David Archuleta took time to vlog one final time in 2009 yesterday in El Paso, Tex., where he performed during the Sun Bowl halftime show this afternoon. Watch the vlog below:
DJ Earworm's annual "United State of Pop" mashup single was posted on Sunday, which combines snippets of the Top 25 songs of the year as determined by Billboard from its Hot 100 chart. The 2009 installment, titled "Blame It On the Pop," includes portions of Kelly Clarkson's #1 single "My Life Would Suck Without You." Watch the video below:
And now the continuation of IDOL LIVE's Top 10 most memorable moments of 2009. If you missed moments #10-6, catch up before you proceed.
05) Judges' save used on Matt Giraud
Season 8 was full of awkward changes and poor decisions from a production standpoint, but one of the worst ideas was without a doubt the introduction of the "judges' save" option, which enabled the judges to save a contestant from elimination anytime between Top 13 week and Top 5 week. The "threat" of the judges' tool for manipulation hung over each finalist upon elimination, each time giving said finalist hollow hope until they finally caved and granted Matt Giraud the gift when he was set to be eliminated in Top 7 week.
Matt was a good enough guy, but it was definitely his time to go, and the judges' use of the power seemed like an afterthought by the time they used it. Still, it marked a historic moment in Idol history and gained widespread media attention for the show that was supposed to let viewers decide who advanced. The action prompted many to accuse the tool as a fail-safe method by which producers could discreetly keep some of their favorites in the running, be it Adam Lambert or Danny Gokey had either failed to garner enough votes to remain on the show. The gimmick was largely panned, and will most likely be remembered as a mistake.
04) Ellen DeGeneres added as fourth judge
Alright, so Ellen DeGeneres's addition wasn't as big as Paula's departure, but it was still pretty huge. After word broke of the new face that would be joining Simon, Randy and Kara, weeks of speculation ensued with all corners of the media questioning how this would affect the show's dynamics and whether or not the talk show host was the right fit considering she has no experience in the music industry. Even Larry King had to get Tyra Banks's take on the news, which proves that Ellen's new gig gained all kinds of attention from across the media spectrum.
Of course, tons of the show's alums from seasons past had to give their two cents as well, which gave the media even more of a reason to talk about it. And Ellen being a talk show host also gave her a platform on which to talk about the big news. Ellen was careful in discussing the matter, though, as she tried to quell concerns that she would not be useful in critiquing performances and was in effect "stealing Paula's job," saying:
"I hope Paula is OK with it....I don't want anybody to think that I took Paula's job away."Paula had nothing but nice things to say about Ellen, though, as she wished her luck with the new role:
"Ellen DeGeneres is wildly funny and talented in her own right. I wish her and the show only the best of luck."Whatever happens in terms of judge shuffling, there's sure to be plenty of material from Ellen, as she is first and foremost a comedian. But the actual announcement that Ellen would be joining the judging panel was one of the few big stories to penetrate the national media in the off-season, so for that it earns its spot on this countdown.
Even Idol's own crew, especially Simon, picked the glam rocker to take it all. The stunning defeat leads to many conspiracy theories, some of which are perputated by mainstream media outlets including The New York Times claiming AT&T gave free phones to Kris's fans in Arkansas, and the whole "38 million votes from Arkansas alone" garbage that was spread around the net thanks to Little Rock's FOX affiliate KLRT, which also was picked up the media because of the overwhelming disbelief that Adam could lose the competition.
With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all...I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international phenomenon.
IDOL LIVE readers handed Adam Lambert a convincing win in the latest edition of the poll of the week series in which readers were asked which single from an Idol alum was their favorite on the year.
Adam's "For Your Entertainment" led all other voting options in a crowded field of 19 other songs, taking in 102 votes (37%). Adam's latest single, "Whataya Want From Me," was back in fourth place with 23 votes (8%). Coming in second was Elliott Yamin's "Fight For Love" with 26 votes, while Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying" was right behind with 25 votes. Both nabbed 9% of the total votes.
In fact, only one song failed to receive a single vote, that being Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up." Seeing that she was represented by two more popular singles, "Already Gone" (18 votes, 6%) and "My Life Would Suck Without You" (6 votes, 2%), this didn't come as much of a surprise.
