Crazy picks up where Gracin's debut self-titled album left off, which has sold more than 700,000 copies to date. It features the Top 20 single "Favorite State of Mind" and the Top 30 single "I Keep Coming Back." The album's current single and title track, "We Weren't Crazy," is currently #25 on the country chart.
The album is available for listening full on AOL Music's full CD listening party for this week.
Gracin will be performing at the Sims Park Ampitheater in New Port Richey, Fla., on April 5.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Keeping up with Josh Gracin
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Kelly Clarkson to sing for the Pope
Kelly Clarkson has accepted a request to sing for Pope Benedict XVI when he comes to New York as part of his six-day trip to the United States. Below is an excerpt from an article that was recently published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
According to Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Clarkson will perform a few of her songs at a youth rally at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers on April 19, as well as Ave Maria after the pope arrives.Kelly said she has had a dream to perform "Ave Maria" and it is "truly a blessing" that she will get to sing it on this occasion.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Ruben and Haley on AI Extra
Ruben Studdard and Haley Scarnato appeared on FOX Reality Channel's American Idol Extra on Thursday. Ruben performed his winning single "Flying Without Wings," while Haley performed the Roy Orbison classic "Crying."
In his interview, Ruben told host JD Roberto that he wished he could have performed with Rickey Minor and the band while he was on the show, but other than that it had not changed much since Season 2. Rube also said he would be joining the cast of "Ain't Misbehavin'" for its 30th anniversary tour this summer.
Haley's interview was a little less comfortable, as she was asked if the rumor that she and Season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis "hooked up" on New Year's Eve was true (she never did answer the question). She also said she's been in the studio recording her debut album and she wishes she could still be on tour.
Below is Haley's interview and performance.
Friday, March 28, 2008
'Idol' tracks' popularities leak on iTunes
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It was discovered today that there is a way to view the Season 7 finalists' studio recordings on the iTunes Top 100 chart. FOX has prohibited the charting of the tracks in order to discourage it from affecting the competition, but just as in every case, there is a way to get around the stoppage.
The results are staggering, showing David Cook's cover of "Billie Jean" way out in front of Mariah Carey's new single "Touch My Body," which appears as #1 on the official Top 100 chart.
Other top Idol tracks include Michael Johns' "We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions" at #11 and David Archuleta's "You're the Voice" at #12. Other placements on the chart include Cook's "Eleanor Rigby" at #15 and "Hello" at #19, and Brooke White's "Let It Be" at #16 and "Every Breath You Take" at #17.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
It ain't eze to say goodbye to Chikezie
As Ryan said those final words - "Syesha, you're safe" - Chikezie Eze knew his time on the nation's most-watched television program had come to a sudden end. The 22-year-old from Inglewood, Calif., sang the Luther Vandross song "If Only For One Night" one last time before leaving the stage.
Minutes before the results were read, Simon said the reason Chikezie was in the bottom three in the first place was because he picked the wrong song. Simon was right.
America had fallen in love with Chikezie's two Beatles tunes in the past two weeks, but his reversion to the soulful ballad this week reminded the voting public of the boring performances he was known for in the semifinals.
Aside from Chikezie, audiences were treated to Kimberley Locke's return, as she performed her new single "Fall" off her sophomore album Based on a True Story. The Season 2 third-place finalist looked stunning and sounded as good as ever.
Earlier in the show, Ryan once again took calls from America in the "Idol Live" segment of the show. Most were boring with the exception of a call from Vanessa, who asked Simon if he considered himself the most attractive person on the show.
"It's not what I say, it's what other people say," he replied, prompting Paula and Randy to shake their heads and laugh. Paula said she had now heard it all from Simon.
As for the two other finalists that found themselves in the bottom 3, one deserved it while the other did not. Syesha Mercado was one of the better vocalists on Tuesday, and she most definitely did not belong in the bottom 2. In her place should have been Ramiele Malubay, who was probably the weakest female this week. Jason Castro's placement was right on the money and he merited his spot based on his boring delivery of Sting's "Fragile."
This week, Kristy Lee Cook managed to deliver in a big way on a powerful song, which she absolutely needed to do in order to stay in the competition. With Dolly Parton mentoring next week, it looks like she might be around for a while.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 10 Results (3/26/08)
Join us tonight when we blog during the Top 10 results show at 9:00 p.m. ET, when the Top 9 is revealed and Kimberley Locke performs her single "Fall."
Birth year theme is just '80s part 2
With eight of the Top 10 finalists being born in the 1980s, last night seemed like just a continuation of Top 16 week. The performances were leagues better than the ones delivered last week, which at least made up for the repetitious repetition that seems to be weighing this season down.
Ramiele Malubay opened the show with her take on Carrie Underwood's...erm, I mean Heart's power ballad "Alone." Vocally she was alright, though she kind of fell flat on one of the critical high notes. According to the judges, she was better than last week but Simon had a bone to pick with Randy's critique, which he deemed a bit harsh. Was Simon being honest or using his signature reverse psychology tactic? No one can ever really tell.
