Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Digital sales roundup: "Cowboy Casanova" #8 (9/25/09)

Idolrelated activity on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart was much more interesting this week than in recent weeks thanks to the addition of two highly anticipated singles by beloved alums.

For starters, Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" led things off well with a #8 debut thanks to a weekly sales take of 110.2k downloads, marking her largest opening digital sales week for a lead-off single to date (her cover of "I'll Stand By You" released for the "Idol Gives Back" special in 2007 sold over 124,000 in its debut).

Also having a good week was Kelly Clarkson, whose "Already Gone" once again saw a sales increase, this time by 3%, and advanced six spots to #21. The single sold 47.1k this past week and has now totaled 389.9k. Jordin Sparks, on the other hand, came so close to passing the platinum mark with her "Battlefield" but had to stop 1,583 downloads short. It sold 31k for a total of 998.4k, down 8% in sales and two spots on the chart to #44.

And Kris Allen was the latest Idol alum to be represented on the chart, as his "Live Like We're Dying" sold 15.8k in downloads based on three days of sales, which was enough to earn it a debut at #93 on the sales chart. This total unfortunately (or fortunately for Kris) cannot be compared to debuts from past winners because of the odd release schedule.

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

008 --- Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova" 110,236 999% 0 110,236
021 027 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 47,144 3% 45,697 389,872
044 042 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 30,994 -8% 33,738 998,417
093 --- Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying" 15,755 999% 0 15,755

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

HITS estimates: 'Leave This Town' #33

In what promises to be the second-to-last week in which Daughtry's sophomore album appears as the sole Idol-related entry on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart, things were pretty much status quo.

This time, Leave This Town landed at #33, down three spots from the previous week, after taking in 16.2k copies, down 13% in sales.

After two weeks without complete data, finalized album sales figures courtesy of Billboard will hopefully be out by the end of the week.

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Flashback: Josh Gracin's "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)"

Josh Gracin, who placed fourth on Idol's second season, is often overlooked as one of the most successful finalists to come from the show. But before he could make a scene on the country radio charts, he sang country songs like Garth Brooks' "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Goes Up)" during the Country/Rock theme in Top 10 week:



It's easy to see this was far from Josh's most impressive performance while on the show, but the American public saw something in him to allow him six more weeks on Idol.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" music video leaks

An unexpected thing happened today: Carrie Underwood's latest music video for her new single, "Cowboy Casanova," leaked. The even more perplexing thing is that the source of the leak is none other than CMT.com. Watch Carrie's smokin' new performance (and never before seen choreography) below before Arista Nashville flexes its removal power:


So why is this video so good? Many fans are attributing it to the fact that Roman White is not the director. White, who has directed every single video of Carrie's prior to this one, was often criticized as being uninspiring and boring with the way Carrie was used in her videos.

This time around, Carrie chose to team up with Director Theresa Wingert. Although White has got a lot of flack over the years, he really is not a bad director. Having said that, Wingert has demonstrated that she can make a seemingly boring setting appear exciting with a little help from Carrie's involvement in the process.

CMT was supposed to premiere the video on the weekend of Oct. 2, billed as the network's "Big New Music Weekend." There are really only two explanations for what happened here: 1) Someone at CMT is going to be fired over this, or 2) the leak was intentional in an effort to gain even more buzz for the single, which has a chance to debut extremely high up on Billboard' Hot 100 chart come Wednesday. My gut is telling me the latter is more plausible.

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Jive is mishandling Kris Allen's single release

I was hoping this would not happen, but it seems my fears are coming true regarding the manner in which Jive Records is handling the release of Kris Allen's debut single, "Live Like We're Dying," which does not bode well for his upcoming album release. In a puzzling move, Kris' single was made available for purchase to the digital music retailers iTunes and Amazon MP3 on Friday, which is a few days off the traditional Tuesday release day.

Although it's nice that the single is already available to fans eager to support Kris by purchasing his music, considering the single premiered only last Monday, there is absolutely no strategy here (at least not at first glance). First, with the lack of a visible ad for the single of some sort, both on the main Pop page and the coveted home page of iTunes' music store, the chances of the song making a splash in its opening week on both Billboard's Hot Digital Songs and Hot 100 charts decrease dramatically. If it does debut at all, it will be on the lower rungs of the chart, but considering it will have less than half a sales week to work with and it seems to have already peaked, it probably will not place on the Hot 100 this coming week. Evidence that this will be the case can be seen by looking at its performance over the past three days on iTunes' Top 200 overall songs chart.

After peaking at #28 on the overall chart yesterday (#15 on the Pop chart), "Live Like We're Dying" has dropped back to #47 on the overall chart (#22 on the Pop chart). Now, this can most likely be attributed to the lack of awareness on Jive's part. Yes, Kris tweeted about the single release and the hardcore fans (especially all of Arkansas) know about it, but the lack of airplay at this point doesn't help matters. So the question is, does Jive care about how it is handling Kris' single release? My guess is it does, but is just being really lazy, which is not a good sign.

This doesn't mean there won't be a huge (or multiple huge) ads alerting everyone about the release come Tuesday, but until then it is a little worrying that one of Idol's biggest winners in terms of votes garnered was only able to manage a preliminary peak at #28 on iTunes' chart. And this doesn't signal that "Live Like We're Dying" will fail as a single, because it is still very early in the game.

The point is, Jive is not handling this situation as well as it has handled the debut releases of Idol alums of yesterday (Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta). Hopefully they wake up at the wheel before Nov. 17 rolls around.

*Note: by saying the single has "peaked," I mean in the sense that it has peaked on its initial journey up the iTunes chart. I am in no way insinuating that "Live Like We're Dying" has peaked for good. That would be ridiculous.

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Simon Cowell: Fifty and feeling egotastic!

Simon Cowell has said and done some pretty weird things over the years, but at 50 years old, things might be really starting to unravel for the multi-million dollar entertainment tycoon. In a letter Simon wrote and addressed to his "shallow, reckless, cocky younger self" that was published on The Daily Mail's Web site yesterday, Simon basically went through his whole life story documenting the times he was poor and depressed, and how he grew into the rich, success story he is now. A few quick snippets from the long, winding and wavering ego-booster follow:

So people just see you as the puppet guy. 'Hey, Simon, signed any more puppets today?' they snigger in the corridors.