In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked what is their most memorable Idol moment of 2009. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
"Cowboy Casanova" (Carrie Underwood) 17 (6%)
"Battlefield" (Jordin Sparks) 9 (3%)
"My Life Would Suck Without You" (Kelly Clarkson) 6 (2%)
"Had It All" (Katharine McPhee) 10 (3%)
"For Your Entertainment" (Adam Lambert) 102 (37%)
"Live Like We're Dying" (Kris Allen) 25 (9%)
"Friday I'll Be Over U" (Allison Iraheta) 3 (1%)
"Come Back to Me" (David Cook) 12 (4%)
"No Surprise" (Daughtry) 6 (2%)
"Best Days of Your Life" (Kellie Pickler) 3 (1%)
"If This Isn't Love" (Jennifer Hudson) 2 (0%)
"I Do Not Hook Up" (Kelly Clarkson) 0 (0%)
"Already Gone" (Kelly Clarkson) 18 (6%)
"I Told You So" (Carrie Underwood) 1 (0%)
"Hold Up My Heart" (Brooke White) 4 (1%)
"Heart On My Sleeve" (Michael Johns) 1 (0%)
"Whataya Want From Me" (Adam Lambert) 23 (8%)
"Fight For Love" (Elliott Yamin) 26 (9%)
"Together" (Ruben Studdard) 2 (0%)
"What's Right Is Right" (Taylor Hicks) 2 (0%)
There were more mixed chart movements for tracks by Idol alums on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Jan. 9, some of which saw huge swings in different directions thanks to the big increase in sales from gift cards being redeemed.
Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" was among those tracks that decreased much greater than it probably would have had it not been for these special circumstances, as it was down 10 spots to #28. Carrie Underwood's most popular track at the current time, "Cowboy Casanova," saw the opposite happen, as it was up 10 spots to #29.
Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying" was up albeit minimally (one spot) to #32, while Daughtry's "Life After You" followed suit and was up one spot to #57. And Adam Lambert's single "Whataya Want From Me" increased four spots to #68.
Meanwhile over on the Bubbling Under chart, Kellie Pickler's "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" slipped #12-18.
Full chart positions courtesy of chartattack over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
28 18 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
29 39 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"
32 33 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying"
57 58 Daughtry, "Life After You"
68 72 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
Bubbling Under
18 12 Kellie Pickler, "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You"
Just as I did last year, IDOL LIVE has put together a list of the 10 most memorable moments of 2009 in relation to everything Idol. The countdown includes some exciting moments, some sad ones and a whole lotta Lambert. The top five moments that weren't memorable enough to be included in the Top 5 are listed below:
10) Danny Gokey's scream heard 'round the world
Danny Gokey was responsible for many good performances during his run on the show this season. Top 4 week was an exception, however, as his ending to Aerosmith's "Dream On" was an ear-piercing screech that was enough to send dogs and cats all over the world into a panicked frenzy. At first Danny was oblivious to what had just happened, but upon watching it back on TV he realized his gaffe.
Danny commented on the scream on the results show the following night and multiple times after being eliminated, and he found ways to laugh it off time and time again, much to the dismay of many of his haters. Still, the moment garnered one of the strongest reactions from the public from any on the show this season, as people posted parodies on YouTube and dubbed the performance "Scream On." Danny will probably go on to have a successful country career, but this moment will forever hold a place in Idol history.
09) Joanna Pacitti disqualified prior to semifinals
Most Idol fans will remember Joanna Pacitti as the "failed pop star" who wanted to give a career in the music biz another shot. She auditioned in Louisville and was considered by many to be the leading female front runner. When it came time for Joanna to make the Top 36, however, she was disqualified and replaced by Felicia Barton. The reason: she knew a few 19E personnel and the producers didn't want to open the show up to accusations of favoritism.
There had been calls for Joanna to be canned for weeks because of her past experiences in the business. Before making a splash on Idol, she was set to star as Annie on Broadway after performing in the musical's national tour but was replaced just prior to the Broadway run began. Joanna then went on to release an album in 2006 to little success. Joanna's lengthy past had already been covered heavily in the national media, but it came to a point where they really couldn't hide details of relationships that were leaking out. I mean, when Yahoo! Music's Lyndsey Parker accuses Joanna of "polluting Idol," those are some strong words.
This decision was of course not popular with everyone, but it was something that was necessary for the season to leave behind its earliest (but definitely not last) controversy. Still, it was the show's own fault for allowing Joanna to make it as far as she did in the first place if producers were just going to turn around and DQ her anyway.
08) Kelly Clarkson takes on Ryan Tedder over "Already Gone" / "Halo" controversy
Unless you were living over in the Sahara for the past nine months, it's very likely that you've heard both Beyoncé's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone," both of which were singles written by Ryan Tedder that did fairly well on the charts this year. Before Kelly's song was released, however, there was a war of words that went public between Kelly, her record label and Tedder after some accused Kelly of "copying" Beyoncé because the two songs sounded so similar.
