Is Simon Cowell worth $144 million a year?

A story that ran in today's New York Post reported that Simon Cowell has been offered triple to quadruple his current salary attached to Idol. Instead of the already staggering $36 million he made this past season, Simon could take a sum of $100-144 million per year if he chooses to stay on with the show once his contract expires in May. Per the Post:

To get more of the pie, he's been leaning on long-time friend and UK retail multibillionaire Sir Philip Green -- who owns hot fashion franchise Top Shop -- for help negotiating the terms of what would be a new "Idol" contract, reports say. Green is said to be lobbying hard for an increase in Cowell's appearance fee on the show.

Talk about a savvy business man. Someone close to Green added:

"This is about properly owning himself, Brand Cowell, everything he does, new formats and new programs, not just the ones starring him," a source close to Green told The Guardian.

Wow. $144 million. Per year. Nothing comes close in the world of television. Remember when it was big news that Katie Couric was making $15 million when she transitioned to CBS?

This is really disgusting on so many levels that he can potentially eat up 16% of the franchise's annual revenue ($900 million). But on the other hand, you've got to give Simon credit for knowing how to do business. The question is, will this be enough to keep him going?

Flashback: Carmen Rasmusen's "Call Me"

Carmen Rasmusen may not have been met with the same magnitude of a career in the country music realm like Carrie Underwood, but she similarly took on 80's rock back on her season of Idol when she performed "Call Me" by Blondie on Top 8 week for the Billboard #1 Hits theme. Watch the performance below:



Unlike Carrie, Carmen fell flat on her face with her attempt at the genre. In fact, Simon called it a combination of "dreadful" and "awful," which was still a big sting back in Season 2. Still, Carmen's performance remains one of the most memorable from her season.

'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #55 (7/4/09)

It was just another summer week on the Billboard Top 200 chart for the chart week of July 4 for entries by Idol alums.

Once again, Carrie Underwood kicked things off with her current album Carnival Ride coming in at #55 for the week, down two spots from the previous week. The album sold 9.6k copies for the week, up 2% in sales and has now sold 2.905 million copies in all.

The original winner, Kelly Clarkson, was up next with her latest disc All I Ever Wanted, which declined 8% in sales and slid #56-62. The album has moved 621.4k in all including the additional 8.6k it generated this past week. Kellie Pickler's sophomore CD Kellie Pickler was up by 14% in sales and 11 spots to #69. It sold 7.8k for the week and 249.1k in all.

David Cook's self-titled effort followed at #74, down two spots and up 3% from the previous week and sold 7.6k in the period. Its total now sits at 1.184 million. Another Idol rocker, Daughtry, saw its freshman album shoot up 23% sales-wise 12 spots on the chart to #89. Its weekly take was 6.3k and its total is now 4.473 million.

A pair of compilation albums featuring Katharine McPhee were also found on the Billboard 200 for the week, as Chris Botti's Chris Botti Live In Boston fell #109-118 and David Foster's Hit Man re-entered the chart at #197. The albums sold 4.9k and 2.9k and now have totals of 112.3k and 206k, respectively.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of tsw2008 on Pulse as follows:

055 053 Carie Underwood - Carnival Ride 9,621 2% 9,455 2,904,627
062 056 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 8,642 -8% 9,436 621,371
069 080 Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 7,752 14% 6,817 249,070
074 072 David Cook - David Cook 7,561 3% 7,369 1,184,095
089 101 Daughtry - Daughtry 6,267 23% 5,095 4,472,976
118 109 Chris Botti - Chris Botti In Boston 4,891 7% 4,569 112,284
197 --- Various Artists - Hit Man: David Foster... 2,887 11% 2,593 205,957

Total sales are in bold.

'Idol' odds 'n ends: FOX to rebroadcast Top 13 Michael Jackson episode Monday

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

>Cat Deely announced during last night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance that FOX will be rebroadcasting the Top 13 episode of Season 8, during which the theme was the songs of Michael Jackson. The two-hour episode will air in its entirety at 8 p.m. ET on Mon., June 29.

>Syesha Mercado is following in Jennifer Hudson's footsteps (sort of), as she has landed the role of Deena Jones for the upcoming national tour of the musical Dreamgirls (Jennifer played the role of Effie White in the film adaptation of the musical). The tour will kick off at the Apollo Theatre before embarking on its tour. Per Playbill:

Performances will begin at the Apollo Nov. 7 with an opening scheduled for Nov. 22. The limited run will play the Harlem venue through Dec. 6

The tour will visit the following cities: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, Columbus, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Costa Mesa, Cincinnati, Philadelphia.

>Speaking of Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar and Grammy winner was featured in a six-page spread in the July 2009 issue of Elle magazine. Excerpts of her interview with the magazine can be found below:

On being the youngest of three:
“I was the biggest baby. Even now, I find people younger than me babying me.”

On her faith:
“It only gets stronger. Otherwise, I would lose my mind. I always look at things two ways: through my human eye and then through a spiritual perspective. Everything happens for a reason, and God is in control of everything. My favorite hymn is ‘How Great Is Thy Faith in Him?’ And ‘Precious Lord’—who doesn’t love ‘Precious Lord’?”

On her mother’s encouragement:
“Anything she said I could do, I ended up doing. She’d say, ‘You know, I think you could be an actress, Jenny—you can act!’ And I was like, ‘Mama, whatever.’ And then I turn around and win an Oscar!”

The issue is currently available to purchase on newsstands everywhere.

>Daughtry will perform today at Donauinselfest in Vienna, Austria. The annual free music concert will also feature the bands Core, Zweitfrau and My Excellence among others.

The photo to the right is of Chris and the boys doing a sound check prior to the concert and is courtesy of Katrinsgoodiebag.se.

>The current OK! magazine features a 17-page spread dedicated to the hottest country singers out there at the moment, and naturally both Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler are included. Two facts about the artists are:

1. Carrie Underwood has been playing softball for nine years.

5. Kellie Pickler attributes her good calves to wearing stilettos, especially ones from Christian Louboutin.

6. Pickler also hates sleeping on other people’s mattresses.

The issue is now available on newsstands nationwide.

Remembering Michael Jackson

Following the untimely death of the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, it is important that we honor the single biggest solo male artist of all history. It was just this past season in which an entire theme dedicated to his music catalog was included, as the Top 13 performed some of his biggest hits.

