Cook, who has been able to shed the embarrassing lyrics despite having an actual radio hit with "Life," would probably appreciate the 31 votes cast in favor of the track, which enabled him to take 44% of all 69 votes cast over the past week.
Not surprisingly, "A Moment Like This" was runner-up in this competition, as the original coronation single by Kelly Clarkson nabbed 14 votes (20%), while Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" was right behind with 11 votes (15%).
The only real surprise was that "No Boundaries" didn't finish last. Kara DioGuardi must have worked pretty hard to vote five times, giving the track she wrote 7% of all votes cast. Less surprising was how badly Lee DeWyze's "Beautiful Day" performed, as it could only manage four votes (5%). The other four tracks were basically negligible.
In the latest edition of the poll of the week series, readers are asked who their choice to replace Simon Cowell as judge would be. You will have exactly six days to vote.
A Moment Like This 14 (20%)
Flying Without Wings 0 (0%)
I Believe 2 (2%)
Inside Your Heaven 11 (15%)
Do I Make You Proud 0 (0%)
This Is My Now 2 (2%)
The Time of My Life 31 (44%)
No Boundaries 5 (7%)
Beautiful Day 4 (5%)
Total votes: 69
Showing posts with label no boundaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no boundaries. Show all posts
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Poll of the week: "The Time of My Life" is coronation song of choice
Friday, July 17, 2009
'Idol' odds 'n ends: 'Idol' scores two Emmy noms
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>The nominations for the 61st Emmy Awards were yesterday morning announced in Los Angeles, and Idol once again was nominated in the "Outstanding Reality-Competition Program" category alongside Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef and, of course, The Amazing Race. This is the series' seventh nomination since the category was introduced in 2003.
Ryan Seacrest also received a nom for "Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program." The category is in its second year after being awarded to Survivor's Jeff Probst last year. The Emmys will air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS on Sun., Sept. 20.
>Melinda Doolittle saw her exclusive dance remix EP of her single "It's Your Love" quietly released to iTunes on Tuesday, as it was overshadowed by major Idol releases from Daughtry and Brooke White. Per Melinda's official newsletter that alerted fans to the news:The soulful and moving song "It's Your Love" gets reworked by some of the hottest remixers/DJs in the world, including Jason Nevins, Mike Rizzo, and Smashmode, to create a pulsating rendition of the song that will be sure to get everyone out of their seats. The EP features three club versions of each track, as well as two radio remixes and a free bonus copy of the original music video for the song.
The newsletter also stated that the radio remix done by Jason Nevins will be sent to Top 40 radio at the end of July.
>Playbill.com announced that Diana DeGarmo will be joining the cast of the off-Broadway musical The Toxic Avenger on Fri., Aug. 14. In a statement, Diana said the following of the show:"I am so excited to be coming back to New York to join the cast of The Toxic Avenger. When I saw the show, I laughed my head off. I can’t wait to start rehearsal – and to be blonde again!"
Diana will star as Sarah, a "sexy blind librarian" for at least three months. The show plays at New World Stages in Manhattan.
>SketchedOutTV.com, the ridiculous brainchild of Justin Guarini and Shaun Ingram, had its latest vlog posted yesterday. The vlog, titled "Sketchy Blog #3," features Justin and Shaun talking about putting our fires and something about a fish. Watch the vlog below:
A GIF of a pad of paper tackling a pair of scissors talking to two girls titled "Pad's Revenge!" was also posted. Who needs to sing for a living when you can post this kind of stuff on the net?
>Kris Allen will no longer be performing his atrocious "corny-n"ation song "No Boundaries" on the "Idols Live!" tour. According to an article posted on LATimesBlogs.com's "'Idol' Tracker":
Reviews of Season 8's finale show widely trashed the victory number and the chilly reception has followed "Boundaries" onto the road. In reviews of the tour, "Boundaries" has been singled out as a misstep, generating a tepid crowd response compared with the other numbers.The song that Kris has chosen to replace "No Boundaries" is The Killers' "All These Things That I've Done," which he premiered at the Sacramento show on Fri., July 10. Watch the performance below:
The tour's producers have been listening to the sound of few hands clapping. Starting tonight in Sacramento, "No Boundaries" will be disappear from Allen's set, according to sources with the production.
The tour will next stop in Ontario, Canada, where the Top 10 finalists will perform at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Digital sales roundup: "No Boundaries" #8 (5/29/09)
After a week of impressive sales by the eighth season's batch of finalists on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, it was apparent that the Idol magic is already wearing off...and fast.