"It sucks, but it's one of those things I have no control over," she told the CBC. "I already made my album. At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it. It's kind of a sh---y situation, but ... you know, you learn."Of course Tedder wasn't one to just sit on the sidelines, as he responded via a MySpace blog post:
"They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically and lyrically and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyoncé into recording over the same musical track, the idea is both hurtful and absurd."Of course, IDOL LIVE sided with Kelly during this ordeal, and even though she didn't want "Already Gone" to be released as a single, it's a good thing it was because it managed to peak at #12 on the Hot 100 and just officially went platinum. Next year should be another good one for Kelly, but the odds that there won't be more controversies along the way are pretty slim.
As if her career has not been spectacular already, Carrie Underwood continued to defy the odds in '09 with more number ones, award wins and other surprises. She graced the covers of many magazines including Country Weekly, Lucky and Self, all the while handling her relationship with Ottawa Senators hockey player Mike Fisher with delicacy. In fact, Fisher proposed to Carrie earlier this month, which topped off her stellar year.
Carrie kept her bond to Idol as strong as ever, as she performed twice during the show's eighth season and recorded the send-off song, "Home Sweet Home," which peaked within the Top 25 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. She also was in attendance at the opening of the "American Idol: The Experience" attraction at Walt Disney World along with many of her fellow alums in addition to countless other appearances, shared hosting duties with Brad Paisley at the 2009 CMA Awards and had her own two-hour variety special on FOX.
Adam Lambert made many waves on Idol's eighth season with his song choices and performance arrangements, but he raised eyebrows early on in the season with his middle eastern-tinged take on Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" during Top 11 week for "Grand Ole Opry" night. The performance was anything but country and garnered either "love it" or "hate it" reactions from the audience. This was probably the moment when his fans really grew attached to him, because as Paula said it was "Adam being true to himself," while a lot of people subscribed to Simon's "indulgent rubbish" opinion of the showcase.Just two-and-a-half days of gift card using by music fans were enough send all tracks by Idol alums on the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart up in a big way.
Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" returned to the top spot among songs by alums, as it was up 278% to 124k for a total of 832.8k. On the chart itself it was up #36-25, showing that even amid similar increases from the competition, it was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the post-Christmas download rush.
Next was "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen, which slipped five spots on the chart to #33 but was still up 171% in sales to 109.2k. Its 399.4k total shows it is just about a week away from hitting gold status, which is good news after a somewhat slow start to the single. Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" marked a special milestone this week, as it crossed the platinum mark with 1.005 million in all after a weekly take of 86.9k. Even though it slid backwards #29-41, it experienced an increase of 125%.
Daughtry had two tracks on the chart, kicking things off with current single "Life After You" a 111% sales incline to 51.2k downloads despite a 25-spot drop to #78. The band also saw its previous single "No Surprise" jump back on the chart at #175 thanks to a 227% increase to 23.9k downloads. Totals stand at 156.4k and 976.1k, respectively. The Idol-related track with the biggest sales boost was Jordin Sparks's "Battlefield," as the song was up 448% to 51.2k, accompanied by a 95-spot rocket to #80. The song now boasts a total of 1.245 million.
And Adam Lambert rounded out franchise representation with two tracks, as "Whataya Want From Me" was up 127% to 45.8k while "For Your Entertainment" was up 95% to 29.6k. On the chart side, the songs were down #68-94 and #99-138 and have current totals of 97.5k and 175.1k, respectively.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
025 036 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova" 124,008 278% 32,840 832,774
033 028 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying" 109,200 171% 40,355 399,416
041 029 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 86,894 125% 38,575 1,005,181
078 053 Daughtry, "Life After You" 51,212 111% 24,297 156,427
080 175 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 51,154 448% 9,330 1,245,013
094 068 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me" 45,843 127% 20,207 97,471
138 099 Adam Lambert, "For Your Entertainment" 29,605 95% 15,169 175,124
175 --- Daughtry, "No Surprise" 23,877 227% 7,306 976,091
Total sales are in bold.
Jason Castro started out his journey on Idol's seventh season much stronger than he finished it, and a major reason he made the Top 12 was because of his take on the late Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah." Remind yourself of the performance below:
After a few years of laying low, Paris Bennett has returned to the music scene with brand new material. Her new single "Poster" was released just a few days ago. Listen to the song below:
In the week before Christmas, there were gains had all around by Idol alums for their albums, which made great stocking stuffers or wrapped gifts for many on Friday, at least according to the Billboard Top 200 album sales chart for the chart week of Jan. 2.
For the second week in a row, Carrie Underwood's Play On was fifth on the chart thanks to a weekly take of 153.1k. It was up 44% in sales and has sold 996.7k to date, just shy of platinum status. Far behind at #26 was Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment. Up four spots and 26% from the previous week, it sold another 58.6k for a total of 354.9k. At the same time, Adam's unauthorized pre-Idol release Take One was back on the chart at #174 thanks to a 77% hike to 6.9k for a total of 30.8k.
