It wasn't even a contest for the latest round of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series for 2010, as perennial favorite David Archuleta destroyed all eight fellow runners-up for the weeklong voting period.
Arch earned 545 of all 567 votes cast over the week, good for 100% (even though the poll itself says his total stands at 96% - something is obviously awry). Surprisingly, not even Adam Lambert's fans spent time on the poll. Let's see if Arch's fans can repeat in two weeks when he faces off in the champion series final against all other winners from each round.
In the next round (the second-to-last, by the way), readers will be asked which winner is their favorite of all nine seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Justin Guarini 1 (0%)
Clay Aiken 4 (0%)
Diana DeGarmo 2 (0%)
Bo Bice 2 (0%)
Katharine McPhee 4 (0%)
Blake Lewis 1 (0%)
David Archuleta 545 (96%)
Adam Lambert 4 (0%)
Crystal Bowersox 4 (0%)
Total votes: 567
Showing posts with label clay aiken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay aiken. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Poll of the week: Arch attacks rest of runners-up
Sunday, July 18, 2010
'Idol' odds 'n ends: Lee DeWyze performs "Hallelujah" on 'The View'
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Continuing in his "Idols Live!" tour-promoting mode, Lee DeWyze stopped by The View on Monday for a brief chat with co-hosts Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd in addition to an acoustic performance of "Hallelujah." Watch the segment below:
Lee didn't have much to say in the interview, but that's not surprising considering the questions he was fielded. Luckily, he delivered an alright performance to make up for it.
>Also on The View this week was Clay Aiken, who served as guest co-host on Tuesday's episode. Surprisingly, Clay "cussed" during a segment in which the ladies discussed spoiled children (or something to that effect). Watch Clay's exit interview in which he apologizes below:
The full episode can be viewed on ABC's website. Clay is planning to begin his "Timeless Tour" with fellow Season 2 alum Ruben Studdard on Fri., July 23 in Asheville, N.C., on which he will promote his new album Tired & True.
>Katharine McPhee promoted her work with the campaign being sponsored by ConAgra Foods and Feeding America on Friday's episode of On the Record with Greta Van Susteren on FOX News Channel. Watch the segment below:
In addition to talking about the campaign, Kat also said she will spend roughly three months putting together her upcoming yet-to-be-titled Christmas album, which she already began recording.
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Photos from the set of the shoot were released, however, showing that Kris' wife, Katy, is standing by to show him some support.
>David Cook posted one of his world famous vlogs this week to tease fans about his upcoming release. It basically consists of black and white shots of recording sessions in the studio. Watch the vlog below:
David sang roughly six seconds of a new track, which turns out to be David Hodges' "Hard to Believe."
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
HITS estimates: 'Play On' #24 w/ 16.1k
Play On was actually up one spot to #24 this week thanks to a strong night for Carrie at the 2010 CMT Music Awards last Wednesday. The boost, which was the result of Carrie's two big wins including Video of the Year and a scorching performance of "Undo It," upped the album's sales total by 16.1k copies, marking a week-to-week increase of 5%.
Having a less thrilling week on the chart was Clay Aiken's most recent cover album Tried & True, which was off 43% in its second week to an 11.3k take. On the chart side it was down #12-38.
Billboard will have official chart data for the Billboard 200 later in the week.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Flashback: Trenyce's "The Power of Love"
Back on Idol's second season, Trenyce was a serious contender for the title but was upstaged by more personable finalists like Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. Still, she was able to put together some strong showings, including her performance of Celine Dion's "The Power of Love" during Top 8 (Billboard No. 1s) week. Watch the performance below:
Simon might have called it "cabaret," but fans liked it enough to keep Trenyce around for a few more weeks.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
HITS estimates: 'Tried and True' #12 w/ 19.7k
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.
Friday, June 4, 2010
'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.
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.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 9 Results (4/7/10)
Tonight's results will either be very boring or very annoying (if the judges use their cursed "save" gimmick). Hopefully neither happen and we get some excitement going, but short of Rihanna performing "Te Amo," it doesn't look like that will be happening.
