Tuesday, March 31, 2009

IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 9 Perform (3/31/09)

Tonight we blog during the Top 9's performance show, when the remaining finalists give it their best shot when they pick songs that have reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, meaning more or less songs that have reached #1 on iTunes. Will Adam sing Rihanna? Will Scott play the piano? Will Danny "Just Dance"? The blogcast begins at 8 p.m. ET and will last one hour and 25 minutes.




Tonight's blogcast will feature music from David Archuleta, Ayla Brown, Kelly Clarkson, Katharine McPhee, Danny Noriega and Phil Stacey.

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HITS estimates: Kelly 50.6k, Carrie 16.5k

The same two female Idol champs were represented on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart this week, although both saw their albums drop.

Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted kicked things off with a #1-7 drop to 50.6k copies, which was off by 42% from last week. Carrie Underwood was next with 16.5k copies sold for her Carnival Ride, slipping 19 spots to #32. The album was off by 15% ins sales from the previous week.

Official sales courtesy of Billboard will be out by the end of the week.

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Monday, March 30, 2009

'Idol' alums taking over Twitter

It appears that not even Idol alums are holding out on the Twitter revolution. Each day, more and more familiar faces from the franchise are utilizing the social networking tool to communicate with their fans. Below is a select list of official accounts of Idol-related people:

-Ayla Brown: follow
-Jason Castro: follow
-Kelly Clarkson: follow
-Melinda Doolittle: follow
-Mikalah Gordon: follow
-Justin Guarini: follow
-Leah Labelle: follow
-Blake Lewis: follow
-Kimberley Locke: follow
-Mandisa: follow
-Katharine McPhee: follow
-Syesha Mercado: follow
-Ryan Seacrest: follow
-Vonzell Solomon: follow
-Jordin Sparks: follow
-John Stevens: follow
-Brooke White: follow
-Elliott Yamin: follow

It's only a matter of time before Carrie Underwood gets a Twitter account, right? Seems kind of odd that her people haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet. If anyone knows of any other Idol alums that are on Twitter, please post below.

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Flashback: Chris Richardon's "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"

Chris Richardson may have been compared to Justin Timberlake constantly while on the sixth season of Idol, but he definitely didn't sound like him. On Top 11 night, Chris chose to perform "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" by Gerry & The Pacemakers. Watch the performance below:



Chris did not impress the judges (and apparently the American public), as he ended up in the bottom two the next night. Simon even remarked that he had never heard the song before, which caught many be surprise considering the song was written by fellow Brit Gerry Marsden and the fact that Simon is, well, a big time British music mogul.

Regardless, Chris was able to propel himself out of the bottom rungs of the competition and mad it all the way to fifth place on the season. Even though it was not his best effort, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" served as a pivotal moment on Chris' Idol journey because it showed a softer side of him.

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'Idol' wins a KCA; Daughtry loses to the JoBros

American Idol emerged victorious Saturday night when the series took home a Kids' Choice Award at the 2009 ceremony for the awards show. Idol bested its three competitors in the Favorite Reality Show: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Deal or No Deal and America's Next Top Model (do kids really watch that show?)

The only other Idol-related nominee was Daughtry, who lost the Favorite Music Group category to the Jonas Brothers. But really, did Chris and the boys ever have a shot at a win?

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Kelly's "I Do Not Hook Up" preparing for release

Coming right on the heels of her mega successful #1 hit "My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson's new single "I Do Not Hook Up" is just over one week away from going for ads at Top 40 radio. It will officially hit the airwaves on Tues., April 14, according to AllAccess, but is already starting to rocket up the chart. The cover, which was released this week via e-mail from Kelly's team, can be seen to the right.

On Thursday night, Kelly was featured on Access Hollywood on the set of filming the music video to go along with the single. Watch an extended clip of the video below:



Kelly yukked it up with host Billy Bush, discussing the specifics of the video and how she balanced critical acclimation with commercial appeal on All I Ever Wanted. Eventually the conversation turned into Kelly denying that she is a lesbian, which seems to be a common question that she has to deal with in these interviews.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'All I Ever Wanted' #1 (4/4/09)

In its second week on the Billboard Top 200 chart, Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted once again led not only all Idol-related albums, but all albums period for the chart week of April 4.

Kelly's fourth studio album moved another 90.4k copies, placing its two-week total at 345.6k. Despite remaining at #1 on the chart, it fell 65% sales-wise. Carrie Underwood, on the other hand, witnessed a 59% increase for her Carnival Ride, which shot up 27 spots to #15 and an additional 19.2k copies shifted. Its total now sits at 2.703 million.

David Cook's David Cook was up next, slipping #52-54 with a 13% sales decline to 8.6k copies, leading to a healthy 1.036 million. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson's self-titled debut sold 8.2k copies for the week, down a 25% from the previous week. It fell #45-56 on the chart side and now totals 676k copies.

Next up with 6k units sold was Taylor Hicks, who saw his new album The Distance fall only a modest 34%, accompanied by a 29-spot slide to #87. The album held up much better than many expected it would, as its total now stands at 15k. Right behind Taylor's album was David Foster and his Hit Man collection, which moved 5.6k copies for the week thanks to a scant 7% dip in sales. It dropped only five spots to #96 and has now sold 172k copies.

David Archuleta's self-titled album came in at #125, down four spots from the previous week, for a weekly take of 4.3k. Slipping 10% in the sales department, David Archuleta has amassed cumulative sales of 669k copies since its release last November.

And Daughtry was able to reprise its role as Idol's rear bumper with another 3.7k copies in the bank. It fell 8% sales-wise, six spots on the chart to #144 and now stands at 4.405 million copies sold.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of tony on Pulse as follows:

001 001 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 90,393 -65% 254,671 345,624
015 042 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 19,165 59% 12,051 2,702,984
054 052 David Cook - David Cook 8,553 -13% 9,839 1,035,604
056 045 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 8,211 -25% 10,949 676,041
087 058 Taylor Hicks - The Distance 5,972 -34% 8,990 14,963
096 091 David Foster - Hit Man... 5,644 -7% 6,084 172,126
125 121 David Archuleta - David Archuleta 4,311 -10% 4,796 668,901
144 138 Daughtry - Daughtry 3,712 -8% 4,049 4,404,546

Total sales are in bold.

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Kellie Pickler premieres her "Best Days of Your Life" music video

Kellie Pickler yesterday premiered her new music video for her current single "Best Days of Your Life" on CMT.com. Watch the video, which was directed by Roman White, below:



Could Kellie finally crossover to pop like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift before her? Well, for starters it helps to have Taylor heavily featured in the video, and the video is pretty hilarious. I mean, who thinks of having a cheating boyfriend get run over by a bus? Not even Carrie went that far in "Before He Cheats."

There is evidence that the video is already greatly helping the single, as it has rocketed to #102 on iTunes' Top Overall Songs chart. Look for a continued upward surge over the weekend.

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HITS predix: Kelly 50-55k

In its updated projections for the Top 10 albums posted yesterday, HITS Daily Double listed Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted as being expected to land at #6, down from #1 the previous two weeks.