And later, when you try to sign Robson and Jerome, the stars of the TV drama series Soldier, Soldier, it gets even worse. Virtually the whole company turns against you. They think you have totally lost it.

They insist you have missed the moment, they argue that you cannot invest all this money in something that is never going to work.
Simon, you have lost it.
Look at you. You look like a complete idiot. Could you be any worse? You are about as bad an example of Eighties' excess as you could possibly be.

You are overconfident, far too cocky and dressed from head to toe in expensive designer gear. Armani and Versace. Oh, nothing but the best for you Simon! It hasn't dawned on you yet, you idiot, that you can't afford any of this stuff.
This is obviously the "old Simon" he is referring to. Or is it?
People think that you are this Machiavellian character, forever plotting and scheming, someone whose touch turns everything to gold. Your story here shows that this is far from the case and that, on the contrary, you are no stranger to failure.
Maybe not, but it is very easy to see why people would believe this image (exhibit A being this very letter).

So drink up, Simon! You're officially half a century old and you might as well party while you still can.

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Friday, September 25, 2009

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Blake Lewis premieres "Sad Song" video

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

>After treating fans to a sneak peek at his latest music video on Fri., Sept. 18, Blake Lewis premiered the full video on his official music MySpace page this past Tuesday. Watch the video below:



The video was directed by Ana Veselic. Blake's forthcoming album Heartbreak On Vinyl is due out Tues., Oct. 6, and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

>In other Idol runner-up news, Justin Guarini is back in the news, this time for his upcoming marriage to high school friend Reina Capodici. According to The New York Post, Justin said of the news:

“I’ve traveled all over the world but I found the woman I love right in my own backyard,” Guarini told RadarOnline.com. “I’ve known Reina since I was 15 but we didn't actually start dating until two years ago … Her mother was my English teacher in junior high school!”
The news was originally reported by RadarOnline.com. The wedding will take place at a private estate along the Delaware River tomorrow (Sat., Sept. 26).

>Melinda Doolittle and her friend Kelley Norris recorded a "happy birthday" vlog for Ross Matthews of Inside Dish with Ross Matthews, which was embedded on Melinda's official Web site yesterday. Watch the clip below:



Portions of the vlog were incorporated into Matthews' webisode that aired yesterday, where it played alongside birthday messages from people including Perez Hilton and Lydia Tavera of Big Brother fame.

>Some interesting numbers came in for the 2009 "Idols Live!" tour courtesy of alt.tv-americanidol, showing that it grossed a mammoth $30.1 million in total revenue. Other interesting tidbits:
Total Attendance: 483,512
Number of Tickets Available: 564,938
% Capacity: 85.6%
Average Gross: $578,301
Average Attendance: 9,298
Average Ticket Price: $62.19
It was also interesting to see that the last five cities were sold out (Bridgeport, Portland, Providence, Syracuse, Manchester) and the city with the worst attendance was Vancouver (8,203 of 12,533 [65%]).

>Jordin Sparks was recently featured in a segment on the British ITV's Good Morning Television (GMTV) program for a behind the scenes look at her tour with The Jonas Brothers. The segment, which aired yesterday, followed Jordin around backstage at her concert in Las Vegas, Nev., and can be watched below:



As mentioned by the GMTV correspondent that filed the segment, Jordin's current single "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)," which was heavily featured in the segment, will be released in The U.K. on Mon., Oct. 12.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Poll of the week: "Idols Live!" 2008 is fave

In results that could be seen only as an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for Season 7, voters in IDOL LIVE's poll of the week chose that season's "Idols Live!" tour as their favorite.

It was nothing short of a slaughter in last week's poll, with 243 votes going to the tour for the season of the Davids in 2008. That's a ridiculous 94% total take of the 256 votes cast in all. None of the other tours got so much as an honorable mention.

In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which lead-off single of Carrie Underwood's is their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Season 1 (2002) 1 (0%)
Season 2 (2003) 1 (0%)
Season 3 (2004) 1 (0%)
Season 4 (2005) 2 (0%)
Season 5 (2006) 3 (1%)
Season 6 (2007) 2 (0%)
Season 7 (2008) 243 (94%)
Season 8 (2009) 3 (1%)

Total votes: 256

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'Idol' Hot 100: "Battlefield" #21 (10/3/09)

One new track by an Idol alum found its way onto Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Oct. 3, bringing the total number of franchise-related singles on the chart to four.

First up was Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield," which fell five spots to #21, which signifies that it is most likely on its final journey back down the chart. Also on its way down is Daughtry's "No Surprise," which slid #24-30 on the chart.

Kelly Clarkson, on the other hand, saw continued improvement with her current single "Already Gone." The song was up #35-31 for the week. And Carrie Underwood once again is represented on the Hot 100, this time with her new single "Cowboy Casanova." After debuting on the Bubbling Under chart one week ago, "Casanova" enters the Hot 100 at #96.

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

21 16 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
30 24 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
31 35 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
96 -- Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"

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Arch blogs about win at ALMA Awards

David Archuleta yesterday blogged about his recent activities, including his performance and win at the ALMA Awards last Friday. In a post on his official Ning site, Arch said he enjoyed singing "America the Beautiful" at the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y., and his trip back home to Utah. Of the ALMA Awards, he said:

I had plenty of nerves over those performances lol. I sang Contigo en la Distancia, which is one of my favorite songs to sing so I'm really glad I got to sing it. I was so happy to be able to do it for all the Latin people too! I owe so much to the Hispanic culture since my mom and all of her family are Hispanic, and it's definitely had a huge impact on the way I am. So I'm definitely planning on doing more in Spanish, and I hope this will allow more opportunities. So I need to thank the ALMA Awards for having come and perform, and it was really exciting to receive an award for new artist too!
Watch Arch's performance of "Contigo En La Distancia," which was broadcast on ABC last Friday, below:



While at home last week, Arch paid a visit to the Utah Symphony. Of the concert he said:
It was pretty amazing actually! I really haven't listened to a whole lot of that kind of music, but I was just so drawn into it. They are incredibly talented! It made me appreciate classical music so much more, and the emotion in the music is so moving. So I'd highly recommend that if you ever get the chance to go to a symphony... go! It's worth it if you pay attention to the feeling in the music and the playing of the musicians! I really hope I can go again sometime soon.
To finish off his post, Arch said he is going to Nashville, Tenn., in the near future to work with writers for his next album.