Still, Kris Allen was king of the chart, as his coronation single "No Boundaries" led the crop of Idol-related tracks with another 86.1k downloads sold, off 36% from the previous week, for a total of 220.5k. On the chart side, it fell four spots to #8. This week, Kris was represented by five songs on the chart for a total of 219,020 downloads.
Next up was Adam Lambert, whose "Mad World" slipped 14 spots to #21 and sold 59.7k downloads, down 48% from last week, for a total of 174.5k. In all, he had nine songs featured for a total of 160,516 downloads.
With the exception of Allison Iraheta, who got another 12k in sales added to her total for her duet on "Slow Ride" with Adam, the rest of the tracks on the chart were from non-Season 8 finalists. Kelly Clarkson's latest single "I Do Not Hook Up" held steady at #30 despite a 16% sales dip to 42.8k for a total of 328.3k. David Cook's "Permanent" took a heftier tumble, as it collapsed by 69% to 32k for a total of 158.9k. On the chart side, it was down #10-45.
Just one spot behind Cook was Kellie Pickler and her "Best Days of Your Life," which was the only Idol-related track on the chart to see positive movement (up 11%) and moved another 31.6k downloads for the week. Its upward movement was even more noticeable in the chart rankings, as it was up 20 spots to #46. And Daughtry's "No Surprise" was the third track in a row by an Idol alum (at #47), as it slipped 6% in sales to 31.5k and was actually down only one spot from the previous week. Its total now stands at 237.6k.
The only other alum to have a single appear on the chart for the week was Jordin Sparks, whose "Battlefield" fell #60-83 thanks to a 31% sales dip to 20.3k downloads. It has sold 124.7k in all.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
008 004 Kris Allen, "No Boundaries" 86,081 -36% 134,458 220,539
011 005 Kris Allen, "Heartless" 78,131 -38% 125,344 203,475
021 007 Adam Lambert, "Mad World" 59,695 -48% 114,763 174,458
030 030 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 42,757 -16% 50,633 328,256
045 010 David Cook, "Permanent" 32,030 -69% 102,595 158,935
046 066 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 31,572 11% 28,391 408,236
047 046 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 31,541 -6% 33,684 237,592
068 017 Kris Allen, "Ain't No Sunshine" 24,685 -66% 72,080 96,765
069 044 Adam Lambert, "No Boundaries" 23,708 -34% 35,984 59,692
083 060 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 20,258 -31% 29,430 124,695
086 038 Kris Allen, "Apologize" 19,318 -52% 40,173 59,491
103 032 Adam Lambert, "A Change Is Gonna Come" 14,720 -69% 48,068 62,788
105 057 Adam Lambert, "One" 14,658 -52% 30,851 45,509
124 084 Adam Lambert & Allison Iraheta, "Slow Ride" 11,977 -45% 21,742 33,719
138 072 Kris Allen, "Falling Slowly" 10,805 -60% 27,087 37,892
151 075 Adam Lambert, "Cryin'" 10,067 -59% 24,580 34,647
173 102 Adam Lambert, "The Tracks of My Tears" 8,830 -48% 17,130 25,960
182 107 Adam Lambert, "Feeling Good" 8,459 -48% 16,178 24,637
184 112 Adam Lambert, "Ring of Fire" 8,402 -44% 14,970 23,372
Total sales are in bold.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
'Idol' Hot 100: "No Boundaries" #11 (6/6/09)
As expected, the Billboard Hot 100 chart was flooded with entries by Idol alums for the chart week of June 6. In all, 23 tracks from the franchise charted on the Hot 100 and the Bubbling Under charts for the week.
Kris Allen led the pack with "No Boundaries," which debuted at #11. In addition, Kris had four other Idol studio version recordings appear on the main chart and two others debuted on the Bubbling Under chart.
The second alum to see his or her single debut near the top of the chart was Adam Lambert, as his recording of "Mad World" finished in the Top 20 portion of the chart at #19, and was the first of four tracks by the eighth season's runner-up to make their marks on the main chart in addition to four tracks placing on the Bubbling Under chart.
Next up was David Cook, as his album track "Permanent" experienced a hotshot debut at #24 thanks to his performance of the song on last week's Idol finale, while his current single "Come Back to Me" re-entered the Hot 100 at #84. Another winner, Kelly Clarkson, saw her charting songs take backward steps in the face of the new competition, as "My Life Would Suck Without You" slipped #22-30 and "I Do Not Hook Up" fell nine spots to #32.
