Kellie Pickler's video for her new single "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" premiered on CMT.com earlier today. The video finds Kellie having fun with friends at a rollerskating park and at a sleepover, while montages of "regular girls" having fun. Watch the video here, or below:
While it is nice to have Kellie's video out, the release is being overshadowed by a certain other Idol alum-turned-country music star's impending video release - Carrie Underwood's video for "Just a Dream" - and "Beautiful" seems to be just the calm before the storm that will surely erupt when it finally does premiere.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Kellie's video for "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" premieres
Katharine on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
Katharine McPhee last night made her first appearance on the talk show circuit in support of her film debut in The House Bunny (Aug. 22) when she appeared on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. The interview was particularly strange, as Jimmy was hung up on a story of Kat suffering a wardrobe malfunction will riding a dolphin on her vacation in Cabo, which eventually went places even Kat must have been surprised. Watch the interview below:
Jimmy also showed the now infamous clip of Tyra Banks feeling Kat's breasts on her talk show last year, which came out of nowhere. Kat did say that her sophomore album should be out in 2009, but did not divulge any specifics except for the fact that she is working with producer David Foster.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
'Idol' Hot 100 - "No Air" #28 (8/9/08)
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown once again held on to the top spot among all Idol alums on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Aug. 9 with their duet of "No Air," but it looks to be the last one, as Jordin's current single "One Step At a Time" will most likely pass it next week. "Air" falls #25-28, while "Time" rises #39-34. David Cook's "The Time of My Life" once again inches up, improving from #48-47, and Jennifer Hudson finally breaks into the Hot 100 with "Spotlight" at #96.
As for the Bubbling Under chart, Carrie Underwood debuts at #18 with "Just a Dream," which will should be the first of many appearances on the chart for the song. Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
28 25 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
34 39 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
47 48 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
96 -- Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
Bubbling Under
18 -- Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Haley upsets MJ in final minutes of voting
It came down to the wire in last week's IDOL LIVE poll of the week, and Season 6's Haley Scarnato narrowly defeated Season 7's Michael Johns for the favorite eighth-place finalist among IDOL LIVE readers. A final vote broke a tie in Haley's favor in the final 10 minutes of voting, leaving her with 13 (46%) to Michael's 12 votes (42%). Jon Peter Lewis, Nadia Turner and Bucky Covington all finished with 1 vote each. In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite ninth-place finalist is. You have exactly one week to vote.
A.J. Gil 0 (0%)
Rickey Smith 0 (0%)
Jon Peter Lewis 1 (3%)
Nadia Turner 1 (3%)
Bucky Covington 1 (3%)
Haley Scarnato 13 (46%)
Michael Johns 12 (42%)
Total votes: 28
Digital sales roundup: "One Step At a Time" #29 (7/26/08)
For the second week in a row, Jordin Sparks led all Idol-related songs on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart. Her current single, "One Step At a Time," rose 8% to #29 with an additional 40.5k downloads. Her duet of "No Air" with Chris Brown continued its downward slide with another 29.3k downloads, falling #35-45. And Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" came in at #149 with a 17% increase to 9k downloads. Total stands at 42k. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows.
029 031 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 40,579 8% 37,727 284,228
045 035 Jordin Sparks ft. C., "No Air" 29,369 -10% 32,771 2,304,514
149 182 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 9,008 17% 7,731 42,381
Total sales are in bold.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Kelly's new album set for a Nov. 18 release
Not even available for pre-order, Kelly Clarkson's fourth studio album is already up on Amazon.com with a tentative release date set for Nov. 18, 2008. There has been much fanfare surrounding this release, so it will be interesting to see if Kelly and her crew stick to the plan or delay the release for whatever reason.
In other Kelly news, she confirmed a song title for her upcoming album - "Cry" - in a recent interview she did with her German fan site. She reportedly wrote the song with band mate Jason Halbert.
As far as touring in concerned, Kelly will rejoin Reba McEntire for another leg of their "2 Worlds 2 Voices" tour, which will run from Sept. 25 to Nov. 22.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Keeping up with Sarah Burgess
America's favorite "runaway" never made it past Hollywood during Season 6, but she has made the charts. Sarah Burgess was one of 173 contestants to make it to the all important Hollywood round for the sixth season after wowing the judges with her rendition of Blondie's "Call Me" and her sob story about her father stifling her passion for singing. Sarah has persevered, however, and her single "Dangerouz" is sitting at #33 on the ACQB Top 40 chart for the week of July 23, after peaking at #9 in June.
Sarah's debut album, One, is now out and is available at iTunes. To listen to "Dangerouz" in addition to other songs from her album, visit Sarah's official music MySpace page.
Since finishing her stint on Idol, Sarah has opened a show for Daughtry and is currently in the midst of a solo tour that ends Aug. 24.
