IDOL LIVE predix: Michael Johns' 'Hold Back My Heart'

Following in the footsteps of David Cook, David Archuleta and Kristy Lee Cook, Season 7's eighth-place finalist Michael Johns will release his first post-Idol LP, Hold Back My Heart, on Tuesday.

Although Michael is a veteran of the music industry and has had to deal with many of its aspects, both positive and negative, this is without a doubt the most crucial release of his career to date. Therefore, the 12-song Soul/Rock album courtesy of Downtown Records will see its performance on the charts be subjected to a good amount of scrutiny.

But in this era of poor CD sales, Michael should not put too much thought into his album's first week numbers, and should instead focus on touring and spreading the word about his music. But without any major television appearances planned nor a substantial amount of airplay for his current single, "Heart On My Sleeve," it appears that a debut week take of 16k sounds about right for Michael. This will earn him somewhere around #22 on the Billboard 200 chart.