Next up was Daughtry and its latest single "No Surprise," which surprisingly tumbled 28 spots to #59. Jordin Sparks out-fell Daughtry, though, as her "Battlefield" took a severe blow with a 45-spot plunge to #77 after spending just two weeks on the chart. Just two spots behind was Carrie Underwood and her cover song "Home Sweet Home," which made its re-emergence on the chart at #79.
The only other Idol alums to have songs debut on the chart were Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey, as the former's duet of "Slow Ride" with Adam debuted on the Bubbling Under at #5, while the latter's "You Are So Beautiful" just barely entered the same chart at #25.
Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
11 -- Kris Allen, "No Boundaries"
16 -- Kris Allen, "Heartless"
19 -- Adam Lambert, "Mad World"
24 -- David Cook, "Permanent"
30 22 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
32 23 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up"
37 -- Kris Allen, "Ain't No Sunshine"
56 -- Adam Lambert, "Change Is Gonna Come"
59 31 Daughtry, "No Surprise"
66 -- Kris Allen, "Apologize"
72 -- Adam Lambert, "No Boundaries"
77 32 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield"
79 -- Carrie Underwood, "Home Sweet Home"
82 -- Adam Lambert, "One"
84 -- David Cook, "Come Back to Me"
94 -- Kris Allen, "Falling Slowly"
Bubbling Under
02 -- Adam Lambert, "Cryin'"
05 -- Adam Lambert & Allison Iraheta, "Slow Ride"
07 -- Kris Allen, "What's Going On"
13 -- Kris Allen, "To Make You Feel My Love"
17 -- Adam Lambert, "The Tracks of My Tears"
21 -- Adam Lambert, "Feeling Good"
25 -- Danny Gokey, "You Are So Beautiful"
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Kris performs "No Boundaries" on 'Regis & Kelly' and 'Ellen'
Kris made the talk show circuit rounds this morning following the Memorial Day weekend, as his episode of Ellen aired today and he stopped by Live with Regis & Kelly to chat with co-hosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa and perform "No Boundaries" on the show. Watch the interview below:
Kris talked about what he did before finding stardom on Idol and his charitable contributions in traveling to Thailand and Indonesia to provide humanitarian aid.
As for his time with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show, Kris talked about how he's been playing guitar since he was 13 and when asked what he was going to buy his wife Katy since he won, he said "probably a vacation." Watch Kris perform "No Boundaries" on Ellen below:
The performance was added online last week but aired today on the show's broadcast.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Track review: Kris Allen's "No Boundaries"
In what was the most predictably unexpected underdog win on ‘American Idol,’ Kris Allen, the soft-spoken Arkansas native, claimed the title in the series’ eighth season. What was a little more predictable, however, was just how awful his coronation song would turn out to be.
Written by ‘Idol’ judge Kara DioGuardi and Cathy Dennis, “No Boundaries” includes the cheesiest, most unoriginal lyrics since “Inside Your Heaven” (“with every step you climb another mountain / every breath is harder to believe”). What makes things worse for Allen is the fact that high expectations were set when it was revealed that DioGuardi, who is a veteran songwriter in her own right, would be co-penning the song.
But when brushing the song aside and examining Allen’s job vocals-wise, things begin to look brighter. His mellow style is a solid fit for this upbeat positive song, and he handles the amateur lyrics like they were the first ones he ever sang, which almost makes “Boundaries” sound passable.
Still, the song is just too poorly written to result in a masterpiece for Allen, and he will have to weather this hurricane before he can put out some serious music. Still, Kris Allen earns an A for effort on “No Boundaries” and shows promise of a healthy career ahead of him.
"No Boundaries" can now be purchased on iTunes. If you're not quite up to shelling out the $1.29 required for the single (or the $16.00 for Kris' iTunes pass), you can stream the single over on AOL's PopEater blog.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
IDOL LIVE predix: Season 8 Winner
After this long, hard slog through the murky waters that were Idol's eighth season, we have finally reached the finish line. And might I add, it could not have come soon enough.
What we are left with are two very different contestants, one that has delivered much talked about performances consistently week after week and one that has grown a little bit as a performer and has evolved into an artist over the course of the past few months. Picking a champion between these two is like placing your hand into a bag with one purple rock and one yellow rock, and whichever one you pull out is victorious. It's 50/50, and really either of them could come away with the title tonight.
