IDOL LIVE predix: 2010 CMT Awards

Two Idol alums are up for awards at tonight's 2010 CMT Music Awards, with a combined four categories available for them to nab.

Carrie Underwood is shooting for her "Cowboy Casanova" video to earn her a CMT Award in the Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year categories, while she could be victorious in the CMT Performance of the Yearcategory thanks to her live performance of "Temporary Home" for the network. Kellie Pickler, on the other hand, could win in the Collaborative Video of the Year category as a result of her teaming up with friend Taylor Swift on the "Best Days of Your Life" video.

Read my predictions for how things will go tonight below (predicted winners are in bold):

Video of the Year
Kenny Chesney – "Out Last Night"
Brad Paisley – "Welcome to the Future"
Jason Aldean – "The Truth"
Lady Antebellum – "Need You Now"
Miranda Lambert – "White Liar"
Zac Brown Band – "Toes"
Carrie Underwood – "Cowboy Casanova"
Taylor Swift – "You Belong With Me"Toby Keith – "American Ride"
Keith Urban – '"Til Summer Comes Around"

Female Video of the Year
Miranda Lambert – "White Liar"
Taylor Swift – "You Belong With Me"
Reba McEntire – "Consider Me Gone"
Carrie Underwood – "Cowboy Casanova"

Collaborative Video of the Year
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins – "Hillbilly Bone"
Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams – "Heaven' from 'CMT Crossroads"
Kellie Pickler featuring Taylor Swift – "Best Days of Your Life"
Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews – "I'm Alive"

CMT Performance of the Year
Carrie Underwood – "Temporary Home" from Invitation Only: Carrie Underwood
Lady Antebellum – "Lookin' For A Good Time" from the 2009 CMT Music Awards
Tim McGraw – "Southern Voice" from Invitation Only: Tim McGraw
Reba McEntire – "Consider Me Gone" from Invitation Only: Reba
Brad Paisley – "Then" from the 2009 CMT Music Awards

No real surprises here. Hopefully Carrie does pull through and wins the CMT Performance of the Year, because that is probably where her competition is the weakest for this type of awards show. Watch "Cowboy Casanova" and "Best Days of Your Life" below:

"Cowboy Casanova"

Carrie Underwood   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

"Best Days of Your Life"


The CMT Music Awards will be hosted by Kid Rock and will be broadcast live on CMT at 8 p.m. ET.

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HITS estimates: 'Tried and True' #12 w/ 19.7k

For the first time in many weeks we had a new Idol-related album represent the franchise at the front of the pack, as Clay Aiken's latest disc Tried and True narrowly missed the Top 10.

Clay's album sold 19.7k copies in its opening bow, which marks his lowest sales week for a launch to date. Clay's second cover album (third including Merry Christmas with Love) debuted at #12, which is the lowest placing for one of his opening weeks.

Clay's previous openings are as follows: Measure of a Man (#1, 613k), Merry Christmas with Love (#2, 270k), A Thousand Different Ways (#2, 211k), On My Way Here (#4, 94k).

The only other album by an alum to appear on the chart was Carrie Underwood's Play On, which was off three spots to #25 thanks to a 5% sales dip. The album took in an additional 15.3k copies for the week.

There's a good likelihood Play On will see an up-tick in sales on the next edition of the chart, as Carrie is set to perform at tomorrow's CMT Music Awards.

Chart rankings courtesy of Billboard will be posted later in the week.

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RCA posts press release on Lee DeWyze's forthcoming album

As you may or may not know, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox each got a record deal out of their winner and runner-up statuses on the most recent season of Idol, but it wasn't until yesterday that the actual details of Lee's album release schedule were made public.

Read the press release courtesy of 19 Recordings/RCA Records below:

American Idol Season 9 Winner Lee Dewyze Signs to 19 Recordings / RCA Records
Dewyze's Debut Album is Set for Release in Fall 2010

LOS ANGELES, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- American Idol Season 9 winner Lee Dewyze has been signed to 19 Recordings/RCA Records. He is preparing to start work on his debut album which is due for release in fall 2010.

The 24 year old Mount Prospect, IL native impressed millions throughout the season taking home this year's American Idol winning title. Dewyze is a self taught musician who began singing and playing guitar in his teens. Auditioned in Chicago, Dewyze was the only male contestant never to land in the bottom three during American Idol Season 9.

"Lee is the People's choice, the working class hero who won the hearts of America to become The 9th American Idol," says Simon Fuller – Creator of American Idol and Founder of 19 Entertainment. "Lee has a powerful voice, integrity and a passion for music that literally brought tears to his eyes. We are all looking forward so much to Lee recording his new album to be released in the late fall."