Seacrest bit by a shark
At least that is the story according to Ryan Seacrest. He joked about it on his KIIS-FM morning show on Monday, saying he found a tooth in his foot while out swimming in the pacific this past weekend. Ryan said he was about eight feet out in shallow water when something grazed his leg. At first he was not sure what it was that made contact with him:
"I thought it was a stick. I wasn't sure what had happened."He did not have to be treated for the bite, but merely settled for Advil.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Katharine's new single "I Know What Boys Like" on iTunes
Katharine McPhee's new single, "I Know What Boys Like," from the soundtrack for her upcoming film debut, The House Bunny, was added to iTunes on Wed., July 16, but was only made available on Friday. The song, which was released via 19 Recordings Limited under license to RCA Records, features Kat's stylized vocals over a heavy club banging beat, similar to her material on her debut album. It is a cover of the 1980s hit by The Waitresses. No word yet on whether or not it will be sent to radio as an official single. Listen to the song below:
Download "I Know What Boys Like" on iTunes.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Heidi Montag made it to Hollywood..in 2004
Yes, it's true. The star of MTV's The Hills tells J-14 magazine that she actually made it to the Hollywood round in 2004 for what would have been Season 4. As dug up by veronicamarsfan on IDF, according to the summer 2007 issue of the magazine:
Heidi Montag has proudly admitted that she, among the likes of William Hung, is an American Idol reject! Montag, who stars on MTV's hit show "The Hills" with Lauren Conrad, says "I auditioned for American Idol in late 2004 in San Francisco, but my audition and Hollywood performances never aired on TV," laughed Heidi.It's a sad fact that Heidi will never have the chance to grace the Idol stage, but something tells IDOL LIVE that this is a good thing. America was spared seeing this on its TV screens.
When asked what Simon Cowell said to her about her singing, she joked, saying, "He thought I was horrible and he made me cry! No, but seriously, when I first auditioned, the judges didn't really like me. Simon said I was just another pretty girl with an okay voice. Randy said that I was better than most of the people they had seen in San Francisco. Paula said she was on the fence, but I seriously got down on my knees and begged her and she finally said yes. But it didn't matter because I ended up getting cut on the first day of Hollywood. I was really upset, but I got over it because I had just moved to San Francisco to start a new life."
Friday, July 25, 2008
VMA update: Pop Video category now open
The doors have closed on voting for the Best Male and Female Video categories, but have opened on voting for the Best Pop Video category for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The only Idol-related video that made it to the final ballot in the two former categories was Jordin Sparks' "No Air," which is competing against "Piece of Me" (Britney Spears), "I Kissed a Girl" (Katy Perry), "Touch My Body" (Mariah Carey) and "Take a Bow" (Rihanna) for Best Female Video.
As for Best Pop Video, the only Idol-related video open for voting that actually has a shot at notching a nomination is also "No Air," which looks like a lock for a final nomination due to the fact that it has the most views of all videos up for voting. Other videos from Idol alums up for consideration in the saturated category are Katharine McPhee's "Love Story," Paula Abdul's "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," Carrie Underwood's "Last Name," Jordin's "One Step At a Time," Blake Lewis' "Break Anotha," Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" and Elliott Yamin's "One Word."
Voting for the category ends on Wed., July 30, with the final nominees being revealed on Fri., Aug. 1. The VMAs will air live on Sept. 7, 2008, at 9 p.m. on MTV.
Luke Menard to hold benefit concert
Season 7 semifinalist Luke Menard will perform in front of a sold-out crowd tomorrow in a concert that would benefit his fight against stage two Hodgkins lymphoma. Luke, who finished in the Top 16, will perform at Crawfordsville High School's 800-seat auditorium in his native Crawfordsville, Ind., and proceeds will go toward paying his medical bills.
Luke has reportedly already commenced chemotherapy treatment to fight against the cancer. IDOL LIVE wishes him a speedy recovery.
Arch's "Crush" adds date pushed back
.jpg)
David Archuleta's highly-anticipated debut single, "Crush," will no longer be impacting Mainstream Top 40 radio stations on Aug. 12. According to AllAccess.com, the release was pushed back to Sept. 2. There is no word on what caused the delay, nor whether there is any truth to the rumors that the song will be leaking in the near future.
As for an adds date on Hot/Modern Adult Contemporary, "Crush" will have a head start on the format with a Sept. 1 release date. Maybe that gives a clue as to how the song will sound? The only hint on how it will sound came from Jeff Archuleta, who revealed at a Chicago meet & greet that it will be a mid-tempo and has a "great hook." Not much to work with but at least it is something.
And more clues to who will be working with David on his album: JC Chasez (N*SYNC) confirmed on Wednesday that he is in fact working with him, and there is a possibility David will be covering his failed single "You Ruined Me." Other writers David is confirmed to be collaborating with include Kara DioGuardi and Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic).
Thursday, July 24, 2008
'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #43 (8/2/08)
It was another uneventful week on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, as Carrie Underwood retained her status as the highest-ranking Idol alum for the Aug. 2 chart week. Her album, Carnival Ride, stayed virtually flat, adding another 12.6k copies for a 2.24 million total take. Daughtry and Jordin Sparks both had small decreases, as the former's self-titled album dropped #80-87 with 7.3k copies and the latter's self-titled effort tumbled 15 spots to #101 with an additional 7k copies sold. Totals stand at 4.16 million and 857k, respectively.