But I'm going to be as brave as the next guy and put my two cents in for whom I think will walk away as the next American Idol. Here it goes:
Winner
>Kris
There, that's over with. What makes me think that Kris will defy all logic and swipe the title from Adam is pretty simple thinking, and maybe it would only work in an ideal world, but it's worth a shot. I think Kris represents the original intention of Idol, going back to the days of a small town waitress from Burleson, Tex., named Kelly Clarkson. This show is about finding undiscovered talent and watching an individual transform and step into shoes of a more seasoned performer over the course of the show, and that is exactly what Kris is the embodiment of.
Adam is an undeniably talented performer, and has a command of the stage that might possibly be unprecedented on this show. But he finished the season just as he started it, and never really grew at all. That said, it would not be a problem if Adam wins and he would probably do a good job representing the Idol brand, but he would be better off in the long run if he did not have the Idol tag joined to his hip for the rest of his career.
Kris also seems like more of the traditional winning type, and has broad appeal. His style of music is in at the moment and is more marketable than Adam is, which is probably running through the minds of TPTB and even the judges. Plus, if one of the two finalists had to be stuck with Kara's awful "No Boundaries," Kris might as well take on the duty since his vocals are better suited for it.
Regardless of what happens, it has been an interesting ride this season. This finale was not my favorite by a mile, and neither was the season, but I will leave that commentary until after a winner is crowned tonight.
As for my prediction history, I originally had Danny taking the top prize in my pre-Top 13 predictions, which I admit was a good guess, but not good enough.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
"No Boundaries" is worst coronation song ever
After tonight's disastrous final performances by Adam and Kris, it is fair to say that the Kara DioGuardi/Cathy Dennis-penned coronation song "No Boundaries" is the worst in this show's eight seasons. Forget what the studio version may end up sounding like, if the song cannot even be performed in tune live, why should we have to reserve our judgment for the studio recording?
In my opinion, any song that makes Adam go off-pitch as many times as he did tonight is really flawed, or at least a complete mismatch for him. Kris even had trouble with the song despite the common thought that it is better suited for his vocal style. But the arrangement is just one piece of the puzzle that reveals the reasons for the song's suckiness.
The lyrics are a whole 'nother dimension, as Adam and Kris had to sing about climbing mountains and weathering hurricanes, which made me long for the days of being inside one's heaven and looking for a magic rainbow. Although the bridge builds to what should be a sweeping final chorus, the ending is pretty lifeless in comparison with the winning singles of yesteryear. And yes, it's true that there have been some pretty big clunkers in the past (Katharine McPhee's "My Destiny" and Jordin Sparks' "This Is My Now" are standouts for the title), those songs were cheesy with class. This one is just a big ball of cheese. It's like comparing brie with cheese whiz...
Moving on from the cheese factor, many had high hopes for "No Boundaries" in terms of quality thanks to the credentials of its writers. Kara is an accomplished songwriter in her own right, and Dennis has a good selection of hits under her belt as well. But Kara is also responsible for gems like Paris Hilton's "Screwed" and Dennis wrote Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," so the possibility that they'd come up with a dud should never have been ruled out.
To end this mild rant, I would like to point out that every season fans rank on the coronation song after the performance episode, and they usually warm up to it in the coming days. While this is a possibility at the moment as well, I'm willing to bet it will take longer for fans to move past this crap than usual, and Kara should be embarrassed about letting something like this make it to Adam and Kris as is.
About tonight: Kara's song the sabotager!
Tonight's finale was set to be a one-sided wipe-out, and although it may not have been as clear cut as expectations had us all believe, it was still a wipe-out based on the judges' comments. The three songs per finalists thing must have not really been a big hit with Adam and Kris, as it seemed like the two of them ran out of gas near the end of the show.
But who can be blamed for that? No one but Ms. Kara DioGuardi. Her co-penned coronation cheese-fest "No Boundaries" was set in a key so foreign to the two contenders that each of their takes on it came off sounding like two amateurs were attempting to sing something they just overheard someone playing in a cheap bar.
Adam took on the song first, which would have showed he was pretty brave had he not been required to do the duty before Kris. The result was something that was not very pretty. Adam was off pitch a couple of times, just as Randy noted, and his theatrical style just sounded all wrong on the poppy track about mountains and hurricanes and whatnot. In fact, it would probably be best for him not to win if only for the sake of his credibility not being damaged. But on the other hand, David Cook survived the blunderful "magic rainbow" line in "The Time of My Life," so anything can happen.
