Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Out today: 'Jennifer Hudson,' 'Kellie Pickler'

Today was a big day for Idol alums, as Jennifer Hudson and Kellie Pickler released their self-titled albums and David Cook released his new single "Light On." Links to purchase all three can be found below:

Albums
Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson
Amazon - ($9.99) - Buy
Best Buy - ($9.99) - Buy
Circuit City - ($9.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99 regular, $11.99 deluxe) - Buy
Target - ($9.98) - Buy
Walmart - ($14.99) - Buy




Kellie Pickler, Kellie Pickler
Amazon - ($9.99) - Buy
Best Buy - ($9.99 regular, $12.99 deluxe) - Buy
Circuit City - ($9.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.90 regular, $9.99 deluxe) - Buy
Target - ($9.98 regular, $14.99 deluxe) - Buy
Walmart - ($11.88 regular, $13.88 deluxe) - Buy

Singles
David Cook, "Light On"
iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

On iTunes, Cook's "Light On" is currently #33 on the Top 100 songs chart, and Jennifer's album is currently #2 on the Top 100 albums chart. Kellie's album is currently #24 on the Top 100 albums chart.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Jennifer Hudson on 'The View'

Jennifer Hudson appeared on The View this morning to promote her self-titled album, which hits stores nationwide tomorrow. During her appearance on the show, Jennifer showed off her new ring and talked about her wedding plans. When asked by Barbara Walters if she was a "singer who acts or an actress who sings," Jennifer said she was "still trying to figure that out." Watch the interview below:



Jennifer also performed "Spotlight" at the end of the show. Listen to Jennifer's album in its entirety on her official site.

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Keeping up with Nadia Turner

Nadia Turner may have seen her Idol dreams evaporate three years ago, but she is slowly but surely making progress on the music scene. The fourth season's eighth-place finalist is now serving a greater cause - giving back to the troops. Nadia entertained U.S. servicemen and servicewomen this summer in Afghanistan alongside fellow Idol finalists Gina Glocksen, Justin Guarini and Brandon Rogers.

Last year, Nadia starred in a direct-to-DVD film called Lord Help Us, which premiered at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival.

Aside from contributing to charitable causes, Nadia has been at work in the recording studio, as her single "Standing On Love" appeared on the limited edition "Edy's SlowChurned Hot Tracks" album that featured a host of former Idol finalists. She also released "Love" as part of a double single along with "Beautiful Man."

Both tracks are slated to appear on Nadia's upcoming debut album, which has no release date scheduled at the present time.

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Track review: Cook's "Light On"

Leaving behind the magic rainbows from the time of his life, David Cook gets in the rock groove on "Light On," an edgy pop/rock track that will be sure to reach a wide audience. Written by Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) and Brian Howes, "Light" explores the boundaries of Cook's distinct vocals without disbanding the hooky aspects that make songs hits.

Starting out slow, "Light" quickly transforms into a hard-edged piece of radio fare that is able to appeal to both active rock and Top 40 listeners, which will only prolong its chart life. The lyrics are not the most earth shattering, but they are among some of the most intellectual of recent 'Idol' lead singles. The chorus itself is catchy and easy to remember, but is a little anticlimactic and a little too high for Cook's range, especially since some of the lower areas of the song highlight this fact. It is at the bridge, however, where the song comes to life and Cook shows why he won the title in May.

Although it is a tiring comparison and many will be quick to dismiss it, "Light" is very similar to Daughtry's lead single "It’s Not Over." It is true that "Light" has a slower tempo, but its style and arrangement are in fact similar.

"Light On" is a promising start for David Cook, who should see a big career boost from the single's release leading up to his debut album, out Nov. 18.


"Light On" will be released to digital retailers including iTunes on Tues., Sept. 30 and goes for adds at Top 40 radio on Tues., Oct. 13. His debut album hits stores nationwide on Tues., Nov. 18.

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Friday, September 26, 2008

Clay on GMA - Part 2

The second portion of Clay Aiken's exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer aired this morning on ABC's Good Morning America. Watch the interview below:



In the interview, Clay focuses on his relationships with his son, Parker, and with Jaymes Foster, the mother of his son. Clay said he wants his son to grow up in North Carolina and go to the same schools he went to as a child. Clay is also shown singing lullabies to his son throughout the interview.

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Clay on GMA - Part 1

Clay Aiken appeared on Good Morning America this morning to chat with Diane Sawyer for part one of a two-part interview on his coming out. Watch the first part, which aired this monring, below:



In the interview, Clay describes how he made the revelation to his family and the reaction he has received. He also said that the only person he came out to while on Idol was Kimberley Locke, who (allegedly) managed to keep the secret up until now. The second part will air tomorrow morning on GMA.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #45 (10/4/08)

Kristy Lee Cook nearly led all Idol-related albums on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of Oct. 4, but fell just short. That title belong once again to Carrie Underwood, whose Carnival Ride posted a 1% increase to 10.6k copies, putting the album's total at 2.34 million. For the week, Ride remained at #45 on the chart.

Kristy Lee's post-Idol album, Why Wait, came in at #49 for the week courtesy of 9.6k copies, up from the four copies that were scanned in street date violations the previous week. Kristy Lee's numbers are fairly poor considering she placed seventh on the most recent season, but are respectable considering she is a new artist.

After a healthy increase last week thanks to a re-release, Daughtry's self-titled album reverted back to its normal standings, falling #36-52 with a 27% decrease in sales. The album took in an additional 9.4k copies, which brings its total to 4.23 million. Jordin Sparks was next with Jordin Sparks, which shot ahead 30 spots to #71 thanks to a 19% increase in sales with 7k copies flat. This brings the album's total to 917k.