Next was Jason Castro and his snorefest that was Sting's "Fragile." Jason must really want to impress the foreign language-speaking voting population, only this week he reached out to Spanish-speaking Americans rather than those who speak French. Odds are it won't do him any good, as Randy and Paula said he did well but there was no "wow" factor, while Simon said his guitar playing was sloppy and he has to start taking himself seriously because he has the potential to be a contender but not if he performs like that week after week. Look for him to make a "shocking" appearance in the bottom 3 tonight.
Syesha Mercado then took on Stephanie Mills' "If I Were Your Woman," over-singing included. The judges [aka Randy and Paula] gave her unconditional praise for her performance, Paula going as far as calling her a "dark horse," but it was really overrated. Syesha has had much better performances in the past, and this week she was just a glory note machine. Simon caught on to this, saying she was good but there is a limit to where her vocals can go, which riled Paula up.
Next up was Chikezie, who took a departure from his usual country rock hoedown arrangements and did a boring ballad. It was not that he did a bad job vocally on Luther Vandross' "If Only For One Night," he just seemed out of place, like he reverted back to the semifinals with his lifeless soulfulness. Randy complained that he missed the up-tempo Chikezie, calling the performance "not hip or cool." But he can't do country rock every week, now, can he? Amanda Overmyer didn't get away with singing the same style every week. But David Cook is, so maybe Randy is on to something....
After some more blatant iTunes pimping by Ryan, Brooke White takes the stage and takes on The Police classic "Every Breath You Take." Brooke caused every heart in America to skip a beat when she halted the beginning of her performance, realizing she started in the wrong key (if anything, it just proves the show is live). The first half of the performance was very angelic and moving, but once the band came in it kind of lost its touch. The judges made note of this (and the do-over), but Simon said it was "definitely enough to keep [her] in the competition." Brooke twice said her do-over was "not a good thing to do," but the judges told her it was the right thing to do. Why can no one ever agree on this show?
Michael Johns struck a chord with the studio audience when he burst out singing the Queen classic "We Will Rock You," complete with seizure-inducing light shows and a full band and back-up singing brigade surrounding him. But when he changed to the "We Are the Champions" portion of the performance, the audience went wild. Michael showed why he deserved to be in the competition, with Simon even saying Michael's performance was the only memorable one of the night.
And then Carly Smithson's mom talked about how she named her daughter after hearing a Carly Simon song on the radio on the way to the hospital to give birth to her. Following that fun fact, Carly tackled Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which, minus the painful run at the end, was very well done. Randy and Paula fought over whether the run at the end was good, and Simon gave his two cents, saying Carly needs to "lighten up." Carly added to the awkwardness by exclaiming that she had to go to the bathroom before her performance, prompting Ryan to ask if she flushed.
The awkwardness did not end there, though. When Ryan asked David Archuleta what he missed about school, he said he missed his school dances and that he might not get to go to his prom. Ryan then took this opportunity to ask if the girl sitting next to David's dad was who he wanted to take to his prom, which immediately put a target the size of Texas on her. David tried his best on an obscure song choice - David Foster and Jeff Pescetto's "You're the Voice." The song sounded like it was out of an early '90s Care Bears episode, and Paula thought she'd be funny by asking David why he didn't pick an American composer. That's Paula, always trying to psych out the 17-year-olds! Simon said the song choice was something he'd expect to see "animated creatures gathering around him and start singing" on, and that it wasn't for him. Simon should be careful of that girl sitting next to David's dad.
And then there was Kristy Lee Cook, who managed to recover from being in the bottom 2 for the second week in a row. Kristy Lee was right at home when she chose the durable "God Bless the USA," and actually sound pretty good. That coupled with Simon's profusely-flowing praise will give her a one way ticket to Dollywood next week.
Finally, the rock star took to the stage. David C. and his abnormally-huge baby skull took on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," completely turning the song upside down and using a slow but steady rocked out arrangement. Upon finishing, Randy said he could actually win the whole thing. Paula remained standing because she was "blown away." And Simon said it was "amazing." All in all not a bad night for the resident rocker.
Predictions
Bottom 3: Jason, Chikezie, Ramiele
Bottom 2: Chikezie, Ramiele
Eliminated: Ramiele
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
IDOL LIVE Blog - Top 10 Perform (3/25/08)
Join us tonight as we blog during the Top 10 performance show at 8:00 p.m. ET, when the finalists again take on songs from their birth years.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Keeping up with Nicole Tieri
Since failing to make the semifinals on Season 3 of American Idol, Tieri performed at Sight and Sound in Lancaster, Penn. She was also offered an endorsement deal by Razor Scooters and the role of Maureen in the Broadway musical Rent, but could not accept either offer because of her contract with Idol.
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