It is tied with U2's No Line on the Horizon and Lady Gaga's The Fame, each of which are expected to pull in 50-55k copies for the week. There are no sales predictions from earlier in the week to compare Kelly's numbers with, but if they hold, it would mark about a 40% decrease, which shows stabilization following a 66%+ first to second week drop.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Princess P debuts three new songs

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Paris Bennett uploaded new material onto her official music MySpace the other day in the form of three new tracks including "The One," "Wide Open" and her cover of "Rapture of Love." Paris, who finished fifth on the fifth season of Idol in 2006 and gave birth to her first child last year, was originally supposed to record a jazz album for a spring 2009 release, but these songs are more in the modern R&B vein.

>Jordin Sparks headlined VH1's "Save the Music" concert with John Mayer aboard Carnival's Splendor cruise ship on Thursday. ET was there to cover the event, and interviewed Jordin and many other attendees on the red carpet, which can be seen below:



Jordin and John performed a few of their own songs together, including "Tattoo."

>Currently in the midst of promoting his latest album The Distance, Taylor Hicks took to the stage on Live with Regis & Kelly this morning to perform his single "What's Right Is Right." Watch the performance below:



Taylor chatted with the two co-hosts following his performance in which he discussed his date with "Treat" as part of the show's "Win a Date with Taylor Hicks" promotion a few weeks back, during which Taylor was visibly uncomfortable.

>While out in Hawaii filming her latest film, You May Not Kiss the Bride, Katharine McPhee has been keeping busy by making a few appearances at local events, including the grand opening of Honolulu's Miu Miu retail location. Per The Honolulu Star Bulletin:

Prada Corp. celebrated the grand opening of its Miu Miu store last night with a well-attended party of some of Honolulu’s most stylish, as well as a handful of celebs, including “Lost’s” Michael Emerson, dressed in crisp white linen, homegrown actress/singer Tia Carrere and “American Idol” season five finalist Katharine McPhee, who’s also working on her acting skills.

Katharine had a busy week, as she celebrated her 25th birthday on Wednesday.

>The ratings for Thursday's results show were not much off what they normally are, as the episode yanked in 20.6 million viewers in the first half-hour and 24.1 million viewers in the second half-hour, averaging 22.4 million for the entire episode. These numbers were enough to crush the rest of the competition, and Wednesday's special performance episode averaged 25.6 million viewers over two hours, which is a bit above average for the season.

Maybe President Obama should interrupt the prime time schedule more often after all?

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Analysis: Mini-surprise livens up Top 10 results

In a night filled of fake-outs, big surprises and not so big surprises, Idol hit a high mark with last night's results show. Yes, it felt extremely rushed and a few things could have been cut out to ease the pace (*cough*SmokeyandJossStone'sduet*cough*), but all in all it was the best results show of the season.

Breezing through Ryan's witty tease with Kara over her botched "six words" critique of Adam and his lame attempt to rekindle Paula's crayons (or crowns, according to Ryan) joke on Simon, which resulted in Simon saying they "got a room" after the show, we got to see just how well the Top 10 sounds when its group performance is pre-taped (even though we already know how it sounds when the track is pre-recorded). Bravo to whoever thought of that quick fix to the lip-synching scandal.

The performance could have been done without actually, but it was not the lowest point of last night. That came when the second guest performance set took the stage in Joss Stone and Motown week's mentor, Smokey Robinson. Although Smokey proved to be a wise pick in coaching the finalists, his creepy singfest with the much younger Joss was boring with a capital B, not to mention their vocals did not mesh well together whatsoever.

But second season winner Ruben Studdard sounded awesome on his new single "Together," as the slimmed down (and newly-married, as Ryan pointed out) velvet teddy bear reminded the audience why he won his season despite being far from where he began success-wise at the moment. What was particularly bothersome was how Ruben was hurried off the stage, only having time for a quick exchange with Ryan before he got down to the night's results.

As for the results, the announcement that Matt was in the bottom three was certainly not expected, as the studio erupted with audience members voicing their dissent. Even Matt himself seemed a little surprised, and understandably so. But this just goes to show that either performing first or having the producers play games for ratings can be a round trip ticket to the B3, depending on which explanation you prefer to subscribe to. Either way, there was no way Matt had the third-lowest votes of the night. No way.

Michael and Scott were both expected to be in the B3, and that is exactly where they wound up. But Randy's suggestion that Matt did not belong with the both of them was a sign of what was next to come, as Ryan told Scott that he would be back next week to perform (but hey, at least Randy didn't get Matt's name wrong). Again, the thunderous outcry from the audience members was a sign that people were genuinely shocked that Matt could be in the Bottom 2.

Then came yet another guest performer in Stevie Wonder, who tore up the house but could have done without the tired shout outs to President Obama and American Idol. Still, he was able to get the entire Top 10 (including Michael and Matt) on its feet dancing along, with Kris even enthusiastically mouthing the words and Lil bowing down to him in an "I am not worthy" motion. One thing he was not able to accomplish, however, was getting Simon on his feet. That is something that man will probably never do on this show.

But when it came time for the results, no one was surprised. Michael, who many pegged as being a "WTF?" pick for the Top 13 in the first place, showed that he can bow out with grace and poise, smiling all the while. When he sang "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" one last time for the judges to allegedly discuss whether or not to use their tool on him, it was apparent that not everyone was digging the idea of having a pow wow. Paula was up dancing the night away, clapping along and only briefly nodded her head when Kara tried to get a word in. The others barely spoke at all, and when it came time for them to give their verdict, spokesman Sir Cowell claimed they had not reached a consensus, instead asking Paula "yes or no?"

But in the end, of course the judges did not waste their immunity on the oil rigger, as his name is not Adam, Danny or Lil. The fact that Michael was able to depart with his spirits high speaks volumes.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, I am now 0-4 with my original predictions because I had Jorge going home originally. I was actually right on with my pre-results show predix, though, as I correctly guessed Michael would be striking out even though I had Megan in the Bottom 3 rather than Matt and Scott in the Bottom 2 rather than Matt. That makes me 1-4 in that predicting category.

Next Tuesday, either rock songs or selections from the iTunes Top 100 chart will be performed on the Idol stage if rumblings are to be believed.

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Poll of the week: Kris continues his crusade

The Top 10 leg of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week series was pretty much more of the same, with Kris Allen once again taking the lead with 36 votes in all, good for 26% of the total vote. This marks the first week that Kris is ahead of Danny in overall votes.

Adam was up next with 30 votes (22%), taking over for Danny in the second spot. Danny was third with 24 votes (17%). The only other two finalists to garner 10 votes or more were Anoop with 11 votes (8%) and Megan with 10 votes (7%).

Michael, who left the show in 10th place tonight, only received 1 vote for the week, composing less than 1% of the total votes cast.

In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 9 favorite finalist. You will have exactly six days to vote.

