Showing posts with label lady gaga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lady gaga. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 5 Results (5/5/10)

Before the night is through, we will have our final four contestants of Idol's ninth season. Can't you feel the excitement? Regardless of what you thought of last night's performances, it shouldn't be taken for granted that they were at least given a knowledgeable mentor to help guide them through Frank Sinatra's catalog of songs in the form of Harry Connick Jr. (I'm talking to you, Miley Cyrus).

In terms of guest performers, other than HCJ we get to look forward to a high profile, over the top showing by none other than Lady Gaga. She will perform her new single "Alejandro."

To see who I predict will be leaving tonight, see here. And as usual, please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast. Coverage starts just prior to 9 p.m. ET.



Tonight's blogcast features the music of Kady Malloy, Kelly Clarkson, Melinda Doolittle, Michael Johns and Ruben Studdard.

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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Kelly Clarkson included in DJ Earworm's "United State of Pop 2009" mashup

DJ Earworm's annual "United State of Pop" mashup single was posted on Sunday, which combines snippets of the Top 25 songs of the year as determined by Billboard from its Hot 100 chart. The 2009 installment, titled "Blame It On the Pop," includes portions of Kelly Clarkson's #1 single "My Life Would Suck Without You." Watch the video below:



The single is available as a free MP3 download at DJEarworm.com. Other songs included in the mashup include the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and "Boom Boom Pow," Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" and Jay Sean's "Down."

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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.

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Out today: Adam Lambert's 'For Your Entertainment'

Adam Lambert is the second Idol alum from the most recent season of the show to release an album as his For Your Entertainment looks to top the charts during what is traditionally the third-busiest shopping week of the year.

The album features Adam's lead single and title track "For Your Entertainment" in addition to tracks written by some big artists in their own right like "Whataya Want From Me" (P!NK), "Fever" (Lady Gaga) and "Pick U Up" (Rivers Cuomo of Weezer).

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Amazon.com - ($9.99) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($3.99) - Buy
Barnes & Noble - ($9.99) - Buys
Best Buy - ($9.99) - Buy
Buy.com - ($13.88) - Buy
CDUniverse - ($11.18) - Buy
iTunes - ($16.99 deluxe, $10.99 standard) - Buy: deluxe, standard
Sears - ($10.79) - Buy
Target - ($9.98) - Buy
Walmart - ($13.88) - Buy

The only version of Entertainment featuring bonus content is the deluxe edition on iTunes, which includes two bonus tracks ("Master Plan" and "Down the Rabbit Hole") and two "behind the scenes"video segments filmed during a photo shoot and in the recording studio.

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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.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

IDOL LIVE predix: Daughtry's 'Leave This Town'

Daughtry is no stranger to selling millions of albums. So will it really be a surprise to see the guys do well with the release of their sophomore album, Leave This Town, this week?

Of course not. In fact, an opening atop the Billboard 200 is all but assured, as the band's competition ranges from Yung Joc to Jessie James. The only question that remains is, how big will the album open at? Considering Daughtry's debut managed to sell 304k in its opening week back in November 2006, it would be a logical guess that this disc will do much, much better in its first week.

A good comparison could be the difference between Carrie Underwood's debut week sales for Some Hearts and Carnival Ride, which was 212k in the latter's favor (315k to 527k). One thing to considering, however, is the state of the economy at the moment, as well as the continuing decline of the CD. So do not go expecting the band to sell gold levels in its first week.

But the promotion has been top-notch, with Chris pulling in a lot of free publicity thanks to his recent acoustic cover of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and other appearances he's made. The album's first single "No Surprise" is not doing the best job in terms of building anticipation, but with special promotional deals like the one the band has with ESPN to play some of their songs throughout the month, that should be be enough to cancel out the disappointing chart performance of the single.

After all consideration, a first week take of 390k seems to be in store, which would be among the highest releases of the year. Although this estimate is on the conservative side, it does seem fairly realistic in light of how sales have been lately.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Chris Daughtry's acoustic cover of "Poker Face"

Chris Daughtry today surprised many when he posted his version of one of the biggest hits of 2009 - Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." Watch the acoustic performance below:



Chris alerted fans via his Twitter account earlier today, and immediately received positive feedback. Even Ryan Seacrest seemed to like it, as Chris tweeted the following:

Ryan Seacrest wanted to see some responses so thank u all!!!!! Glad u love it:)
Who knows, maybe Leave This Town could use another bonus track?