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Digital sales roundup: "Already Gone" #27 (9/18/09)

For the second week in a row, Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" leads all charting Idol-related singles on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart.

Despite falling two spots to #27, "Already Gone" posted another week of sales gains, as it sold an additional 45.7k downloads for a current total of 342.7k. It was up 9% in sales. Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield," on the other hand, was down 16% in sales to 33.7k. On the chart side, the single fell #28-42. It has now sold 967.4k to date, and will officially pass the platinum sales mark at least within the next two weeks.

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

27 25 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 45,697 9% 41,826 342,728
42 28 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 33,738 -16% 40,175 967,423

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Debra Byrd interviewed on "Christopher Closeup"

Idol's vocal coach in chief, Debra Byrd (or simply known as "Byrd" to the finalists), took time in between seasons to speak with Tony Rossi over on his "Christopher Closeup" program. In the interview, Byrd spoke about the impacts different finalists leave on her among other things. Below is an excerpt from the interview:

TR: You are the vocal coach and arranger for “American Idol.” But you don’t see that as just a job; you look at it as a ministry. How come?

Debra Byrd: I love that it’s a service job. I remember the first tour – we were on the road, Kelly Clarkson was the first American Idol winner and so there was a tour afterwards…I was singing backup for all the contestants that I had just mentored. Band members would say to me, “How can you do that? How can you sing backup for these people? You know more than they (do).” I said, “You don’t understand. I’m here to show them how to do this because it’s a huge undertaking. I get to pass on so much information and I’m grateful to do it.”
Byrd also gave a recount of an instance when she had to use patience dealing with the difficulties of of different personalities on the show:
On “Canadian Idol” there was a contestant that no one liked. Clearly, this young man had huge problems that came from his upbringing...Consequently his perspective on life is incredibly different. He didn’t get along with anyone at all. One of the judges on “Canadian Idol” said, “How do you deal with this kid? How can you talk to this kid every day? This is a horrible human being.” And I said, “Through unconditional love. That’s the only way you can get past him, what he brings to the table. I have to deal with him with unconditional love.”
The interview can be listened to in full over on Christophers.org.

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HITS estimates: 'Leave This Town' #30

Daughtry's sophomore album Leave This Town is now in its sixth consecutive week as the sole Idol-related entry on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.

This time around, the album decreased 13% in sales to 18.5k copies for the week, but the managed to improve one spot on the chart to #30.

After a week without complete data, finalized album sales figures courtesy of Billboard ideally should be out by the end of the week.

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Jordin Sparks performs at North Texas Super Bowl's Community Service Initiative for Kids

After singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday night's highly-anticipated match up between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, Jordin Sparks continued to show off her charitable side in an appearance yesterday at the North Texas Super Bowl's Community Service Initiative for Kids, at which she performed two songs. Also in attendance was former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura. According to The Dallas Morning News, the initiative, known as SLANT 45, will:

...encourage children to find service projects, submit details to SLANT 45 and create art representing lessons learned during their projects. Some of the artistic endeavors and work will be filmed for a feature-length movie that will be screened in North Texas during the week of the Super Bowl. The program was designed by Dallas-based Big Thought.
One of the songs Jordin performed in front of the crowd of roughly 600 was "Battlefield." The event took place at the brand new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

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Out today: Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova"

This week's major Idol-related release comes in the form of Carrie Underwood's latest single "Cowboy Casanova," which is off her forthcoming junior album Play On (Nov. 3). The single is already #11 on the country charts and its airplay is going nowhere but up fast, which bodes well for the single's digital sales potential.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Carrie Underwood
, "Cowboy Casanova"

iTunes - ($1.29) - Buy

For a review of "Cowboy Casanova" posted two weeks ago, see here. Play On can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com for $11.49.

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Monday, September 21, 2009

Seacrest loses to Probst, but Bruce Gowers wins!

Last night's broadcast of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards once again left Ryan Seacrest and American Idol empty-handed, but there was one positive item of note for the franchise. In the rather obscure category of Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series, it was Director Bruce Gowers who took home the Emmy. The episode that won him the award as no. 833, "The Final Three."

As for the more notable losses, Ryan's nomination in Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program stood little chance of transforming into a win next to Survivor's Jeff Probst, who has won the award for two straight years, and Idol itself lost out to The Amazing Race for the seventh year in a row in the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category. Oh well, maybe next year...

P.S. One last Idol-related nominee was defeated in the final minutes of last night's telecast. The Breakthrough Performance of the Year category, which was fan-voted, included Kris Allen's crowning moment as a nominee, but it instead lost out to a scene from HBO's True Blood. No surprise there, either.

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Flashback: Syesha Mercado's "I Will Always Love You"

Syesha Mercado was many times written off as a non-factor on Idol's seventh season, but performances like her take on Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" during Top 9 week's Dolly Parton theme night



Even though the song has been performed countless times on Idol over the years in the style of Whitney Houston, Syesha was able to find a way to make the song work for her by a technical standpoint. It might have come off a little bit like a copycat performance, but there is no denying Syesha's vocals were first class here.

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Kris Allen premieres "Live Like We're Dying" on Z100

After many weeks of anticipation and speculation, Kris Allen's first post-Idol single was this morning officially premiered on the "Elvis Duran & The Morning" show on New York's Z100-FM. Take a listen to the track below:



As previously reported, this is in fact a cover of Irish band The Script's 2008 bonus track. Despite this fact, Kris definitely gives the song his own spin and it sounds exactly like the genre of music he should be pursuing. If his label handles this release the right way, this could be a serious contender at both CHR and HAC radio.

What do you think about "Live Like We're Dying"?