Kris Allen 36 (26%)
Megan Joy Corkrey 10 (7%)
Anoop Desai 11 (8%)
Matt Giraud 9 (6%)
Danny Gokey 24 (17%)
Allison Iraheta 9 (6%)
Adam Lambert 30 (22%)
Scott MacIntyre 4 (2%)
Lil Rounds 1 (0%)
Michael Sarver 1 (0%)

Total votes: 135

Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
09th - Lil Rounds (9 votes)
08th - Scott MacIntyre (14 votes)
07th - Matt Giraud (19 votes)
06th - Allison Iraheta (28 votes)
05th - Megan Corkrey (42 votes)
04th - Anoop Desai (52 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (82 votes)
02nd - Danny Gokey (99 votes)
01st - Kris Allen (102 votes)

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Newsflash: 'Idol' group performances really are lipped

It was revealed today by a spokesman for Idol that (brace yourselves) *gasp* the group performances on the results shows use a pre-recorded track and requires the finalists to lip-synch. This confirms what many fans have suspected beginning a few weeks back. Per an article that was published on FOXNews.com, the spokesman said:

“Due to extensive choreography and to balance their voices with open mics against a screaming audience, the Idols do sing along to their own prerecorded vocal track during the group performances only," a rep for the show told "The New York Times," reiterating that all of the solo performances were 100 percent live.


This makes Justin Guarini look especially good, because the TV Guide Channel host is the person closest to the show that first pointed it out publicly when he told his Idol Wrap co-host Kimberly Caldwell:

"Every single year, we cannot stand the group performances. I know they can't stand it either. And I think what makes [the group performances] even worse now is that they're lip-synced. They're really prerecorded now."


So what's the story here? That Idol lied by trying to cover up the obvious? Big deal, very little about this show is "real" anymore. Each year it becomes more professional and loses its luster, and this season is no different.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 10 Results (3/26/09)

Tonight we blog during the Top 10 results show when one finalist becomes the latest casualty of the eighth season of Idol. Performers on tonight's show include a duet with Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone in addition to a performance by Ruben Studdard and a Motown medley from Stevie Wonder. The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last one hour.



Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Diana DeGarmo, Melinda Doolittle, Alexis Grace, Sundance Head and Taylor Hicks.

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Jennifer performs "If This Isn't Love" on 'Ellen'

Jennifer Hudson finally made her much-ballyhooed appearance on Ellen today to perform her current single "If This Isn't Love." Watch the performance (and try not to be distracted by her bright orange top) below:



The performance lived up to the hype, so the performance she is taping after tonight's results show will have to surpass it because a few million more people will be seeing that than this one.

Jennifer also sat down with Ellen to chat about random things, received a bike from Ellen as an engagement gift and took part in Ellen's "singing in the bathroom" segment where the two of them sang "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)." All in a day's work for J-Hud.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 10 Results

After a night of a few good (and mostly bad) Motown performances, the bottom three could not be any more crystal clear. Once we get down to who will actually be leaving, however, things seem a little trickier, but either way no one will be surprised with who is eliminated tonight.

With that said, read my predictions for how tonight will go below:


Tonight will go as follows:

Bottom 3
>Megan, Scott, Michael

Bottom 2
>Scott, Michael

Eliminated
>Michael

The bottom three will without a doubt be Megan, Scott and Michael, which is weird because the three worst performances are not usually also the bottom three vote-getters. Megan will be sent back to the couches to caw some more next week because we can't have a Top 9 with only two girls. We just can't.

The real challenge then becomes deciding whether or not it will be Scott or Michael getting the heave-ho. It really becomes a toss up, as Scott has been running on fumes for weeks now, whereas Michael just had a worse performance than usual. Michael's post-performance comments also didn't do him any favors, even though he did seem to be appealing on an emotional wavelength.

For these reasons, I predict that Michael will be leaving us tonight and will not even have to worry about singing for his life to be spared because there's just no use, giving Scott one more week to play his baby grand before millions.

In my original predictions I had Jorge departing in 10th, which obviously won't be happening.

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About last night: Leaping Lamberts and Smiley Smokey

Motown (the record label, not the genre) has given the world many things as Ryan so astutely pointed out during an intro montage last night. None of which were intended to be whiny renditions of its songs sung by kids on a TV show.

Last night saw three to four good performances and a whole lot of copycat, boring and forgettable ones. Even with Smokey Robinson there to flash his pearly whites in hopes of raising the Top 10's confidence, it just was not enough to sustain the show. And don't even start with Paula's gifts of crayons (or crowns as Ryan called them) and coloring books from under her skirt to Simon mid-show. The fact that he actually touched them after that puts him down a few rankings in our book.

Matt kicked off the night with a way overpraised rendition of "Let's Get It On," which showed even the piano cannot hide crackling vocals. The perplexing part of the whole thing was that even Simon was caught up in the act (besides pointing out his cheesy move toward the judges' table), proclaiming him to be one of the front runners.

Kris was next with "How Sweet It Is," and his vocals were far superior to Matt's. He did, however, lack stage presence in comparison, which was something Simon pointed out when he likened his standing position to waiting at a bus stop. Randy made the most peculiar critique when he said Kris "ain't doing nothing wrong, baby." Kris was a bit forgettable tonight but he most likely won't be going anywhere tonight.

Another finalists that received too much praise was Lil, whose take on the classic "Heatwave" was complete with Burger King background flames and infrequent screaming outbursts. Although Lil looked much better tonight than she did a week ago, her vocals were copycatish and she did not stand out from the crowd, which most of the judges pointed out. Simon and Paula just had to go and partially excuse the performance as a "tribute" to the greats of the past because she got so emotional at the Motown Museum last week. Please guys, that's no excuse for giving an underwhelming performance. Add in the impromptu "Obama!" outburst at the end of Paula's mindless "you could run for president" comment and it made for an off night for Lil.

Danny, on the other hand, opted for a strong performance and light vocals with "Get Ready," which drew some Taylor Hicks comparisons (which is never good on this show). The fact that he ignored Smokey's advice to sing with the backup singers in certain parts even though he said in his pre-performance package that he'd be listening to the advice (and this served as the entire premise of the video, mind you). Although to be fair, we do not know if they decided it would not work well over the course of rehearsals or whatever. Anything could have happened and Danny will probably be forced to answer the burning question tonight while sitting on the couches.

Anoop was good once again this week on "Ooh, Baby Baby," but the word "boring" could not escape him. Simon was sure to mention this in his critique, saying he looked "half asleep" throughout the performance. Be that as it may, it was still leagues better than "Beat It" in Top 13 week.

But the absolute worst three finalists last night were without question Megan, Scott and Michael. Megan's jazzed up "For Once In My Life" was all over the place, full of bum notes and a "too fast for you and your tattoo" tempo. Scott's "You Can't Hurry Love" was haphazardly prepared and rushed in addition to featuring ultra nasal vocals. And Michael's seemingly good song choice in "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was anything but, prompting Paula to steal a line from Simon's playbook by calling it "Las Vegas loungey," which earned her a few boos from the audience. Paula was visibly distraught over actually having to do her job as a judge, while Simon was more blunt in saying Michael has "no shot at winning." Barring a major shocker, hese three will be tonight's bottom three and the stupid immunity will not be wasted.

And then there was Adam, who did a complete 180 from last week's crash and burn and instead opted for a polished look and soft, tender vocals on Smokey's own "Tracks of My Tears." Although not the best of the night, Adam showed that he could still switch it up and put on many different hats in this competition even though his falsetto is as grating as getting a root canal. It was an improvement, of course, but nowhere near worthy of the endless praise the judges bestowed upon him. Kara's "I don't stand up often but I have to after that" slosh and Simon's "you have emerged as a star tonight" comment were just part of it, followed by Ryan's suggestion that they go right to the numbers because there was "nothing else to say." We'll see if he can sustain this momentum.