Watch the group performance of the Jackson 5 medley including "I Want You Back" and "ABC" below:

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Although there were persistent rumors that Michael would in fact appear as a guest performer, mentor or judge over the course of Idol's lifetime, it never happened.

'Idol' Hot 100: "I Do Not Hook Up" #25 (7/4/09)

Things are getting tighter on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for singles by Idol alums as evidenced by the entries for chart week of July 4.

Leading the way once again was Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up," which slipped one spot to #25. Her veteran hit, "My Life Would Suck Without You," however, took an amplified fall to #48, down from #46 the week before. Next up was Jordin Sparks, whose single "Battlefield" had an impressive 15-spot advance to #31, showing that its run to the top of the chart is far from over.

Also climbing in the rankings was Daughtry's "No Surprise," which had a three-spot gain to #45. Kellie Pickler's single "Best Days of Your Life" was one spot behind after growing #50-46, and David Cook's "Come Back to Me" rounded out the Idol representation by staying at #75 for the second week in a row.

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

Hot 100
25 24 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up"
31 46 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
45 48 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
46 50 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life"
48 36 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
75 75 David Cook, "Come Back to Me"

Poll of the week: MJ doesn't hold back in champion series

Unsurprisingly, another seventh-season finalist was crowned as the winner of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series when readers were surveyed on which eighth-place finalist of all eight seasons they prefer.

Michael Johns, who saw his post-Idol album Hold Back My Heart hit store shelves yesterday, took home 40 of the 62 votes cast in all, good for a whopping 64% of the total vote count.

Following was behind in second place was Bucky Covington with seven votes (11%), who is the most successful eighth-place finisher to date. And this past season's Scott MacIntyre was only able to nab six votes (9%).

In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 7th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

A.J. Gil 0 (0%)
Rickey Smith 1 (1%)
Jon Peter Lewis 6 (9%)
Nadia Turner 0 (0%)
Bucky Covington 7 (11%)
Haley Scarnato 2 (3%)
Michael Johns 40 (64%)
Scott MacIntyre 6 (9%)

Total votes: 62

Digital sales roundup: "Battlefield" #21 (6/19/09)

Once again, Jordin Sparks was the Idol queen of the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart with her single "Battlefield," which saw a nice advance from the previous week.

"Battlefield" increased in sales by 41% to 54.6k, which launched it forward by 10 spots to #21. It has now sold 240.6k downloads since being released. Also seeing a healthy dose of positive movement on this week's chart was Kellie Pickler's single "Best Days of Your Life," which sold 38.4k and was up #37-35. The single, which was up in sales by a 15% margin, has now officially gone gold with 513.5k sold to date.

Up next was Daughtry's single, "No Surprise," which similarly experienced a 15% uptick in sales to 36.8k downloads. The song was also up two spots to #38 and has now received 336.3k legal downloads. Although Kelly Clarkson's single, "I Do Not Hook Up," sold a comparable 36.6k downloads, it was actually down 5% in sales and seven spots in the rankings to #39. It has sold 444.5k to date and should go gold in the next few weeks.

And David Cook's "Come Back to Me" rounded out the Idol representation at #91, down four spots from the previous week, selling 17.8k downloads. Up 4% from the previous week, the seventh season's winner's single has now sold 215.7k in all.

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

21 31 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 54,566 41% 38,678 240,590
35 37 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 38,393 15% 33,374 513,474
38 40 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 36,817 15% 32,036 336,738
39 32 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 36,631 -5% 38,504 444,469
91 87 David Cook, "Come Back to Me" 17,786 4% 17,120 215,668

Total sales are in bold.

Pre-order Daughtry's 'Leave This Town' on iTunes, hear "Back Again"

The deluxe edition of Daughtry's forthcoming release, Leave This Town, can now be pre-ordered on iTunes. The $12.99 collection includes 15 songs, counting the bonus tracks "What Have We Become" and "Still You On the Inside," as well as the pre-order bonus track "Traffic Light." The music video for "No Surprise" will also be bundled with the offer.

Also, the B-side of the UK version of the band's single "No Surprise" was revealed to be "Back Again," which can be listened to below:



This sounds much more like the Daughtry fans have come to know and love, and is a good indication of what we can expect for the finished product. Leave This Town is set to drop nationwide on Tues., July 14.

Out today: Michael Johns' 'Hold Back My Heart'

Today marks the day of the fourth post-Idol release of an LP for a Season 7 alum, as Michael Johns' Hold Back My Heart hits shelves and online music retailers' sites nationwide. The album, which is released courtesy of Downtown Records, features 12 songs including the James Morrison-penned "Heart On My Sleeve."

Also out today is Brooke White's second single "Radio Radio," which is off her forthcoming album High Hopes & Heartbreak, due out Tues., July 21.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Albums
Michael Johns, Hold Back My Heart

Amazon.com - ($11.99) - Buy
Barnes & Noble - ($10.49) - Buy
Best Buy - ($13.99) - Buy
Buy.com - ($10.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99) - Buy
Overstock.com - ($13.29) - Buy
Target - ($11.99) - Buy
Walmart - ($10.00) - Buy

Singles
Brooke White, "Radio Radio"
iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Michael's single "Heart On My Sleeve" is currently nearing the Top 20 at Adult Contemporary radio and he will perform a set at the Central Courtyard at Hollywood & Highland on Thurs., June 25 at 7 p.m.

We Are the Fallen releases single amid tech difficulties

Carly Smithson's new band, We Are the Fallen (previously known as The Fallen), today released its much anticipated debut single "Bury Me Alive" as a free download on its official Web site to the first 100,000 subscribers of their newsletter. The only problem: the downloads were not sent to subscribers. Hear it straight from Carly's mouth below:

Overwhelming Response to 'Bury Me Alive'


In the meantime, fans can hear the single on the band's official music MySpace page.

Album review: Michael Johns' 'Hold Back My Heart'

Australian-born soul/rock artist Michael Johns becomes the fourth ‘Idol’ alum of the show’s seventh season to release a full-length album since wrapping up the competition. This album, titled ‘Hold Back My Heart,’ is a collection of soul/rock fusion that is something many fans have been longing for every since Johns was eliminated in eighth place.

Not to miss out on a chance to kick off the disc with a commercial appeal, Johns introduces audiences to ‘Heart’ with “Heart On My Sleeve,” the album’s first single. The life and soul poured into the James Morrison-penned tune is undeniable, and there’s a sense of catchiness that gives it a current feeling.