Also, word on the street is that Clay Aiken will be performing as well, but I'll believe that when I see him walk out onto the stage. Scratch that, David Archuleta will perform "Imagine" (ugh) and Jason Derulo will sing "In My Head."
To see who I predict will be leaving tonight, see here. Please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast, with coverage starting just prior to 9 p.m. ET.
Tonight's blogcast features the music of Alexandrea Lushington, Daughtry, David Cook, Felicia Barton and Haley Scarnato.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Poll of the week: 'Christmas From the Heart' top 'Idol' holiday release
The album took in 387 votes this past week, good for 69% of all votes cast. As expected, the next closest holiday album was Clay Aiken's five-year-old Merry Christmas with Love, which nabbed 129 votes (23%).
Also not surprising was the fact that no other Idol-related Christmas album included on the ballot came close to the two aforementioned ones, as third-place album My Kind of Holiday courtesy of Elliott Yamin came in at 4% with just 26 votes.
In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which Idol single from 2009 is their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Merry Christmas with Love (Clay Aiken) 129 (23%)
Christmas From the Heart (David Archuleta) 387 (69%)
Christmas (Kimberley Locke) 4 (0%)
It's Christmas (Mandisa) 0 (0%)
A Royal Christmas (Paris Bennett) 5 (0%)
American Christmas (Various) 1 (0%)
American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (Various) 1 (0%)
My Kind of Holiday (Elliott Yamin) 26 (4%)
My Christmas EP (George Huff) 0 (0%)
Total votes: 553
Friday, December 11, 2009
'Idol' alums flood Billboard's decade-end charts
Billboard this afternoon posted their top decade-end charts across all music genres, formats and artists, and there were plenty of Idol alums represented in the various charts. Not surprisingly, Kelly Clarkson had the most placements thanks to her successful Breakaway era, and Carrie Underwood followed closely behind with a bunch of rankings in multiple categories.
Although neither Kelly nor Carrie were named "Artist of the Decade" (that title went to Eminem), they each appeared further down the coveted chart along with Daughtry.
Full Idol selection from the charts below (courtesy of me):
Top Artists of the Decade
14 Kelly Clarkson
50 Carrie Underwood
90 Daughtry
Billboard 200 Artists of the Decade
042 Carrie Underwood
050 Kelly Clarkson
099 Daughtry
120 Clay Aiken
Hot 100 Artists of the Decade
09 Kelly Clarkson
65 Carrie Underwood
87 Daughtry
91 Jordin Sparks
Top Radio Songs Artists of the Decade
14 Kelly Clarkson
Top Digital Albums Artists of the Decade
09 Daughtry
Top Digital Songs Artists of the Decade
18 Kelly Clarkson
28 Carrie Underwood
35 Jordin Sparks
41 Daughtry
Top Adult Contemporary Artists of the Decade
06 Daughtry
Top Adult Pop Artists of the Decade
08 Kelly Clarkson
09 Daughtry
Top Country Artists of the Decade
10 Carrie Underwood
Top Pop Songs Artists
02 Kelly Clarkson
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Decade
38 Fantasia
Hot 100 Songs of the Decade
47 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
Top Radio Songs of the Decade
48 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
79 "Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson
87 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
94 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Top Digital Songs of the Decade
33 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
64 "My Life Would Suck Without You," Kelly Clarkson
67 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
96 "Tattoo," Jordin Sparks
99 "Crush," David Archuleta
Top Adult Contemporary Songs of the Decade
23 "The Time of My Life," David Cook
24 "Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson
26 "Home," Daughtry
Top Country Songs of the Decade
14 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
27 "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood
99 "Wasted," Carrie Underwood
Top Dance/Club Play Songs of the Decade
45 "Band of Gold," Kimberley Locke
Top Pop Songs of the Decade
06 "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson
07 "Because of You," Kelly Clarkson
16 "Behind These Hazel Eyes," Kelly Clarkson
50 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the Decade
08 "When I See U," Fantasia
63 "Truth Is," Fantasia
87 "Free Yourself," Fantasia
Top Ringtones of the Decade