And Season 5's seventh-place finalist finally made his debut on the chart this week, as Ace Young's self-titled album debuted at #160 with 4.1k copies sold. It does not look like it will be sticking around much longer. Full chart positions courtesy of Heidi Klum over on Pulse are as follows:
043 036 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 12,634 0% 12,657 2,243,172
087 080 Daughtry - Daughtry 7,353 -6% 7,842 4,157,539
101 086 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 6,908 -10% 7,650 857,184
160 * Ace Young - Ace Young 4,137 999% 10 4,173
Total sales are in bold.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
'Idol' Hot 100 - "No Air" #25 (8/2/08)
Unlike the Hot Digital Songs charts, "No Air" once again hangs on as the top Idol-related entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Aug. 2, as the Jordin Sparks / Chris Brown duet falls #21-25. Jordin's other current single, however, saw the opposite chart movement, as "one Step At a Time" surged 13 spots to #39. David Cook also continued to make his way back up the chart, as "The Time of My Life" inched ahead one spot to #48. As for the Bubbling Under chart, Jennifer Hudson spend what looks to be her final week on the chart before making it to the big leagues in the Hot 100, as "Spotlight" rises #10-2. Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
25 21 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
39 52 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
48 49 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
Bubbling Under
02 10 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Kristy Lee cruises to a win
Although it was not nearly as much of a blowout as the previous IDOL LIVE poll of the week, Kristy Lee Cook had a healthy victory over Jennifer Hudson in last week's poll. Kristy Lee took 17 votes, good for 42% of the total sample, to Jennifer's 12 votes (30%). The competition started out exciting, but in the end Ace Young could only muster six votes (15%) and Kimberly Caldwell four votes (10%). In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite eighth-place finalist is. You have exactly one week to vote.
Ryan Starr 0 (0%)
Kimberly Caldwell 4 (10%)
Jennifer Hudson 12 (30%)
Anwar Robinson 1 (2%)
Ace Young 6 (15%)
Sanjaya Malakar 0 (0%)
Kristy Lee Cook 17 (42%)
Total votes: 40
Digital sales roundup: "One Step At a Time" #31 (7/19/08)
For the first time since the June 7 chart week, Jordin Sparks' duet with Chris Brown, "No Air," was not the top Idol-related entry on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart. That title was passed on to Jordin's other track, "One Step At a Time," which pushed ahead eight spots to #31 with an additional 37.7k downloads for the week of July 19. "No Air" did not tumble, though, as it declined a mere 2% to 32.7k downloads. Its total now stands at 2.28 million. A new entry this week is Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight," which came in at #182 with 7.7k downloads, totaling 33.3k. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are as follows:
031 039 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 37,727 24% 30,493 243,649
035 035 Jordin Sparks ft. C. Brown, "No Air" 32,771 -2% 33,514 2,275,145
--- 182 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 7,731 36% 5,698 33,373
Total sales are in bold.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Jordin advises Season 8 hopefuls
Merely days before thousands flood the streets of Glendale, Ariz., for a chance for instant stardom, hometown girl Jordin Sparks gave advice to the Idol hopefuls in an interview yesterday with AZCentral.com. In the Q&A, Jordin gave pointers ranging from paperwork to listening to professional advice. Below is what Jordin had to say about the importance of song choice:
"Pick a song that you love and can sing. Sing a song that no one else would probably think of. Pick the best part of the song that will showcase your vocals - meaning if you don't have a huge voice, you don't have to sing a Whitney (Houston) song. And (add) personality. Remember, you need to grab the judges' attention in the first few seconds."Auditions hit Glendale's Jobing.com Arena on Friday.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Daughtry to play acoustic set at The Meyer
Daughtry will play an acoustic set at The Meyer Theatre in Green Bay, Wis., on Aug. 29. According to GreenBayPressGazette.com, tickets for the show will be $31 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Fri., July 25, at the Resch Center box office, Oneida Casino Ticket Star outlets and at TicketStarOnline.com.
Diana DeGarmo to return to Broadway in 'Godspell'
According to a press release on Playbill.com, Season 3's Diana DeGarmo will return to the Great White Way as a member of the revival cast of Godspell, which will open on Oct. 23, 2008.
Diana, who finished as runner-up on Idol, has already had two separate runs on Broadway in Hairspray, which she wrapped up on Feb. 11, 2007. Other Broadway veterans that will play parts in the musical include In the Heights' Joshua Henry, Rent's Telly Leung, The Wedding Singer's David Josefsberg and Thoroughly Modern Millie's Tony Award nominee Gavin Creel. Previews will begin on Sept. 29 at The Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Prior the announcement, Diana was working on a career in country music, and had recently posted clips of potential songs on her official music MySpace page.
Jordin's "Do Something" PSA
Jordin Sparks is taking on a role in the campaign to fight poverty here in the United States by appearing in a public service announcement for DoSomething.org's Do Something 101 campaign in partnership with Staples.
In the PSA, Jordin asks kids around the country to make a difference by donating new school supplies to designated drop-off areas at Staples retail locations this summer. Below is the PSA:
People have until Aug. 31 to contribute to the cause.
Keeping up with Jared Cotter
Season 6 semifinalist Jared "JL" Cotter failed to excite Idol audiences enough to push him through to the Top 12 with his take on Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me," but the fact that he made it to the Top 16 was sufficient evidence that he had at least an ounce of musical talent.
Jared now works at the FUSE music network on its program You Rock, Let's Roll, which he co-hosts with All My Children's Chrishell Stause. The show is a variation of other dating shows, except it revolves around one music fan having to choose from three musicians without ever seeing them, only judging the potential suitors based on answers to various questions. Prior to hosting Roll, Jared co-hosted FUSE's staple show, The Sauce, which ended on May 22, 2008.