On the rousing “Feeling Alright,” Johns does a great job on making lyrics fit the musical accompaniment to a T. The use of subtle background vocals throughout the track complement his own distinguished vocals and give the song a three-dimensional feel. Another up-tempo track, “Fire,” is a platform on which Johns is able to incorporate the soul of yesterday, only everything is ratcheted up on the groove scale.

“Little Bear,” also in the throwback soul vein, similarly uses brass instrumentation to add intensity to the song, and it echoes in the memory of memorable hits like Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

Johns also tries his hand at the art form of covering, as his rendition of The Bee Gee’s “To Love Somebody” finds itself on ‘Heart.’ The throwback soul sound meshes surprisingly well with the rest of the album’s tracks. Another ballad, “It’s Too Late,” has a certain radio-friendly sound that gives it the possibility of working as a single in the future.

On “Mountains,” Johns uses imagery and symbolism in the lyrics to stress the song’s story (“I got high in your mountain / I was lost in your valley / I was washed into your ocean / and the tide rolled up I feel my heart stop beating”) and he brings out a signature growl beginning in the pre-chorus and staying with the rest of the song.

The album’s title track, “Hold Back My Heart,” is a relatively low-key R&B ballad that doesn’t really go anywhere until the bridge, where an emotional guitar solo totally breathes life into the song and pushes Johns to gush more effort into the vocals as well.

The weakest track on ‘Heart’ comes in the form of “This Is Goodbye,” as the ballad is nice and sweet but pretty lifeless and sounds like it could have appeared on Matchbox Twenty’s latest album. Another song that is on the dull side is “Heart Is Weak." Even though it builds to an inspiring finale, it feels a bit unoriginal when compared to the rest of the album’s tracks.

But the album‘s highlight does not come until its fifth song. “Fool’s Gold” is a more relaxed sounding, classic R&B track that allows Johns’ weathered vocals to impact the listener as if they were to just hover over the patrons of a lonely bar like a cloud of cigar smoke. The ending of the song is the icing on the cake and really brings out a rock edge, turning “Gold” into a completely different animal.

To finish off ‘Heart,’ Johns gives a heartfelt performance on “Turn to You” and relies heavily on an acoustic sound to support the story of a girl that helps him make it through the day. This is the ideal way for him to close the door on this chapter of his career.

Although the style of music found on ’Hold Back My Heart’ is not exactly what some fans pictured it to be, Michael Johns does not disappoint with the variety of material he has come up with here.

Hold Back My Heart can now be purchased at Amazon.com.

Flashback: LaToya London's "Don't Rain On My Parade"

The early favorite to win the whole thing back in Season 3, LaToya London, was prematurely eliminated during Disco week, finish in fourth. One week earlier, LaToya gave her most memorable performance since her "All By Myself" launched her into the Top 12, as she took on "Don't Rain On My Parade" as one of her selections for Big Band week in the Top 5. Watch the performance below:



This performance was a little out of character for LaToya, which is in part why it worked so well for her. Instead of her usual power ballads, LaToya was able to step out of her comfort zone and win praise from all the judges, including Simon giving her a "10 out of 10," which is something rare in and of itself.

IDOL LIVE predix: Michael Johns' 'Hold Back My Heart'

Following in the footsteps of David Cook, David Archuleta and Kristy Lee Cook, Season 7's eighth-place finalist Michael Johns will release his first post-Idol LP, Hold Back My Heart, on Tuesday.

Although Michael is a veteran of the music industry and has had to deal with many of its aspects, both positive and negative, this is without a doubt the most crucial release of his career to date. Therefore, the 12-song Soul/Rock album courtesy of Downtown Records will see its performance on the charts be subjected to a good amount of scrutiny.

But in this era of poor CD sales, Michael should not put too much thought into his album's first week numbers, and should instead focus on touring and spreading the word about his music. But without any major television appearances planned nor a substantial amount of airplay for his current single, "Heart On My Sleeve," it appears that a debut week take of 16k sounds about right for Michael. This will earn him somewhere around #22 on the Billboard 200 chart.

'Idol' BB 200: 'Carnival Ride' #53 (6/27/09)

A depleted roster of albums by Idol alums was found on the Billboard Top 200 chart for the chart week of June 27, as a few older entries found themselves off the chart while the rest seemed to continue their slides.

For the first time in a long time, Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride led the pack with another 9.5k copies sold, falling #47-53 thanks to a 10% sales dip. Its total now stands at 2.895 million.

Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted was up next at #56, falling 11 spots from the previous week. Its weekly take of 9.4k was the result of a sales decrease of 11% and adds to its total for a current sum of 612.7k. Another winner, David Cook, followed with his self-titled album, which was also down in the count by 6% and off nine spots to #72. David Cook sold 7.4k copies, putting it at 1.177 million.

Kellie Pickler was in a league of her own, though, as she saw her self-titled album advance #81-80 and rise 3% in sales to 6.8k copies for a total of 241.3k. Look for an even bigger take thanks to her performance at the CMT Music Awards earlier this week. Although Daughtry's album slipped a scant 4% sales-wise and four spots chart-wise to #101, it still moved an additional 5.1k for a total of 4.467 million.

Another album that saw a sales gain this week was Chris Botti's Chris Botti In Boston, which was up #125-108 on the chart and 12% in sales, leading to a weekly take of 4.6k. It has sold 107.4k copies to date.

And Ruben Studdard rounded out the Billboard 200's Idol representation, as his latest effort Love Is was down a hefty 40 spots to #187 and 22% in sales to 2.9k copies, presenting him with only 26.6k copies to date. Look for the album to disappear on the chart next week.

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

053 047 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 9,455 -10% 10,473 2,895,006
056 045 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 9,436 -11% 10,655 612,729
072 063 David Cook - David Cook 7,369 -6% 7,878 1,176,534
080 081 Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 6,817 3% 6,618 241,318
101 097 Daughtry - Daughtry 5,095 -4% 5,319 4,466,755
108 125 Chris Botti - Chris Botti In Boston 4,569 12% 4,093 107,393
187 147 Ruben Studdard - Love Is 2,863 -22% 3,654 26,574

Total sales are in bold.

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Carly Smithson to front new band The Fallen

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

>Carly Smithson will serve as the lead singer of a new start-up band consisting of three former members of Evanescence (Ben Moody, and a bassist that worked with Kelly Clarkson and Disturbed. Per the original article by Brian Mason of USA Today:

"This all happened by accident," says Smithson, who sang Evanescence's Bring Me to Life during the 2008 Idols Live tour. She's friends with Moody's housemate, Monique Morrison. "I met him once or twice (at the house) before the band thing," says Smithson, who had been working on a solo project.