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Friday, September 18, 2009

Kelly, Jordin, Jennifer and Paula reunite at VH1's "Divas"

It was one big Idol reunion at VH1's Divas special last night, as former judge Paula Abdul hosted the program while two winners and the show's only contestant to win both a Grammy and an Oscar took to the stage to show off their pipes. Watch some of the more memorable moments of the night below:

Following her recent trend of singing a stripped-down version of her current single "Already Gone," Kelly Clarkson kept things cool during her performance.



Jordin Sparks performed her new single "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)," backed up by a troupe of sexy dancers. Even though the spectacle was nothing like what Jordin would usually take part in, she showed that she could hold her own onstage singing and upbeat, dancey song.



Jennifer Hudson got the crowd on its feet by belting her song "Spotlight." Jennifer made the most use of the stage, as she graced the outer edges to create a sense of inclusion of the audience.



But it was Paula who stole the show with her comical introductions of the presenters and an opening number with a medley of some of her classic hits including "Coldhearted Snake," "Opposites Attract," "Straight Up" and "Forever Your Girl." Watch Paula lip, err, sing through the medley below:



Other things of note Paula did as host include grabbing her boob while joking that she "nearly breastfed" Kelly, Jordin and Jennifer, posing as Ellen DeGeneres while dancing to P!NK's "Get the Party Started" and being "hooked off stage" for stalling in her introduction of Keri Hilson and Corbin Bleu.

All Idol-related performers also go to do a duet with another well-known singer, with Kelly being paired up with Melissa Etheridge on "Bring Me Some Water," Jordin teaming with Martina McBride on "A Broken Wing" and Jennifer taking on "All In Love Is Fair" with Stevie Wonder.

The special aired live on VH1 and was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Arch reveals cover for 'Christmas From the Heart'

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

>David Archuleta had a busy week with singing "America the Beautiful" at the U.S. Open on Monday and performing and winning at the 2009 ALMA Awards, which will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Somewhere in between the business, the track list and album art for his upcoming Christmas From the Heart, was added on the album's page at Amazon.com. The track list is as follows:

01. Joy To The World
02. Angels We Have Heard On High
03. O Come All Ye Faithful
04. Silent Night
05. First Noel
06. O Holy Night
07. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
08. I'll Be Home for Christmas featuring Charice Pempengco
09. Pat a Pan
10. What a Child Is This
11. Riu Riu
12. Ave Maria
13. Melodies of Christmas

Christmas From the Heart is due out Tues., Oct. 13 and can now be pre-ordered at Amazon.com for $9.99.

>Kris Allen and Adam Lambert each performed at the Ford Motor Company Day earlier today in Dearborn, Mich. Kris reportedly sang "Heartless," "Man In the Mirror" and "Beverly Hills." Adam sang "Starlight," "Tracks of My Tears" and "Mad World." Kris and Adam then sang a duet of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."

In other Kris/Adam news, Kris' single "Live Like We're Dying" is expected to premiere on New York's Z100 on Monday, while Adam's yet-to-be-titled single is slated to go for adds at CHR/Mainstream on Mon., Oct. 12.

>More photos from Carrie Underwood's album shoot for her forthcoming album Play On (Nov. 3) were released, showing off multiple sides of Carrie's personality.

Some photos, like the one pictured to the right, portray Carrie as a sultry vixen, while others show her to be a classic country girl.

>LaKisha Jones gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday, announcing the news via her official Twitter account:

Baby Ava LaRynn has been born !! She was late but so worth the wait. At home getting back into baby mode, it's been 6yrs. 6:24 PM Sep 16th from web
LaKisha announced that she was pregnant back in May. This is her second child, but her first with husband Larry Davis.

>In other Idol-related baby news, Bo Bice also announced Wednesday that he and his wife Caroline are expecting a third son. According to USMagazine.com, Bo's rep said:
"The rock triad will now be complete! Watch out for the Brothers Bice or Bo Bice Brothers Band release later this year."
In other Bo news, new dates have been added to his current tour, including stops at Ace Speedway in Elon College, N.C, and Bear Hollow Resort in Monteagle, Tenn.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Say Goodbye"

Coming on the heels of news that her sophomore album, ‘Unbroken,’ is postponed until Jan. 5, 2010, Katharine McPhee leaves fans hanging on an extremely high note with “Say Goodbye.”

From the somber tone of her vocals to the vulnerable sense driven by the stringed accompaniment, “Goodbye” shows just how effortlessly McPhee pours her emotions into her work. The lyrics fit the song excellently, and are believable coming from McPhee (“I feel just like an actress / up on the stage”) and help convey the overall message she wants to get across to her audience. Following a rousing bridge that allows McPhee to display her vocal acrobatics, she brings “Goodbye” to a close on a solemn note, just the way she began (“So I walk this high wire / alone tonight / that way it won’t hurt so much / when we say goodbye”).

Katharine McPhee has always been an exceptional vocalist and she has delivered some solid recordings in her budding career, but “Say Goodbye” is without question the most beautiful piece of art she has ever recorded in a studio. Assuming ‘Unbroken’ includes more “Say Goodbye”s than it does “Open Toes,” fans could be in for a true gem come January.
"Say Goodbye" is now available to download on iTunes.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Poll of the week: Fans split on addition of Ellen

As expected, IDOL LIVE readers are fairly evenly split on the news that Ellen DeGeneres has been chosen to permanently replace Paula Abdul as Idol's fourth judge.

Among the three choices in this past week's poll of the week, most opted for the safest option, which was to "ask me again in February." That choice garnered 22 votes (37%). Coming in right behind was the feeling that readers "hate it," as 19 votes, or 32% of the 59 total votes cast, made this statement known. And a total of 18 votes (30%) were cast in favor of the news, saying they "love it." Only time will tell just what kind of reaction Ellen will prompt from fans of the show, and it is entirely possible that people could change their minds.

In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which season of the "Idols Live!" tour was their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Love it 18 (30%)
Hate it 19 (32%)
Ask me again in February 22 (37%)

Total votes: 59

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'Idol' Hot 100: "Battlefield" #16 (9/26/09)

There were many signs of life for tracks by Idol alums on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Sept. 26, and there was even an exciting debut on the Bubbling Under chart.