David Archuleta's Christmas From the Heart saw what is likely its last week inside the Top 100 for a long time, dropping #47-55 in the face of a 2% uptick in sales. It sold 31.5k copies for a total of 184.5k. Kris Allen saw his self-titled album get a big 34% boost also to 31.5k, increasing #61-56 and placing its total at 189.9k.
Daughtry's Leave This Town was also a popular Christmas gift, as it was up 37% in sales to 30.2k and seven spots on the chart to #59. Its total is now 835.7k. Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted inched closer to the 800k mark, climbing #164-143 to 12.9k copies for the week. Its was up 39% sales-wise and now stands at 796.5k. Allison Iraheta's Just Like You was the only Idol-related album to see sales decline this week, as it was down 12% to 12.4k copies for a total of 58.1k. On the chart side it was down #99-148.
Also back on the chart was Kellie Pickler's self-titled album, which rose 18% in sales to 7.5k copies. The album came in at #164 and has sold 360.4k to date.
Full sales and chart positions courtesy of beyoncethebest of Pulse below:
005 005 Carrie Underwood - Play On 153,075 44% 106,506 996,712
026 030 Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment 58,584 26% 46,429 354,915
055 047 David Archuleta - Christmas From the Heart 31,476 2% 30,793 184,515
056 061 Kris Allen - Kris Allen 31,465 34% 23,460 189,910
059 066 Daughtry - Leave This Town 30,189 37% 22,107 835,745
143 164 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 12,921 39% 9,326 796,515
148 099 Allison Iraheta - Just Like You 12,352 -12% 14,108 58,127
164 --- Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 7,450 18% 6,320 360,367
174 --- Adam Lambert - Take One 6,853 77% 3,866 30,787
Total sales are in bold.
IDOL LIVE would like to take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season. Please enjoy this time of year by spending time with loved ones and don't forget to do a good deed, especially in this time of need.
As a way to celebrate the occasion, please enjoy David Archuleta's performance of "Angels We Have Heard On High" from his Christmas album Christmas From the Heart from his appearance on FOX News Channel's FOX and Friends morning program on Wednesday:
These days it's almost impossible to turn on a talk show without seeing an Idol alum promoting their latest project. Last night was no exception, as two runners-up appeared on CNN to sing Christmas tunes for Larry King Live's "Holiday Music Spectacular."
David Archuleta performed "Pat-a-Pan" off his Christmas album Christmas From the Heart, while Katharine McPhee sang her version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Watch Both performances below:
David's "Pat-a-Pan":
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There were ups and downs all around for singles by Idol alums on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Jan. 2, the first chart week of the new decade.
This time around, Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" suffered a bigger decline than it has in the recent past, falling three spots to #18. It still will hold the title of "first highest-charting Idol single of the decade," though, so that's not a bad deal. Kris Allen saw positive movement with his "Live Like We're Dying," which was up three spots to #33 on a combination of increased sales and airplay.
Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova," on the other hand, was down a good nine spots to #39, which suggests its headed down for good. Daughtry also saw positive movement with its latest single "Life After You," climbing #64-58. And Adam Lambert's single "Whataya Want From Me" finally made its debut on the Hot 100 at #72 after three weeks on the Bubbling Under chart.
Full chart positions courtesy of bibliotheque over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
18 15 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
33 36 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying"
39 30 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"
58 64 Daughtry, "Life After You"
72 -- Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
In anticipation of Christmas Day tomorrow (and celebration of Christmas Eve), here are some performances of Christmas tunes from Idol alums to get you in the Christmas spirit.
David Archuleta concluded his "Christmas From the Heart" tour on Sun., Dec. 20, in Westbury, N.Y. During his performance of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," David's tour manager Ray Amico surprised him onstage by joining him on the song and then leading the audience in singing "Happy Birthday" to David, who will turn 19 on Dec. 28. Watch the performance below:
The album took in 387 votes this past week, good for 69% of all votes cast. As expected, the next closest holiday album was Clay Aiken's five-year-old Merry Christmas with Love, which nabbed 129 votes (23%).
Also not surprising was the fact that no other Idol-related Christmas album included on the ballot came close to the two aforementioned ones, as third-place album My Kind of Holiday courtesy of Elliott Yamin came in at 4% with just 26 votes.