The Fallen will release its first single, "Bury Me Alive," on their official Web site (WeAreTheFallen.com) on Monday and plan to release songs individually over the course of the next year and a half before working on an album.

>People magazine's 10th annual "Hottest Bachelors" edition was revealed this week, and a certain Idol runner-up made the cut. Adam Lambert was named as one of the hottest bachelors alive. Upon hearing the news, Adam said:

"Am I really? I'm not hot!" Adam Lambert responds in disbelief when Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell reveals the news that he is listed on People magazine's 10th annual list of Sexy & Single Men in 2009. He, however, quickly adds, "That's pretty cool. That's really cool."

The current issue of People is now available on newsstands everywhere.

>Another runner-up was in the news this week, but for more negative reasons. David Archuleta's father, James Jeffrey Archuleta, was nabbed for solicitation of a prostitute at a massage parlor back in January in Midvale, Utah. Archuleta's attorney, Erik Bauer, responded to the news:

“He did not go there for sex and that was it and pure, plain and simple that’s the way it was,” Bauer said. “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s a good man and we hope this story won’t cause his family any embarrassment.”

The services reportedly cost $582, so it seems that Arch Sr. asked for the works.

>Chris Daughtry appeared on FOX Business Network's America's Nightly Scoreboard on Tuesday to promote his band's forthcoming album Leave This Town. Watch the interview below:



Chris discussed the diversity of the music found on Leave This Town and responded to a question regarding the possibility of attempting to do musical theatre in the future, saying that he's thought about it and has done some acting (like the 100th episode of CSI: NY) but he is solely focused on music at this point.

>Fantasia did a photo shoot with Derek Blanks. More photos from the shoot can be seen here.

Fantasia will next return to the musical The Color Purple as Celie, only this time she will be joining the national tour for its Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles dates. The tour currently stars Fantasia's fellow Season 3 alum LaToya London. In addition to the tour, Fantasia will have the chance to reprise the role of Celie on the silver screen when she begins filming later this year.

Jordin Sparks' 'Battlefield' track list, "S.O.S." demo leak

As the release of Jordin Sparks' sophomore album Battlefield looms only one month away, little bits and pieces of information surrounding the release have been dropping every few days. The latest tidbit is the album's track listing, which was yesterday unearthed over on the Sony Music store's Web site. The full 12-song list is as follows:

>01) Walking On Snow
02) Battlefield
03) Don't Let It Go To Your Head
04) S.O.S (Let The Music Play)
05) It Takes More
06) Watch You Go
07) No Parade
08) Let It Rain
09) Emergency (911)
10) Was I The Only One
11) Faith
12) The Cure

Based on the track list, it looks like Jordin will really be taking a more mature musical route with titles such as "Faith" and "Walking On Snow." Some people have already picked up on the album's third track, "Don't Let It Go to Your Head," which was also the title of a single released by Canadian singer FeFe Dobson back in 2005.

Also uncovered was an unconfirmed demo of a song titled "S.O.S (Let The Music Play)" that names Jordin as the artist. Although it is definitely not her singing on the demo, the song does seem to fit the bill of one of the tracks that could find a home on the album. Listen to the demo below:



Odds are Jordin wouldn't be caught saying the word "bitch" (at least not yet) in one of her songs, so there was probably some editing that took place in the second verse. Although the song has hit potential, it seems that Jordin's effort of sampling 80's hits (see Rihanna's "S.O.S.," Flo Rida's "Right Round" and Kristinia DeBarge's "Goodbye") and sharing titles with a couple of recent hits (again, see Rihanna's "S.O.S." and The Jonas Brothers' "S.O.S.") comes off a little stale. But of course judgment should be reserved until the finished product is ready to be listened to.

Although Battlefield only has 12 songs included on the standard version of the album, it was earlier reported by Seventeen magazine that the iTunes (and most likely the deluxe) versions of the album will feature two bonus tracks.

Battlefield will be released on Tues., July 21 and can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

'Idol' Hot 100: "I Do Not Hook Up" #24 (6/27/09)

There was a mix of positive and negative movements for tracks by Idol alums on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the chart week of June 27.

Once again, Kelly Clarkson owned the Top 2 Idol-related tracks on the chart, with "I Do Not Hook Up" serving as the leader of the pack at #24, down four spots from last week, and "My Life Would Suck Without You" down nine spots to #36.

Next up was Jordin Sparks, as her current single "Battlefield" saw a nice climb of 19 spots to #46 thanks to a video release and increases in sales and airplay. Coming right on Jordin's heels was Daughtry and the band's latest single, "No Surprise," which was up three spots to #48.

And Kellie Pickler rounded out the Idol representation on the Hot 100 according to data made public, as her hit country single "Best Days of Your Life" was down two spots to #50, but should see more gains by next week's chart thanks to a performance at the CMT Music Awards on Tuesday.

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

Hot 100
24 20 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up"
36 27 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
46 65 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
48 51 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
50 48 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life"

'Idol' auditioner Joey Homza ejected from Gillette

A few news items of come out of last weekend's Idol auditions in Boston. Besides the fact that the weather was awful and only 7,000 hopefuls showed up to sing 10 seconds worth of a song, one Joey Homza made the news for an entirely different reason (one might say a ridiculous reason).

Okay, instead of trying to explain the situation, hear what the UConn undergrad has to say in his own words:



So if it's true that Idol never stated that handing out cards was prohibited, Homza is probably owed an apology for not even being issued a warning. Who can blame him for wanting to entertain his fellow auditioners while waiting in the damp and soggy bleachers of Gillette?

Either way, it seems that he got exactly what he wanted out of the experience, so it's probably no big deal. Still, it will be interesting to see if he gets any TV time out of his escapade.

Poll of the week: Ramiele takes the 9th-place prize no contest

For the third week in a row, a Season 7 alum has been deemed the winner of the IDOL LIVE poll of the week for its championship series. This comes as a bit of a surprise, especially considering the strength of Megan Joy Corkrey's fan presence in polls held during the most recent season.

Ramiele Malubay led things off with 33 votes, good for 50% of the entire take for this round. Megan was up next with 15 votes (23%), which was a little bit weaker than expected as noted above. The only other alum worth mentioning is Mandisa, whose nine votes earned her 13% of the poll's total.