In addition to his hosting duties, Jared is pursuing a career in music despite not making it very far on Idol. He currently has three songs up on his official music MySpace page, led by "Injured Reserve," which is an R&B flavored ballad in the vein of Usher and Ne-Yo.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Kimberly Caldwell to host CBS' 'Jingles'
It looks like Kimberly Caldwell will be applying her hosting experience from TV Guide Channel's Idol Tonight to a much bigger primetime effort. The second season's seventh-place finisher has signed on to host the Mark Burnett-produced Jingles, which will pit everyday people against each other in a battle to create the best jingles for products in hopes of winning $100,000 and an advertising contract.
KISS frontman-turned reality star Gene Simmons will be responsible for deciding who advances in the competition after taking input from industry experts Linda Kaplan Thaler and Julie Roehm into consideration.
As for when it will premiere, it will not be July 27 as the eye network had originally announced. As of right now, CBS has settled for "later this year," which is vague, especially in television terms.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
'Idol' auditions kick off in San Francisco
7,000 hopefuls waited in line on Thursday as witnessed by The San Francisco Chroncile, which covered the first day of auditions for American Idol's eighth season, and published an article chronicling the event earlier today. The auditions, which were held at The Cow Palace, were full of potential Hollywood golden ticket-winners that had their own strategies of how to please Simon, Paula and Randy. Take Shatteo Harrel of Vallejo, Calif., for example:
"If you get here first, then they're not going to be tired of hearing people sing. By the time they get to the end of the line, I'll be home with my feet in the air and eating something I want to be eating."Auditions will be held in the following cities: Louisville, Ky. (July 21), Glendale, Ariz. (July 25), Salt Lake City, Utah (July 29), San Juan, P.R. (Aug. 2), Kansas City, Mo. (Aug. 8), Jacksonville, Fla. (Aug. 13) and East Rutherford, N.J. (Aug. 19). Season 8 will premiere in January 2009.
Kellie vs. Jennifer, plus LaKisha announces album date
Amidst a crowded field of Idol alums that will drops albums in the coming months, two confirmed dates have been unveiled - Kellie Pickler's self-titled sophomore album will hit shelves Sept. 30, while LaKisha Jones' debut album will follow suit a month later on Oct. 28.
Per a press release, Kellie Pickler will include current single "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" in addition to "The Best Days of Your Life," which Kellie wrote with Taylor Swift, and a re-recorded version of Small Town Girl's "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You?" The album is produced by Chris Lindsey.
Kellie will be sparring with two other alums on the 30th, as Season 3's Jennifer Hudson's much-anticipated debut album will hit stores, as well as fellow Season 5 finalist Mandisa's Christmas album. Looks like it will be quite a match.
Meanwhile, LaKisha's yet-to-be-titled debut album will hit stores on Oct. 28. The album's first single, "So Glad I'm Me," will be added to iTunes on Aug. 25. LaKisha has also filmed a "making of the album" preview, which she uploaded to her official YouTube page.
Katharine in Maxim's "Summer's Hottest Starlets" issue
In anticipation of the release of her first feature film The House Bunny, Katharine McPhee is recognized as one of Maxim magazine's "summer's hottest starlets" in its latest issue. In addition to the photo at the right, the following blurb is included in the magazine:
KATHARINE McPHEEThe August edition of the magazine is currently on newsstands and features Amanda Heard on the cover. The House Bunny hits theatres nationwide on Aug. 22.
She charmed us with her voice as the most desirable American Idol runner-up since Clay Aiken, and now--one hit solo record and a nod as one of People's "100 Most Beautiful" later--Katharine is stretching her acting skills to the max by playing a frumpy, socially maladjusted sorority sister who gets a much-needed makeover in The House Bunny.
Breakout moment: Walking arm in arm with the reformed, and now gorgeous, ladies of Zeta House, McPhee steals the scene--and announces a big screen presence that's built to last.
'AI Rewind' to skip Season 3?
According to a blog entry post yesterday, Anthony Federov, Season 4's fourth-place finalist, said that the American Idol Rewind series will be jumping ahead to showcasing the fourth season of American Idol this fall, meaning the third season will be ignored by the syndicated program. Anthony said the following on his MySpace page:
They are skipping season 3 and going right to season 4. The best part of all, is that my season will be shown on FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Were going back to prime time baby!!!!!!!!!! lolSince when have Nigel & Co. been so ashamed of the show's third installment? Just because it did not churn out a Carrie Underwood or a Daughtry does not give them the right to write it off and pretend it never happened. Does this mean we get to skip Season 6 as well?
You will see all of my performances again as well as all the brand new interviews that I'll be doing for the A.I. rewind.
So those of you that have missed watching me on TV on a weekly basis, will now have that opportunity again starting in mid August. You don't have to vote though, we all know what happened
Regardless, it appears that the main motivator in this decision was optimizing ad revenues, as "Carrie's season" would be the perfect time to segue into bring Rewind to FOX rather than The CW. To borrow a line from The O'Jays, "Money, money, money, money...MONEY!"
Friday, July 18, 2008
Idols have shot at VMA nominations
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards are still six weeks away, but two categories are now open to the general public to vote for their favorite artists and their videos - Best Female Video and Best Male Video. Some of the more surprising entries to choose from include Jennifer Hudson, whose video for "Spotlight" just came out weeks ago, and Paula Abdul, who really does not deserve anything for her video of "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." Below are all of the Idol-related nominees and their videos. The rest of the categories' nominees will be announced sometime over the course of the next month.