In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which Idol single from 2009 is their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Merry Christmas with Love (Clay Aiken) 129 (23%)
Christmas From the Heart (David Archuleta) 387 (69%)
Christmas (Kimberley Locke) 4 (0%)
It's Christmas (Mandisa) 0 (0%)
A Royal Christmas (Paris Bennett) 5 (0%)
American Christmas (Various) 1 (0%)
American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (Various) 1 (0%)
My Kind of Holiday (Elliott Yamin) 26 (4%)
My Christmas EP (George Huff) 0 (0%)
Total votes: 553
In her final digital single release prior to the release of ‘Unbroken’ (Jan. 5), Katharine McPhee treats fans to “How,” a cool power ballad that showcases her stunning vocals."How" can be purchased at iTunes for $0.99. Unbroken can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com
Written by Lucie Silvas, Mike Busbee and Alexander James, “How” is a moving power ballad that allows McPhee to reach for the heavens with her beautiful use of melisma. The rousing chorus combines with a pop-leaning arrangement, making the song a perfect candidate for a future radio single that could do well on both AC and Hot AC. The lyrics are empowering as well (“Don’t you beat yourself up asking questions / Love’s gonna come your way again / All I want is to be set free / from this pain that is haunting me”).
Katharine McPhee smartly saved one of the best tracks off ‘Unbroken’ for last, and fans will be sure of this come January.
for $7.99.
Ahead of what will surely be a digital sales week to remember, Idol alums saw their tracks receive mini-boosts according to the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart.
Once again it was Kris Allen whose single led the franchise representation, as "Live Like We're Dying" totaled 40.4k downloads as a result of a healthy 14% sales incline. It held steady at #28 and now boasts a total of 290.2k.
Kelly Clarkson followed with "Already Gone," which advanced five spots to #29 on the heels of an 18% sales uptick to 38.6k. Its total stands at 918.3k, meaning it's almost guaranteed the hit single will be platinum before 2009 comes to a close.
And Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" saw its first sales increase in a few weeks, as it inched ahead 3% to 32.8k downloads for a total of 708.8k. It held steady at #36 in the chart rankings.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
28 28 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying" 40,355 14% 35,553 290,216
29 34 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 38,575 18% 32,608 918,287
36 36 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova" 32,840 3% 31,919 708,766
Total sales are in bold.
The traditional pre-Christmas sales boost was as kind to albums from Idol alums as it was to other albums as made evident by the most recent edition of HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.
Newly engaged Carrie Underwood benefited most from the boost, as her Play On was once again the fifth-best-selling album on the chart, moving an additional 159.4k copies, up 44% from the previous week. The album has now officially sold one million copies, giving it platinum standing.
Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment was the only other Idol-related album on the chart, as it moved ahead three spots to #27 thanks to a 37% uptick. It sold another 62.6k copies.
Full sales numbers and chart positions courtesy of Billboard should either be out by the end of the week or early next week.
Also out today is Katharine McPhee's latest digital release in the form of "How," the seventh track off her sophomore album Unbroken, out Tues., Jan. 5.
Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:
Singles
Danny Gokey, "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me"
Amazon MP3 - ($1.29) - Buy
iTunes - ($1.29) - Buy
Katharine McPhee, "How"
iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy
For a limited time, Katharine's album Unbroken 
Walmart Soundcheck is gearing up to premiere Katharine McPhee's exclusive performance set in support of her sophomore album Unbroken, out Tues., Jan. 5. The set will go live on Fri., Jan. 1 (New Year's Day). Watch a preview of the set below:
"I'm happy to confirm that Carrie Underwood is engaged to Mike Fisher, and the couple couldn't be happier"The message was similarly shared later in the day by the Ottawa Senators team member. In a press conference today, Fisher said:
"We're both obviously excited and very happy."No dates have been revealed yet, and expect things to remain relatively private for the time being. Carrie will be the second Idol champ to wed, as Ruben Studdard married his girlfriend last year.
After much speculation, it appears the upcoming ninth season of American Idol will be his last. The news broke in a podcast done by Simon's brother, which supported rumblings that appeared in an article in The Times of London and has been circulated around the Web this evening. Per NYTimes.com:
Tony Cowell said that “a press statement is being prepared which will confirm what everybody expected: Simon will leave ‘Idol’ at the end of 2010 to concentrate on bringing the American version of ‘X Factor’ to U.S. TV in 2011.”
If this is true, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Simon has been itching to bring his mega popular X Factor across the pond to the U.S., and there's no better time to do this. Although once this changing of the guards takes place, it would be hard to find a way for Idol to continue in its present state, and its declining ratings would probably be accelerated. Whatever happens, we can expect a lot of news to be made beginning after Christmas.