First up was Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield," which held steady at #16. This song's performance has been very impressive considering the depths to which it fell following its debut on the chart. Next was Daughtry's "No Surprise," which fell two spots to #24 but maintained a healthy pace. And Kelly Clarkson rounded out the Idol representation on the Hot 100 with "Already Gone," was up eight spots to #35, marking its highest placement to date.

That was not it for Idol activity on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart, however, as Carrie Underwood's hit-in-the-making "Cowboy Casanova" made its mark coming in at #21. It will only go up from here considering it has not even been released for purchase yet.

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

Hot 100
16 16 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
24 22 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
35 43 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"

Bubbling Under
21 -- Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"

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Digital sales roundup: "Already Gone" #25 (9/11/09)

For the first time in many weeks, there is a new top Idol-related single on the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart.

After weeks of incremental growth, Kelly Clarkson's current single "Already Gone" continued to make strong advances as it jumped five spots to #25 thanks to an 11% increase in sales to 41.8k downloads for the week. Its total now stands at 297k.

Falling to second place among Idol alums was Jordin Sparks, whose single "Battlefield" continues its slow trip back down the chart, sliding #23-28 as a result of an 8% dip in sales to 40.2k downloads. It currently has a total of 933.7k and should pass the platinum benchmark by the first week of October.

And holding onto a spot in the Top 50 was Daughtry's "No Surprise," which sold another 28.2k tracks for a total of 773.2k. It fell 10 spots to #50 and was down 9% from last week.

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

25 30 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 41,826 11% 37,789 297,031
28 23 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 40,175 -8% 43,488 933,685
50 40 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 28,160 -9% 31,072 773,203

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

HITS estimates: 'Leave This Town' #31

For the fifth consecutive week, Daughtry's sophomore album was the only Idol-related album to appear on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.

This week, Leave This Town slipped nine spots to #31 after declining 18% in sales to 21.2k copies.

Finalized album sales figures courtesy of Billboard should be out by the end of the week.

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Kelly Clarkson crushes Kanye

At least in her blog she does. In a post dedicated solely to calling out Kanye West for his extremely unbecoming actions following Taylor Swift's win in the "Best Female Video" category for her "You Belong with Me" music video at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, Kelly Clarkson totally ripped the over-inflated, egocentric rapper on her personal blog. Although the whole post deserves to be placed below, here is a snippet:

I’ve seen you do some pretty shitty things, but you just keep amazing me with your tactless, asshole ways. It’s absolutely fascinating how much I don’t like you. I like everyone. I even like my asshole ex that cheated on me over you…which is pretty odd since I don’t even personally know you. The best part of this evening is that you weren’t even up for THIS award and yet you still have a problem with the outcome. Is winning a moon man that much of a life goal?? You can have mine if it will shut you up. Is it that important, really??
Wow, Kelly is so awesome and she doesn't even know it (or maybe she just has a ton more tact and class than Kanye will ever have). Congrats Kelly on the most interesting and candid blog you have ever posted.

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Kris Allen to release The Script's "Live Like We're Dying" as first single?

There are rumors swirling that Kris Allen will cover Irish pop band The Script's song "Live Like We're Dying" as his first single since releasing the horrible Kara DioGuardi concoction "No Boundaries." Take a listen to the original version below:



Can you hear Kris singing this? I certainly can, it would be the perfect direction for him to take his music in. Having said that, the idea that Kris could release a cover as his first single off his forthcoming debut album is a little disheartening. Perhaps Jive is giving him the Diana DeGarmo treatment? Her first single, "Emotional," was in fact a cover of a single by British pop singer Michelle McManus.

Regardless, it shouldn't matter if Kris does release a cover as his first single as long as no one has ever heard the original version to begin with. Right?

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Out today: Katharine McPhee's "Say Goodbye"

Katharine McPhee lets fans hear one last taste of her new material following the disheartening news that her forthcoming sophomore album, Unbroken, has been delayed until a Tues., Jan. 5 release. To help lessen the blow, her record label, Verve Forecast, releases the ballad "Say Goodbye" as a digital single at iTunes.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Katharine McPhee
, "Say Goodbye"

iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Despite the fact that it will not hit store shelves until next year, Kat's album Unbroken can still be pre-ordered at Amazon.com as both a CD and CD/DVD combo.

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Flashback: Lisa Tucker's "Because of You"

Lisa Tucker was among the youngest finalists to compete on Idol's fifth season, and although she gained praise from the judges early on in the season, a few instances of poor song choice ultimately led to her demise. One of these performances was her final one as a contestant, Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You," which she sang Top 10 week for the "Songs from the 21st century" theme. Watch the performance below:



As ambitious as Lisa was to take on a former Idol's greatest song, her take on the song reminded the audience of how she just did not stand up to the standard set by Kelly. Still, at only 17 years-old when she was eliminated, Lisa demonstrated that she had the guts to take risks at such a young age, and she did the best she could possibly due considering the circumstances.

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Sunday, September 13, 2009

Alums tweet their thoughts on Kanye-Swiftgate

So by now everyone has seen or at least hard about the drama that went down onstage between Taylor Swift and Kanye West at MTV's Video Music Awards this evening. Obviously, Idol alums had no shortage of opinions on the matter on Twitter. Below is a sampling of what some had to say:

LaBelleMusikKanye whaaaattttt! Omg. My heart just fell for that poor girl. He just killer her dream & whole moment. Wow. That was horrible. So wrong! :( about 2 hours ago from UberTwitter

TheRealJordinYessir! RT @ClaudeKelly hes a geat artist BUT every1, artists included, need 2 have tact, class, & respect. about 2 hours ago from Twitterrific

mcktweetytaylor (Cardin McKinney), sweet taylor. beautiful, classy, unTOUCHABLE taylor. GO girl. WIN that VMA without apologies!! :) WOO!!! WORK IT!!! :) about 1 hour ago from web

mdoolittleI know I'm late, but really Kanye? Really? Taylor Swift is the sweetest girl ever and Beyonce is so gracious. Not right at all! about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

thedavidcooksounds like kanye was home sick during finishing school... 29 minutes ago from mobile web