Best Female Video
Carrie Underwood, "Last Name"
Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
Jordin Sparks, "No Air" / "One Step At a Time"
Katharine McPhee, "Love Story"
Paula Abdul, "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow"
Best Male Video
Blake Lewis, "Break Anotha"
The VMAs will air live on MTV on Sun., Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. ET.
Listen to Paris Bennett's new single
Season 5's bubbly fifth-place finalist, Paris Bennett, who recently announced she was with child and engaged, has had her new single posted on her official street team's MySpace page. The song is a cover of the George Gershwin classic "Summertime," which was Fantasia's signature performance back on Season 3 of Idol.
The single is from Paris' forthcoming jazz album on EMI, which is set for a Sept. 30 release date. Coincidentally, fellow Season 5 alum Kellie Pickler will also have her sophomore disc drop on the 30th.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #36 (7/26/08)
The dog days of summer mean Idol-related albums will show little signs of life, as once again Carrie Underwood holds the title with Carnival Ride sitting at #36, down from #35 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of July 26. The only two other Idol alums represented on the chart include Daughtry, whose self-titled album rises #81-80, and Jordin Sparks, whose self-titled album drops six spots to #86. Unfortunately there are no sales number available for the week, although Carrie sold in the neighborhood of 12,623 according to HitsDailyDouble.com. Full chart positions courtesy of 2m over on Pulse are as follows:
36 35 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride
80 81 Daughtry - Daughtry
86 80 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Kellie kills the competition
Kellie Pickler absolutely destroyed the competition with a wide sample in last week's IDOL LIVE poll of the week. The Season 5 sixth-place finalist ran away with 57 votes, good for 76% of the total vote. The next closest finisher was Season 7's Carly Smithson, who garnered 17% of the vote. In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite seventh-place finalist is of all seven seasons. You have exactly one week to vote.
Christina Christian 0 (0%)
Carmen Rasmusen 1 (1%)
John Stevens 0 (0%)
Constantine Maroulis 3 (4%)
Kellie Pickler 57 (76%)
Phil Stacey 1 (1%)
Carly Smithson 13 (17%)
Total votes: 75
'Idol' Hot 100 - "No Air" #21 (7/26/08)
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown continue their downward slide on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of July 26, as their duet of "No Air" drops out of the Top 20 to #21. But as that single dies, Jordin's current single, "One Step At a Time," thrives, as it rockets #70-52. David Cook actually improves for the week, rising #52-49 thanks to building airplay As for the Bubbling Under chart, Jennifer Hudson doubles her standing with "Spotlight," as the single jumps #20-10. Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
21 19 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
49 52 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
52 70 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
Bubbling Under
10 20 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
Digital sales roundup: "No Air" #35 (7/12/08)
A very lonely Jordin Sparks retains the #1 spot once again last week's Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart. Her duet of "No Air" with Chris Brown drops four spots to #35 with another 33.5k downloads for the week. The only other Idol-related track on the chart for the week was Jordin's current single, "One Step At a Time," which jumped 19 spots to #39 and now stands at 205k downloads total. Hopefully another Idol sees a big spike this week, or this chart will get boring pretty fast. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are as follows:
35 31 Jordin Sparks ft. C. Brown, "No Air" 33,514 -16% 40,097 2,242,374
39 58 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 30,493 30% 23,405 205,922
Total sales are in bold.
Daughtry's deluxe edition to hit stores Sept. 9
Although the band is currently in the studio recording its sophomore album, Daughtry will see its quadruple platinum-certified debut hit stores in the form of a deluxe CD/DVD edition on Sept. 9, 2008. According to DaughtryOfficial.com, the CD portion of the deluxe edition will feature bonuses including acoustic versions of "What About Now," "It's Not Over" and "Home," as well as a cover of Foreigner's "Feels Like The First Time."
As for the DVD portion of the release, it will include the band's five music videos, footage from the tour bus as well as other exclusive clips.
As for the upcoming album, Chris blogged about the writing process yesterday, and listed a bunch of writers that are contributing:
Guys like Dave Basset (Shinedown) and Tommy Heriksen (Revis). I've also been doing some writing with some of the guys I've worked with before like Mitch Allan (All These Lives), David Hodges and Ben Moody (What About Now), Brian Howes (What I Want, Over You), and Zac Maloy (Used To). I'm also writing with some other people that I totally respect as writers and artists such as Ryan Tedder (One Republic) ,and my good friend Emerson Hart (Tonic).The guys have a lot to live up to, but the impressive writing roster looks like the band will have a repeat in terms of commercial success.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Carrie nominated for two ICM Awards
Carrie Underwood is the only Idol alum to receive nominations for the 2008 Inspirational Country Music Awards. Carrie is nominated for the Mainstream Country Artist of the Year award and her video for "So Small" is nominated for the Video of the Year award. Per the award show's press release, the ICMs...
...are dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent among artists who perform Christian and Inspirational Country music.The show will take place on Thurs., Oct. 16, 2008 at 8 p.m. ET at the Trinity Music City USA Auditorium in Hendersonville, Tenn. Tickets are available to purchase on CCMA.cc.