Full chart positions courtesy of 2m over on Pulse are as follows:

045 045 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 10,555 1% 10,483 2,341,166
049 --- Kristy Lee Cook - Why Wait 9,548 999% 4 9,552
052 036 Daughtry - Daughtry 9,423 -27% 12,821 4,228,777
071 101 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 7,000 19% 5,869 916,617

Total sales in bold.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Poll of the week: fans want their Arch deluxe

Considering the competition among Idol alums for the upcoming fall release schedule, it is a bit surprising that IDOL LIVE readers voted overwhelmingly in favor of David Archuleta's self-titled debut album for last week's poll of the week. But to put things in perspective, maybe it is not as surprising as it might seem despite being matched up against upcoming albums from Kelly Clarkson, Elliott Yamin and David Cook among others. Arch lost the champion poll to Cook by 65% only two weeks ago, so it is understandable that the Arch Angels were eager to make a statement on this poll. Hopefully the few disgruntled fans do not still believe the poll of the week is rigged.

Getting into the numbers, Arch's album took home 1,676 votes, or 64% of the poll's total. Although this tally is much smaller than the 22,075 votes he received in the champion poll, it is a resounding victory over the 797 votes attained by Cook in this poll. This equated to 30% of the total take.

Unsurprisingly, Kelly followed way behind with 110 votes. Her representation of 4% of the poll's total votes comes as news breaks that her album will most likely be postponed until February. None of the other Idol alums' albums guaranteed any sort of excitement.

In this week's poll of the week, we ask readers which Idol alum-turned Broadway star they prefer. You have exactly on week to vote.

David Archuleta - 'TBA' 1676 (64%)
Paris Bennett - 'A Royal Christmas' 0 (0%)
Kelly Clarkson - 'TBA' 110 (4%)
David Cook - 'TBA' 797 (30%)
Jennifer Hudson - 'Jennifer Hudson' 6 (0%)
LaKisha Jones - 'TBA' 0 (0%)
Josiah Leming - 'Angels Undercover' 0 (0%)
Mandisa - 'It's Christmas' 0 (0%)
Kellie Pickler - 'Kellie Pickler' 9 (0%)
Elliott Yamin - 'My Kind of Holiday' 2 (0%)

Total votes: 2600

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'Idol' Hot 100 - "Crush" #15 (10/4/08)

The effects of the release of David Archuleta's video for "Crush" were felt on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Oct. 4, as the single shot up 17 spots to #15. "Crush" had regained stability in recent weeks after debuting at #2 in August, so this positive movement is good news for Jive.

Next up was Jordin Sparks, whose "One Step At a Time" dropped #17-19 but retained its bullet. Jennifer Hudson, who is now knowing on Top 40's door, saw her "Spotlight" continue to shine thanks to a minuscule single-digit rise to #41. Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" was right behind at #43, which saw a healthy four-spot jump.

As for Idol's resident rockers, David Cook slid #46-48 with "The Time of My Life," but his new single "Light On" will almost surely appear on next week's chart, if not the following week. Daughtry, on the other hand, saw its latest single "What About Now" stall at #55.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

15 32 David Archuleta, "Crush"
19 17 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
41 42 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
43 47 Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
48 46 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
55 55 Daughtry, "What About Now"

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Digital sales roundup: "Crush" #10 (9/20/08)

Aided by the release of its video to iTunes last week, David Archuleta's "Crush" shot up 75% to 90k, resulting in a 12-spot jump to #10 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart. Its total is just shy of gold status, standing at 495k. Jordin Sparks stayed consistent with "One Step At a Time," which moved 49.5k downloads and dropped #23-24. The total is 702.6k thanks to the 4% week-to-week drop.

As for Daughtry, its latest single "What About Now" saw minimal positive movement, rising five spots to #70. The 18.6k downloads puts its total at 356.7k.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

10 22 David Archuleta, "Crush" 90,005 75% 51,400 494,998
24 23 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 49,457 -4% 51,281 702,574
70 75 Daughtry, "What About Now" 18,618 3% 18,057 356,717

Total sales in bold.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Arch's album cover

David Archuleta's debut self-titled album is no longer cover art-less, as it popped up on Amazon.com earlier this evening. The cover, which uses a lot more red than most expected, is alright compared to some of the more recent cheesy (at least he's not laying on a horse) and dull (if Kellie knows she's so beautiful, why is her cover in black and white?) ones from Idol alums.

The cover is a step up from the "Crush" one, but that's not saying much. But Arch seems to give off a vampire vibe for some reason, maybe it's the eye shadow? Regardless, it's the material that matters much more than the actual cover art (just ask Jordin Sparks), and so judging from "Crush," he should be pretty much set in terms of quality of his material.

David Archuleta drops Nov. 11 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $9.99, where it is currently #82 among all music items.

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Cook's "Light On" premieres on PopEater

Just days after being announced, David Cook's single "Light On" debuted on AOL's PopEater entertainment blog as reported earlier on Cook's Web site. The single, which was written by Soundgarden/Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell and Brian Howes, was produced by Rob Cavallo. Listen to it below:



Lyrics for the single are posted below:

Never really said too much
Afraid it wouldn’t be enough
Just try to keep my spirits up
When there’s no point in grieving
Doesn’t matter anyway
Words could never make me stay
Words will never take my place
When you know I’m leaving

[CHORUS]
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone

You know we’ve been down that road
What seems a thousand times before
My back to a closing door and my eyes to the seasons
That roll out underneath my heels
And you don’t know how bad it feels
To leave the only one that I have ever believed in

[CHORUS]

Sometimes it feels like we’ve run out of luck
When the signal keeps on breaking up
When the wires cross in my brain
You’ll start my heart again
When I come along

[CHORUS]


"Light On" will be available to purchase on iTunes on Tues., Sept. 30.