In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 8th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Jim Verraros 0 (0%)
Corey Clark 0 (0%)
Camile Velasco 2 (3%)
Nikko Smith 1 (1%)
Mandisa 9 (13%)
Gina Glocksen 5 (7%)
Ramiele Malubay 33 (50%)
Megan Joy Corkrey 15 (23%)

Total votes: 65

LaToya London promotes 'The Color Purple' in Boston

Currently in Boston starring in the national tour of Oprah Winfrey's Broadway musical The Color Purple, LaToya London today made the rounds on local morning shows to promote the show. She first appeared on FOX 25 Morning News. Watch the interview below:



In the chat, LaToya talked about how surprised she was with how the audience reacted to the preview show held last night. She said The Color Purple is a part of history and she is so proud to be a part of the production.

LaToya also appeared on New England Cable News (NECN), where she talked about what the show means to her and what she's been doing since Idol. Watch the interview below:



The Color Purple will run at the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston until Sun., June 28. Tickets can be purchased at CitiCenter.org.

Digital sales roundup: "Battlefield" #31 (6/12/09)

For the first time since the chart week of May 15, Jordin Sparks ruled the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart with her current single "Battlefield" when comparing all charting songs by Idol alums.

"Battlefield" sold 38.7k for the week, charging ahead 38 spots to #31 and improving on last week's take by 71%. It has sold 186k in all. Next up was Kelly Clarkson, who saw her "I Do Not Hook Up" slip 6% to 38.5k, coming in just below "Battlefield" at #32. It was down one spot from last week on the chart and can now boast of a 407.8k total.

Coming in at #37 was Kellie Pickler's "Best Days of Your Life," which held steady at #37 and saw a negligible decline in sales. Its weekly take of 33.4k puts its total at an impressive 475.1k, and should see a nice bump in sales thanks to a performance at last night's CMT Music Awards.

Daughtry followed with "No Surprise" at #40, up two spots from the previous week, with a 6% sales hike to 32k downloads. It has sold just shy of 300k. David Cook's "Come Back to Me" advanced #93-87 thanks to a 3% sales increase to 17.1k and now has a total of 197.9k.

And finally, David Archuleta saw his two new singles "Zero Gravity" and "A Thousand Miles" from his "Fan Pack" EP enter the chart at #180 and #183, respectively, selling an almost identical 8.4k and 8.2k.

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

031 069 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 38,678 71% 22,651 186,024
032 031 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 38,504 -6% 41,078 407,838
037 037 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 33,374 0% 33,471 475,081
040 042 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 32,036 6% 30,293 299,921
087 093 David Cook, "Come Back to Me" 17,120 3% 16,546 197,882
180 --- David Archuleta, "Zero Gravity" 8,361 999% 0 8,361
183 --- David Archuleta, "A Thousand Miles" 8,240 999% 0 8,240

Total sales are in bold.

CMT Awards wrap-up: Kellie performs "Best Days of Your Life"

The 2009 CMT Music Awards were a little lackluster this year thanks to a familiar face at these kinds of events skipping out on the festivities, as Carrie Underwood opted to join her mother on a mini-vacation rather than attend the show. But there was still plenty of Idol to go around at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Although she came up empty handed in the "Female Video of the Year" for her "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" music video, Kellie Pickler was quite a presence at the awards show. After appearing onstage with Randy Jackson to present the award for "USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year," Kellie returned to perform her current hit single "Best Days of Your Life." Watch the performance below:



Before the show even started, though, Kellie turned up in the opening pre-taped sketch between host Bill Engvall and Taylor Swift, which involved Swift and Kellie colliding in the hallway before the show and landing on the floor. Watch the bit below:



The biggest honor of the night, "Video of the Year," went to Swift's "Love Story."

Also in attendance was Bucky Covington, but he was merely a spectator this time around. The awards show was broadcast live concurrently on CMT and CMT.com.

'Idol' alums nominated for Teen Choice Awards

As certain as the sun will rise and Ryan Seacrest will tell people they are safe, the Teen Choice Awards are once again returning to FOX this August. And, as usual, Idol alums dominate the list of nominations.

This year, the most interesting category to watch will be the "Male Reality/Variety Star" category in the TV section, where both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are nominated. This is interesting, as the category is usually reserved only for the Idol winner. Adam received one other nomination in the "Red Carpet Icon - Male" category in the Other Stuff section, which he will easily win in.

Another rather interesting observation in terms of Idol effects is the "TV: Personality" category, which features two personalities from Idol (Simon Cowell and Ryan) and two from America's Best Dance Crew, which is produced by Randy Jackson.

But the Idol alum to score the most nominations is David Archuleta, as he is up for "Music: Breakout Artist," his single, "Crush," is up for "Music: Love Song" and his tour with Demi Lovato is nominated for "Music Tour."

See a full list of Idol-related nominees below:

TV: Reality Competition
America's Best Dance Crew
Dancing With The Stars
American Idol
America's Next Top Model
The Bachelor

TV: Personality
Ryan Seacrest - American Idol, E!
Simon Cowell - American Idol
Tyra Banks - America's Next Top Model
Lil Mama - America's Best Dance Crew
Mario Lopez - America's Best Dance Crew

TV: Male Reality/Variety Star
Kris Allen - American Idol
Brody Jenner - Bromance
Adam Lambert - American Idol
Ryan Sheckler - Life of Ryan
Rob Dyrdek - Fantasy Factory

Music: Single
Miley Cyrus - The Climb
Britney Spears - Circus
Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Music: R&B Artist
Beyonce
Jaime Foxx
Jennifer Hudson
Ne- Yo
T- Pain

Music: Breakout Artist
Asher Roth
David Archuleta
David Cook
Kid Cudi
Lady Gaga

Music: Love Song
Crush - David Archuleta
Halo - Beyonce
How Do You Sleep - Jesse McCartney
Love Story - Taylor Swift
Lovebug - Jonas Brothers

Music: R&B Track
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A ring On It)
Jennifer Hudson - If This Isn't Love
Kanye West - Love Lockdown
Ne-Yo - Mad
Soulja Boy Tell 'em Featuring Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone

Music Album Female Artist
Carnival Ride - Carrie Underwood
Fame - Lady Gaga
Fearless - Taylor Swift
I am… Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
One Of The Boys - Katy Perry

Music Album Male Artist
Relapse - Eminem
We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things - Jason Mraz
David Cook - David Cook
808s and Heartbreak - Kanye West
Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne

Music Tour
Jonas Brothers
Britney Spears
Demi Lovato/David Archuleta
Taylor Swift
American Idol Tour

Other Stuff Red Carpet Icon - Male
Justin Timberlake
Adam Lambert
Jonas Brothers
Zac Efron
Kanye West

The 2009 Teen Choice Awards, hosted by The Jonas Brothers, will be broadcast on Mon., Aug. 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Voting runs from now until Aug. 1 and is open to anyone between the ages of 13-19 (or anyone who says they're between this age range).