Kady Malloy was considered by many to be a shoe-in for the Top 12 in Season 7 based on her audition, but unfortunately she fell just shy of her goal. Although she had one of the strongest voices in a technical sense, Simon criticized her for "choosing the wrong songs," including her performance of Heart's "Magic Man" during Top 20 week, which can be viewed below:
>FOX began airing a new promo for the ninth season of American Idol this week. Watch it below:
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>The latest issue of SELF magazine features Carrie Underwood on the cover in addition to an inside story on a host of topics, one of which is a future family. Carrie says:“Not that I have a husband to have one with yet, but someday I’d like a family—not a big one, but not a small one either. Two kids is good; three is fine. Four? Somebody’s getting something done, because we ain’t having five!"The issue will be available for purchase nationwide on Tues., Dec. 22.
David Archuleta has been hard at work touring in support of his Christmas album Christmas From the Heart, and he is rewarding fans who have not been able to make it to one of his stops tonight with a live simulcast of his show tonight at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. Watch a promo for the concert below:
The king of Jingle Ball concerts took place last Friday at Madison Square Garden, when New York City's Top 40 radio station Z100 hosted its installment with musical guests including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and John Mayer. Not surprisingly, a few Idol alums were among those included in the lineup, as Jordin Sparks and Kris Allen performed while Adam Lambert co-hosted the event.
Below are video segments from MSG's "Road to MSG: Z100's Jingle Ball 2009" special that will air tomorrow at 11 p.m. ET on the regional cable network MSG Network. Included are clips from Kris and Adam:
Although it was apparent this poll topic was not the most exciting for IDOL LIVE readers, it was probably the most timely one seeing that Jessica Sierra had just given birth to a new baby boy. Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), Jessica failed to take in a favorite vote here, but a much more popular Idol parent flexed his muscle.
Chris Daughtry took this contest easily, garnering 21 votes (50%), which was way ahead of Bo Bice's eight votes (19%) and Josh Gracin's five votes (11%).
Moving on, in this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which Idol Christmas album is their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Bo Bice 8 (19%)
Chris Daughtry 21 (50%)
Fantasia 2 (4%)
Josh Gracin 5 (11%)
Jennifer Hudson 3 (7%)
Leslie Hunt 0 (0%)
LaKisha Jones 0 (0%)
LaToya London 3 (7%)
Jessica Sierra 0 (0%)
Total votes: 42
Movement was once again mixed among tracks by Idol alums on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Dec. 26.
Taking a break from consistent positive gains on the chart was Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone," which eased two spots to #15 this week. The single is being affected by the heavy rotation of Christmas tunes on AC radio at the moment, and by the time regular radio fare returns to the format come Dec. 26, it might be too late to hope for a new peak on the chart. But never count Kelly out.
Slipping #28-30 was "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood. The track should hang on in the middle rungs of the chart for a while if it keeps up at this rate. Kris Allen followed at #36 with "Live Like We're Dying," up eight spots from the previous week. This is the song's highest placement on the Hot 100 to date.
And Daughtry rounded out Idol representation on the chart among rankings that were made public with "Life After You." The song inched ahead #66-64 this week following a healthy bounce last week.
As for the Bubbling Under chart, Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me" spent its third week in a row trying to make it onto the Hot 100, and it will have to wait until next week to get that honor. This time it was up nine spots to #3. And Kellie Pickler's newest single "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" made its debut at #17.
Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
15 13 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
30 28 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"
36 44 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying"
64 66 Daughtry, "Life After You"
Bubbling Under
03 12 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
17 -- Kellie Pickler, "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You"
There was a significant changing of the guard among Idol-related tracks on the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart.
For the first time, Kris Allen's single "Live Like We're Dying" was the top-billed entry on the chart from an alum, as it moved forward by 10 spots to #28 with 35.6k copies sold. It was up 29% for the week and has totaled 249.9k to date, showing it will put up a fight to reach gold.
This news means Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" slipped to second among tracks by alums, as it was down 13% to 32.6k. On the chart it was off 10 spots to #24 and has sold 879.7k in all, meaning it will go platinum in either the last week of 2009 or the first week of 2010. Kelly also saw her mega-successful "My Life Would Suck Without You" re-enter at #174, buoyed up 147% by the cover of the song from the cast of Glee that was released last week. It now boasts a total of 2.160 million.
Following Kelly's first track, Carrie Underwood was next with "Cowboy Casanova," which declined #28-36 thanks to an 8% sales decrease to 31.9k downloads. Its current total of 675.9k suggests it will eventually reach platinum status, but don't expect this until early 2010.