The best the night had to offer didn't come until the very end, when Allison brought out her funky aggressiveness on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." Allison, although a bit dead behind the eyes, surely knows how to rock it out to the best of her ability. She was able to command the stage unlike anyone else and hit notes that many didn't know she could. Kara said it sounded like she had been singing for 400 years (is that why she's hoarse?) and Simon said she recovered from last week. DialIdol would support this claim for sure.

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'Idol' Hot 100: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #6 (4/4/09)

Despite facing her toughest competition in a long time, Kelly Clarkson was able to hold onto her billing as top Idol alum with representation on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of April 4.

Kelly's "My Life Would Suck Without You" slipped just one spot to #6, showing that it has longevity more than instant success. Just behind Kelly was another winner, Carrie Underwood, as her latest single "I Told You So" marched up the chart #57-9 thanks to the release of the song as a duet with original artist Randy Travis (not to mention a performance of the song on last week's results show.

And then there was Jennifer Hudson's "If This Isn't Love," which fell four spots to #88 despite retaining its bullet. Look for the single to progress back up the chart next week thanks to gains in airplay and a performance on Ellen that will air today.

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

Hot 100
06 05 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
09 57 Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So"
88 84 Jennifer Hudson, "If This Isn't Love"

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 10 Perform (3/25/09)

The Top 10 finalists offer their best renditions of Motown's classics in a 50th anniversary celebration of the genre. They will be mentored by legendary Motown singer Smokey Robinson. The blogcast will last two hours on this special Wednesday episode and will begin at 8 p.m. ET.



Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Jason Castro, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, David Hernandez, Michael Johns, Kimberley Locke, Melissa McGhee, Carly Smithson and Jordin Sparks.

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Fantasia, Michael Sarver pestered by TMZ

An Idol winner and a contestant currently seeking the title of "Idol winner" today were each caught in the cross hairs by TMZ. Fantasia was on her way to catch a flight when she was asked about her new "assets" and her house woes among other things (all the while said in a boastful tone), while Michael Sarver was tracked down walking with Dancing with the Stars dancer Mark Ballas in downtown Hollywood. Watch Fanny's exchange below:



After seeing that, it's amazing to think she was actually named the winner of Season 3. As for Michael's video, it has recently gone MIA (per a request submitted by 19E, no doubt), but the gist of it was that Michael smartly ignored the paparazzo's questions except to say his wife made him blush when he was asked if Paula makes him blush.

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Digital songs roundup: "I Told You So" #4 (3/20/09)

After being swamped by an onslaught of Kelly Clarkson songs last week, Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart took a breather this week when it was another winner's turn to shine.

Carrie Underwood's latest single, "I Told You So," received enough of a sales boost to lead all Idol-related tracks on the chart thanks to the release of a duet version of the song with Randy Travis and a subsequent performance on last week's Idol results show. The single rocketed 89 spots to #4 thanks to a 701% sales increase, moving 125.8k downloads. This puts its total at 221.6k.

Carrie also saw some older hits see sales gains (and one big fall) thanks to Idol. Her "Home Sweet Home" send-off song fell a hefty 65% to 39.3k downloads, marking a #10-40 spot decline. Its total after two weeks is 151.5k. As for "Jesus, Take the Wheel," a 201% sales jump was in store as it sold 17.1k for the week, making a re-entry at #85 a reality. The total for Carrie's first non-Idol single is now 1.487 million. And then there was Carrie's perennial fave "Before He Cheats," which increased its total sales take to 2.682 million with an additional 9.4k downloads sold for the week, marking a slight 12% uptick and a 47-spot jump to #147.

Aside from Carrie, Kelly still had a big sales week with former #1 "My Life Would Suck Without You," which dropped #6-7 thanks to a 13% sales dip to 122.2k. It has now sold 1.410 million in all. The only album track from All I Ever Wanted that survived a second week on the chart was "Already Gone," which dropped #46-129 to 10.4k for the week. This 68% free-fall now puts the song's total at 42.8k after two weeks.

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

004 093 Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So" 125,806 701% 15,706 221,637
007 006 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck..." 122,175 -13% 141,167 1,410,446
040 010 Carrie Underwood, "Home Sweet Home" 39,306 -65% 112,170 151,476
085 --- Carrie Underwood, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" 17,131 201% 5,696 1,487,230
129 046 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 10,393 -68% 32,401 42,794
147 194 Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats" 9,410 12% 8,368 2,682,246

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

HITS estimates: Kelly 87k, Carrie 19.4k

One Idol winner saw her album take a huge plunge while another saw her album take a huge surge on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 estimates chart this week.

Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted retained its pole position on the chart despite falling a hefty 66% sales-wise. It pulled in another 87k in all, finishing 10k above the second-place album.

Fresh off her performance on Idol's results show, Carrie Underwood saw her Carnival Ride rocket #41-13 on the chart, selling another 19.4k copies, which means it was up 55%.

Official sales courtesy of Billboard should be out within the next few days.

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Ryan, Randy, Simon and Kara hit the talk show circuit

Between last night's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and today's Ellen, there was a lot of Idol judging going on. Ryan, Randy and Simon sat down with Leno on his program, which aired last night on NBC to chat about the current season and how metrosexual they all are. Watch a recap of the odd segment via E! News Now below:



Later on in the day, Kara DioGuardi appeared on Ellen to discuss what else but Idol. In the segment she did her best to defend her "weird" comments about Adam in the face of Ellen's persisting love for him. Watch a snippet of the segment below:



Ellen seems to be on an Idol roll, as Jennifer Hudson will perform her current single "If This Isn't Love" on tomorrow's episode.

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Out today: Mandisa's 'Freedom'

Launching today from the Idol franchise is the latest LP by Season 5's ninth-place finalist, Mandisa. The gospel singer releases Freedom, her sophomore album, just a few weeks before the 2009 Dove Awards, for which Mandisa is a nominee in the Female Vocalist of the Year category.

The album features the Top 20 Contemporary Christian single "My Deliverer," which is currently sitting at #16 on the chart. Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Albums
Mandisa
, Freedom

Amazon - ($12.99) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($8.99) - Buy
Barnes & Noble - ($16.19) - Buy
Best Buy - ($14.99) - Buy
Buy.com - ($12.98) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99) - Buy
Sears - ($12.59) - Buy
Target - ($11.99) - Buy
Walmart - ($11.88) - Buy

In addition to being out promoting her new album, Mandisa has been hard at work trying to fulfill her goal of dropping 100 pounds before its release, and she has reportedly lost 80 pounds to date. Not bad at all.

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Katharine to perform at National Memorial Day Concert

Katharine McPhee will be performing at the 2009 National Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building on Sun., May 24. The event will be broadcast live on PBS at 8 p.m. ET. If anyone is planning on attending the concert in person, a few tips have been posted on PBS's Web site:

General Admission gates will open at 5:00PM. The public will not be admitted to the West Lawn of the Capitol before that time. Checkpoints will be set up for search of bags and parcels. Guests will be required to enter through a metal detector. Access is at the Southwest corner of the Capitol grounds.


