Showing posts with label beyonce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beyonce. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2009

Possible Jordin Sparks demo "Heaven" leaks

Even though Jordin Sparks just released her sophomore album Battlefield three weeks ago, there are already demos making their way onto the net with her name attached to them. One of these songs is "Heaven," which is said to have been written by Sam Watters, who also co-wrote "Battlefield" with Jordin and Ryan Tedder. Listen to the demo below:



Even though the song sounds like it would fit Jordin's vocals like a glove and would not look out of place on her latest album's track list, there are many reasons why she should not consider incorporating this song on a re-release of Battlefield, with the most glaringly obvious reason being the whole "Halo"/"Already Gone" controversy that involved Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and Tedder. There are even more similarities between this demo as is and "Halo," from the title to the clap track to the overused synths that shadow the vocals throughout the entire song, not to mention the generally "epic" sound.

If this is just some lame attempt to gain exposure for a song by attaching a well-know artist's name to it, then we have nothing to worry about. But if "Heaven" is in serious contention to be recorded by Jordin for an upcoming release, she should stay clear at all costs.

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Digital sales roundup: "Battlefield" #11 (7/31/09)

A controversy surrounding one song was responsible for a large surge in sales while other Idol-related tracks slipped a bit on the most recent edition of the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart.

Coming off her debut week, Jordin Sparks saw sales for her single "Battlefield" slide 24% to 76.8k, falling four spots on the chart to #11. After acquiring gold status last week, the song has now sold 620.9k.

Up next was Daughtry's "No Surprise," which continued its steady decline with an 18% sales decrease to 37.5k. Its was off nine spots to #35 and has now sold 580k downloads in all. The only Idol-related track to see positive movement on the chart, Kelly Clarkson's controversial "Already Gone," moved 17k in downloads thanks to a 252% sales increase, most likely caused by a combination of the song's music video release and the back and forth debate with Ryan Tedder that was sparked by comments Kelly made about the song sounding similar to Beyonce's "Halo," another Tedder track. It debuted at #100 on the chart and has sold a total of 101.6k to date.

And once again, David Cook brought up the rear with his "Come Back to Me," which sold another 10.4k despite a 23% drop in sales and a #120-151 slide on the chart. Its total now stands at 298k.

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

011 007 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 76,793 -24% 101,427 620,924
035 026 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 37,508 -18% 45,991 579,972
100 --- Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 16,993 252% 4,821 101,575
151 120 David Cook, "Come Back to Me" 10,445 -23% 13,495 297,997

Total sales are in bold.

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Track review: Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield"

Jordin Sparks’ hit streak will have little trouble staying alive thanks to the Ryan Tedder-penned-and-produced “Battlefield,” which helps the pop princess make a grand re-entrance to the active music scene. The single, which leads off Sparks’ yet-to-be-titled sophomore effort and marks the singer’s foray into the pop/rock arena, has many characteristics that will surely aid its chart potential.

Sparks takes a melancholy-sounding percussion heavy first verse to a rafter-raising chorus that serves as a rallying cry to awaken foot soldiers to help wage her war against love. The chorus is extremely catchy and although it features traits that link it to other Tedder tracks like Beyonce’s “Halo” like the repetition of “battlefield” (as opposed to the repetition of “halo” in the latter) it still has enough originality to stand alone as a credible track.

The highlight of “Battlefield” is without question the second half of the second chorus when she transitions to “guess you better go and get your armor” and the final chorus is epic when Sparks reaches up to the heavens with her upper register.

This single is not just great, it’s exceptional. From the lyrics to the production, Tedder shows that he is not just a songwriting flash in the pan. With the help of “Battlefield,” Jordin Sparks can expect an abundance of accomplishments with her upcoming album, and she will ultimately be victorious in this battle.

"Battlefield" will be available to purchase on iTunes beginning tomorrow.