Chikezie_Eze@thedavidcook You mean elementary school. You know he's illiterate. And quite proud of that fact... 23 minutes ago from web in reply to thedavidcook

LaBelleMusikBeyonce!!!!! *applauding her* wow. I'm such a weenie cuz I def cried just now! Yes. Hats off to her. She is such a beautiful soul. Classy. 16 minutes ago from UberTwitter

Chikezie_EzeLet me clarify, I AM a Kanye fan. But there's something 2B said 4 someone who demands respect and yet offers so very little... 13 minutes ago from web

mdoolittleLike I said...Taylor Swift is a sweetheart and Beyonce is such a gracious artist...pure class! 13 minutes ago from TweetDeck

TheRealJordin@mdoolittle it's probably a good thing I'm not there. You KNOW I wouldve said something. Ahahaha I miss you! 12 minutes ago from Twitterrific in reply to mdoolittle
Needless to say, Kanye has lost a lot of respect from people in all sectors of the music industry after tonight's events. And for good reason.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'Leave This Town' #20 (9/19/09)

After going a week without an update for Idol-related activity on the Billboard Top 200 album sales chart, a good amount of movement for the chart week of Sept. 19.

Kicking things off was Daughtry's Leave This Town, which was down #13-20 thanks to a 19% sales dip, resulting in a weekly take of 26.3k copies. Its total is now 606.2k. Also charting as usual was the band's freshman self-titled album, which moved another 3.9k copies and fell eight spots to #119 thanks to an 11% sales decline, resulting in a 4.526 million total to date.

Following Daughtry's placement was Kelly Clarkson's Already Gone, which actually saw its sales increase 3% to 6.8k copies, accompanied by a #82-74 rise on the chart. It now has a total of 693.6k copies. Next up was Jordin Sparks' Battlefield, adding another 5.9k copies to its now 104.7k total. It was down 6% in sales but up two spots to #84.

Following at #155, up 18 spots from the previous week, was Kellie Pickler's Kellie Pickler, selling an additional 3.9k copies thanks to a 15% sales spike for a current total of 305.3k copies. David Cook, whose self-titled post-Idol effort slipped just one spot to #153 as a result of a 1% drop in sales to 3.2k copies. David Cook has now sold 1.233 million to date.

And rounding out Idol representation was the exclusive Season 8 5-song EP, which sold 2.7k copies as a result of a 10% sales decrease and it fell #161-178. Its total now stands at 39.5k.

Full chart positions and partial sales numbers courtesy of melody56 on Pulse as follows:

020 013 Daughtry - Leave This Town 26,348 -19% 32,692 606,224
074 082 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 6,790 3% 6,616 693,582
084 086 Jordin Sparks - Battlefield 5,852 -6% 6,217 104,652
115 133 Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 4,047 15% 3,523 305,340
119 111 Daughtry - Daughtry 3,939 -11% 4,429 4,525,588
153 152 David Cook - David Cook 3,237 1% 3,214 1,232,827
178 161 Various Artists - American Idol: Season 8 2,734 -10% 3,040 39,478

Total sales are in bold.

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Friday, September 11, 2009

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Paula Abdul previews VH1's "Divas"

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

>Paula Abdul is not one to be broken by news of her successor. As long as she's still making headlines in other ways, who is she to care? Paula has most recently appeared in the following promotional video that is airing on VH1 for the upcoming Divas special that she will be hosting. Watch her make fun of herself (and her former Idol cohorts) in the clip below, with a special cameo by Ryan "SeCrest":



The Divas special will be broadcast live on VH1 on Thurs., Sept. 17.

>Meanwhile, more commentary has come in over the past two days about the announcement that Ellen DeGeneres would be replacing Paula as the fourth judge of Idol. A few quick hits from around the industry:

Whoopi Goldberg: I'm just curious...where's the music experience? I'm not sure that this was the right choice for that particular show."

Taylor Hicks: "I definitely believe Ellen's jokes are funnier than Simon Cowell's jokes...she has a great personality and she might have a little bit more of a musical chop than we think she does."

Bucky Covington: "I gotta be honest with ya...I am probably the bad person to ask here cause I'm a huge Ellen DeGeneres fan...and I think it'd be great to have someone call Simon out on his corny jokes."

As for Ellen, she is already prepping for the inevitable spats she will be having with Simon. She said:
"When Simon is rude and mean, I will tell him he's rude and mean, just like I tell him when he's on my show that he's rude and mean."
By the looks of things, it's gonna be an exciting Season 9.

>It was announced that Jordin Sparks will be singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at her Arizona Cardinals' home season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Sun., Sept. 13. Per AZCentral.com:
This is the Sparks fourth time signing the anthem at University of Phoenix Stadium. She also last sang at last season's NFC Championship Game, when the Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football last season and at Super Bowl XLII.
Jordin is also currently being featured in ads for the Got Milk? campaign, as seen pictured to the right.

>The record label of Season 5's Top 16 finalist Ayla Brown unveiled a backstage video of the singer and Boston College basketball star at a concert she performed at this past summer. Watch the eight-minute video below:



At the end of the video, it is announced that Ayla will release a live album on Tues., Nov. 10, featuring tracks she performed with The James Montgomery Blues Band and The Uptown Horns, and a studio album title Circles will see an April 6, 2010 release.

>Leslie Hunt, who placed in the Top 20 in Idol's sixth season, has given birth to her first child, daughter Eliza(beth) Joni Faulds on Sun., Aug. 30. Per Leslie's official Twitter account:
Our daughter, Eliza Joni, was born on Sunday, August 30th @ 9:42pm, and all is right in the world. :-) 8:38 PM Sep 2nd from web
Leslie's sophomore album, Your Hair Is On Fire, is now available to purchase on CDBaby.com.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Poll of the week: Paula should "beg to be taken back," say readers

The most recent edition of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week had readers answer a question that many have been asking over the past few weeks. The most popular answer, however, is something that just will not happen when taking breaking news into account.

Most readers felt Paula Abdul should "beg Idol to take her back" (14 votes, 60%), but now that it is official that Ellen DeGeneres will be filling the open slot, this will simply not be happening. The next most popular choice was for Paula to judge another FOX show - So You Think You Can Dance (4 votes, 17%), which seems like the next best option in reality.

