The king of Jingle Ball concerts took place last Friday at Madison Square Garden, when New York City's Top 40 radio station Z100 hosted its installment with musical guests including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and John Mayer. Not surprisingly, a few Idol alums were among those included in the lineup, as Jordin Sparks and Kris Allen performed while Adam Lambert co-hosted the event.
Below are video segments from MSG's "Road to MSG: Z100's Jingle Ball 2009" special that will air tomorrow at 11 p.m. ET on the regional cable network MSG Network. Included are clips from Kris and Adam:
For photos and more features from the Jingle Ball, check out MSG's Jingle Ball Central. Also check out the site for more information on the "Road to MSG" special.
In what will most likely be the second-biggest opening sales week for an album by an Idol alum this quarter, Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment hits store shelves for one of the traditionally biggest sales weeks of the year.
One thing that will help Adam greatly in his quest to move the most units possible is the media' fascination with him as a person. He is the most talked about finalist to ever grace the Idol stage, which has allowed him to snag some of the most coveted promotional outlets available including a high profile performance at tonight's American Music Awards. Other big appearances coming up include Good Morning America and The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday and Ellen on Tues., Dec. 1.
There are some causes for concern, however, as Adam's lead single "For Your Entertainment" has been shown no love at radio to this point and the track's sales have been much lower than anticipated. Similarly, Adam's "Time For Miracles" from the 2012 soundtrack fell drastically after opening with 46.5k downloads. When sizing these sales data up with Adam's post-Idol sales, which were noticeably below winner Kris Allen's sales on average considering the attention he had even back then, the question is raised as to whether Adam's hype will translate to transactions.
But the most important factor will be whether Adam's disc will be able to stand out from a crowded roster of competition. Despite the fact that Entertainment will literally catch the eyes of shoppers thanks to its colorful cover, it may have a tougher time convincing shoppers to spend their hard-earned cash when albums from more established acts like Tom Petty, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyonce, and popular newcomers like Susan Boyle and Jay Sean. Add in expectantly strong second week sales from albums like John Mayer's Battle Studies and there are plenty of options for music fans.
When all these factors are considered, Adam will probably have a healthy opening week that will be way ahead of past runners-up like Blake Lewis and Diana DeGarmo, but it will also most likely be below debuts from runners-up like Clay Aiken and Bo Bice. Therefore, I'm calling for Entertainment to open with 175k copies, coming in on the charts at #8.
For Your Entertainment will be out tomorrow and is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com.
The next high profile Idol-related release comes in the form of Kris Allen's self-titled debut album, which drops this coming Tuesday.
Kris certainly has his work cut out for him, as he is having a tough time standing out from the crowd amid a heavy release slate of artists that are more well-known than him. On Tuesday, music fans get to pick from new discs from Norah Jones, 50 Cent, Leona Lewis, Paul McCartney, Fall Out Boy, OneRepublic, Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men, John Mayer and more, so it will be very hard for Kris to rise above the fray. Couple this with a steady but slow-moving single in "Live Like We're Dying" and a somewhat bare first week promo schedule and it appears album sales will be slow out of the gate as well.
When taking this all into consideration, it looks like Kris Allen will sell about 90k in its first week of release, but there are a lot of factors that could prove to be wild cards that could cause this number to vary slightly in a more positive or negative way.
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?
Although there have already been many predictions made for tonight's 51st annual Grammy Awards ceremony, IDOL LIVE has yet to jump into the fray with its thoughts on the Idol alums' chances. After giving the categories careful thought, the following are the conclusions that were drawn.
>Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Rich Woman"
I really, really want to root for Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown here, as "No Air" was one of the biggest songs of 2008 in addition to being one of the biggest songs by an alum. But Plant and Krauss are going to take home a ton of trophies tonight, mainly in the Album of the Year category, so this will be just another feather in their cap. Jordin will have plenty more chances to win a Grammy, though, so it will not that big of a disappointment.
>Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
If Jennifer Hudson only wins one award tonight, it will be in this category. Besides Alicia Keys, the competition is fairly weak, and there would be an outrage if Jennifer was sent home winless. Add in the fact that "Spotlight" is a solid track and you've got yourself a victory.
>Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: Al Green featuring John Legend, "Stay With Me (By The Sea)"
Al Green and John Legend are perennial Grammy faves, and since Jennifer will take home an award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, it will lessen the blow for when she doesn't get this one. Fantasia has been nominated but never won an award, and that streak will continue.
>Best R&B Song: Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen & Shaffer Smith, songwriters, "Spotlight"
Although this technically will not count as a win for Jennifer herself, it will continue to support the fact that "Spotlight" is a Grammy-worthy song.
>Best R&B Album: Al Green, Lay It Down
Al will win most of the categories he is nominated for, so this one is a must for him. Jennifer's album was worthy of the nomination, but the win is another story.
>Best Female Country Vocal Performance: Carrie Underwood, "Last Name"
It wouldn't be the Grammys if Carrie Underwood did not take home at least one award. This year will not be any different, as she will go for the hat trick tonight. Plus, she's actually performing the song.
>Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media: John Mayer, "Say" (From The Bucket List)
This is a no-brainer. John Mayer's competition is two tracks from Enchanted ("Ever Ever After" should be happy it was even nominated in the first place), which will split votes, and the song from Walk Hard is a joke. The only real competition comes from Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman's "Down to Earth" from Wall-E, but that will win an Oscar in a few weeks so Mayer will get this win.
What do you all think? Share your predictions and come back here later tonight for a full post-show recap and analysis of the results.
IDOL LIVE is the place to stay up to date with the most current news on past, present and possibly future American Idol contestants, in addition to discussing the show in real-time as it happens.
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