HITS estimates: All 'Idol' albums fall out of Top 50

There was not a single Idol-related album to appear on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart. This is the first time this year that an Idol alum has failed to chart in the Top 50 of this chart.

Earlier in the day, when the results were at 69.42%, Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride was at #33 with 7.5k, while Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted was at #48 with 4.8k copies sold.

Hopefully next week is a different story. But either way, final and complete figures courtesy of Billboard should be out by Thursday.

David Cook talks with Larry King about his brother's death

David Cook last night stopped by Larry King Live for a somber chat about his brother Adam's death and the legacy he would like to live on among other things. Watch the first part of the interview below:



Cook said he has a great family and has been able to surround himself with great people, from his label execs all the way down to his fans. He said Adam maintained his sense of humor all the way to the end and his illness never defined him.

He also talked about being a part of the finale for Season 8, and how it was a lot less stressful than last season's. He also said he "was but wasn't surprised" about Kris Allen winning over Adam Lambert and that he was flattered when Adam told Rolling Stone that Cook was responsible for paving the way for his artistic abilities to perform on the show.

Watch parts two and three of the interview, where Cook discusses his his show with David Archuleta in The Philippines last month, his tour and what he might want to do with his career in the future.

Boston auditions wrap-up and a few potential future contestants?

After a rainy day of auditions at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., 7,000 Idol hopefuls are either reeling in the excitement of getting the go-ahead for the next round of auditions in August or are returning to school or work wallowing in their disappointment after being cut in the first round.

Ryan Seacrest was there to brave the New England weather, naturally, and offered words of wisdom. Per an article from The AP:

Host Ryan Seacrest said the bad weather may have been a plus for contestants since it likely reduced the field of competitors. "If you're auditioning, you want pouring rain, you want freezing weather," Seacrest said. "It makes the weak stay home."

His advice: Show up, sing well, move on.

Boston.com actually has a slide show of photos from yesterday up and even identifies a few people that will return in the second round. They include:

>Ed Wiles, 28, Revere, MA ("Lonely Teardrops" by Jackie Wilson)
>Christy Castillo, 21, Lawrence, MA ("I Remember" by Keyshia Cole) [pictured above, left]
>Corey Amaral, 20, Rochester, NY ("I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz)
>Katie Ryan, 16, Millville, MA ("Dream On" by Aerosmith) [pictured above, right]

There was also a video montage produced by Michael Saunders of The Boston Globe of hopefuls singing in the rain while waiting to show the producers what they could do with their vocal weapons. Watch (and listen) to the auditioners below:



Auditions next travel to Atlanta, Ga., where the Georgia Dome will play host tomorrow and Wednesday.

Flashback: Gina Glocksen's "I'll Stand By You"

Gina Glocksen, the resident rocker chick of Season 6, had a few performances featuring heavy guitars and intense vocals, but her softer side was exhibited more often than not throughout the season until her departure Top 9 week. The most memorable of these performances came the week before she bowed out, when she tackled The Pretenders' classic "I'll Stand By You" for the "No Doubt/Artists who inspire Gwen Stefani" theme. Watch the performance below:



Gina's vocals were stunning, which set it apart from her previous showings, yet she was able to maintain her distinct look. The whole package did not come off as poser-ish, which Gina ran the risk of having happen.

Katharine McPhee talks about her upcoming music video shoot

Katharine McPhee sat down with Billy Johnson, Jr., of Yahoo! Music's Video Ga Ga blog, for a quick chat about her upcoming music video shoot and the "Get In The Act" sweepstakes that goes along with it. Watch the short interview below:

Katharine McPhee Video Interview on Set @ Yahoo! Video

It seems that the studio in which Katharine spent the day was an Idol alum hot spot. Per the blog post from Friday:

I hung out with Miss McPhee at a West Los Angeles recording studio this week to talk about the video shoot. Coincidentially, current Idol winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert happened to be in the same recording studio.

The "Get Into the Act" sweepstakes will run until Mon., June 22. Future music video star hopefuls can still enter at KatharineMcPhee.com.

'Idol' alums give auditioners advice

Ahead of tomorrow's big Season 9 auditions kickoff in Boston, a few Idol alums have been giving their two cents on how to improve their chances of standing out to producers and advancing through the rounds to a possible appearance in front of the judges.

Felicia Barton, who made the Top 36 in the eighth season, dedicated an note entry Tuesday on her Facebook profile to giving advice for this year's hopefuls, writing in part:

3. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it thru...be prepared to leave and have to possibly come back as long as a month later...that's how it was for me....also if you make it thru the first round realize that seeing the judges is still a few rounds away....and they may or may not happen that day!

Ayla Brown, another semifinalist, was interviewed about the audition process by The Boston Herald, and gave insight into how the process goes:

“Once you finally get to where you sing for the first time, you are in groups of four and there are about 15 tents set up inside the stadium,” Brown recalled. “They herd you inside and you sing in front of a producer, about 10 or 15 seconds of a song, then you step back. When everyone has sung, they say, ‘You, you, you, you’re gone.’ I was the only one in my group of four who made it through.”

Another semifinalist from the Boston area, Nick Pedro, offered advice in a column that today appeared in The Herald News from Fall River, Mass.

1. Pick the “right” song.
The downfall of all too many would-be Idols. What makes a song the correct choice? Something that fits your voice and that you’re comfortable singing. Choose a song that you’re familiar with and that properly showcases your vocal ability and style. For example, if you’re a bass baritone country singer, perhaps Mariah Carey’s latest isn’t for you. Also, the National Anthem makes for a fantastic anthem, but as an audition song, not so much.

As expected, one of the top cautions for auditioners from alums is the topic of song choice. Auditions for the show's ninth season kick off tomorrow at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and will take place in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando and Denver later this summer. For more information, visit AmericanIdol.com.