Daughtry's "Life After You" came next at #64, up from #81 the previous week thanks to a 21% sales incline. Its additional 20.4k tracks puts its total at 80.9k. And Adam Lambert's new single "Whataya Want From Me" witnessed a 9% sales increase to 10.2k, advancing #163-152 on the chart. It now has a total of 31.4k.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
028 038 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying" 35,553 29% 27,641 249,861
034 024 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 32,608 -13% 37,466 879,712
036 028 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova" 31,919 -8% 34,672 675,926
064 081 Daughtry, "Life After You" 20,355 21% 16,890 80,918
152 163 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me" 10,178 9% 9,372 31,421
174 --- Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" 8,837 147% 3,584 2,160,105
Total sales are in bold.
Adam Lambert taped his latest televised performance yesterday as he stopped by Universal City in California for an appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien that aired last night. With less pizazz but better vocals than his much talked about performance at the AMAs last month, Adam seemed to get a good response from the audience. Watch the performance below:
It was another healthy week of sales for albums by Idol alums according to the most recent edition of HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.
Leading the charge according to estimates was Carrie Underwood's Play On, which rose four spots to #5 on the strength of a 46% increase in sales to 110.4k copies. This was the highest sales increase in the Top 10 and the third-highest among all albums in the Top 50.
Next up was Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment, which slipped by 10% to 45.8k copies in its third week. On the chart side it was down #21-30. David Archuleta's album Christmas From the Heart was also down, albeit by a heftier 17% to 29.6k copies. It fell 16 spots on the chart to #49.
Full sales numbers and chart positions courtesy of Billboard should be out by the end of the week.
Back in Season 5 Kevin Covais was never considered to be a serious threat to the Idol crown, but he did impresses America enough to advance to the Top 12. Once there, however, Kevin didn't seem to live up to some people's expectations. Re-watch his performance of Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover" below:
Sales were mostly down this week among albums by Idol alums on the Billboard Top 200 album sales chart for the chart week of Dec. 19.
Leading the pack was Carrie Underwood's Play On, which took in another 80.8k copies. Despite sliding 35% sales-wise, the album was up three spots in the rankings to #6, and its total is now 737.1k in just over one month. Carrie also had the last Idol-related album to place on the Top 200, has her Carnival Ride re-entered the chart at #197, up 4% to 5.7k copies for a total of 3.008 million, which means her sophomore album officially passed the triple platinum mark last week.
Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment, which was down a whopping 74% sales-wise to 51k in its second week. The album dropped 19 spots to #22 and has sold 249.9k so far.
Up #52-34 this week was Christmas From the Heart by David Archuleta. The Christmas album sold another 33.6k for the week, up 57%, and now boasts a total of 122.2k. Meanwhile, the latest debut album from a Season 8 alum, Allison Iraheta's Just Like You came in at #35 with 31.7k in its first week. My prediction of 35k was a little high, but pretty much right on the money.
Kris Allen, on the other hand, saw his self-titled album decline 31% to 22.3k copies. It was down #35-52 and has sold 135k to date. Daughtry's Leave This Town was also off 5% to 17.1k copies, down six spots to #68 for a total of 783.6k copies. The band's first album was able to hang onto a spot in the Top 200, collapsing #83-195 thanks to a sales depreciation of 61% to 5.8k copies for a total of 4.581 million.
And Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted fell #121-143 as a result of a 19% drop in sales. It sold 8.6k copies for the week and has now sold 774.3k in all.
Full chart positions and sales numbers courtesy of leilamaurizia on Pulse as follows:
006 009 Carrie Underwood - Play On 80,789 -35% 123,870 737,131
022 003 Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment 50,999 -74% 198,466 249,902
034 052 David Archuleta - Christmas From the Heart 33,612 57% 21,449 122,246
035 --- Allison Iraheta - Just Like You 31,656 999% 11 31,667
052 035 Kris Allen - Kris Allen 22,345 -31% 32,531 134,985
068 062 Daughtry - Leave This Town 17,117 -5% 17,976 783,583
143 121 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 8,591 -19% 10,584 774,268
195 083 Daughtry - Daughtry 5,804 -61% 14,901 4,580,629
197 --- Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 5,731 4% 5,493 3,008,365
Total sales are in bold.
Billboard this afternoon posted their top decade-end charts across all music genres, formats and artists, and there were plenty of Idol alums represented in the various charts. Not surprisingly, Kelly Clarkson had the most placements thanks to her successful Breakaway era, and Carrie Underwood followed closely behind with a bunch of rankings in multiple categories.
Although neither Kelly nor Carrie were named "Artist of the Decade" (that title went to Eminem), they each appeared further down the coveted chart along with Daughtry.