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Clay's gay

Clay Aiken finally came out of the closet, as outlined in a story that will appear in this week's People magazine, which hits newsstands on Friday. The story was broken by Perez Hilton and was confirmed by People.com, with full details being highlighted on the site tomorrow.

Clay will appear on Good Morning America later on in the week in a two-part interview, which looks to be a rematch of the 2006 infamous standoff between him and Diane Sawyer. (Photo courtesy of PerezHilton.com).

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Keeping up with AJ Tabaldo

Season 6's Top 20 semifinalist AJ Tabaldo may not have been feeling good the night of March 1, 2007, when he was eliminated from the show, but his rendition of the Nina Simone classic left lasting impressions on many viewers.

Although he has yet to hit it big in the music industry, there are currently five tracks available to listen to on AJ's official music MySpace page including a cover of "A House Is Not a Home" and four original songs.

He was also featured on the first volume of the "Curtain Call" series, which was released on Feb. 5, 2008 and features songs from three Idol alums in addition to AJ including Jon Peter Lewis (Season 3), Stevie Scott (Season 5) and Ryan Starr (Season 1).

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

'Idol' ain't so 'Amazing'...again...

For the sixth year in a row, American Idol could not overtake The Amazing Race, which accepted its now traditional award for the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired on ABC. The CBS stalwart, which averages 10 million viewers per season, has now proved time and time again that it is the only reality program liked by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

In a more surprising upset, Survivor's Jeff Probst outwitted, outplayed and outlasted Ryan Seacrest in the inaugural Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program category. Ryan had widely been considered one of the top contenders for the award, but who really wanted him to win it anyway? IDOL LIVE congratulates Probst on keeping another shiny piece of gold off Ryan's mantle.

And although it is not really Idol-related, we would like to give Josh Groban props for his amazing tribute to television theme songs. Watch it below:



Looks like there's always next year for Idol and Ryan...again....But at least he got to host for the second year in a row (although it only comes out to hosting the show 1 & 1/5 times, but who's counting?)

P.S. Josh did perform at Idol Gives Back during Season 6, so there's a six degrees reason for including him in this post for you.

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Kellie to be correspondent for New Year's

Kellie Pickler will join Idol pal Ryan Seacrest and veteran TV host Dick Clark for ABC's Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 special. Kellie will be a street correspondent in New York City's Times Square where she will help usher in 2009 with over one million people from around the world.

This is not Kellie's first time playing a host/correspondent. She has previously corresponded for Jay Leno on NBC's Tonight Show and she co-hosted the CMA Music Festival special with Taylor Swift that aired earlier this month on ABC.

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Possible Arch song: "The Spare"

Although it has not yet been confirmed or denied, there are signs pointing toward an R&B-tinged track being given to David Archuleta for his upcoming Nov. 11 release. A demo of the song, titled "The Spare," was uploaded to YouTube yesterday featuring another singer in place of Arch and is linked to the MySpace of Shawn Kang, a Canadian hip hop producer. Listen to the demo below:



There is definitely a possibility that the demo is just using Arch's name to promote Kang's own music, but there is also reason to believe the song is being considered for Arch. The style, although a little more Chris Brown than his "Crush" is, could easily be seen as a good fit for the direction he is looking to take his music and would appeal to his target demographics and the Pop music format in general. What do y'all think?

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Cook to release single "Light On" next week

As reported earlier this afternoon on Rickey.org, David Cook has confirmed that the first single from his upcoming album will be titled "Light On" and will drop sometime next week. No word yet on whether it will be released to radio or iTunes or maybe even both, but if everything pans out the way it is supposed to, it will be available to listen to in some form by this time next week.

The news came while Cook co-hosted a meet & greet and mini-concert with David Archuleta at Ford Day at the Ford Conference and Event Center in Dearborn, Mich.

ETA: Apparently Cook sent out an e-mail earlier confirming the single's title but that there will be "more details" about it and where it can be heard next week, which suggests it will not be released to radio nor iTunes. But that does not rule out a "world premiere" on a radio station (Z100?). Best advice is to stay tuned to IDOL LIVE and DavidCookOfficial.com.

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Jennifer Hudson performs on 'GMA'

Jennifer Hudson took part in ABC News' "50 States in 50 Days" event this morning as she performed a set at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Good Morning America. One fan even camped out overnight to wait for the doors to open at 6:30 a.m. this morning. But it was not just Jennifer's singing that got people talking. Take this story, for instance, from CelebTV.com about how Diane Sawyer & crew admired Jennifer's $5,000 engagement ring.

Watch video of Jennifer singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" here. (Photo courtesy of Washingtonian.com).

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Cook blogs on official site

David Cook posted his first blog entry on his new official Web site today. The site launched only one week ago and is slowly having content added to it. Below is a portion of the entry:

Hey Guys,

I wanted to drop a note and answer a few emails that I’ve been getting! I can’t thank you guys enough for all the sign-ups and emails pertaining to the website. And thanks to everyone who came out on the tour. As you know, the AI tour has ended and although it was sad to sing together for the last time in Tulsa, we had a blast all summer.....
Cook goes on to say he is writing in the studio and that his fans will be the first to know the name of the single and what the album cover will look like. He also took the time to answer fan mail - something many artists do not take the time to do, and judging from the entry's 300-plus comments in only one day, he is getting a lot of fan mail. Hopefully he keeps up with this special connection, as life will become much more hectic in the coming months as he tries to market his debut album.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'Daughtry' #36 (9/27/08)

Thanks to a quiet re-release, Daughtry was able to overtake Carrie Underwood on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of Sept. 27. The band's self-titled album posted a 95% sales increase to 12.8k copies, good for a 44-spot jump to #36. The re-release helped the album reach 4.22 million in total sales.