57 "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
76 "No Air," Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown
Billboard 200 Albums of the Decade
014 Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
029 Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
048 Daughtry, Daughtry
132 Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
170 Measure of a Man, Clay Aiken
Top Digital Albums of the Decade
15 Daughtry, Daughtry
Top Christian Albums of the Decade
12 Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken
Top Country Albums of the Decade
01 Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
26 Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
Top Gospel Albums of the Decade
11 I Need An Angel, Ruben Studdard
Top Holiday Albums of the Decade
10 Merry Christmas with Love, Clay Aiken
Top Independent Albums of the Decade
39 Elliott Yamin, Elliott Yamin
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums of the Decade
51 Free Yourself, Fantasia
Some alums I didn't expect to see on here were David Archuleta, Elliott Yamin and Kimberley Locke, but it was nice to see them make the chart alongside the usual suspects. A full list of charts can be viewed on Billboard.com.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Poll of the week: 'David Archuleta' still favorite runner-up album
It was a wash in the most recent edition of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week, as readers far and away selected David Archuleta's debut album as the best among Idol runners-up.
David Archuleta stole the competition with 915 votes, or an astounding 93% of all votes cast. This was easily enought to claim the crown over second-place finisher For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert (39 votes, 3%).
Sadly, three albums by runners-up did not receive a single vote. The other three didn't receive enough votes to warrant a mention.
In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which post-Idol debut album from a fourth-place finalist is their favorite. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
'Justin Guarini' (Justin Guarini) 0 (0%)
'Measure of a Man' (Clay Aiken) 13 (1%)
'Blue Skies' (Diana DeGarmo) 0 (0%)
'The Real Thing' (Bo Bice) 9 (0%)
'Katharine McPhee' (Katharine McPhee) 6 (0%)
'Audio Day Dream' (Blake Lewis) 0 (0%)
'David Archuleta' (David Archuleta) 915 (93%)
'For Your Entertainment' (Adam Lambert) 39 (3%)
Votes so far: 982
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
HITS predix: Adam Lambert's 'For Your Entertainment' 210-230k
HITS Daily Double's one-day sales numbers have Adam Lambert's post-Idol debut album For Your Entertainment coming in above most industry expectations.
HDD is predicting Entertainment to pull in between 210-230k in its full seven-day launch period, bolstered most likely from Adam's controversial AMA performance on Sunday and the Black Friday buying bonanza that will happen the day after Thanksgiving. This would put him second to only Susan Boyle's debut LP among new releases, as HDD is expecting new albums from Lady Gaga and Rihanna to net in the 180-200k range.
This figure is fairly higher than my original prediction of 175k, but there's always a chance HDD could be overestimating based on first-day sales. Last year, David Archuleta's debut was overestimated by nearly 40k, while David Cook's album was overestimated by over 20k.
If these numbers hold for Adam, Entertainment will become either the second or third-highest debut week bow for an album from a runner-up, coming in behind debuts from Clay Aiken and possibly Bo Bice.
Be sure to check back on Friday for revised predictions.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
IDOL LIVE predix: Adam Lambert's 'For Your Entertainment'
In what will most likely be the second-biggest opening sales week for an album by an Idol alum this quarter, Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment hits store shelves for one of the traditionally biggest sales weeks of the year.
One thing that will help Adam greatly in his quest to move the most units possible is the media' fascination with him as a person. He is the most talked about finalist to ever grace the Idol stage, which has allowed him to snag some of the most coveted promotional outlets available including a high profile performance at tonight's American Music Awards. Other big appearances coming up include Good Morning America and The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday and Ellen on Tues., Dec. 1.