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Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" leaks

Just two days before Jordin Sparks was set to premiere her new single "Battlefield" on Idol's results show, the track leaked on the internet. Take a listen below:



The song definitely has hit potential, as producer and writer Ryan Tedder is a pretty hot commodity at the moment. Although it does share a few traits with Beyonce's "Halo" at the chorus ("why does love always feel like a battlefield / a battlefield / a battlefield" vs. "I can see your halo / halo / halo / I can see your halo / halo /halo"), it can definitely stand on its own as a solid pop/rock track. What do you think of the single?

Edit: You can now listen "legally" over on Kiss 97.9 FM.

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Monday, April 20, 2009

Vonzell Solomon asks for help deciding on single

Season 4's third-place finalist, Vonzell Solomon, is calling on fans to help pick her new single based on four clips that have been posted on her official MySpace page. The four singles are "Rise Above," "D*I*R*T*B*A*G," "Gotta Boss" and "Bad Chick."

All four snippets sound like they have real potential, as their productions sound similar to what can be found in other R&B/Hip Hop tracks that are hot at the moment. In fact, they all sound like they could fit right at home on Beyonce's latest album, I Am...Sasha Fierce. Let her know which one you prefer by posting on her MySpace. IDOL LIVE actually thinks "D*I*R*T*B*A*G" has the most potential, and would suggest it as Baby V's new single.

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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

HITS estimates: Cook 108.6k, Arch 68.2k

In a traditionally healthy week for album sales, David Cook saw his album plummet while David Archuleta saw his rise modestly according to HITS Daily Double's estimates released today. Cook's self-titled major label debut fell #3-10, down 62% from last week's take with 108.6k copies.

Although this might seem alarming considering the week is supposed to be extremely healthy for music sales in general, the drop is in line with second-week drops of similarly large releases. To put it into perspective, Beyonce's I Am...Sasha Fierce dropped 50% from its opening last week, while Nickelback's Dark Horse decreased by 47%.

Arch on the other hand saw a slight increase in his debut album's take according to estimates, as David Archuleta rose 8% to 68.2k copies, placing it at #18 for the week.

Although both Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride and Jennifer Hudson's self-titled album appeared on the building sales chart before the final update, neither was able to finish in the Top 50.

Finalized figures from Billboard should be out by tomorrow night.

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Sunday, November 9, 2008

IDOL LIVE predix: 'David Archuleta'; 'David Cook'

The next two weeks are busy ones for Idol fans, as David Archuleta's debut album drops on Tues., Nov. 11, while David Cook's debut album follows a week later on Tues., Nov. 18. Both Davids will face stiff competition with the releases and may fail to enter the Billboard 200 chart in their respective first weeks.

Arch will square off against Taylor Swift with her sophomore effort Fearless, which surely will benefit from the release of four singles over the past month to iTunes, which has built up an even greater excitement factor attached to the release.

Cook, on the other hand, will have his own share of problems when his debut hits shelves alongside Nickelback's upcoming Dark Horse and Il Divo's The Promise, both of which have a legitimate shot at coming in at #1. And then there's Beyoncé, whose third album as a solo artist, I Am...Sasha Fierce, drops on the heels of her current hit "If I Were a Boy." To add to the mix, Dido drops Safe Trip Home, but should not be a threat.

Factoring in pre-sales that have been accumulated over the past few weeks, it looks like Cook's album has been able to bank more solely for the fact that it has been out a week sooner and it will have an extra week of pre-sales to work with. Arch's album is currently #20 on iTunes' Top 100 Albums chart and #7 on Amazon.com, while Cook's album is #23 on iTunes and #2 on Amazon.

There are also many different collectors' editions of the two albums, as Arch will have bonus tracks or a special poster for copies at iTunes, Walmart and Kmart, while Cook will have bonus versions available at iTunes and Walmart. Look for multiple purchases by fans as with every Idol release.