Carrie's Carnival Ride followed at #45, dropping four spots thanks to a 4% dip in sales. The album's take of 10.5k copies for the week puts its total at 2.33 million. And rounding out Idol-related albums on the chart once again was Jordin Sparks, whose debut album added an additional 5.9k copies accompanied by a 12-spot drop to #101. Only 90.3k copies until the 1 million mark.

Full chart positions courtesy of tony over on Pulse are as follows:

036 080 Daughtry - Daughtry 12,821 95% 6,569 4,219,354
045 041 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 10,483 -4% 10,871 2,330,611
101 089 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 5,869 -3% 6,051 909,651

Total sales in bold.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Poll of the week: Kelly is would-be judge of choice

In last week's poll of the week, IDOL LIVE readers chose Kelly Clarkson as the fourth judge of choice from an assortment of eight qualified female possible alternatives to Kara DioGuardi. Kelly was the lone Idol alum represented in the poll and walked away with 23 votes (29%). She was closely followed by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, who has served as a guest celebrity judge in seasons past. Warren received 18 votes, good for 23% of the total take.

America's Got Talent judge Sharon Osbourne and former diva Whitney Houston tied for third with 10 votes (12%) and Mandy Moore was close behind with nine votes (11%). Jewel and Brandy failed to excite readers, as they received four and one vote(s), respectively.

In this week's poll of the week we ask readers which fall release by an Idol alum they are most excited for. You have exactly one week to vote.

Brandy 1 (1%)
Kelly Clarkson 23 (29%)
Whitney Houston 10 (12%)
Jewel 4 (5%)
Mandy Moore 9 (11%)
Sharon Osbourne 10 (12%)
Kelly Rowland 3 (3%)
Diane Warren 18 (23%)

Total votes: 78

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'Idol' Hot 100 - "One Step At a Time" #17 (9/27/08)

Thanks to a gigantic fall by "Just Stand Up!" Jordin Sparks once again reigned supreme among Idol-related tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Sept. 27 with "One Step At a Time." For the fourth straight week, "Time" came in at #17. Finally showing signs of stability was David Archuleta's "Crush," which remained at #32 for the second week in a row. Next up was last week's top Idol-related track, "Just Stand Up!" It tumbled #11-36 in its third week on the chart.

Jennifer Hudson followed with the still bulleted "Spotlight," which slipped one spot to #42. David Cook's "The Time of My Life" continued its slow decline as it slid #40-46, while Carrie Underwood receded three spots to #47 with "Just a Dream." And Daughtry's "What About Now" capped off tracks from Idol alums, as it jumped #75-55 for the week.

As for the Bubbling Under chart, an Idol represented for the first time in weeks as Kellie Pickler's "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" debuted on the chart at #16.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
17 17 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
32 32 David Archuleta, "Crush"
36 11 Artists (Carrie Underwood), "Just Stand Up!"
42 41 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
46 40 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
47 44 Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
55 75 Daughtry, "What About Now"

Bubbling Under
16 -- Kellie Pickler, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful"

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Digital sales roundup: "Crush" #22 (9/13/08)

In what was a close race among Idol alums, David Archuleta ultimately came out on top with "Crush," as the single sold 51.4k copies for the week and landed at #22 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart. The song rose 3% in sales and has totaled 405k since its release. Following right behind was Jordin Sparks, whose "One Step At a Time" fell #16-23 thanks to a 10% decline in sales to 51.3k - a mere 100 downloads fewer than "Crush." "Time" now stands at 653k.

Taking the biggest tumble of all Idol-related tracks was "Just Stand Up!" which features Carrie Underwood among others. "Up!" fell #7-24 as a result of a 55% drop, and sold an additional 49.6k tracks. Aided by its re-release, Daughtry's "What About Now" jumped 38 spots to #75 from 18.1k downloads. It now stands at 338.1k. And then Jennifer Hudson brings up the rear with "Spotlight," which held steady at #97 despite a 3% drop to 13.2k for the week.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

022 020 David Archuleta, "Crush" 51,400 3% 49,752 404,993
023 016 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 51,281 -10% 57,199 653,117
24 7 Artists (Underwood), "Just Stand Up!" 49,572 -55% 109,056 173,832
075 113 Daughtry, "What About Now" 18,057 70% 10,609 338,099
097 097 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 13,184 -3% 13,599 118,495

Total sales in bold.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Daughtry performs SSB at Cardinals game

Not to be outdone by David Cook, Chris Daughtry sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Arizona Cardinals / Miami Dolphins NFL game on Sunday in front of 63,400 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Although the video below does not show Chris, it is easy to hear his voice soar above the crowd.



Chris has previously sang the Anthem at the 2007 NFC Championship game. The Cardinals won the game 31-10.

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Arch's "Crush" video finally (officially) out

After a week of leaks, David Archuleta's music video for "Crush" is finally out on iTunes. In the video, Arch shows off his piano skills at the end of a pier while sticking sticky notes on his friends' foreheads and strumming his guitar for them. If you have yet to see it, watch the video below:



The video has a huge banner ad and is $1.99 at iTunes. It will likely be #1 in a matter of hours (more than Kristy Lee Cook can say, unfortunately).