Sanjaya rocks Washington with...Stevie Wonder?
Yep, Season 6's human punching bag joined the motown legend onstage at his concert at the White River Amplitheatre in Auburn, Wash., on Fri., July 11. Below is very grainy video of the duo's closing performance of "Superstitious."
Sanjaya has mentioned Stevie as an artist that has influenced him, so it must have been an accomplishment for him to finally perform alongside him.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Keeping up with Jessica Sierra
There is no other Idol alum that has faced a tougher post-show life (with the exception of Corey Clark) than Season 4's Jessica Sierra. Since finishing 10th back in 2005, Jessica has performed for troops in Baghdad, been arrested multiple times for assault and even had a sex tape leak. But she has persevered despite the bumps in her path to success, and is now hopefully on her way to a great career.
Jessica most recently appeared on the first season of the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which she taped in late 2007 and premiered in January. She appeared alongside D-list celebrities including Brigitte Nielsen and Daniel Baldwin.
Jessica is now serving out her court-ordered one-year stint in rehab at Pasadena Recovery Center in California. While in rehab, Jessica's management, Verve Management, released her debut EP, Deepest Secret, which is available on iTunes. The EP features five songs including "Unbroken," which you can listen to on her official music MySpace page.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Daughtry's "What About Now" video launches
The guys from Daughtry unveiled the video for their latest single, "What About Now," on FNMTV on Friday. The band shared the episode with Katy Perry and LL Cool J. Watch the video below:
The video is a very touching dose of reality for all people who are fortunate to have roofs over their heads and food on their plates. But Nickelback tried something similar with its video for "If Everyone Cared" more than a year ago, so the idea seems rehashed. Still, props to the guys for their effort.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Arch's single "Crush" to impact radio on Aug. 12
In the battle to release the first single post-Idol among Season 7 finalists, it looks like David Archuleta will have the upper hand. The 17-year-old's debut single, "Crush," will impact Top 40 Mainstream radio on Aug. 12 via Jive Records according to AllAccess.com. David is also reportedly working with production tag team The Underdogs on his debut album.
The only other finalist from the latest season of the show to announce a single title and release is Kristy Lee Cook, as her "15 Minutes of Shame" will also hit airwaves sometime in August. As an aside, you can now listen to her single streaming on 95.1 K-FROG.
In the spirit of the Olympics, let the games begin!
Kelly Clarkson recording in Nashville
The original Idol has been spotted in the Music City this week, where she is said to be in the studio working on her fourth full-length album since winning the show's first installment back in Sept. 2002. Kelly, who signed a management deal with Narvel Blackstock (a.k.a. Mr. Reba McEntire) one year ago, is working with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder in addition to Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello, the latter two having worked with her on her debut album Thankful. Kelly is shooting for a release in the fourth quarter of 2008, but no further information has been revealed. She has also been reportedly recording in destinations as distant as Australia.
With all the Idol alums that have cluttered Nashville as of late, they might as well change its name to Nash-"I was on the #1 show in the world and all I got was this lousy stigma"-ville.
Carrie Underwood: new paparazzi magnet?
After a couple of years' worth of hard, dedicated work, Idol queen Carrie Underwood is finally taking a much needed vacation. The only so-called problem: her bikini photos are causing quite a stir, as evidenced by TMZ's coverage of her recent trip to Florida's Destin Beach. Really, you would think the woman has never been seen in one based on the reactions they are generating. But in the interest of full disclosure, you can watch the segment from the tabloid's syndicated program below and judge for yourself:
In addition to the fact that Carrie is [GASP!] in a bikini, the appearance of a tiny tattoo peeking above her bottom piece is also raising some eyebrows. If this is the worst "news" the paps can dig up about Carrie, she has nothing to worry about.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
New Season 5 music on iTunes: Will & Ace
The successful crop from Season 5 is not finished churning out new music, as a semifinalist's EP was added to iTunes today, while a finalist's debut album is up for pre-order, slated for a July 15 release on the leading digital music store. Top 16 finisher Will Makar's debut self-titled EP, which popped up on Amazon MP3 a few weeks ago, has finally been added to iTunes.
As for seventh-place finalist Ace Young, his upcoming self-titled album is currently available to pre-order, and can now be streamed in full on AOL Music. The album will officially be released on Tuesday.
'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #35 (7/19/08)
Continuing its minuscule weekly slide, Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride falls #34-35 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of July 19, adding another 13.7k copies to its total. And after 137 weeks on the chart, her debut album, Some Hearts, finally falls off the chart after coming in at #105 last week. The only other two entries by Idol alums on the chart also sustained tiny drops, as Jordin Sparks' self-titled album fell #75-80 with another 8.4k copies, and Daughtry followed one spot behind at #81 with its album, which has sold 4.1 million copies to date. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of tony over on Pulse are as follows:
35 34 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 13,753 -3% 14,117 2,217,881
80 75 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 8,455 -6% 8,978 842,716
81 79 Daughtry - Daughtry 8,431 -2% 8,629 4,142,344
Total sales are in bold.
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Brooke is fav fifth
According to 25 IDOL LIVE readers, Brooke White is the favorite fifth-place finalist. The Season 7 nanny-turned-pop star garnered an overwhelming 72% of the vote. George Huff and Chris Richardson tied for second with three votes each. In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite sixth-place finalist is of all seven seasons. You have exactly one week to vote.