Fans can RSVP to the event via an event page created for the concert on Facebook. It will be hosted by CSI: New York's Gary Sinise.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Mandisa's 'Freedom'

The only major Idol-related album release this week is Mandisa's Freedom, which bows tomorrow. The album will not be a major contender for the #1 spot on the Billboard 200, but it should have little trouble debuting at #1 on the Christian charts.

Last time around, Mandisa's True Beauty opened to a little more than 17k, also coming in at #1 on Billboard's Christian chart. This time around, she should expect something a little below that because her lead single is not as strong as it was when "Only the World" was tearing up the charts. Even though she has developed a strong following with her collaborations with other artists such as tobyMac and her inspirational story of weight loss, Freedom will debut with about 15k in its first week, but should see steady legs over the course of its lifespan.

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Alexis performs on 'Ellen'

Alexis Grace continued her post-Idol press tour today when she paid Ellen Degeneres a visit on her syndicated daytime talk show program Ellen. On the show, Alexis sat down with Ellen to discuss what might have gone wrong last week that was responsible for ending her journey.



Alexis said she is happier with her post-Idol look than the one she had when she auditioned, and even cracked a few jokes about her "dirtying up" task as handed down to her by the judges. She also performed "Never Loved a Man" for the studio audience, which will be posted here as soon as it is uploaded.

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Flashback: Carrie Underwood's "Making Love Out of Nothing At All"

Although it was not the most memorable performance on her Idol journey, Carrie Underwood's performance of Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" was an world class offering that came one week before she was crowned the winner. Watch the exhibition below:



The performance was Carrie's second of three during Top 3 week, and was her own choice amid the songs picked by Clive Davis ("Crying") and Randy Jackson ("Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"). It was the second '80s power ballad performed by Carrie during the Top 12, following her groundbreaking take on Heart's "Alone" during Top 11 week. And the note she held at the end still ranks among the longest held by a finalist on the show.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cook's fans cause chaos at concerts

David Cook's "Declaration" tour, his first one as a solo artist, has been going fairly well in terms of attendance and positive reviews, but apparently the behavior of the Nerd Herd faithful has been another matter.

Cook time out of his relaxing Sunday to post a blog on his official music MySpace page to condemn the actions of some fans, saying in part:

I have to address some behavior that has become disturbing. We pride ourselves on being accessible to you as fans, but in contrast, we do enjoy what little privacy we can muster. To that end, the efforts by some fans to find our hotel rooms, call our hotel rooms, attach things to our bus, etc., is something I have to condemn. This relationship only works when it remains healthy for both parties, and should this behavior continue, the only thing we can do is take more preventative measures to maintain our privacy, which in turn makes us less accessible to you.

Cook then said he hoped the post didn't come off as being "harsh," but it was a serious matter and had to be addressed. Good for you, D.C., this kind of behavior cannot go unnoticed, and it will only get worse if nothing is said about it.

To all you Cook fans out there that have been doing this: grow up. Some people just don't get it.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'All I Ever Wanted' #1 (3/28/09)

Kelly Clarkson exploded onto the Billboard Top 200 chart for the chart week of March 28, as she led not just all Idol alums on the chart, but all other artists period.

Kelly's All I Ever Wanted opened with 254.7k (255.2k including street date violations), which was her third-lowest opening week to date, besting only Breakaway (250k). Despite the relatively slow sales in comparison to her past albums, the album opened at #1 and will most likely remain in the pole position on next week's chart.

The sales were a bit above what many projected based on first-week sales, but was off IDOL LIVE's optimistic predictions by 79k (I had it coming in at 334k).

Aside from Kelly, Carrie Underwood had the next best news on the chart, as her Carnival Ride rose 11 spots to #42 thanks to a 25% sales hike. The album sold 12.1k, putting its total at 2.684 million. Jennifer Hudson's self-titled debut, which was #42 last week, fell to #45 but remained steady with 10.9k for the week. It now totals 667.8k.

David Cook's self-titled album was next at #52 with 9.8k, down 9% and seven spots from the previous week. The platinum-selling disc has sold 1.027 million.

The other debut by an Idol winner for the week, Taylor Hicks, saw his latest album The Distance premiere 246k copies below the other winner's debut, pulling in 9k and landing at #58 on the chart. This figure is by far the lowest debut for an LP by an Idol champ.

David Foster's CD/DVD combo Hit Man moved another 6.1k, up 19% from the previous week, advancing #112-91 on the chart. It now totals 166.5k. David Archuleta, on the other hand, slipped 9% to 4.8k copies. It fell 15 spots to #121 and has sold 665k copies to date.

Up after Arch was Daughtry, whose album keeps chugging along. This week, it rose 3% to 4k but fell five spots to #138, making for a grand total of 4.401 million. And Melinda Doolittle's Coming Back to You rounded out the Idol-related entries, finishing with 2.8k, off 26%. It fell 50 chart positions to #186 and has now sold 35.6k.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of tony on Pulse as follows:

001 --- Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 254,671 999% 417 255,231
042 053 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 12,051 25% 9,628 2,683,819
045 042 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 10,949 0% 10,998 667,830
052 045 David Cook - David Cook 9,839 -9% 10,811 1,027,051
058 --- Taylor Hicks - The Distance 8,990 999% 1 8,991
091 112 David Foster - Hit Man... 6,084 19% 5,118 166,482
121 106 David Archuleta - David Archuleta 4,796 -9% 5,258 664,590
138 133 Daughtry - Daughtry 4,049 3% 3,913 4,400,878
186 136 Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You 2,833 -26% 3,822 36,596

Total sales are in bold.

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Jordin rethinks working with Chris Brown

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Jordin Sparks was asked by Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Review Journal whether she would ever work with Chris Brown musically again following his beating of girlfriend Rihanna. Jordin answered:

"I wanted to work with him on this new album, but I'm not very sure anymore. I don't think that would be a smart move right now," she told me. "I had actually gotten a song pitched -- I think two weeks before the Grammys -- that had him on it. But we'll see what happens."


Jordin was in Sin City to perform with Babyface Saturday night at the Star of the Desert Arena at Buffalo Bill's.

>A bunch of new songs have been popping up on the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers's database recently that have been registered to Daughtry, with one of them listing the entire band's membership as co-writers. These songs include "Sorrow," Standing Still" and "Moments."

>It was announced this week that Ruben Studdard would be the next Idol alum to perform on a results show. He will return to the stage to perform his latest single, "Together," off his upcoming album Love Is. He will be the third winner to perform on a results show in three weeks.

>Kelly Clarkson showed off her motor skills in Germany the other day when she got behind the wheel of a monster tuck and tried to collect handbags with it on the talk show Willkommen bei Mario Barth. It is probably the funniest thing she has ever done. Watch the spectacle below:



Kelly also performed "My Life Would Suck Without You" on the show, continuing her worldwide promotional tour for her album All I Ever Wanted.

>With only three U.S. dates left in his first-ever solo tour, David Archuleta garnered some positive praise from his March 17 show at the Glass House in Pomona, Calif. Peter Larsen of The Orange County Register wrote of the performance:

Most of the night focused on his debut album, from the current single, "A Little Too Not Over You" to "Crush," his first single, which shot to No. 2 on the charts after its release last year.