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Album review: Kristy Lee Cook's 'Why Wait'

'American Idol' seventh-place finalist and avid horse lover Kristy Lee Cook surprises more than a few critics with her major label debut offering 'Why Wait.' On the show her savvy song choice and ability to flirt with judge Simon Cowell were enough to carry her almost halfway through the competition, but her vocals often came under fire. Fortunately for Cook, Brett James sits in the producer’s chair on the album.

On 'Wait,' Cook tries to silence most criticism leveled against her as a "Carrie Underwood clone" thanks to catchy country tunes that fit her range extremely well, but there are still plenty of reservations. Leading off the album with debut single "15 Minutes of Shame," Cook combines a catchy hook with a play on words of a famed saying. Another uptempo that Cook shines on is "Not Tonight," which has a pop feel and was partially written by Underwood, intended to be on her album 'Carnival Ride.' Another track that sounds eerily like an Underwood one is "Why Wait," which is a second-rate "Flat On the Floor."

In addition to the lively tracks, Cook is able to connect on some of the more contemporary country-sounding songs like "Like My Mother Does" and "Plant the Seed," both of which feature meaningful lyrics that many country fans can identify with.

But just as there are plenty of tracks country listeners will be satisfied with, there are also a few less than stellar songs on 'Wait'. "Hoping to Find" is a nice sugary sweet piece of cotton ear candy but is bland lyrically, while her vocals on "Baby Believe" border on whiny and over the top.

Still, there are plenty of comedic spots on 'Wait' especially in the Kellie Pickler-esque "I Think to Much" and the nitty gritty country sound is well represented by "Homesick." Cook caps the album off with her rendition of Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the USA," which was one of her shining moments on 'Idol.'

This is definitely no 'Some Hearts' or even a 'Kellie Pickler', but Kristy Lee Cook proves that she can be a viable country artist on 'Why Wait'. Still, the fact that she spent one week recording the album is clearly evident, and a few improvements could have been made had more effort been put into the process.


Why Wait is now available for purchase on iTunes ($9.99) and Amazon.com ($12.99).

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Monday, September 15, 2008

Jennifer Hudson engaged

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson got engaged to another reality TV personality on Friday: I Love New York 2's second runner-up David "Punk" Otunga. The couple of been dating for less than a year and both are originally from Chicago. Watch the clip below to see Jennifer's husband-to-be in action at the gym:



Jennifer has a busy fall schedule ahead of her, as her self-titled debut album drops Sept. 30 and her next film, The Secret Life of Bees, opens nationwide on Fri., Oct. 17.

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Keeping up with Kady Malloy

Kady Malloy, the opera-singing Top 16 finalist from the seventh season of Idol, has churned out an independent EP and formed an all-girl trio with fellow Season 7 semifinalist Alaina Whitaker in the six months since leaving the show.

Kady's self-titled independent release was put on AmieStreet.com only weeks after being eliminated in March and features "Unwanted" and "Wish You the Worst." But her teaming up with Alaina and her sister, Brittney Whitaker, that is getting people to notice. On Aug. 22 Whitaker Malloy opened for Travis Tritt at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla.

Although not yet signed to a record label, the trio is currently working on a debut album, which should be done in the fall. They have covered Gretchen Wilson's "Here For the Party" and Martina McBride's "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues" and have already premiered their original song "Run Sara Run."

They will next sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Houston Rockets game on Oct. 29 at 8 p.m.

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Jordin's UK "Tattoo" video, 'Christian Living' magazine

In an effort to relaunch Jordin Sparks' "Tattoo" as a single in the United Kingdom after the success of "No Air" earlier this year, RCA Records put out an alternate music video for the song. In the video, Jordin trades in a carousel for a flat filled with friends and ink animation. She also adopts a Lily Allen hairstyle. Watch the video below:



Back on this side of the Atlantic, Jordin has made the cover of the Atlanta-based Christian Living magazine. She is profiled in the issue and reveals many things about her life before stardom and how she sings "for God" rather than for herself. She says that the recording industry is "not the most clean world to be in" but she claims she is "in the world, not of it."

Jordin also said to "let your light shine" and "don't let anyone put it out" when talking about her ability to talk openly about her faith with others.

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Cook sings National Anthem at Chiefs game

David Cook sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Kansas City Chiefs' home opener this afternoon with his younger brother, Andrew, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. In a press release that went out in August, Chiefs President Carl Peterson said of the news:

"We are very excited to have David and Andrew perform the anthem for our first regular season game of the 2008 season."
Although the performance was not nationally-televised, it would not be a total surprise for video to pop up somewhere judging from all the Word Nerds out there.

ETA: Watch video below:

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Elliott to perform at KISS FM’s "So Long to Summer" bash

Elliott Yamin is one of three artists that will be performing at Kiss 96.1 FM's third annual "So Long to Summer" bash tomorrow at the Thunder Mountain Amplitheatre in Loveland, Colo., at 7 p.m. The concert costs $15 in advance ($20 at the door) and will also feature Secondhand Serenade and Jon McLaughlin. In addition to the three acts, the radio station will conclude its regional Idol-like competition known as "NoCo Idol." Doors open at 6 p.m.