R.J. Helton 1 (4%)
Trenyce 0 (0%)
George Huff 3 (12%)
Scott Savol 0 (0%)
Paris Bennett 0 (0%)
Chris Richardson 3 (12%)
Brooke White 18 (72%)
Total votes: 25
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Cook signs with SKECHERS
David Cook can now add another notch on his belt of endorsements, as he will be sporting SKECHERS as the face of the company's global marketing campaign. In a press release that came out today, Cook said the following:
"I have always viewed SKECHERS as a cool company, so I am excited to be a part of their campaign."The ad campaign will launch in the fall, and will reach the media of print, in-store displays and outdoor. Cook is not the first Idol to sign an endorsement deal with the brand, as Carrie Underwood has served in the role as well.
Season 4 reject to star in Tim Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland'
A Hollywood round contestant from Season 4 of Idol has apparently been cast as Alice in the upcoming live version of the Disney classic Alice In Wonderland according to a poster on alice-in-wonderland.net, which will be produced and directed by Tim Burton. Ryan Nikole Parker (who?) apparently was on the show back in 2005 but did not make it past Hollywood Week, and will take on the role after beating out seasoned veteran Sarah Michelle Gellar and Evan Rachel Wood.
The film will be shot in 3D motion capture, similar to 2007's Beowulf. Ryan has also starred on One Life to Live and Kids Incorporated.
'Idol' Hot 100 - "No Air" #19 (7/19/08)
For the week of July 19, Jordin Sparks and her (or more like Rihanna's) prince, Chris Brown, once again reigned among Idol-related singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their collaboration on "No Air" dipped #18-19, while Jordin's other entry on the chart, "One Step At a Time," jumped nine spots to #70. Carrie Underwood spent what will probably amount to her last week in the upper half of the chart, as "Last Name" dropped #45-49, while Josh Gracin surprised with another re-entry at #92. On the Bubbling Under chart, Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" made its first appearance, placing 20th. Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
19 18 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
49 45 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name"
70 79 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
92 -- Josh Gracin, "We Weren't Crazy"
Bubbling Under
20 -- Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
Digital sales roundup: "No Air" #31 (7/5/08)
After a brief burst of activity on last week's Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, things have returned to normal as Jordin Sparks once again leads all Idol-related track (of only two total) with her duet with Chris Brown of "No Air." The track posted another 40.1k for the week, raising its cume to 2.2 million. The only other track by an Idol alum was "The Time of My Life" by David Cook, which launched past the 600k mark with an additional 26.6k downloads. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are as follows:
31 26 Jordin Sparks ft. C. Brown, "No Air" 40,097 -16% 47,534 2,208,860
50 45 David Cook, "The Time of My Life" 26,602 -14% 30,848 615,302
Total sales are in bold.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Rrazz Room roster revealed
A few weeks ago, IDOL LIVE reported on an "Idols in Concert" special that would take place at the Rrazz Room at the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco, Calif. Since that was reported, a full schedule of Idol alums has been revealed, which shows 16 former finalists that will be taking part in the series. A full schedule of performers is available below:
July 1-5
-Anwar Robinson
-LaKisha Jones
-Jon Peter Lewis
July 8-12
-Anwar Robinson
-Jon Peter Lewis
-Gina Glocksen
July 15-19
-Gina Glocksen
-Rickey Smith
-Mikalah Gordon
July 22-26
-Rickey Smith
-Julia DeMato
-Trenyce
July 29-Aug. 2
-Julia DeMato
-Trenyce
-RJ Helton
Aug. 5-9
-Constantine Maroulis
-Jasmine Trias
-Vonzell Solomon
Aug. 12-16
-Constantine Maroulis
-Jasmine Trias
-Vonzell Solomon
Aug. 19-23
-Brandon Rogers
-Christina Christian
-Leah LaBelle
Aug. 26-30
-Christina Christian
-Camile Velasco
-Special Idol TBA
The series, which is currently in progress, is directed by Idol's Associate Musical Director Michael Orland. Tickets can be purchased on TicketWeb.com and range from $25-45.
Jordin to co-headline first tour
.jpg)
Jordin Sparks will co-headline her very own first tour later this summer alongside Jesse McCartney. The 19-stop tour will bring Jordin to her hometown of Glendale, Ariz., in addition to such places as Salt Lake City, Boston and Baltimore. Jesse mentioned the tour for the first time publically in an interview he did with Perez Hilton earlier today.
The tour will run from Aug. 5-30, and tickets go on sale on July 11 for the first six dates, and July 18 for the rest of them. This tour comes on the heels of Jordin's gig as the opening act for Alicia Keys' "As I Am" tour, which she wrapped up on June 18.
'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #34 (7/12/08)
Although sales have not been amazing, all Idol-related albums held up well on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of July 12. Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride was once again the #1 entry among Idol alums, as it moved an additional 14k copies and landed at #34. Carrie's Some Hearts, on the other hand, has hit a new milestone, as it spent its 137th week on the chart as it added another 7k copies to its colossal total of 6.5 million copies. That puts it as the fifth-longest running album on the chart since 1997. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of tony over on Pulse are as follows:
034 033 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 14,117 -8% 15,337 2,204,128
075 068 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 8,978 -9% 9,823 834,308
079 071 Daughtry - Daughtry 8,629 -8% 9,356 4,133,913
105 097 Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts 7,027 0% 7,029 6,471,588
Total sales are in bold.