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Friday, April 17, 2009

'Idol' odds 'n ends: Fatnasia lands VH1 reality series deal

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

>It was announced the other day that Fantasia would be the latest Idol alum to star in another reality series following her stint on the show that made her famous. Fantasia will have VH1's cameras follow her around to film her life, with a premiere date tentatively set for early 2010. There does not seem to be a true plot for the show, just another "watch what this celeb does in their daily lives" kind of deal.

>Back to Bacharach and David, the latest musical to feature Diana DeGarmo as one of its main stars, premieres Sun., April 19, at The Music Box @ Fonda in Los Angeles, Calif. The show will run until May 17 and also features former Idol Season 6 Hollywood round contestant Tom Lowe.

>Katharine McPhee and her team introduced a contest that allows fans to submit splash designs for her official Web site. Watch Kat's vlog on Kyte.com regarding the contest below:



For complete rules and instructions on how to submit the designs, check here.

>Blake Lewis has been blogging for T-Mobile's Grammy Celebration Concert Tour. In his latest blog entry, dated April 14, Blake wrote the following about a show at San Francisco's Warfield:

Last night's GRAMMY Celebration Concert Tour Presented By T-Mobile Sidekick show was EPIC!! N.E.R.D. tore the house down. I've been waiting for years to see them and they did not disappoint. Two drummers on stage = huge sound! Natasha Bedingfield added her beautiful soul to the show right after N.E.R.D. and man! We've played a couple shows together and I have to say that this one, was the best I've seen. Her voice is too good. And her arrangements are killer! Super jazzy and sexy. Loved it.

I had fun playing at The Warfield. So much history and beauty. I think last night on a scale of 1 to 167 it was a 143. Hell yes!

Love, Peace and Beats.

Until next time.

BL

Blake will next travel to Boston on Mon., May 4, when he covers a show by Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga at the House of Blues.

>It was announced that Daughtry will participate in the Tampa Bay Rays' Summer Concert Series presented by Hess Express on Sat., Aug. 1. The concert will begin promptly following the game and will be free to all of its ticket-holding attendees. In other Daughtry news, Chris has now established a Twitter account.

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Analysis: Goodbye and caw! caw!

Megan Joy Corkrey was never going to win this season of Idol. Yes, she had the support of Kara and yes, she was unique. But when it came down to the bottom line, Megan had a few things working against here. For once, she is not a male, which the judges have been telling us from the very beginning would be a characteristic of this season's winner. Megan also couldn't dance, maybe not on a Danny Gokey level, but her movements on stage were just awkward to watch. And then there's the whole voice thing, something that was far from Megan's strong suit.

But when it came time to say goodbye last night, Megan was nothing but smiles and was accepting in her fate, making sure to tell her daughter that "momma's coming home" before she shed some tears during her goodbye video montage. The highlight of the episode was without a doubt her poking fun at herself by "caw! caw!"-ing about the stage, a reference to her ad-libbed phrase immediately following her performance of "Rockin' Robin" Top 13 week. She even flapped her wings a few times and got some chorus calls from the newly-decided top eight on the couches.

As for her little stand-off with Simon, she got what she deserved when he bluntly told her not to bother singing for her life because they were not going to use it on her regardless. Had she held her tongue earlier in the night and had not told Simon she "didn't care" what he had to say, they probably would not have been as up front about not saving her, but the reality is she was never going to be saved regardless so all it did was shave off a few seconds at the end of the show.

The other two members of the Bottom 3 were not surprising, but the way Ryan went about reading the results was just dumb. It's not even like he did one big "April Fools" joke by declaring one of the three groups of three was in fact the B3, he just kind of had them stand in those groups and then read the individual results. Maybe it could be conceived that his revealing of Matt's results were the closest thing to a joke, but that was more Matt assuming than it was Ryan pulling a good "gotcha!" out of his pocket.

As for the guest performers, one was boring while the other was lively. David Cook's first return to the Idol stage since winning back in May 2008 was nice, but his performance was really, really boring and blah. It's not his fault, because his next single is a weak song in general, but if he had sung something a little more lively it would have made a difference. He also officially received a plaque courtesy of 19E and RCA Records for his album going platinum, so all in all it was great to see Cook back again (even though the whole thing was pre-taped).