In addition to working on his sophomore studio album, Elliott will release another Christmas album on Oct. 7 called My Kind of Holiday. It will consist of 10 tracks.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Jordin on 'Hannity & Colmes'

Jordin Sparks put herself in the line of fire last night when she appeared on FOX News Channel's debate show Hannity & Colmes to discuss her much talked about moment at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards. Jordin stated her view on promise rings and how it feels to be a a member of a select group that often draws mocking from the liberal entertainment industry. Watch the interview below:



Conservative co-host Sean Hannity said he was a "big fan" of Jordin's while liberal co-host Alan Colmes said he "admires" her for staking her ground.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #41 (9/20/08)

All three Idol-related entries on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of Sept. 20 once again showed little signs of life, as consistent chart champ Carrie Underwood led with Carnival Ride. The album, which yesterday received a nomination for Album of the Year for the 2008 CMA Awards, sold another 10.9k copies, which enabled it to inch up one spot to #41. Its total is now 2.32 million.

Next up was Daughtry, whose debut album slipped #78-80 and garnered 6.6k copies one week prior to its re-release. The 4% dip in sales officially puts it over the 4.2 million mark. Jordin Sparks once again brought up the rear with her self-titled album, which fell #87-89 with another 6.1k copies, putting it over the 900k mark.

Full chart positions courtesy of Three Time VMA Winner over on Pulse are as follows:

41 42 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 10,871 0% 10,878 2,320,128
80 78 Daughtry - Daughtry 6,569 -4% 6,872 4,206,533
89 87 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 6,051 -3% 6,223 903,804

Total sales in bold.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Poll of the week: Cook is undisputed champ

In a poll of the week that was set up to be a battle of the ages amongst the 12 most admired Idol finalists of all seven seasons in the eyes of IDOL LIVE readers, one fan base surely did not disappoint. Just days into the voting, the two-week competition was proving to be promising as David Archuleta and David Cook were neck and neck with 48% of the vote on Aug. 30. But things quickly deteriorated for the Arch Angels, most likely because of a slew of competitive polls that were preoccupying them. But that's no excuse for completely giving up on the poll, and the Word Nerds were able to capitalize. It's not like they were the only ones that had access to the MOAB or robo-voting.

As for the poll's results, the numbers tell the story. Cook garnered a gargantuan sum of 105,019 votes, good for 82% of the total take. Arch on the other hand was only able manage 22,075 votes, or 17% of the total vote. Of the poll's 10 other finalists none were able to manage 100 votes, although Chris Daughtry came close with 97. There were even two finalists who failed to muster a single vote over the entire two weeks - Stephanie Edwards and Melissa McGhee - which begs the question of how they got to the champion poll in the first place.

Despite the lopsided result, the total of votes was the most impressive tally to date for an IDOL LIVE poll of the week, especially compared to the previous poll's total of 12 votes. For all the milestones achieved from this poll, IDOL LIVE would like to say...way to go D-C.org! And thanks to the Arch fans that also gave the poll a shot.

Moving on, for this week's poll of the week we ask readers to vote for their choice of a fourth judge if they could have picked anyone other than Kara DioGuardi to add as a fourth judge from the selection of eight different females from the music industry. You have exactly one week to vote.

David Cook 105,019 (82%)
David Archuleta 22,075 (17%)
Elliott Yamin 57 (0%)
Chris Daughtry 97 (0%)
Brooke White 6 (0%)
Kellie Pickler 26 (0%)
Kristy Lee Cook 18 (0%)
Haley Scarnato 1 (0%)
Chikezie 5 (0%)
Stephanie Edwards 0 (0%)
Melissa McGhee 0 (0%)

Total votes: 127,304 (IDOL LIVE record)

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'Idol' Hot 100 - "Just Stand Up!" #11 (9/20/08)

Carrie Underwood just barely missed out on a spot in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Sept. 20, as she is featured on "Just Stand Up!" The charity single shot forward #78-11, which represents Carrie's first appearance on the chart (current single "Just a Dream" advanced four spots to #44). Falling into second position once again among Idol-related tracks on the chart was Jordin Sparks' "One Step At a Time," which held steady at #17 for the third week in a row.

Showing some resilience was David Archuleta, whose "Crush" slid only one spot to #32 after a few weeks of heavy falls. David Cook's "The Time of My Life," on the other hand, declined #36-40. Jennifer Hudson was next up with "Spotlight," which jumped 19 spots to #41. And Daughtry's "What About Now" rounded out Idol-related tracks with an 11-point advancement to #75.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
11 78 Artists (Carrie Underwood), "Just Stand Up!"
17 17 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
32 31 David Archuleta, "Crush"
40 36 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
41 60 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
44 48 Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
75 86 Daughtry, "What About Now"

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Carrie, Kellie receive CMA Award noms

Carrie Underwood is one of seven country music artists to receive multiple nominations at the 2008 Country Music Association Awards. For the third year in a row Carrie is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. She took home the honor in both 2007 and 2006. Carrie's sophomore album Carnival Ride is also nominated for Album of the Year, which is the lone entry by a female artist in the category.

Carrie was excited about her nominations, as she told The Associated Press:

"There is nothing more rewarding than to be recognized by your peers and to know your fans are enjoying the same ride."
Kellie Pickler is the only other Idol alum to be nominated for an award, as her name was one of five entered into the Best New Artist category.

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Digital sales roundup: "Just Stand Up!" #7 (9/6/08)

The fluidity of Idol-related tracks continued on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart as the Carrie Underwood-featuring cancer charity single "Just Stand Up!" overthrew Jordin Sparks' "One Step At a Time" for the week. "Just Stand Up!" rocketed #82-7 with a 617% increase in downloads and now has a total of 124.3k after two weeks. "Time," on the other hand, added another 57.2k downloads for a total of 601.8k. It inched ahead on the chart one spot to #16.