There are some causes for concern, however, as Adam's lead single "For Your Entertainment" has been shown no love at radio to this point and the track's sales have been much lower than anticipated. Similarly, Adam's "Time For Miracles" from the 2012 soundtrack fell drastically after opening with 46.5k downloads. When sizing these sales data up with Adam's post-Idol sales, which were noticeably below winner Kris Allen's sales on average considering the attention he had even back then, the question is raised as to whether Adam's hype will translate to transactions.
But the most important factor will be whether Adam's disc will be able to stand out from a crowded roster of competition. Despite the fact that Entertainment will literally catch the eyes of shoppers thanks to its colorful cover, it may have a tougher time convincing shoppers to spend their hard-earned cash when albums from more established acts like Tom Petty, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyonce, and popular newcomers like Susan Boyle and Jay Sean. Add in expectantly strong second week sales from albums like John Mayer's Battle Studies and there are plenty of options for music fans.
When all these factors are considered, Adam will probably have a healthy opening week that will be way ahead of past runners-up like Blake Lewis and Diana DeGarmo, but it will also most likely be below debuts from runners-up like Clay Aiken and Bo Bice. Therefore, I'm calling for Entertainment to open with 175k copies, coming in on the charts at #8.
For Your Entertainment will be out tomorrow and is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Poll of the week: Arch has fave album art among runners-up
In the battle between favorite post-Idol debut album cover art from a runner-up, one alum's artwork stood out above the rest.
Leading the way with 420 votes was David Archuleta's debut album, taking in 87% of the total votes cast over the course of the past week.
Far back in second place surprisingly was the cover art for Bo Bice's The Real Thing, which netted just 26 votes (5%). No other voting option was able to attain more than 5% of the total vote.
In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which Idol album release they are most looking forward to this holiday season. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Justin Guarini (Justin Guarini) 1 (0%)
Measure of a Man (Clay Aiken) 6 (1%)
Blue Skies (Diana DeGarmo) 3 (0%)
The Real Thing (Bo Bice) 26 (5%)
Katharine McPhee (Katharine McPhee) 12 (2%)
Audio Day Dream (Blake Lewis) 2 (0%)
David Archuleta (David Archuleta) 420 (87%)
For Your Entertainment (Adam Lambert) 11 (2%)
Total votes: 481
Sunday, October 4, 2009
'2012' soundtrack shooting up Amazon thanks to Adam Lambert's fans
It looks like Adam Lambert's fans are in it to win it. Considering news of Adam's song, "Time For Miracles," which will be featured on the upcoming soundtrack of Roland Emmerich's disaster film 2012, has been circulating for a while, it was no surprise the soundtrack's sales skyrocketed yesterday after being placed on Amazon.com for pre-order.
It is already #49 at the moment, marking two Adam-related albums in the Top 50 (Adam's upcoming studio album has been sitting at #1 for days). This kind of activity is eerily similar to the fan activity seen by Clay Aiken's fan base following his narrow loss to Ruben Studdard back in 2003. Moreover, these early indicators are giving good credit to the idea that first week sales of Adam's album will be monstrous. Is it possible that this soundtrack, which releases Tues., Nov. 10, could possibly debut at #1 and Adam's album follows suit two weeks later? Probably not, since most fans will opt to download the single via iTunes if it's available, but it could happen.
Additionally, "Miracles" will reportedly play during the end credits, and if it is the first song to play during the credits, it can be nominated for an Academy Award. Not sure it will be worthy of a nomination considering no one has heard it yet, but that's just something to keep in mind.
Whether or not Adam's fans will be able to sustain consistent sales after a huge opening is another question. But as for now, all systems are a go.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Poll of the week: Arch is the #1 No. 2
Keeping with the theme of Season 7's domination, David Archuleta's fans propelled him to a victory in IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series for the runner-up portion of the competition.
In fact, "competition" is not the right word to describe this week's voting round, as Arch netted 421 votes, or 89% of all votes cast in the poll. This figure was a little unexpected, and puts the 22 measly votes (4%) Adam Lambert received in the "whimpy" category.