Then there was Lady Gaga. Many Idol viewers had no idea what she looked like before last night, only knowing her voice from hearing her #1 hits "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" on the radio. But after last night, few will forget her name or her face, which looked like that of a freaked-out mannequin at Macy's at the end of her performance. She could probably stand at Madame Tussuad's wax museum among the other figurines and no one would know it's really her.

But her performance was something else, as it went progressively downhill. It began with a haunting unplugged session with her right at a glass piano sounding very solid vocals-wise, then went into a crazy Britney Spears-esque, choreographed-to-the-brim spectacle complete with shadow dancers and bad vocals. She seems to be two entirely different people, or someone with a very bad case of bipolar disorder. Either way, the performance was no doubt miles more entertaining than Cook's.

As for the group performance, it appears enough brouhaha over the revelation that they are in fact lip-synched has died down to allow the finalists to return to their usual "live" performances, only the song selection mixed with less hectic choreography made the whole thing more watchable than usual. Scott still hasn't left the piano's side, but something tells me that's not going to change.

And then there was the whole reality portion of the show that has been a major letdown compared to what the producers were hyping the segments up to be. So we got to see Scott eating quadruple chocolate cake and Kris' commentary on what he thinks of the photographers asking him to make a "sexy face" during the shoots. So what? They were making it sound like we'd be watching Big Brother: Idol Style before the season started. I'm not complaining, because that would add a whole 'nother unnecessary component to the show, but still it's a bit annoying.

What was funny, though, was when they all were doing impersonations of each other. Allison's take on Danny singing "PYT" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel" were probably the most spot on, but Danny also did a good job going after Matt and Anoop had fun pretending to be Kris. Sure, they were probably rehearsed, but they were still great to see.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, I am now 0-5 with my original predictions because I had Kris going home originally. I was once again correct with my pre-results show predix, though, as I got it right that Megan would be flying home, but as for the B3 I had Scott in there over Allison. That makes me 2-5 in that predicting category.

The theme for next Tuesday will be songs from the Top 8's birth years, which means we'll probably be hearing a lot of British Rock and Journey. Caw! Caw!

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 9 Results (4/1/09)

Join us tonight as we blog during the results episode of the Top 9. Last night sure was something (and by "something" I mean something not very good), but tonight will probably be more exciting by a mile. Tonight's guest performers include a David Cook singing "Come Back to Me" in a pre-taped segment and a live performance of "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. The blogcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will last one hour.



Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Bo Bice, David Cook, Sanjaya Malakar, Michael Sarver and Jordin Sparks.

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

HITS predix: Kelly 50-55k

In its updated projections for the Top 10 albums posted yesterday, HITS Daily Double listed Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted as being expected to land at #6, down from #1 the previous two weeks.

It is tied with U2's No Line on the Horizon and Lady Gaga's The Fame, each of which are expected to pull in 50-55k copies for the week. There are no sales predictions from earlier in the week to compare Kelly's numbers with, but if they hold, it would mark about a 40% decrease, which shows stabilization following a 66%+ first to second week drop.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Track review: Kelly's "My Life Would Suck Without You"

Kelly Clarkson is back in her photoshopped form with the Dr. Luke/Max Martin instant hit “My Life Would Suck Without You,” out Fri., Jan. 16. Although she has temporarily left her ‘December’ style behind, Clarkson still knows exactly how to make a pop gem.

“Suck” does not present listeners with anything truly groundbreaking, lyrically (“either way I found out / I’m nothing without you“) or musically, but it does feature Clarkson’s signature toned vocals. Her vocals, though dressed up thanks to autotuning, blend well with the techno-rock composition of the song. The “Since U Been Gone”-like opening guitar chord and the “So What”-like chorus call originality into question but the catchiness of “Suck” cancels out those claims.

Where Clarkson really makes “Suck” her own is in the final chorus when she hits a few astronomically high notes. This is the artist that fans know and love and her return to the music scene after a few rough years is just what radio needed.

Kelly Clarkson may be traveling the commercially-friendly route right now, especially with the techno thing in style, but her spunk, tenacity and unparalleled vocals set her leaps and bounds ahead of the Katy Perrys and the Lady Gagas of the world. She will always be a role model for artists, and “My Life Would Suck Without You” is something special for that reason.

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