Kris took the same approach, as they were barred from playing instruments during the final performance. This left him virtually naked and a little uncomfortable, as he had to grapple with the high key and used the mic as his crutch to prevent any nervousness from seeping out. That did not really work, though, and in addition to slipping up on the lyrics for a half-second, his voice just sounded like it was giving out at times. Still, this faltering was nothing compared to Blake Lewis' surrendering back on Season 6 when he was given "This Is My Now" as his final song. As the judges noted, "No Boundaries" was probably fit more for Kris' vocal style, but he may or may not be able to call the song his own depending on how tomorrow's results go.
The judges were easy on the song itself, with even Simon stating that he would ignore the song and focus just on the individuals as vocalists during the show. This was all to spare Kara any embarrassment that is usually directed toward the writer(s) of the coronation tracks. But even Kara said something in a "yea yeah" sarcastic tone when Simon mentioned the "mountains" part of the lyrics, so she must agree that it did not work all that well on the two of them.
I will go into detail with my thoughts on the song following this post, so be sure to look for it (I promise I won't disappoint).
As for the two thirds of the show that didn't suck, it was pretty evenly split. Adam opened the show with a bang when he re-did "Mad World" in Broadway garb that would make any character from the Great White Way proud. The fog machine (or dry ice? as Adam said following his performance) was probably the thing that sent the performance over the edge into the category of ridiculousness, as Simon made sure he got in a word about. Vocally, it was strong, perhaps on par with his version back on Top 8 night but must likely not equally matched.
Simon Fuller's choice, on the other hand, was the most awkward, unfit song for Adam to sing that it sucked out any momentum that he gained from the first round, no matter what Simon said about him being "a million times better" than Kris in the second round. Although Adam sang the song well, the fact that he was tasked with finding a more soulful sound deep within the layers of his signature style kind of resulted in an odd final product. Still, the judges loved what he came up with, as Kara applauded him for finding his own interpretation of the song and Paula went as far to say that it was the best she had ever heard him sing on the show.
Kris, on the other hand, had the best performance of the night with his reprise of "Ain't No Sunshine." It's just too bad, as Simon pointed out at the end of the show, that Kris had to waste his best showing at the beginning of the night. The fact that he tried it out on the piano showed that he really is a true artist and is very versatile with playing instruments while performing. He was able to show his softest side on "Sunshine" and won praise from the judges,hearing everything from "awakening spirits in all of us" courtesy of Paula to "creating an intimate bond with the audience" from Kara. Simon was more effective in his turnaround in which he said Kris deserved to be in the finals after the performance.
On the Fuller choice of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," however, he lost a little bit of his luster. The vocal was raw and very Jason Mraz-y, which was good, but Randy and Simon had a point when they said it was a little "light" for the finale. Acoustic is great, and works extremely well on the much smaller Idol studio stage, but in the Nokia Theatre it gets a little lost in the air. And once again, Simon was right on the money when he compared it to something that could be heard in a bedroom with three friends just playing around on the guitar (where does he come up with these comparisons?).
Fortunately for us, Carrie Underwood was there to sing us out in what was probably the most exciting (and best) performance of the night when she took on this season's goodbye song "Home Sweet Home." She looked as good as ever and sounded pretty strong.
And for a few bragging rights, Adam and Kris did take my advice into consideration by picking "Mad World" and "Ain't No Sunshine" for their encores, respectively, so that was good to know.
So when all was said and done, this finale performance episode definitely ranks among the lower rungs of the finales when compared with the past seven seasons, as the excitement factor just did not live up to expectations. Still, whoever wins tomorrow night will have a lot to live up to and he better get to making "No Boundaries" work with his voice, because the song is not going away.
Kara's coronation song revealed: "No Boundaries"
The song written by Kara DioGuardi that will be used as this season's coronation song has been revealed. It is called "No Boundaries" and was reported on a local FOX affiliate for Austin, Tex., this morning. Watch the video below:
The title gives off the air of typical Idol slosh already, and it's easy to see Adam and Kris tackling something about "breaking through boundaries" and "living my life to the fullest."
No word yet on how the song will sound, but one can bet it will be a combination of "A Moment Like This," "Flying Without Wings," "I Believe," "Inside Your Heaven," "Do I Make You Proud," "This Is My Now" and "The Time of My Life."
It's also a good bet that the song will include the word "artistry" somewhere in the lyrics, but probably no "magic rainbows" this time around. Aw man, I was looking forward to that.
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