'Idol' odds 'n ends: Daughtry, Jordin win at BMI Awards

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

>Chris Daughtry and Jordin Sparks each took home honors at the 2009 BMI Awards in New York City on Tuesday. Chris was recognized for his band's single "Over You," which he co-wrote with Brian Howes, and Jordin's single "Tattoo" won for writers Amanda Ghost and Ian Dench. Although Chris did not write it, Daughtry's "Feels Like Tonight" also took home an award.

>Kimberly Caldwell, Season 2's seventh-place finalist, yesterday inked a record deal with Vanguard/Capitol Records. She confirmed the signing via her official Twitter account:

_kimcaldwell Signing my record deal right now with Vanguard/Capitol records! Crying like a baby while doing so!!!!

Vanguard is home to artists like Indigo Girls, Matt Nathanson and Greg Laswell.

>LaKisha Jones was out promoting her debut album So Glad I'm Me this week since it dropped nationwide on Tuesday. Watch her interview from New York City's FOX affiliate, FOX 5, and her performance of "So Glad I'm Me" below:



LaKisha said she is really proud of her album and that it's "really good."

>The eighth season's finale was down in total viewership from last season's exciting final two episodes. Tuesday's Top 2 performance episode raked in 23.1 million viewers, while Wednesday's two-hour finale averaged 28.8 million viewers, including 40 million for the 10:00-10:07 p.m. time period, which places it as the second-least watched finale in the show's history (behind Season 1). Season 7's one-hour performance show garnered 27.1 million viewers and its two-hour finale special took in an average of 30.6 million viewers.

>Taking a break from his new found love for tweeting, Chris Sligh put some new demos up on his official production MySpace page. The songs featured include "Cmon Cmon," "Making Up Time" and "Chasing Down a Name."

[+/-] Show Full Post...

[+/-]Hide Full Post...

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Castro writes with Kara, signs with Atlantic

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

>Jason Castro let Billboard know that he has in fact signed with Atlantic Records, which confirms rumors that have been floating around as of late. Watch his segment on Billboard's "The Buzz" below:

Jason also confirmed he has been writing some material himself in addition to working with Kara DioGuardi in a video Kara took of him in the studio.

>David Archuleta finally got to meet Miley Cyrus, as reported yesterday by JustJaredJr. Arch will be guest starring in the Disney Channel's series Hannah Montana in the episode titled "Promma Mia," which will premiere Sun., May 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The two music superstars will premiere their duet "I Wanna Know You" on the episode.

>Mandisa's new music video for her second single off her sophomore album, "He Is With You," premiered this week on the Christian video portal Tangle.com. Watch the video below:



Mandisa yesterday also appeared on the fourth hour of NBC's Today show to perform her single.

>Jordin Sparks will be performing in concert at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum following an Oakland Athletics game on Sat., June 6. The concert will be free to fans that paid admission to the baseball game.

>On the ratings front, Idol saw another slowdown in ratings this week. For Top 8 week, Tuesday's performance show pulled in 21.99 million viewers (7.9/21 ratings/share in 18-49 demo) while Wednesday's results show took in 22.44 million viewers (7.8/20) according to TVBytheNumbers.com.

[+/-] Show Full Post...

[+/-]Hide Full Post...

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Sligh, Carrie receive Dove Awards noms

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

>Chris Sligh was nominated for the 40th Annual Dove Awards for his single "Empty Me" in the Song of the Year category in addition to being put up for consideration for the New Artist of the Year. Another Idol alum received a nomination for the show: Carrie Underwood got her name thrown into the ring for Country Gospel Song of the Year for her live recording of "How Great Thou Art." The show will be held at the Grand Ole Opryhouse on Thurs., April 23 at 8 p.m. ET. Vote for Chris for New Artist on GospelMusicChannel.com.

>Carrie also received another award nomination, as she now has four noms for the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards thanks to the announcement of the Album of the Year category's nominees. Carnival Ride's nomination adds to Carrie's other nominations for the Entertainer of the Year, Top Female Vocalist and Video of the Year categories.

>The ratings for Idol this week were leagues above all other programs in its timeslots, although it almost lost out to CSI in total viewers on Thursday because Taylor Swift's guest appearance launched the episode into an above average showing. Idol pulled in 24.2 million on Tuesday, 22.5 million on Wednesday and 21.2 million on Thursday.

>David Cook's rendition of "Billie Jean" was featured in a promo for the Israeli television series Loving Anna. Watch the spot below:

This isn't the first time Cook's version of "Billie Jean" has been featured in a promo for a program on Israeli TV. Last year, the song played in the background of a promo for Friday Night Lights.

>Cook is also currently working on his next music video, which will be for "Come Back to Me." He was caught filming the video at LAX the other day. Gavin Bowden will be helming the video (Lifehouse, Red Hot Chili Peppers)

[+/-] Show Full Post...

[+/-]Hide Full Post...

'Idol' finale draws 31.7 million

Wednesday's finale was the cherry on top of an awful season of American Idol ratings-wise, as nearly 32 million tuned in to see Cook but Arch in the battle of the Davids. That was up one million viewers from last year, when 30.7 million people witnessed Jordin Sparks defeat Blake Lewis.

The Tuesday performance episode netted 27.1 million viewers, which was also up from Season 6's 25.3 million. For the entire season, the show averaged 28.1 million per week, down from Season 5's 30.8 million, Idol's peak ratings-wise.

[+/-] Show Full Post...

[+/-]Hide Full Post...