Finally stabilizing was David Archuleta's debut single "Crush," which rose two spots to #20 thanks to a minute yet healthy 3% increase to 49.8k downloads. Its total is now 353.6k. Jennifer Hudson followed with "Spotlight," which slipped #95-97 despite a 1% increase in sales. Daughtry rounded out the chart for Idol-related tracks with "What About Now." The band's latest single jumped 27 spots to #113 with 10.6k downloads sold, putting its total at 105.3k.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

7 82 Artists (Underwood) "Just Stand Up!" 109,056 617% 15,204 124,260
016 017 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 57,199 8% 53,109 601,836
020 022 David Archuleta, "Crush" 49,752 3% 48,122 353,593
097 095 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 13,599 1% 13,440 105,311
113 140 Daughtry, "What About Now" 10,609 21% 8,800 320,042

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Bucky, Carrie, Kellie at CMA Music Festival

The two-hour television special for this summer's CMA Music Festival 2008 aired last night on ABC, which could only mean a few Idol alums were bound to turn up. Filling roles as both host and performer was Kellie Pickler, who performed her new single "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" in addition to hosting alongside friend and fellow country artist Taylor Swift. Kellie was also featured in a behind the scenes segment when three of her guy fans were unexpectedly taken to see her backstage where they all hung out and joked around.

Carrie Underwood was one of the festival's headliners, and she brought down the house with a performance of "Last Name" while sporting an eye-catching orange top. Watch Carrie's performance below:



Bucky Covington also performed "Good to Be Us" while narrating a highlight of all the things Nashville has to offer. The festival was filmed from June 5-8.

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VMA wrap-up: Jordin steals the spotlight

Although she went home empty-handed Sunday at MTV's 25th annual Video Music Awards, Jordin Sparks shook up the scene at the Paramount Pictures lot with her heat of the moment defense of the Jonas Brothers after their decision to wear purity rings was mocked by host Russell Brand (who?) in his opening monologue.

Jordin was so upset by his remarks that she had to give her two cents when it was her turn to introduce T.I. alongside John Legend. Watch her response below:



The comeback has been receiving a lot of press and online buzz, mostly positive. On the awards front, Jordin's video for "No Air" lost out to Tokio Hotel's "Ready, Set, Go!" for Best New Artist and Britney Spears' "Piece of Me" for Best Female Video. Maybe next year, but it's not like it's a Grammy or anything.

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Friday, September 5, 2008

'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #42 (9/13/08)

It was another uninspiring week on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of Sept. 13 for Idol alums, as Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride was the top entry among Idol-related albums with a 7-spot fall to #42. The album sold 10.8 k copies, down 3% from the week before for a total of 2.31 million. Daughtry stayed level with its self-titled album at #78 for the week. Its take of 6.9k just two weeks before a re-release hits shelves puts its total 36 copies below 4.2 million. Daughtry was followed by Jordin Sparks, whose self-titled album dropped #80-87 with a 9% dip in sales to 6.2k for the week. Its total now stands at 897.8k copies.

Full chart positions courtesy of tony over on Pulse are as follows:

42 35 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 10,878 11,223 -3% 2,309,257
78 78 Daughtry - Daughtry 6,872 6,963 -1% 4,199,964
87 80 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 6,223 6,874 -9% 897,774

Total sales in bold.

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'Idol' Hot 100 - "One Step At a Time" #17 (9/13/08)

Jordin Sparks once again took over the top spot among Idol alums on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Sept. 13, as "One Step At a Time" held steady at #17. The song was aided by David Archuleta's "Crush," which continued to crumble in its third week on the chart. The track fell 16 spots to #15. That fall puts Arch only five spots away from his former adversary, David Cook, whose single "The Time of My Life" slips #35-36. It looks like "Crush" will fall behind "Life" by next week.

Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" continued its advance on the chart, as it rose #57-48. Jordin's other single that is still hanging around the chart, "No Air," dropped seven spots to #50, while Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" saw positive action as it moved #66-60. Next up was "Just Stand Up!" which features Carrie. The charity single debuted at #78. Daughtry rounded out the Idol-related tracks, as "What About Now" increased eight spots to #86.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
17 17 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
31 15 David Archuleta, "Crush"
36 35 David Cook, "The Time of My Life"
48 57 Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
50 43 Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown, "No Air"
60 66 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
78 -- Artists (Carrie Underwood), "Just Stand Up!"
86 94 Daughtry, "What About Now"

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Digital sales roundup: "One Step At a Time" #17 (8/30/08)

After holding the title of top Idol-related track on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart for only two weeks, David Archuleta's "Crush" dropped 14 spots to #22 with another 48.1k downloads. The track's 46% drop puts its three-week total at an impressive 303.8k. Retaking the lead was Jordin Sparks' "One Step At a Time," which sold an additional 53.1k, only falling one spot to #17. That number was enough to push the track's total to gold status, as it now stands at 544.6k.

A new entry on the chart was the charity single "Just Stand Up!" which features Carrie Underwood among its 15 female vocalists. The song landed at #82 with 15.2k copies after only three days of sales since it was released on Fri., Aug. 29. Jennifer Hudson was next with "Spotlight," which rocketed #149-95, a 43% increase. The gain was most likely caused by her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Democratic National Convention last week. Daughtry rounded out tracks by Idol alums with "What About Now." The band's fifth single jumped 21 spots to #140 with 8.8k copies for a total of 309.4k.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

017 016 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 53,109 -9% 58,494 544,637
022 006 David Archuleta, "Crush" 48,122 -46% 89,472 303,841
082 --- Artists (Carrie Underwood), "Just Stand Up!" 15,204 999% 0 15,204
095 149 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 13,440 43% 9,417 91,712
140 161 Daughtry, "What About Now" 8,800 2% 8,626 309,433

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Bo Bice falters on Anthem at Pepsi 500

Comparing the Bo Bice that sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at NASCAR's Pepsi 500 on Sunday with the Bo Bice that finished as runner-up to Carrie Underwood in 2005 is extremely startling. Bo wavered and slugged himself through the Anthem in Fontana, Calif., which suggested he was sick because there is no way his vocals could have depreciated so much since his time on Idol. Watch the performance below:



Hopefully his vocals are able to recuperate from this lackluster performance because Bo is much better than this.