While confident in performance – Archuleta seemed fully comfortable fronting a solid four-piece band – his between song patter sometimes still revealed his youth.

"I don't know if you can tell, but this shirt is green, so you can't pinch me!" he told the St. Patrick's Day crowd, and suddenly he sounded more like 12 than 18.


Arch will travel to the U.K. to complete his tour beginning April 21 in Wolverhampton, and will wrap up Cambridge on May 10.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Kelly performs on 'Oprah,' 'GMA'

Kelly Clarkson today continued to promote her album All I Ever Wanted when she appeared on Oprah and a previously-recorded performance aired on Good Morning America. On Oprah, Kelly chatted with the show's host in addition to performing a medley of her greatest hits that included snippets of "Because of You," "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "My Life Would Suck Without You." Watch the performance below:



Over on ABC's famed morning show, a performance of Kelly's second single off her latest album, "I Do Not Hook Up," which was taped back on Tues., March 10, aired this morning. Watch the performance below:



Meanwhile, HITS Daily Double is hinting at another week at #1 for Kelly with projections residing between 90-100k for the week based on revised predictions released today. That would be a sizable drop from the album's debut week, but it would be considered normal for a big opening nowadays.

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Analysis: Little Alexis faces big nerves in her exit performance

Last night's elimination episode was all about Carrie Underwood, which was probably a good thing because the results were really dull. Carrie's performance of her latest single "I Told You So" as a duet with the song's original owner, Randy Travis, was the highlight of the night. Despite the creepy feeling one gets when seeing a man twice Carrie's age sing a love song with her, the performance was one of the purest vocal showcases Carrie has ever done on the show. But obviously the Carrie of today dwarfs her 2005 counterpart before she was given the crown.

Aside from this, the night was empty of surprises, except for the fact that DialIdol was right about Alexis going home and Allison joining her in the Bottom 3. The Ford video was a little more exciting than usual, but Ryan's failed water balloon lob at Simon was unnecessary (if it even happened). Someone should find the unlucky audience member that was allegedly pegged by the errant throw. The new feature of showing the aftermath of eliminations was a nice addition but if that is what we were waiting for the "reality portions" of the show that were being hyped up, that's really sad.

Brad Paisley's performance was boring but he sounded good, while the lip-synched group performance was pointless. It will be interesting to see how Scott handles the tour considering all he seems to do is sit at the piano. If the tour is anything like it was last year, though, he should be all set because he won't have to participate in the usual group extravaganzas.

One of the only touching moments of last night's elimination round was Michael's teary story about his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter asking him why he doesn't want to live with them (Michael's family) anymore. That got the audience to put some effort into showing emotion, which is more than can be said about its reaction to Alexis' singing for her life.

Alexis is a sweet girl, but her nerves got the best of her during her performance last night (and understandably so). This whole judges' immunity thing is really weighing the suspense factor down, as we all knew Simon was merely toying with Alexis' hopes when he said they were considering using the save on her. While she was performing her heart out, the judges were probably plotting where they would go for dinner later on while in their huddle.

Still, Alexis had nothing but respect for the judges and their decision and, in keeping with her last name, was very gracious after hearing the news, saying "things happen for a reason." With Alexis gone, that leaves just three girls left in the competition, and by the looks of things, we could be down to just one female competitor by Top 6 or earlier. Season 3, anyone?

One of the more memorable moments of last night was when Simon told Ryan that he would not take back his "indulgent rubbish" critique, rather stating that Adam's performance was much worse than he originaly thought when he watched it back, which prompted the strongest response from the audience of the night.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, this week was another not so good one. For my original predictions I had Jasmine going home last night, and obviously she went home last week so that was just not going to happen anyway. That makes me 0-3 for my original predictions. As for my pre-results show predix, I had the right Bottom 3, but Alexis went home instead of her Bottom 2 mate, Michael. That makes me 0-3 in that bracket, but to be fair, we never really got a straight answer on who went in what order last week, so for all I know I could be 2-3. Oh well, until official word surfaces i will not give myself the benefit of the doubt.

Looking ahead to next Wednesday (Thanks a lot, President Obama), expect some predictable song choices and a whole lot of copycat performances. In other words, see Season 3's Top 10 night.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Poll of the week: Kris-crosses Danny for the week

In IDOL LIVE"s poll of the week series for the Top 11 we had a new champ. Kris was able to steal Danny's thunder, scoring 40 votes (22%) to Danny's 38 votes (21%). Danny is still ahead overall, but not by much.

Adam placed third for the second week in a row, only this time his 31 votes (17%) were way ahead of Megan's 11 votes (6%). As for Alexis, it is easy to see why she left based on the amount of fanfare she has been generating among IDOL LIVE readers. Alexis only scored four votes this week (2%), amounting to six votes in all.

In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 10 favorite finalist. You will have exactly eight days to vote.

Kris Allen 40 (22%)
Megan Corkrey 11 (6%)
Anoop Desai 21 (11%)
Matt Giraud 6 (3%)
Danny Gokey 38 (21%)
Alexis Grace 4 (2%)
Allison Iraheta 13 (7%)
Adam Lambert 31 (17%)
Scott MacIntyre 4 (2%)
Lil Rounds 4 (2%)
Michael Sarver 6 (3%)

Total votes: 178

Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (7 vote)
09th - Lil Rounds (8 votes)
08th - Matt Giraud (10 votes)
06th - Scott MacIntyre (10 votes)
07th - Allison Iraheta (19 votes)
04th - Megan Corkrey (32 votes)
05th - Anoop Desai (41 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (52 votes)
02nd - Kris Allen (66 votes)
01st - Danny Gokey (75 votes)

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'Idol' Hot 100: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #5 (3/28/09)

It was no surprise that Kelly Clarkson was once again queen of the Idol-related tracks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of March 28.

Kelly's single "My Life Would Suck Without You" advanced back into the Top 5, up four spots from #9 last week. The increase was undoubtedly due to increasing airplay and a sales boost from the release of her latest album All I Ever Wanted. Another Kelly song that made the chart this week was "Already Gone," which is a result of the track receiving the biggest sales figures of all album tracks. It debuted at #70 and will surely fall off the chart next week.

Carrie Underwood also had two songs on the Hot 100 for the week, as her cover of "Home Sweet Home" just missed out on the Top 20, coming it at #21. Her current single, "I Told You So," saw more positive movement just one week before it receives a huge boost, as it rose five spots to #57. Jennifer Hudson's "If This Isn't Love" also rose this week, albeit only by one spot to #84.

As for the Bubbling Under chart, two Kelly tracks made the cut, with "If I Can't Have You" popping up at #18 and "I Do Not Hook Up" following two spots behind.

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

Hot 100
05 09 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
21 -- Carrie Underwood, "Home Sweet Home"
57 62 Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So"
70 -- Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
84 85 Jennifer Hudson, "If This Isn't Love"

Bubbling Under
18 -- Kelly Clarkson, "If I Can't Have You"
20 -- Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up"

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 11 Results (3/18/09)

After last night's interesting performance selection, we see which finalist just couldn't tackle what the Grand Ole Opry had to offer. Fortunately, we have Carrie Underwood's performance with Randy Travis to look forward to, as well as Brad Paisley's solo performance of his new single "Then." The blogcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will last one hour.



Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Carrie Underwood, Elliott Yamin, Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nunez and Syesha Mercado.

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Photos of Kat filming from day one of 'Bride'

Katharine McPhee on Monday had fun filming her new independent film titled You May Not Kiss the Bride on the beach in Hawaii as evidenced by a boatload of high quality photos that were released yesterday.

In the photos, Kat is seen posing and splashing in the water in a red bikini and fishnet cover up while co-star David Annabelle looks on. She also was caught taking her cover up off, which revealed more of Kat than we have ever seen.

You May Not Kiss the Bride, originally known as Wedlocked, began filming on Monday. It is being directed by Rob Hedden and will also star Mena Suvari.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 11 Results

Grand Ole Opry night has come and gone, but the perforamnces first seen during the spectacle have left a lasting impression (not all of them good). Regardless of what happened onstage last night, tonight's elimination will be more about who does not have a shot at winning this whole thing and would be better served exiting now than it is about which finalist delivered the worst performance.

With that said, read my predictions for how tonight will go below:

Here is how tonight will go:

Bottom 3
>Allison, Alexis, Michael

Bottom 2
>Alexis, Michael

Eliminated
>Michael

Even though DialIdol has Michael in the clear (and above Scott), it will not be right this week. That does not mean Alexis will escape tonight unscathed, as her Idol hopes will be hanging by a thread. She will be granted one more shot at making an impression on America and will merely be a member of the bottom 2.

Allison will make an appearance as a wake up call of sorts to her fanbase, prompting it to vote even harder next week to ensure she sticks around a little bit longer. But Alexis being in the bottom 2 would be a little more believable than Allison in the tricky situation.

Michael is an easy option to send home this week. He gave a lackluster performance, received lukewarm comments and was left forgettable after an onslaught of generally more highly-praised performances. This will be a carbon copy of Season 3's Top 11 results show, when Matt Rogers was sent home. If Michael does not leave now, he will lag along until mid-season, knocking out a few front runners while he's at it.

Even though it may not matter in the end because there are only three "front runners" in total, the producers don't want to send any red flags this early in the season. And losing two girls in two weeks would leave the male/female ratio at 7/3 for the Top 10, which would be the reverse of Season 3, and we all know that cannot (and should not) happen again.

My original predictions for the 11th-place finisher was Jasmine, but we all know how that turned out. Still, Michael was my prediction to go home 12th, so him leaving 11th would not be that far off. Needless to say, the judges would never in a million years waste the immunity privilege on him.

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Digital sales roundup: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #6 (3/13/09)

There was a whole lot of Kelly Clarkson to go around Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart this week, as her "My Life Would Suck Without You" once again led all Idol-related tracks and seven other songs off her new studio offering All I Ever Wanted debuted on the chart, almost all of which will drop off in time for next week's chart.

"My Life" rose #9-6 thanks to the album release, with a 38% uptick selling 141.2k for the week. It has now sold a total of 1.288 million downloads. Other Kelly offerings that made appearances this week include "Already Gone" (#46, 32.4k), "If I Can't Have You" (#92, 15.8k), "I Do Not Hook Up" (#96, 14.9k), "Cry" (#112, 12.4k), "Don't Let Me Stop You" (#138, 10.5k), "All I Ever Wanted" (#181, 8.7k) and "Long Shot" (#183, 8.6k).

As hard to believe as it may be, there were other Idol alums represented on the chart. Carrie Underwood's "Home Sweet Home" saw a peachy debut at #10 with 112.2k, while her current single, "I Told You So," gained 30% with a 28-spot jump to #93, selling 15.7k for a total of 95.8k. Look for a huge increase next week thanks to the duet version of the song with Randy Travis being available and her performance of it on tonight's Idol results show.

The last debut by an Idol alum on this week's chart was Elliott Yamin's new single, "Fight For Love," which sold 9.9k for a #150 debut.

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

006 009 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" 141,167 38% 102,241 1,288,271
010 --- Carrie Underwood, "Home Sweet Home" 112,170 999% 0 112,170
046 --- Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 32,401 999% 0 32,401
092 --- Kelly Clarkson, "If I Can't Have You" 15,756 999% 0 15,756
093 121 Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So" 15,706 30% 12,039 95,831
096 --- Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 14,944 999% 0 14,944
112 --- Kelly Clarkson, "Cry" 12,439 999% 0 12,439
138 --- Kelly Clarkson, "Don't Let Me Stop You" 10,511 999% 0 10,511
150 --- Elliott Yamin, "Fight For Love" 9,869 999% 0 9,869
181 --- Kelly Clarkson, "All I Ever Wanted" 8,658 999% 0 8,658
183 --- Kelly Clarkson, "Long Shot" 8,636 999% 0 8,636

Total sales are in bold.

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HITS estimates: Kelly 254.1k, Carrie 12.5k

Bowing above expecations but below most pre-release predictions, Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted led all other Idol-related entries on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 estimates chart.

Kelly's album sold 254.1k and opened at #1, which would be her third-highest debut week (ahead of Breakaway) is estimates hold. This number is higher than HITS' latest predictions, which were 220-30k.

Next on the chart was Carrie Underwood, whose Carnival Ride benefited from the premiere of her "Home Sweet Home" cover as used on Idol's results show, launching back onto the chart at #41 with 12.5k. Look for an even greater sales surge next week following her performance on Idol tonight.

Jennifer Hudson's debut album fell #39-43 and is expected to have sold 11.5k copies, up 4% from last week. David Cook and his David Cook dropped out of the Top 50 this week.

Noticeably missing was Taylor Hicks' new album, The Distance. Unless these figures are way off, it looks like Taylor will debut with lower than 10.5k, marking the lowest first-week sales by an Idol winner for a non-exclusive album.

Finalized figures courtesy of Billboard should be out soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

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About last night: Weird arrangements and nice surprises on GOO night

With such low expectations put in place for Grand Ole Opry night, it was hard for anything to come off seeming awful last night. That's not to say that there weren't a few near misses, though.

In what can only be described as a weird assortment of attempts at doing country music right, Matt, who took a major risk by singing a Carrie Underwood song (something no one on this show should ever do), led the 10 others with the best offering from the bunch. What helped Matt out was the stripping down of "So Small" so that it was just his soulful vocals, the piano and the song's inspirational lyrics that left an impression on the judges. Paula standing up, rocking to the song mid-performance was a head-scratcher, though (as was Simon's covering of Paula's mouth before Matt's pre-performance package was shown).

A note to Simon, though: Matt is nothing like Michael Buble. I can see the Justin Timberfake comparisons as well as the Jason Mraz ones, but I could never picture Matt singing the standards. It just wouldn't work. So no more "Matt Buble," please.

Following right behind Matt in terms of solid performances was Anoop. The positive feedback he received from the judges for his tackling of Willie Nelson's "You Were Always On My Mind" was definitely warranted and proved why he is still around after last week's disastrous performance. His smooth R&B vocals glided over the subtle string accompaniment, something that had not happened with the 'noop dawg until now.

There were again a few overrated performances, as Megan's hokey "Walkin' After Midnight" (in between coughs) was just barely listenable at best. Yes, it is true that Megan has the flu, as Paula pointed out so viciously, but that happens in real life. And this is supposed to be sort of like real life...so she might as well get used to it, suck it up and go on with the show. And Kara needs to stop with her lovefest over Megan. It's getting old really fast.