As for the latest edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked whether they think Ellen DeGeneres is a good replacement for Paula. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Compete on "Dancing w/ the Stars" 1 (4%)
Judge "So You Think You Can Dance" 4 (17%)
Tour/record new music 0 (0%)
Judge "Dancing w/ the Stars" 1 (4%)
Judge Simon's "X-Factor" in the UK 1 (4%)
Judge possible future American version of "X-Factor" 1 (4%)
Film second season of "Hey Paula" on Bravo 1 (4%)
Beg for 'Idol' to take her back 14 (60%)

Total votes: 23

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'Idol' Hot 100: "Battlefield" #16 (9/19/09)

As usual, three Idol-related tracks saw movement on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Sept. 19.

Kicking things off was Jordin Sparks, whose single "Battlefield" slipped two spots to #16. Holding steady was Daughtry, whose single "No Surprise" remained at #22. And Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" surged ahead #57-43, marking an even higher peak for the single that has been much maligned by the media.

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

16 14 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
22 22 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
43 57 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"

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Ellen DeGeneres: Idol's new no. 4 judge

This just in - Ellen DeGeneres has been named Paula Abdul's permanent replacement as the fourth judge on Idol. From Alan Sepinwall's piece in The Star-Ledger:

Fox just announced that Ellen DeGeneres will be the new fourth judge on "American Idol," replacing Paula Abdul, beginning her role after a series of special guest fill-ins (including Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain) fill in for next season's audition rounds.
My initial thoughts on this news are what are these producers thinking!? Ellen has been a good fan of Idol since the get-go and she is a great TV personality, but as a judge? Why not go with a more experienced, seasoned individual that has spent his or her life in the industry? I know it might take some getting used to the idea, but as of right now this move is very confusing and comes out of nowhere. Stay tuned for more (I guess).

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Kelly Clarkson to perform at Samsung Summer Krush in LA

Kelly Clarkson will be headlining the final Samsung Summer Krush concert on Mon., Sept. 14, at the Central Courtyard in Hollywood, Calif. Free tickets are still available to fans by entering at the event's official Web site, where they can submit their e-mail address and cell phone number in exchange for the tickets.

The Summer Krush series, which was kicked off in July with a concert by Daughtry in Seattle, Wash., and over the summer featured artists including T-Pain, The Offspring and Darius Rucker.

ETA: The promo code to get tickets is LA2.

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HITS estimates: 'Leave This Town' 26k

Daughtry now holds the title of "sole band or artist representing the Idol franchise" on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart for four weeks running.

This week, Chris and the boys witness their sophomore album Leave This Town drop nine spots to #22 with an additional 26k copies sold and a 21% sales dip.

Finalized album sales figures courtesy of Billboard should hopefully be out by the end of the week.

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Jordin Sparks' "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)" music video premieres

After weeks of anticipation, Jordin Sparks' brand-new hot music video for her second single off Battlefield, "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)," premiered earlier today on MeetMark.com. The video, which follows Jordin in a club scene and includes a somewhat cliched storyline, is the first video for an uptempo song of hers that has required Jordin to show off real dance moves. Watch the video below:



The video, which was directed by Chris Robinson, features a host of familiar faces that surround Jordin in her professional life (anyone spot Leah LaBelle?). The significance of the video premiering on MeetMark.com is because Jordin was the first representative for the newly-launched member-based beauty sales company.

"S.O.S." was originally slated for a radio adds date in early September, but it has since been delayed until Tues., Sept. 29.

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Carrie Underwood earns two CMA Awards noms

If you consider yourself a country artist, you were a finalist at some point on Idol and your name is not Carrie Underwood, you're out of luck at the 43rd annual CMA Awards.

In announcements made earlier this morning on ABC's Good Morning America and CMT's Insider Special Edition: 2009 CMA Awards Nominations, it was revealed that Carrie received two nominations for this year's awards show, one for "Female Vocalist" and one for "Musical Event" for her single "I Told You So" featuring Randy Travis. Other than that, there were no noms doled out for any other Idol alums.

Below are the categories in which Carrie is nominated and thus what her competition will be:

Female Vocalist

Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Musical Event
(Award goes to each artist.)


"Cowgirls Don't Cry"
Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire
Arista Nashville

"Down the Road"
Kenny Chesney (with Mac McAnally)
Blue Chair Records, BNA Records

"Everything But Quits"
Lee Ann Womack (duet with George Strait)
MCA Records

"I Told You So"
Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis
19 Recordings/Arista


"Old Enough"
The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe
Third Man Records, Warner Bros. Records

An interesting observation is the fact that Taylor Swift, who has had a very big year, was the first female to be nominated for Entertainer of the Year since 2000, something Carrie has never had the honor of receiving. Carrie did, however, receive a nomination and win in the category at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this year.

The CMA Awards will air on ABC on Wed., Nov. 11, at 8 p.m. ET, being held live at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. Carrie will once again fulfill hosting duties alongside Brad Paisley.

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Digital sales roundup: "Battlefield" #23 (9/4/09)

A debut single from a Season 7 finalist spiced up the Idol representation on the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart.

Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" continued to inch ever closer to the platinum threshold, adding 43.5k downloads to its total for a cumulative 893.5k singles sold. The single was down 9% in sales and slipped two spots to #23.

Up next was Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone," which was up another 11% to 37.8k downloads, resulting in a current total of 255.2k. The single finally entered the Top 30, advancing #36-30. Daughtry's "No Surprise" once again fell a few spots, this week down two to #40, thanks to a 7% sales decline to 31.1k. Its total now sits at 745k.

New to this edition of the chart was Jason Castro's "Let's Just Fall In Love Again," which debuted at #59 with 22.8k downloads. These numbers are a good sign for Jason but they are not as strong as Brooke White's debut with "Hold Up My Heart," which opened to 51.2k tracks sold at #27 back in February.