"Lee struck a real chord with the American public this season on Idol. His humility coupled with his vast talent and musicianship should make him a big artist for a long time to come," says Barry Weiss, Chairman & CEO RCA/JIVE Label Group. "We at the RCA Label are excited to work with Lee and 19 on an album that speaks to his widespread appeal."

"Looking back on the last few months and all I gained from my experience on American Idol, it is incredible to know that this is only the beginning for me. Being signed by 19 Entertainment/RCA Records is a dream come true," says Lee. "I know that by working with them, I have the support that will allow me to record the best possible album I can – an album I'm proud of and confident in."

Lee will be recording his album over the summer while on the road with the American Idol's Live tour. The tour kicks off July 1 in Auburn Hills, Michigan and ends September 14 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So, what do you think? Will Lee's album be as rushed as the rest of the debuts have been? Will it be more David Cook or Kris Allen? Either way I'm willing to be a cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" will appear on there.

Crystal signed with Jive Records, but we've yet to see a press release detailing her release.

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Flashback: Kristy Lee Cook's "Anyway"

Kristy Lee Cook had a rough time at the beginning of Idol's seventh season due to some pretty poor showings and not so great song choices ("Faithfully"?), but she really hit her stride during Top 8 week when she sang Martina McBride's "Anyway." Watch the performance below:

It's apparent the real reason Kristy Lee delivered a respectable performance was because she was able to sing a country song, but the fact that she was able to muster good enough vocals to shine on the song does in fact signal she had some talent in there somewhere all along.

Simon's almost overboard praise of Kristy Lee's strategic song choice went a long way in helping fans forget about his critiques of her in the past. Although she only lasted one week after this performance, Kristy Lee proved she was not the undeserving contestant many pegged her to be early on.

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Lee DeWyze sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at NBA Finals game 2

Lee DeWyze continued the tradition of having the most recent Idol winner do National Anthem duty at an NBA Finals game, as he did so at game 2 of the Boston Celtics / LA Lakers championship series this evening at the Staples Center in LA. Watch him sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" as televised on ABC below:

How'd Lee do? Was he in tune? I have my opinions but I'll let you be the judge. Speaking of past National Anthem performances at NBA Finals games, be sure to check out those done by Kris Allen (2009), David Cook (2008), Jordin Sparks (2007), Taylor Hicks (2006), Carrie Underwood (2005) and Kelly Clarkson (2004).

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Lee DeWyze & Crystal Bowersox perform on 'Today'

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

>Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox paid NBC's Today Show a visit yesterday to perform in concert at Rockefeller Plaza. Watch them duet on "Falling Slowly" below:

Lee took the stage to perform an acoustic version of "Beautiful Day," while Crystal did an acoustic rendition of "Me & Bobby McGee" as Michael Orland accompanied the two on piano. In their pre-performance chat with Meredith Viera, Lee was asked what his favorite brand of paint was, and he gave a cop-out "the're's plenty of good ones" answer." Crystal said she'd like to use her celebrity to raise awareness for diabetes, especially in underdeveloped countries.

>After staying out of the limelight for an extended amount of time, Clay Aiken seems to be taking on a higher profile as of late, with a performance on ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday and details of yet another cover album leaking out. Watch Clay and his new hairdo perform "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" below:



Clay's latest cover disc, Tried and True (more like "Tired and Too Much"), hit stores on Tuesday to little fanfare. Before his performance on GMA, Clay chatted with co-host Robin Roberts and called summer tour mate Ruben Studdard "one of the best performers on stage" he knows.

>David Archuleta has been busy on his book tour in support of Chords of Strength, which is described as "a memoir of soul, song, and the power of perseverance. So far he has hit up Ridgewood, N.J., New York City and Long Island. Below are a few tweets courtesy of Arch from his travels during the tour:

Finished the book signing in Manhattan! Andy Garcia, Kasey James, and DiDi Benami all stopped by. Such a cool surprise!
9:19 PM Jun 2nd via txt

"you smell like really good baby powder." well I haven't heard that before but thanks! I'm glad I don't smell bad! Haha
about 12 hours ago via txt

Lake Grove on Long Island was awesome!! Thanks so much too everyone who came and thanks to Barnes and Noble too!
about 9 hours ago via txt

While in the city, Arch also performed "Works For Me" on FOX & Friends yesterday with friend Toby Lightman. He will next be at the Barnes & Noble at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minn., tomorrow at 2 p.m.