Michael and Scott were probably tied for weakest performance of the night, but Scott at least injected humor into his delivery ("we could always move the piano closer!") despite his snooze-a-thon on Martina McBride's "Wild Angels." Michael was just...there...and even though Garth Brooks was probably the perfect match for him this week, he just does not belong singing the genre.

Simon's spat with Paula during Scott's critiques was one of the highlights of last night, as Simon was 100% right about leaving Scott alone for using the piano two weeks in a row. Paula's "crutch" comment came off as being really low and tasteless, and made her look like a bigger buffoon than usual.

But the biggest WTF moment of last night was undoubtedly Adam's overtly-campy take on the Johnny Cash classic "Ring of Fire." The middle eastern citar-tastic arrangement mixed with his gross sultry/screechy vocals was something out of an 1930s eastern European freak show, and even Kara had trouble spitting out words to describe it. Simon was right on the mark when he called it "indulgent," and Randy needs to get his ears checked if he thinks that's what Trent Reznor would sound like doing country. Don't get me wrong, though, it was mesmerizing and was the biggest spectacle of the night. The showing continues to support the idea that Adam is without a doubt a great performer. He's just not Idol material.

Alexis and Allison were both forgettable last night, with the former's "Jolene" being a far cry from Brooke White's rendition last season and the latter's "Blame It On Your Heart" was a good vocal showcase but the performance itself was lackluster. Look for the two girls to be in the danger zone tonight.

Believe it or not, Danny was one of the more overrated finalists last night. His rendition of Carrie Underwood's untouchable "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was good to a point, but seemed a little disorganized. Even though Kara's comment about wishing he had done more of the second half than the boring first half was dimwitted, so was Paula's comment about Carrie wanting to rush out and buy his version of the song. Randy probably made the most sense with his critique for once.

If there's one thing Kris showed last night, it was the notion that consistency is key to lengthening your stay on this show. Even with his guitar taking the night off he was able to show that song choice can make or break how one fares, as he picked a perfect choice of "To Make You Feel My Love." If Kris can keep this up, he might just be the dark horse in the competition.

And then there was Lil, falling far from her high and mighty perch last week. By picking "Independence Day," Lil was thinking in the right direction despite Randy's suggestion that she should have gone for the predictable "I Will Always Love You" or "How Do I Live." So she scores points for trying something new. She loses them for failing to deliver a convincing effort.

After all the surprises and weirdness of last night, it would be hard to see anyone other than Michael, Scott or Alexis leaving tonight. Look for my predictions later on this morning. In the mean time, who do you think is on their way out tonight?

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Kristy Lee Cook interviewed on "Christopher Closeup"

Kristy Lee Cook was interviewed by Tony Rossi the other day on his Sirius-XM radio show "Christopher Closeup," on which she discussed her love for horses and the "Kristy Lee Horse Heaven" foundation in addition to the role her faith has played in her music career. Listen to the interview and read a snippet of the conversation below:

TR: Kristy, when you were on American Idol you faced some challenging times. You were sick for several weeks. You had to endure some, what I thought, were unfair critiques from the judges. When you’re dealing with that kind of stuff, what got you through it mentally, emotionally, spiritually?

Kristy Lee Cook: It definitely was God helping me get through. That was a hard, hard thing to do and God made it easier for me. Everything happens for a reason and this is all part of His plan so no matter how hard it is, you’ve just got to keep going.


More excerpts from the interview are available on Rossi's blog, The Intersection. After all that she's been through since being signed and dropped by Arista Nashville, Kristy Lee really does come across as being a kind, caring human being here, and hopefully more people will view her in a favorable light after hearing about her philanthropic endeavors. To donate to Kristy Lee's cause, see KLCHorseHeaven.org.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 11 Perform (3/17/09)

After a messy first week in the finals, the Top 11 finalists take to the stage tonight to perform the best the Grand Ole Opry has to offer. The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last two hours. Unfortunately, there will be no controversies with the phone lines to liven tonight up. Seeing Megan and Adam attempt country songs will be a little interesting, though, so maybe it won't be all that bad.



Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Alexandrea Lushington, Chris Daughtry, Diana DeGarmo, Jordin Sparks, Jason Castro, Melinda Doolittle, Phil Stacey, Ramiele Malubay and Sanjaya Malakar.

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Final Four already picked?

Every year there's clammoring that Idol is "rigged," "predetermined," "fixed," "set-up," etc., and these complaints are usually a side effect of a fan favorite being sent packing. This season, it seems like the rumblings are coming early - try Top 11 week early - and the source? An alleged Idol staffer.

In today's New York Daily News, "Gatecrasher" columnists Laura Schreffler and Sean Evans wrote about some unnamed staffer that has been going around telling everyone that Danny, Adam, Alexis and Lil are this season's Top 4 contestants and the producers are already planning for the scenario. Schreffler and Evans wrote:

If it was just her prediction, she’d be spot-on with this week’s TV Guide, which also chose those exact four wanna-be crooners as its picks for stardom.

But the lass took it a step further, claiming that higher-ups at the hit Fox show were taking an issue with two of the top contenders.

“Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds are better singers and musicians than Gokey and Grace, but they’re too much like past winners and ‘A’ successes,” the woman said. “Adam’s too close in style and sound to Chris Daughtry, while Lil Rounds is a dead ringer for Fantasia. Even their background stories are similar!

“The producers really want it to be Danny or Alexis. They think they’re very commercially viable, have a good image and a great story.”

Whoa, Adam is just like Chris Daughtry!? I don't think so. And Lil is the spitting image of Fantasia? Maybe in the appearance department, but Lil's vocals are leagues different than Fanny's (and by "different" I mean "better").

Only time will tell if this unnamed staffer is on to something or if she is just pulling everyone's chain. But that is IDOL LIVE's original Top 4 predicition with the exception of Alexis (Anoop will be in there instead), so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to believe it.

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Jasmine, Jorge perform on 'Ellen'

Following their ousters last Wednesday on Idol, 13th- and 12th-place finalists Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez, respectively, yesterday made post-Idol appearances on Ellen. Watch their interview with host Ellend Degeneres and their performances below:



As she did last season, Ellen will be having each eliminated finalist on her show the week following his or her elinination to chat and perform.

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Out today: Carrie Underwood's "I Told You So"

Today marks the second Tuesday in a row that will see the release of a digital single by Carrie Underwood. Last week, Carrie's cover of Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" hit online retailers one day before it was used in Idol's results show for two farewell packages. This week, Carrie re-works her current single off Carnival Ride, "I Told You So," to include original artist Randy Travis on the chart, making it the second duet Carrie has recorded with a male country artist.

In addition to Carrie's release, another Idol champ sees a digital single release this week, as Ruben Studdard's "Together" drops today. Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Carrie Underwood
, "I Told You So" (ft. Randy Travis)

Amazon MP3 - ($0.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Ruben Studdard, "Together"

Amazon MP3 - ($0.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Carrie will perform the single with Travis on tomorrow's results show. Travis will serve as the first celebrity mentor for the contestants this season. Idol's theme is "Grand Ole Opry" this week.

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