No other contestant deserves a mention in looking at the results, as three took in 1% each and three failed to garner more than four votes. It is worth mentioning, however, that Arch will make one more appearance in the champion poll series of 2009, as he will be back in the finals beginning next Wednesday when we decide who will be the champion of all Idol finalists for the year.
In the last week before the final round of the champion series poll begins, the next installment asks readers which winner is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Justin Guarini 3 (0%)
Clay Aiken 5 (1%)
Diana DeGarmo 3 (0%)
Bo Bice 4 (0%)
Katharine McPhee 9 (1%)
Blake Lewis 6 (1%)
David Archuleta 421 (89%)
Adam Lambert 22 (4%)
Total votes: 473
Monday, July 27, 2009
Flashback: Clay Aiken's "Everlasting Love"
Clay Aiken is unquestionably the glory note king of the Idol franchise, but when it comes to fast-paced selections, he does not retain his same powerful singing mantra. Just refresh your memory by watching his performance of "Everlasting Love" during Top 9 week's disco theme:
As usual, Clay's up-tempo singing style pleased Randy, Paula and the guest judge of the week (this week, Verdeen White of the group Earth, Wind & Fire), but left Simon unimpressed. In fact, he used the "T word" to describe his reaction to the performance. Even though it was not his greatest moment, Disco Week was a good indicator for Clay of what genre was not the best choice for him.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Kris signs with Jive; Adam with RCA
The announcements came more quietly than in years past, but it was finally officially revealed that Kris Allen and Adam Lambert have signed with their Sony-BMG record labels. According to EOnline.com, Kris has signed with 19/Jive, while Adam has inked a deal with 19/RCA.
As for what kind of music Kris will be recording for his forthcoming album, he told EOnline:"I felt like I did exactly what I wanted to do on the show that I would want to do on a record," Kris said. "When I went on the show and did 'Ain't No Sunshine,' I felt that was the kind of stuff that I wanted to do—stuff that kind of moves people and has that feeling."
Adam mentioned his deal a little more nonchalantly, as the discussion du jour still seems to be revolving around his sexuality. Per Eonline:So coming in second place, do you have a record contract? Collaborating with anyone yet? You said you'd love to work with Lady Gaga, Madonna...
Yes, I do, with RCA. I can't say yet. I wanna keep [collaborators] a surprise, but we have some really great stuff in store.
The breakdown for Idol winners and runners-up and their post-show labels are as follows:
RCA: 8 (Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, Bo Bice, Katharine McPhee, David Cook, Adam Lambert)
Jive: 3 (Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta, Kris Allen)
J Records: 2 (Ruben Studdard, Fantasia)
Arista: 2 (Taylor Hicks, Blake Lewis)
Arista Nashville: 1 (Carrie Underwood)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Kris' and Adams' first week sales in comparison
Now that the debut week sales numbers for Kris Allen's and Adam Lambert's post-Idol singes are finalized, it's interesting to see where their data fit in the bigger Idol winner and runner-up picture.
Although it is a little difficult to accurately rank the numbers considering the differences in the sales releases, I did my best to come up with how things should look with Hot 100 peaks (and debuts).
Winners
1) Ruben Studdard, "Flying Without Wings / Superstar" - 286,000* - #2 (#2)
2) David Cook, "The Time of My Life" - 236,024 - #3 (#3)
3) Kelly Clarkson, "A Moment Like This / Before Your Love" - 236,000* - #1 (#52)
4) Taylor Hicks, "Do I Make You Proud / Takin' It to the Streets" - 190,147* - #1 (#1)
5) Fantasia, "I Believe / Chain of Fools / Summertime" - 142,141* - #1 (#1)
6) Kris Allen, "No Boundaries" - 134,458 - #11 (#11)
7) Carrie Underwood, "Inside Your Heaven / Independence Day" - 131,504* - #1 (#1)
8) Jordin Sparks, "This Is My Now" - 74,303 - #15 (#15)
*denotes only commercial singles counted
So as you can see, Kris' "No Boundaries" comes in at #6 among winners' debut single sales, with only Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven / Independence Day" and Jordin Sparks' "This Is My Now" coming in behind it. Now, as indicated above, some singles are only including commercial single sales (aka physical copies), which makes things a little tricky. If digital sales are combined, we'd see Carrie's "Inside Your Heaven" at 170,528 total single sales, and Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud" would be at 228,418. But the reason I did not include those is because they do not take the digital sales for "Independence Day" and "Takin' It to the Streets" into consideration.