Keeping up with LaKisha Jones
LaKisha Jones, the soulful fourth-place finalist from Season 6, was overshadowed by some of her peers on the show. But she has been able to catapult herself into a multitude of areas of the entertainment industry following her stint on Idol.
LaKisha wrapped up a six-week run on Broadway on Feb. 24, as The Color Purple unexpectedly closed, unable to boost ticket sales following the departure of Fantasia from the show.
Despite the disappointing news, LaKisha is not just sitting on her hands, and has instead shifted her focus to completing her debut album. It will be released to digital retailers like iTunes in August and in stores later in the fall. Her first single, "Same Song," is written by Diane Warren and will be released in the near future according to her record label's Web site.
There is currently a clip of a song that will be featured on her album, "So Glad I'm Me," up on the site.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
An 'Idol' Fourth
As families celebrated the USA's 232nd birthday with cookouts and fireworks all across the country this weekend, Idol alums came out in droves to help participate in the festivities. On Friday night alone, two winners and a runner-up performed on nationally-televised programs to help celebrate. Below is video of Taylor Hicks' three performances of "Soul Thing," "Dancing In the Dark" and "This Land Is Your Land" on PBS' A Capitol Fourth special:
Although it was taped a few days ago, Jordin Sparks' performance of "One Step At a Time" aired during Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular. The performance was filmed in Times Square:
Katharine McPhee, on the other hand, performed "Save the Last Dance" live on the Macy's special, as evidenced by the umbrella in her hand:
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
IDOL LIVE poll of the week - Daughtry squeaks out a win
Chris Daughtry is the fourth-place finalist of choice according to IDOL LIVE readers, as Season 5's breakout star scored 48% of the vote in last week's poll of the week. Although he won with 17 votes, Season 7's Jason Castro almost pulled off an upset, as he scored 42% of the vote with 15 votes. All other votes were negligible in comparison. In this week's poll of the week, we ask who your favorite fifth-place finalist is of all seven seasons. You have exactly one week to vote.
Tamyra Gray 0 (0%)
Josh Gracin 1 (2%)
LaToya London 1 (2%)
Anthony Federov 0 (0%)
Chris Daughtry 17 (48%)
LaKisha Jones 1 (2%)
Jason Castro 15 (42%)
Total votes: 35
'Idol' Hot 100 - "No Air" #18 (7/12/08)
A second week of Disney overload on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending July 12 kept Idol-related entries down in the rankings for the most part, but a few new appearances were made. Leading the pack once again was Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, as their duet of "No Air" drops #12-18. Carrie Underwood's "Last Name" drops 10 spots, from #35-45, and David Cook impressively stays level at #51. This week's new entry was Jordin's "One Step At a Time," which finally made its way onto the Hot 100 at #79. On the Bubbling Under chart, Kellie Pickler's new single "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," makes its first appearance on the chart at #13. Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
18 12 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
45 35 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name"
51 51 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
79 -- Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
Bubbling Under
13 -- Kellie Pickler, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful"
Digital sales roundup: "No Air" #26 (6/28/08)
The reign of Jordin Sparks and her partner in crime Chris Brown continued this week on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, as their duet, "No Air," dropped to #26 this week with another 47.5k downloads sold. A new addition to this week's chart is Kellie Pickler, whose new single, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," debuted at #79 with 24.5k downloads sold. Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are as follows:
026 020 Jordin Sparks ft. C. Brown, "No Air" 47,534 -16% 56,584 2,168,763
045 039 David Cook, "The Time of My Life" 30,848 -12% 34,961 58,8700
048 042 Carrie Underwood, "Last Name" 29,025 -11% 32,703 367,950
058 105 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 24,564 76% 13,927 152,024
079 --- Kellie Pickler, "Don't You Know You're..." 18,599 999% 0 18,599
Total sales are in bold.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Carrie's Vitamin Water commercial
Carrie Underwood's commercial for Vitamin Water has finally begun airing during prime time network television programs, as it has aired on ABC and NBC thus far. There are two variations of the commercial - one where she does a horse whisper to a miniature horse - and an extended one where she appears with a host of other celebrities including 50 Cent, and they prepare for liftoff into outer space. Watch the horse whisperer commercial below:
These commercials come on the heels of Carrie's Nintendo DS Lite commercial, which began airing in May.
19/Arista Nashville picks up Kristy Lee Cook
In what can be best compared to the signing of Season 5's sixth-place finalist Kellie Pickler back in 2006, 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville yesterday announced the addition of Season 7's seventh-place finalist, Kristy Lee Cook, to the label's roster. Kristy Lee was thankful in confirming the announcement:
"I've wanted this for so many years. To have the chance to be a country singer, to make the music I love and to have enjoyed the support of so many American Idol fans this past season, it all means more than I can put into words. Thank you so much to everyone. I'll do my best to make you proud!"Kellie, who is still signed with both 19 and BNA Records, both of which are under the Sony BMG umbrella, will release her sophomore album in September. Kristy Lee's debut single, "15 Minutes of Shame," is set to debut in August, followed by a full album in the fall.
Kristy Lee joins fellow Idol alum Carrie Underwood on the Arista Nashville roster.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