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

23 21 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 43,488 -9% 48,032 893,510
30 36 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 37,789 11% 34,124 255,205
40 38 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 31,072 -7% 33,539 745,043
59 -- Jason Castro, "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" 22,750 999% 0 22,750

Total sales are in bold.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Kelly Clarkson's music director gets "schooled"

Kelly Clarkson was sighted on multiple networks earlier this evening following the profiling of her music director, Jason Halbert, on the kickoff documentary "Get Schooled: You Have the Right." The initiative, which is a co-founded by Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a brand-new five-year public service effort to encourage the nation's students to stay in school and graduate. Watch Jason's piece of the documentary below, which shows him pursuing a degree at BerkleeMusic.com:



Others profiled during the half-hour piece include one of President Obama's speechwriters, Sarah Hurwitz, and LeBron James' marketing exec Latesha Williams. The over-sized PSA was simulcasted on Viacom-owned cable operations such as MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

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Katharine McPhee to perform at Lionel Richie's "An Evening of Stars"

It was unveiled today on Katharine McPhee's official MySpace blog that she will be performing as part of an all-star ensemble at Lionel Richie's "An Evening of Stars" gala, which will honor Richie with the "Award of Excellence" courtesy of the United Negro College Fund. Per the blog post:

The Award of Excellence, which he will accept the night of the gala, is for the musician’s long and distinguished career as a singer-songwriter-producer and for his history of supporting minority education.

Other artists set to perform at the event include Akon, Jesse McCartney, Natalie Cole and Chrisette Michele. The event will be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Sat., Sept. 12, in Pasadena, Calif., and will be filmed for broadcast on BET in addition to other various local networks in January 2010.

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Monday, September 7, 2009

Flashback: Blake Lewis' "When the Stars Go Blue"

While on the sixth season of Idol, runner-up Blake Lewis doled out a lot of memorable performances thanks to his unique beat boxing skills. When it came to his take on Ryan Adams' "When the Stars Go Blue" for the country-themed Top 7 week, however, things were not so memorable. Watch the performance below:



This performance showed that when Blake did not go out on a limb by rearranging songs that would normally not fit his vocal style, his "regular singing voice" just did not measure up to his placing on the show. Still, the fact that he was able to bounce back from these performances demonstrates that he had a strong affinity for his fans.

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Sunday, September 6, 2009

Track review: Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova"

In true country superstar form, Carrie Underwood reinvents herself on her latest single “Cowboy Casanova,” which serves as a tool to reacquaint her with fans after taking a short break this summer. Serving as the lead single off Underwood’s third studio album, ‘Play On’ (Nov. 3), “Casanova” allows her to extend experimentation in the “country rock” arena.

Aided by talented songwriters Brett James and Mike Elizondo, Underwood uses metaphors and similes in abundance to help warn her friends that the “cool drink of water” is actually a “snake with blue eyes” and the verses are complete with staccato phrases that show off her ability to tell a stylized story through her vocals.

Speaking of vocals, Underwood does not disappoint on the track despite the notion that she usually stands out more on her ballad efforts than her uptempos. On “Casanova,” however, Underwood is able to fulfill the role of a woman fooled by love and so the emotion within her vocals sounds genuine, with her stunning range demonstrated especially on the final chorus.

Although it is not on the same level as “Before He Cheats” and it lacks the inspiring subject matter that has come to be expected on Carrie Underwood’s lead-off singles (“Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “So Small”), it cannot be denied that “Cowboy Casanova” is a solid country rock track that will keep her career going in the right direction.
Play On is due out Tues., Nov. 3, and is available to pre-order on Amazon.com.

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Friday, September 4, 2009

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Jennifer Hudson joins VH1's "Divas" roster

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

>Just a few weeks ago, Kelly Clarkson let it slip that fellow Idol champ Jordin Sparks would be joining her in VH1's Divas special. Now, it was Jordin's turn to announce the addition of another Idol alum at concert event, as she told Paulette Tobin of The Grand Forks Herald that Jennifer Hudson would also be performing. This brings representation from the franchise at the broadcast to four, as Paula Abdul was recently announced as the show's host.

>Coming just one week after the official announcement of his fellow Top 2 comrade's album release date, Adam Lambert subtlety let it be known that his self-titled album would be out on Tues., Nov. 24. In a tweet sent out on Wednesday, Adam said:

over 86K raised by http://www.donorschoose.org... !! thank you guys so much! keep it coming! fyi my album drops Nov 24th ! 8:46 AM Sep 2nd from web
Adam is reportedly working with producers such as RedOne and Max Martin and looks to have a big opening week thanks to his album being released the week of Thanksgiving. Competition will come from Lil' Wayne, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, Susan Boyle and a re-release from Lady Gaga.

>It was recently announced that Diana DeGarmo has been selected to serve as a celebrity judge the New York Musical Theater Festival's (NYMF) "Next Broadway Sensation" contest, which will award one winner the chance to perform his or her own solo concert among other things. According to TheaterMania.com:
Confirmed celebrity judges include actors Diana DeGarmo, Jonathan Groff, Bailey Hanks, Orfeh, Donna Lynne Champlin, Kacie Sheik, and Allison Case; composer/lyricist Paul Scott Goodman; and record producer Noah Corman.
The three rounds of the competition will be held at New World Stages in New York, N.Y., on Sun., Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Oct. 4.

>Keeping busy with his writing and storytelling skills, David Archuleta on Wednesday posted a new blog post on his official Ning network site about recording his Christmas album and performing the last concert of his summer tour in Alaska. Arch said in part:
I've been recording in LA and Utah this week and it's been quite the work but I'm really excited for it all to come together! I really like airplane rides though because it gives me time to write and get really detailed in my journal haha. Anyway... I know that may have seemed kinda random but I've been on airplanes quite a bit this last week. But I think the Christmas spirit is rubbing off on me because I've never started the Holiday season spirit this early in the year before haha. It feels good though.
He also gave a friendly shout out to fellow Season 7 alum Jason Castro and said he likes his new single, "Let's Just Fall In Love Again."

>Blake Lewis' album release is still one month away, but he eagerly e-mailed fans on his mail listing this morning to alert them that he will be sending links to preview select songs off Heartbreak On Vinyl over the next four weeks. He kicked things off this morning with a link to listen to the album's title track, "Heartbreak On Vinyl."

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