Runners-Up
1) Clay Aiken, "This Is The Night / Bridge over Troubled Water" - 393,000* - #1 (#1)
2) Adam Lambert, "Mad World" - 114,763 - #19 (#19)
3) Bo Bice, "Inside Your Heaven / Vehicle" - 108,158* - #2 (#2)
4) David Archuleta, "Imagine" - 71,178 - #36 (#36)
5) Blake Lewis, "You Give Love a Bad Name" - 70,133 - #18 (#18)
6) Diana DeGarmo, "Dreams / Don't Cry Out Loud / I Believe" - 65,000* - #14 (#14)
7) Katharine McPhee, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / My Destiny" - 47,394* - #12 (#12)
As for the runners-up, Adam's highest-selling track, "Mad World," actually stands at #2 when compared to the other six singles' debut week sales in the same manner. But if digital sales are included, Bo Bice's "Inside Your Heaven / Vehicle" has a total of 121,423 downloads, which puts him ahead of Adam.
On the Hot 100 side of things, Kris has the second-lowest debut on the chart for any winner (only ahead of Jordin's "This Is My Now") and Adam's highest-charting single is also the second-lowest debut for any runner up on the chart (ahead of David Archuleta's "Imagine").
But there are plenty of other factors to consider when comparing the single sales from over the years. For example, the recent singles (seasons 6-8) have all been made available to download almost instantly after a winner was crowned, whereas the previous five seasons all had their commercial singles for winners and runners-up wait a few weeks before being released. Also, the formula that is used to determine how singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100 has changed since digital sales have become more important to the chart, which has put more of an emphasis on sales and in effect provided for a much bigger sample of competition for the more recent singles.
Another major factor that should be considered is pricing differences. When the third season's singles went for more than five dollars for three songs and even the other seasons that had physical singles saw price tags of over three dollars for two songs, it is hard to compare those with seasons 6-8 that had $0.99 (and a $1.29) downloads.
Back in the day when the commercial singles were must-have collectors items for any self-respecting Idol fan, the sales looked much more impressive, especially when compared to rival entries on the Billboard Commercial Single Sales chart. If they kept with the tradition nowadays, things might be in a similar situation, but it's also entirely possible that the advent of digital singles and necessity of having things instantly could have destroyed the novelty of having the CD singles.
Either way, it is interesting to see how the sales of these silly coronation songs have changed depending on the year and the Idol winner/runner-up.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Clay Aiken...not an Adam fan
As reported a few days ago, Blake Lewis was a big supporter of Adam Lambert when he was vying for the title of the eighth season's Idol champ. Another runner-up, however, has a completely different perspective on Adam, as Clay Aiken took time out of his busy day to blog about how he really feels about his fellow runner-up. Per his official fan club ClayOnline.com (courtesy of Gawker):This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire" and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him. Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can't imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all.
As you can imagine, Adam's fans are getting worked up over this, mostly because it kind of came out of nowhere. Clay also had this to say about Kris Allen:I never saw Kris sing on the show, but whether he was good or not is really relative. It's usually a matter of taste, right? But Idol is not always a matter of musical taste only. It's about the person you like. From what little I saw, Kris seemed likable.
And he wrapped up the entry with the following:But again, I feel that Ruben and I were fairly matched. We both had our detractors and negatives, but I feel we were both very worthy of being on that stage in that moment, and either of us would have been worthy of winning. The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were "real" people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.
Maybe he has a point, but coming from one of the most popular finalists this show has ever seen, Clay comes off as sounding like a whiny bitter Betty.
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