of Effie White in the critically-acclaimed film Dreamgirls alongside Beyonce and Eddie Murphy in 2006. Aside from winning an Oscar for her supporting role, Jennifer won a Golden Globe, an SAG and a BFCA.
Jennifer next appears in Sex In the City: The Movie as an assistant to Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), which goes nationwide on May 30. She has a song on the soundtrack titled "All Dressed Up In Love," which will be out May 27. You can listen to the song here.
She will also appear in Winged Creatures with Forest Whitaker and The Secret Life of Bees with Dakota Fanning. Both films are due out in 2008.
As for her recording career, Jennifer signed with J Records in 2006 and expects her debut album to be out sometime in September. To listen to some of her music, visit her official MySpace page.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
David A.'s dad banned from backstage
The story, which was originally broke on TMZ.com, has been building since the beginning of the competition, as Jeff Archuleta has been called a "stage dad" multiple times and rumors of bad blood between him and David have surfaced. Things finally came to a head when Jeff insisted David include a verse of Sean Kingston's song "Beautiful Girls" during his performance of "Stand By Me" on Top 4 night, which ended up costing Idol more money due to rights needed to include the verse.
There has been no comment from either FOX nor Jeff.
Digital sales roundup: "No Air" #5 (5/10/08)
In this week's digital sales roundup, for the second week in a row only one Idol alum is represented in the Top 50 of the latest edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart. Jordin Sparks' only entry is "No Air," her duet with Chris Brown, which falls to #5 with 104,868 downloads sold this week. Full numbers, courtesy of bks from Pulse, are posted below.
4 5 Jordin Sparks, "No Air" 104,868 -12% 118,946 1,599,908
Total sales in bold.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Syesha bleeped for "pimpmercial" comment
What could Syesha Mercado possibly have said to warrant an edit on last night's Top 4 results show? Sources who attended the taping said she referred to the "Ring of Fire" Ford commercial, in which the finalists dressed as matadors and did bullfighting with a Ford Mustang, as a "pimpmercial," which the control booth apparently thought the American motor company would be dissatisfied with. Looks like Syesha will have to fight corporate America somewhere else, but she gets props for trying.
Comedic Castro bows out with a smile
After delivering two performances that were universally panned on Tuesday night, Jason Castro finally took to the stage one last time and did so with one of the biggest grins America has ever seen from him. As soon as Ryan said "Syesha...you're in the Top 3," a wave of relief seemed to rush over him, and he joked with Ryan about being glad of the fact that he wouldn't have to learn three songs for next week.
The elimination was extremely obvious, and as soon as Ryan announced David Archuleta and David Cook were safe, it was no surprise who would be leaving. The interesting tidbit that Ryan let out was that less than one millions votes separated the four of them, which seemed a little strange, but if he says so...
The rest of the results show was alright. The Ford music video was a little uncomfortable, as all four of the finalists were shown wearing matador uniforms in pretending to bullfight with a Mustang (the car, not the horse), prompting Ryan to make a snide comment about their tight pants. As for the call-in segment, a Pittsburgh woman who sounded like she was pushing 50 asked David C. out on a date when the tour comes to her city on her birthday. He seemed uncomfortable (and who can blame him?), asking what she liked to do as a way to delay an answer, and Ryan had to cut her off due to time constraints, saying they'd make some arrangements and what could work out. Another creepy woman told Simon he should be the next James Bond, calling him "sexy and intriguing." Simon got another positive question when a woman asked why he hadn't been knighted by the queen yet, to which he said "your majesty, if you're watching, I'm available."
Another interesting observation was when Ryan brought all of the contestants out to ask them questions before he revealed each of their fates, some of the answers were kind of unexpected. David C. said his head was not clear, accounting for why he wad not up to par last night, and Syesha explained her emotional outburst last night, accrediting it to Paula's praise and the meaning behind her song choice. Jason said he thought his inexperience was catching up with him, which was the reason for his sub par performances last night. And then David A. said he felt really connected to the songs and was trying to have fun.
The guest performers were not bad, either. Maroon 5 sounded good with the exception of lead singer Adam Levine's overutilized falsetto, and following the performance of "If I Never See Your Face Again," Ryan teased him about it. Adam gave positive advice to the Top 4, addressing them as "young people" and telling them it will be tough work and in a few years they'll be jaded but they should keep on trying and enjoy the experience.
Bo Bice, on the other hand, performed his new single, "Witness," from his new independent release See the Light. Bo looked as if he had never even left the stage, as one could have mistakenly thought they were watching an episode from Season 4. He was a little over the top but that is what he'is known for. It was nice to see Ryan and Bo chat it up for a bit, and Bo was very articulate and gracious for Idol being so supportive of him.
The group performance of Steely Dan's "Reeling in the Years" was nothing to write home about. It was nice but kind of boring and was a more obvious filler piece than usual. A montage shown of the finalists traveling to Las Vegas to watch Cirque du Soleil's "Love" at the Mirage was a nice segment, as it showed the finalists meeting fans and kissing dolphins.
But it was Jason who indeed stole the show. Before he departed, Jason delivered many one-liners, prompting laughter from the studio audience, the judges, Ryan, and most likely those watching at home, too. When the Top 4 finalists were asked what the one obstacle they have had to overcome while being on the show was, Jason answered "the brain being dead." Before the results were read, he said he took Simon's advice and packed his bags. And he also told Ryan that last night someone told him he "shot the tambourine man," and chuckled to himself.
Although his personality will be missed, it was his turn to leave this week. As for what is in store next week when the Top 3 take on one song chosen by a judge, one song chosen by the producers and one song chosen by themselves, it will be interesting to see what happens. My predictions are Randy will chose David A.'s song, Paula will choose Syesha's song and Simon will choose David C.'s song, but it would not be a stretch if Paula and Simon switch, since Paula seems to always pick songs for male contestants.
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