'Idol' odds 'n ends: 'Rock of Love' cast performs at Tony Awards

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

>The cast of Rock of Ages, which includes Constantine Maroulis, took to the stage last Sunday at the 63rd Annual Tony Awards ceremony, which aired live on CBS. Watch the troupe's performance of "" below:



Although the musical received a total of five nominations at the ceremony, included one for Constantine in the "Leading Actor in a Musical" category, it went home empty-handed.

>Jordin Sparks' official album art for her upcoming LP release Battlefield was revealed Wednesday when it was uploaded to the album's page on Amazon.com, where it can be pre-ordered. The cover has been generating mostly negative buzz, with many fans taking umbrage with its similarity to other recently album covers (mainly Jesse McCartney's Departure and Alicia Keys' As I Am.

>Carrie Underwood participated in the 19th Annual City of Hope Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge on Wednesday to kick off the annual CMA Music Fest in Nashville, Tenn. Carrie came up with an RBI double for her team, named "Grand Ole Opry," which helped the team defeat itc challengers, the "After Midnite" team. Other country music stars that competed in the game include Darius Rucker, Jimmy Wayne and Julianne Hough.

>Ahead of their sophomore album's release, the guys from Daughtry made the cover of the latest issue of Billboard magazine, which hit newsstands today. Below is a snippet from the article:

The album was a perfect storm of the commercial and the creative that paired Daughtry's gigantic fan base from "American Idol" with the set's instantly winning "Guitar Hero"-worthy guitar riffs and lyrics. The group's second album, "Leave This Town," set for release July 14, gets a leg up from this foundation; it's another record full of songs that make you want to roll down the car windows and bust a vocal cord or two while trying to match Daughtry's gravelly wail. But there's one key change to the music: Daughtry—the band—created this album, instead of it being the work of Daughtry the brand.

"So much of the focus of the launch of the first record was on Chris," RCA senior VP of marketing Aaron Borns says. "But they really are a band. When a band clicks the way they do, they work with such a good energy. It just comes through that they love what they do."

Leave This Town is due out July 14 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

>Danny Noriega has debuted his official new music video for the single "24/7." Watch the video below:



This thing took off on Wednesday thanks to a post on Perez Hilton's Web site, which led to subsequent post all over the net. One thing's for sure, Danny knows how to market himself and take advantage of news cycles.

'Idol' BB 200: 'All I Ever Wanted' #45 (6/20/09)

The Idol representation on the Billboard Top 200 chart for the chart week of June 20 was not as strong as it was the previous week, but there was still a good showing among alums.

Once again, Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted was first with 10.7k copies sold, down 8% in sales and four spots on the chart to #45. It has finally passed the 600k mark, totaling 603.3k. Following Kelly was the other really famous and successful winner, Carrie Underwood, as her Carnival Ride slipped 5% to 10.5k, signaling a two-spot drop to #47. It has sold 2.886 million in all.

David Cook was up next with his self-titled offering, which slid 26% to 7.9k for the week. It was down #46-63 on the chart and now has a total take of 1.169 million. And then Kellie Pickler's sophomore album actually saw a sales increase by 11% and a two-spot advance to #81. Its weekly cume of 6.6k has placed its total at 234.5k.

Next up was Daughtry's self-titled album, which continued to chug away with another 5.3k copies sold for a total of 4.462 million. It was down 19 spots to #97 and fell 16% sales-wise. Chris Botti followed with his live album Chris Botti In Boston, which slipped one spot to #125 and was up 5% to 4.1k for the week. Its total now stands at 102.8k.

Continuing its downward trend was Ruben Studdard's latest album Love Is, falling 46 spots to 147 and selling 3.7k for the week thanks to a 24% decrease in sales. After just a few weeks of release, the album has posted total sales of 23.7k. Jennifer Hudson followed with sales of her self-titled album reaching a new total of 741.7k. For the week, the album's sales were 14% lower to 3k copies and it was down 30 spots to #166.

The only eighth season alum to have an album featured on the Billboard 200 this week was Adam Lambert, whose collection of Idol studio recordings crumbled #52-181 and collapsed 71% in sales to 2.8k for three week total of 28.1k. And the original cast soundtrack recording of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, which features Constantine Maroulis, debuted at #193 with 2.6k.

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

045 041 Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted 10,655 -8% 11,620 603,293
047 045 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 10,473 -5% 10,991 2,885,551
063 046 David Cook - David Cook 7,878 -26% 10,709 1,169,165
081 083 Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 6,618 11% 5,985 234,501
097 078 Daughtry - Daughtry 5,319 -16% 6,304 4,461,679
125 124 Chris Botti - Chris Botti In Boston 4,093 5% 3,907 102,824
147 101 Ruben Studdard - Love Is 3,654 -24% 4,811 23,711
166 136 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 3,022 -14% 3,504 741,659
181 052 Adam Lambert - Season 8 Favorite Performances 2,787 -71% 9,597 28,104
193 --- Various Artists - Rock of Ages (Original B'way Cast) 2,631 -% --- 2,631

Total sales are in bold.

Gene Simmons says Adam Lambert "should shut up"

While out promoting the fourth season of his A&E reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Gene Simmons had some choice words for Adam Lambert centered around his recent tell-all with Rolling Stone.

When asked about is thoughts on the latest runner-up while being interviewed on Philadelphia's FOX affiliate's Good Day Philadelphia morning program, Simmons had this to say:

"Mostly he should shut up about his sexual preferences. We, America, the rest of the world, really don't care," Simmons said. "I mean, if the story becomes 'I prefer farm animals to,' you know, who cares?"

Watch the exchange below:


Gene also went on to say something about a governor and a little puppy when discussing KISS' Idol finale performance with Adam. But he didn't have just negative things to say. He also said Adam is:

"great and has a lot of talent," adding that "he's got a future if he wants sing in Queen or be on Broadway."

If Adam were smart, he would shrug these comments off and not make any rebuttal statement. It will be interesting to see how he addresses this, if at all.

Poll of the week: Chikezie champ of 10th-place finalists

For the second week in a row, the seventh season's representative for the IDOL LIVE poll of the week was victorious, as Chikezie took home the gold in a hardly competitive field.

Chikezie pulled in 17 votes (34%) of the 49 total votes in this round, which was a full seven votes ahead of Amy Adams' 10 votes (20%). The only other contestant to merit mentioning this week was Chris Sligh, who garnered eight votes (16%).