Full Idol selection from the charts below (courtesy of me):
Top Artists of the Decade
14 Kelly Clarkson
50 Carrie Underwood
90 Daughtry
Billboard 200 Artists of the Decade
042 Carrie Underwood
050 Kelly Clarkson
099 Daughtry
120 Clay Aiken
Hot 100 Artists of the Decade
09 Kelly Clarkson
65 Carrie Underwood
87 Daughtry
91 Jordin Sparks
Top Radio Songs Artists of the Decade
14 Kelly Clarkson
Top Digital Albums Artists of the Decade
09 Daughtry
Top Digital Songs Artists of the Decade
18 Kelly Clarkson
28 Carrie Underwood
35 Jordin Sparks
41 Daughtry
Top Adult Contemporary Artists of the Decade
06 Daughtry
Top Adult Pop Artists of the Decade
08 Kelly Clarkson
09 Daughtry
Top Country Artists of the Decade
10 Carrie Underwood
Top Pop Songs Artists
02 Kelly Clarkson
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Decade
38 Fantasia
Hot 100 Songs of the Decade
47 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
Top Radio Songs of the Decade
48 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
79 "Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson
87 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
94 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Top Digital Songs of the Decade
33 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
64 "My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson
67 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
96 "Tattoo," Jordin Sparks
99 "Crush," David Archuleta
Top Adult Contemporary Songs of the Decade
23 "The Time of My Life," David Cook
24 "Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson
26 "Home," Daughtry
Top Country Songs of the Decade
14 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
27 "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood
99 "Wasted," Carrie Underwood
Top Dance/Club Play Songs of the Decade
45 "Band of Gold," Kimberley Locke
Top Pop Songs of the Decade
06 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
07 "Because of You," Kelly Clarkson
16 "Behind These Hazel Eyes," Kelly Clarkson
50 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the Decade
08 "When I See U," Fantasia
63 "Truth Is," Fantasia
87 "Free Yourself," Fantasia
Top Ringtones of the Decade
57 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
76 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Billboard 200 Albums of the Decade
014 Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
029 Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
048 Daughtry, Daughtry
132 Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
170 Measure of a Man, Clay Aiken
Top Digital Albums of the Decade
15 Daughtry, Daughtry
Top Christian Albums of the Decade
12 Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken
Top Country Albums of the Decade
01 Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
26 Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
Top Gospel Albums of the Decade
11 I Need An Angel, Ruben Studdard
Top Holiday Albums of the Decade
10 Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken
Top Independent Albums of the Decade
39 Elliott Yamin, Elliott Yamin
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums of the Decade
51 Free Yourself, Fantasia
Some alums I didn't expect to see on here were David Archuleta, Elliott Yamin and Kimberley Locke, but it was nice to see them make the chart alongside the usual suspects. A full list of charts can be viewed on Billboard.com.
David Archuleta has been making the most of his hit Christmas album Christmas From the Heart, as he's been touring across the country in support of it. But Arch has also been able to contribute to a lot of other projects in his spare time.
David was recently interviewed by Tony Rossi of The Christophers on the podcast "Christopher Closeup," in which he spoke about his experiences caroling around Christmas time as a kid, some of the tracks he recorded for his album and the importance of giving, especially at this time of year. The interview can be streamed in its entirety here.
And Arch currently has not one but two free downloads from Christmas From the Heart on iTunes this week, as his rendition of "The First Noel" is included in a 20-song "Holiday Sampler" in addition to Christmas classic from other artists like Amy Grant, Toby Keith and Lady Antebellum. This comes just as Arch's song "Joy to the World" is the featured free iTunes "Holiday Single of the Week." Listen to "The First Noel" below:
David Archuleta will perform at the Helen of Troy Halftime Show at the 76th Annual Brut Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 at the Sun Bowl Stadium. The Brut Sun Bowl is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31 at noon at Sun Bowl Stadium in EL PASO, Texas. The game will be broadcast live nationally in high definition on CBS for the 42nd consecutive year. Tickets for the Brut Sun Bowl range in price from $15 to $60 and can be purchased by calling (915) 533-4416 or (800) 915-BOWL or go on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.It looks like David has plenty of activities that are keeping his plate full during this holiday season.
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The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Tonight marks the biggest Jingle Ball of all, as New York City's Z100 Jingle Ball takes place at Madison Square Garden. Among the list of artists are none other than Kris Allen and Jordin Sparks. Other artists scheduled to perform include Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Boys Like Girls. More content on the Jingle Ball can be found on Madison Square Garden's official site including photos and video from past shows with other Idol alums.
Last night at another Jingle Ball hosted by fellow clear channel station, Boston's Kiss 108, Bieber helped Jordin out on "No Air," as he sang Chris Brown's part of the duet. Watch a bad-quality fan video below:
"Things happen in life, and don't let your past get you down. You can always overcome -- you can overcome anything you want to and be a better person. Don't let people tell you that you can't."The baby's father is apparently an ex-boyfriend. IDOL LIVE wishes Jessica the best in her new role as mother.