So after considering all of the above and the history surrounding album releases by Idol alums in the holiday season, look for big numbers for both. IDOL LIVE predicts David Archuleta will pull in 221k copies in its first week, landing at #2 on the Billboard 200, while David Cook will net 236k copies for a #3 debut on the Billboard 200.

Hopefully these predictions are lower than the actuals, but either way they would be very healthy debuts for both of them.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

RCA won't let "Light On" go out

Although many have already jumped what seemed to be the sinking S.S. "Light On," RCA Records is steadfast in its support of the single. A nice surprise for David Cook's fans was found on the main page of iTunes this morning, as a great big huge banner allowing fans to pre-order Cook's debut album was put front and center (or more like to the immediate right of center). It also can be found on the main page of the Pop section (this time on the immediate left).

The ability to pre-order the album and receive "Light On" as a bonus is a very smart move on the record company's part, and it is already proving to be successful. After hitting a low chart ranking of #98 on iTunes Top 100 overall songs chart on Oct. 19, "Light On" has rebounded to #38 at the present time, a 60-spot improvement in only two days. To add to the good news, Cook's album is already sitting at #6 on iTunes' Top 100 overall albums chart based on pre-sales alone, just one spot behind Beyonce's upcoming I Am...Sasha Fierce, which also hits stores on Nov. 18 and was made available for pre-order on iTunes today.

If this was RCA's plan all along, then it deserves credit especially considering its erratic behavior earlier this month. But it should be suggested that the label should have staved off the digital release of "Light On" until it was able to attain a substantial amount of airplay, and then add it as part of a special pre-order deal on iTunes. Be this as it may, playing Monday morning quarterback is pretty much futile at this point.

To add to things, the following was included in iTunes' "New Music Tuesday" e-mail sent out today:

"The Battle of the Davids" was one of American Idol's fiercest competitions ever, as David Cook ultimately outlasted his younger competitor to win it all. With his self-titled debut, the rock-oriented vocalist is out to prove that viewers made the right choice. Pre-order the album on iTunes and get the pre-order-only track "My Last Request" when the album is released on November 18 and the single "Light On" will begin to download immediately.
Way to put down the Archies, RCA.

But all that matters is that RCA finally has its act together, and combining this new approach with Cook's appearance as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 1, things are definitely looking up.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Track review: Arch's "Crush"

Debuting over a week ago on New York's flagship Top 40 radio station, Z100, David Archuleta's first post-Idol single, "Crush," has been making headway on radio. After only one day of airplay, "Crush" was able to debut on Billboard's Pop 100 (#93) and Pop Airplay (#57) charts. After taking one listen to the track, it is not hard to imagine why it has bad such preemptive success.

David Archuleta strikes first for the seventh season of American Idol with "Crush," a stylized mid-tempo about a subject 17-year-olds deal with on a regular basis.

"Crush," produced by Emanuel Kiriakou (Celine Dion, Taylor Hicks), starts out pretty generic, as Arch's "ooohs" swim in and out of the piano sequence and overused hand claps. But as he moves into the pre-chorus the song builds in excitement, as if the listener does not know what to expect, but knows it will be something big. Then guitar riffs introduce a melodic sugar fest accompanied by Arch's innocent vocals, leaving the target demographic feeling like they are floating through Candyland. The chorus resembles something JoJo would have put out in 2006, but the pop-rock and r&b elements mixed together keep "Crush" relevant.



Despite the many positive elements of the song, it is not without a few low spots. For example, there are a few songs that sound like they were ripped off for the sake of producing "Crush" together. The Stargate-esque drum beats in the pre-chorus could have been in any song they produced, whether it was Jordin Sparks's "Tattoo" or Beyonce's "Irreplaceable." And the chorus echoes many similarities to JoJo's "Too Little, Too Late."

David Archuleta did not win Idol. But the fact that he is under Jive Records' control should put his fans at ease, as "Crush" demonstrates that his career is on the right path.


"Crush" will be available at all major digital retailers on Tues., Aug. 12. Arch's album is scheduled for a Nov. 4 release.

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