In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 9th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Ejay Day 0 (0%)
Julia DeMato 2 (4%)
Amy Adams 10 (20%)
Jessica Sierra 4 (8%)
Lisa Tucker 4 (8%)
Chris Sligh 8 (16%)
Chikezie 17 (34%)
Michael Sarver 4 (8%)

Total votes: 49

Allison Iraheta second S8 alum signed to Jive

Although she was only the fourth Idol finalist left standing this past season, Allison Iraheta is now the third alum to sign a recording contract from the eighth season. It was today made public that the fiery-haired rocker girl is the newest member of the 19 Recordings/Jive Records family, joining Kris Allen as the two latest Idol alums to appear on label's roster (Jordin Sparks and David Archuleta were each signed following their placings on their respective seasons).

The following is an excerpt from a post on People.com's "TV Watch" blog:

Barry Weiss, the CEO of RCA/Jive label group also commented on Iraheta, who is the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants and lives in Downey, Calif. “Her bluesy, powerful voice, spunky attitude, and edgy star power immediately captivated us and it didn’t matter where she ranked on Idol,” he said in the statement, “we knew we wanted her to join our amazing crop of young talent at Jive.”

So, this leaves a sort of elephant in the room, as everyone has been picking up on the fact that second runner-up Danny Gokey has yet to be offered a record deal. While it would be a semi-shock for Danny to not get signed, it's more debatable as to whether or not 19E or a Sony-BMG umbrella label will bite at the chance to scoop him up. If this is the case, wait for an announcement to come many weeks from now.

'Idol' Hot 100: "I Do Not Hook Up" #20 (6/20/09)

It was another semi-uninteresting week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in terms of Idol-related content, as all Season 8 alums saw their entries drop out of sight for the chart week of June 20.

Kelly Clarkson led things off with her current single, "I Do Not Hook Up," which leap-frogged her other charting song, "My Life Would Suck Without You." The former moved up six spots to #20, while the latter slid three spots to #27.

Next up was everyone's second-favorite blonde country singing Idol alum, Kellie Pickler, whose "Best Days of Your Life" jumped back into the Top 50 thanks to an eight-spot advance to #48. Daughtry followed right behind at #51 with "No Surprise," which improved from #58 the previous week.

Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" also saw positive movement on the Hot 100, as the single received a 13-spot boost to #65. With a newly-released music video, expect an even higher position on next week's chart. And David Cook rounded things out with "Come Back to Me." The song was up #77-73 for the week.

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

Hot 100
20 26 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up"
27 24 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
48 56 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life"
51 58 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
65 78 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
73 77 David Cook, "Come Back to Me"

Digital sales roundup: "I Do Not Hook Up" #31 (6/5/09)

After two weeks of gigantic sales numbers for digital tracks by Idol alums (including the eighth season's crop of artists), it seems that things have settled down according to the most recent edition of the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart.

Kelly Clarkson was the default leader of Idol-related singles, as Kris Allen and Adam Lambert both witnessed their three entries that were last week ahead of Kelly's "I Do Not Hook Up" crumble by wide margins to way below the aforementioned song. "Hook Up" slipped 4% to 41.1k for a total of 369.3k, falling one spot to #31.

Next up was another Kellie, Kellie Pickler, to be exact, with her current single "Best Days of Your Life" at #37, seeing a nine-spot jump from the previous week on the heels of a 6% sales climb. It took in 33.5k downloads for the week and has now totaled 441.7k.

Daughtry was a few spots behind with its latest offering, "No Surprise," which was up #47-42 despite a 4% sales dip to 30.3k downloads. It now stands at 267.9k. Jordin Sparks, on the other hand, saw an increase in sales by 12% and was accompanied by a 14-spot rise to #69. The single, which is finally showing signs of life, saw another 22.7k tracks downloaded and can now claim a total of 147.3k.

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

31 30 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 41,078 -4% 42,757 369,334
37 46 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 33,471 6% 31,572 441,707
42 47 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 30,293 -4% 31,541 267,885
69 83 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 22,651 12% 20,258 147,346

Total sales are in bold.

HITS estimates: Kelly 10.8k, Carrie 10.6k

It was an exclusive club on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart, as two female winners were the only representatives of albums by Idol alums on the chart for the week.

Kelly Clarkson was up first with her album All I Ever Wanted, which fell a minor three spots to #43 with another 10.8k copies sold. It was down only 7% from its take the previous week. Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride was the only other Idol-related album to chart this week, as it decreased only 2% sales-wise and was down #43-45 in the rankings. Its weekly take was 10.6k.

Full numbers courtesy of Billboard should hopefully be out either tomorrow or Thursday, as the figures will include a much more extensive look at how alums' albums are faring in the lower rungs of the chart.

Adam Lambert, snake, butterfly make cover of 'Rolling Stone'

The long awaited cover story of Adam Lambert and his coming out party for Rolling Stone won't officially hit newsstands until this Friday, but the publication's Web site put up the cover and a few highlights from Adam's interview for an early teaser. After months of empty speculation, people no longer have to stress out over his sexuality. In fact, this is the most obvious outing of an Idol since, well, Clay Aiken's People cover story last year.

Read an excerpt below from the recap RS published on its site earlier today:

The flamboyant Idol singer hits our cover and bares all, talking about his childhood (”I started to realize I wasn’t like every other boy,” he says), the drug-fueled Burning Man epiphany that led him to AI (”I realized that we all have our own power, and that whatever I wanted to do, I had to make happen,” he tells RS) and his run on the show (”I was like, ‘I’m going to glue rhinestones on my eyelids, bitch!’ “). And yes, he talks about his sexuality. “Right after the finale, I almost started talking about it to the reporters, but I thought, ‘I’m going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler,’ ” he tells us. “I didn’t want the Clay Aiken thing and the celebrity-magazine bullshit. I need to be able to explain myself in context.

But as many will undoubtedly try to use his coming out for political reasons, Adam clearly wants to move ahead with his career:

“I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader,” he says.

Joining Adam on the extremely glammed up cover (shot by Matthew Rolston) are a strategically placed green snake and butterfly, which are pretty unnecessary and play into the boundary-pushing that can come off as feeling cheap and tasteless.

There is also video of a behind the scenes look at Adam and his photo shoot with RS, which can be read along with the rest of the summary of the article on the magazine's Web site.

For the full scoop, be sure to check out Rolling Stone's issue out Friday.