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'College' DOA, 'House Bunny' holds steady

As expected, College was an universal box office bomb this Labor Day weekend. The film, which starred Season 5's 11th-place finalist, Kevin Covais, only mustered $2.1 million from 2,123 theatres nationwide for the traditional 3-day weekend and only $2.6 million for the extended 4-day weekend according to studio estimates on BoxOfficeMojo.com. It came in on the charts at #15 and likely suffered due to the over saturation of comedies in the marketplace.

As for its critical reception, College currently has an awful 14% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com, taking into account its total of only 14 professional reviews. User reviews are a little more kind, as it currently has a B- from 376 users on Yahoo!Movies.

Katharine McPhee's The House Bunny was another story, as the hit comedy showed staying power for the weekend as it dropped from #2-4 with $8.3 million for the 3-day and $10.2 million for the 4-day. Its total now sits at $29.8 million, which is a great number all things considered. It dropped 42.9% weekend-to-weekend and averaged $3,058 from its 2,714 theatres.

The overall weekend box office was nothing special, so it will most likely be even worse this coming weekend taking into account the fact that it is not a holiday weekend.

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Monday, September 1, 2008

Arch blogs about video, Gustav

David Archuleta took time to post a blog entry on his official music MySpace page today in Minnesota, one of his few off days. As the Idol tour nears it end, Arch was able to post about the status of his music video for "Crush," which he watched back in its rough stage earlier this week. Below is a snippet of his entry:

"It was cool watching how a video comes together right from the beginning of the video treatment and hearing the idea of the director, to seeing it come to life with the cameras, cast, and music haha. It's still hard having to watch yourself, but you have to make sure everything looks good for everyone to see haha. I'm getting a little better with that though."
He also was sure to send his well wishes to the people down on the gulf coast dealing with Hurricane Gustav, as he referenced his relatives in Florida that recently had to deal with Tropical Storm Fay. Arch also said he was in the studio recording today, which he usually does on his off days especially since his debut album is set for a Nov. 11 release.

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'AI Rewind' combines seasons 3 & 4?

At least they decided not to skip Idol's third season entirely for TV Guide Channel's American Idol Rewind. Instead, it will just be extremely abbreviated. Trifecta Entertainment, which is now in charge of distribution for the syndicated series, will air 22 episodes throughout its duration including a special on Carrie Underwood to cap off the season.

But it does not seem plausible that Trifecta understands what audiences want to see, as the episode breakup is as follows:

301 Season 3 Auditions - New York
302 Season 3 Auditions - Atlanta
303 Season 3 Auditions - Los Angeles / San Francisco
304 Season 3 Auditions - Houston
305 Season 3 Auditions - Hawaii
306 Season 3 Most Memorable Moments (Top 12 to 6)
307 Season 3 Most Memorable Moments (Top 5 to Finale Results)
308 Season 4 Auditions - Washington, D.C.
309 Season 4 Auditions - Cleveland / Orlando
310 Season 4 Auditions - St. Louis
311 Season 4 Auditions - New Orleans
312 Season 4 Auditions - Las Vegas
313 Season 4 Auditions - San Francisco
314 Season 4 Hollywood Week Special
315 Season 4 Semifinal Special
316 Season 4 Top 12 to 11
317 Season 4 Top 10 to 9
318 Season 4 Top 8 to 7
319 Season 4 Top 6 to 5
320 Season 4 Top 4 to 3
321 Season 4 Finale and Results
322 Season 4 Carrie Underwood Special

Five episodes of auditions for Season 3 and only two for the Top 12? Two!? Season 4, while better off, is still not getting full treatment, either. But it is not entirely a mystery why the layout looks like this. Hank Cohen, CEO of Trifecta, said the following of the upcoming season of Rewind:

"Stations are excited about the changes to the show, and Tracy is putting together a more complete book as we rewind the journeys of people that audiences care about."
In other words, Cohen does not think audiences care about the finalists from Season 3. It seems like this whole season of Rewind will revolve around Carrie, and maybe William Hung will make an appearance, too.

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Keeping up with AJ Gil

AJ Gil was one of the first Idol finalists to lose their dreams of becoming the country's next big singing sensation when he placed eighth on the show's first season back in 2002. Although this placing did not automatically set him up with a record deal, AJ was able to pursue another sector in the music industry - producing.

Per his official music MySpace page, AJ, who was born in San Diego, Calif., and hails from Mexico, is working with Hollywood, Calif.-based production team The Order, which has worked with talents like Ruben Studdard, Toni Braxton and JoJo.

Even though the majority of AJ's involvement in music is on the producer's side of the recording studio glass, he has three R&B/Hip Hop-tinged tracks up on his MySpace: the club banger"Lollypop," the Usher-like "Overtime" and the even more Usher-like "What Do You Like." A few of the tracks are available to purchase via the digital music retailer SnoCap.

AJ will next appear at King King in Los Angeles, Calif., on Thurs., Sept. 11.

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