>Allison Iraheta's latest single was unveiled earlier this week. Her third release will be a revamped version of "Don't Waste the Pretty" featuring Orianthi, who Allison will be touring with this summer. According to Michael Slezak at EW.com:

The Orianthi-infused “Don’t Waste the Pretty” hits iTunes June 8, according to a rep at Allison’s label.

Jive must really believe in Allison since they've previously released two singles that have failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, especially considering they only got behind two singles on David Archuleta's first release and Jordin Sparks's Battlefield.

>Diana DeGarmo visited CBS's weekend morning program The Saturday Early Show over Memorial Day Weekend to perform a few songs from Hair, which she is currently starring in on Broadway. Watch her perform "I Believe in Love" and a snippet of her song of appreciation of the men and women serving in our military, "Thank You," which was fitting for the weekend, below:



Last week, Diana together with SunTrust Bank unveiled a campaign called "Solid Salute," which allows people to send personalized e-greetings to men and women in uniform using her song "Thank You." You can also download the track for free at LiveSolid.com.

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'Idol' Hot 100: Lee DeWyze's "Beautiful Day" #24 (6/12/10)

After taking a week off from posting about how tracks by Idol alums are faring on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, we're back in business for the chart week of June 12, which is complete with the latest data on new entries from Season 9 finalists.

Leading the way was Lee DeWyze's coronation cover of "Beautiful Day," which debuted at #24. This is by far the worst debut from a winner's initial post-Idol single, coming in a whole nine spots lower than Jordin Sparks's "This Is My Now," which debuted at #15 back in 2007. Lee also saw three other tracks debut on the Hot 100, as "Hallelujah" came in at #44, "The Boxer landed at #88 and his duet on "Falling Slowly" entered at #66.

Finishing just one spot behind "Beautiful Day" was Carrie Underwood's "Undo It," which improved 34 spots to #25 after jumping 14 spots from #73 on the previous chart. Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me" continued to decline, as it was off six spots to #35 after falling only one spot on the previous chart.

And Crystal Bowersox had just two songs make it into the Hot 100 (including "Falling Slowly"), as her lead single "Up to the Mountain debuted at #57.

Full chart positions courtesy of Billboard are posted below:

Hot 100 (6/12/10)
24 -- Lee DeWyze, "Beautiful Day"
25 59 Carrie Underwood, "Undo It"
35 29 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
44 -- Lee DeWyze, "Hallelujah"
57 -- Crystal Bowersox, "Up to the Mountain"
66 -- Lee DeWyze & Crystal Bowersox, "Falling Slowly"
88 -- Lee DeWyze, "The Boxer"

Hot 100 (6/5/10)
29 28 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
59 73 Carrie Underwood, "Undo It"

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Poll of the week: "The Time of My Life" is coronation song of choice

It looks like IDOL LIVE readers still love their magic rainbows, as they selected David Cook's classic "The Time of My Life" as their favorite coronation song among all nine singles released by winners over the course of Idol's storied history with cheesy songs.

Cook, who has been able to shed the embarrassing lyrics despite having an actual radio hit with "Life," would probably appreciate the 31 votes cast in favor of the track, which enabled him to take 44% of all 69 votes cast over the past week.

Not surprisingly, "A Moment Like This" was runner-up in this competition, as the original coronation single by Kelly Clarkson nabbed 14 votes (20%), while Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" was right behind with 11 votes (15%).

The only real surprise was that "No Boundaries" didn't finish last. Kara DioGuardi must have worked pretty hard to vote five times, giving the track she wrote 7% of all votes cast. Less surprising was how badly Lee DeWyze's "Beautiful Day" performed, as it could only manage four votes (5%). The other four tracks were basically negligible.

In the latest edition of the poll of the week series, readers are asked who their choice to replace Simon Cowell as judge would be. You will have exactly six days to vote.

A Moment Like This 14 (20%)
Flying Without Wings 0 (0%)
I Believe 2 (2%)
Inside Your Heaven 11 (15%)
Do I Make You Proud 0 (0%)
This Is My Now 2 (2%)
The Time of My Life 31 (44%)
No Boundaries 5 (7%)
Beautiful Day 4 (5%)

Total votes: 69

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HITS estimates: 'Play On' #22 w/ 16.1k

Carrie Underwood continued to be queen of consistency with her latest album Play On, as it was the lone Idol-related album to make the cut on the most recent edition of HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart.

The album was actually in the green for the week, as a 37% boost fueled by Carrie's performances on the Idol finale were enough to excited 16.1k fans to purchase it. Play On was up 13 spots to #22 for the week.

There is a chance actual sales figures and chart positions courtesy of Billboard could be posted later in the week, so it might be worth looking out for if you're in the neighborhood.

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