Jennifer Hudson led all Idol alums on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week of Oct. 18 with the debut of or self-titled album. Jennifer Hudson landed at #2 with 217.2k copies and when factoring in the additional 535 copies sold through street date violations, its total stands at 217.7k.
The other week's Idol debut was Kellie Pickler, whose self-titled sophomore album raked in 43.2k copies, putting it at #9. The album only saw 27 copies sold via street date violations. Next up was last week's Idol pack leader, Carrie Underwood, whose Carnival Ride slipped #54-64 despite a week-to-week gain of six copies, meaning an additional 9.2k copies were added to its total of 2.36 million.
Daughtry also saw a hefty drop in the rankings despite a mere 7% decrease in sales. The 7.1k copies sold during the week puts the album's total at 4.24 million. And since Kristy Lee Cook's debut dropped off the chart after only two weeks, Jordin Sparks rounded out all Idol alums represented with her self-titled debut, which rose five spots to #109 as a result of 5.4k copies thanks to a 4% sales increase. Its total now sits at 927.2k copies.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of 2m on Pulse as follows:
002 --- Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 217,185 999% 535 217,720
009 --- Kellie Pickler - Kellie Pickler 43,165 999% 27 43,192
064 054 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 9,160 0% 9,154 2,359,480
082 079 Daughtry - Daughtry 7,136 -7% 7,657 4,243,558
109 114 Jordin Sparks - Jordin Sparks 5,431 4% 5,244 927,246
Total sales are in bold.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
'Idol' BB 200: 'Jennifer Hudson' #2 (10/18/08)
'Idol' Hot 100 - "Light On" #17 (10/18/08)
Leading all Idol alums on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of Oct. 18 was David Cook, whose "Light On" debuted at #17 thanks to strong digital sales. Although it will surely suffer a hefty fall next week, a Top 20 debut is never a bad thing. Jordin Sparks was next up with "One Step At a Time," which once again demonstrated amazing legs by remaining at #21.
David Archuleta followed closely behind with "Crush," which moved #20-25 for the week, while Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" saw upward mobility again thanks to a seven-spot advance to #29. Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" also improved #43-41.
Daughtry saw little movement with "What About Now," which dropped two spots to #56, while Bucky Covington's latest single, "I'll Walk," debuted on the chart at #93. The lone Idol-related track on the Bubbling Under chart was Kellie Pickler's "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," which stood at #3.
Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
17 -- David Cook, "Light On"
21 21 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time"
25 20 David Archuleta, "Crush"
29 36 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight"
41 43 Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream"
56 54 Daughtry, "What About Now"
93 -- Bucky Covington, "I'll Walk"
Bubbling Under
3 -- Kellie Pickler, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful"
Poll of the week: fans 'Thankful' for Kelly
In the first installment of the debut album champion poll series, Kelly Clarkson's Thankful was unsurprisingly chosen as IDOL LIVE readers' album of choice from the first season's batch of alums. Thankful pulled in a whopping 75% of the poll's 60 votes.
Justin Guarini's debut self-titled album finished next, as its 9 votes (15%) was also good for runner-up. Tamyra Gray was the only other alum to receive more than one vote, as her debut album The Dreamer finished third with four votes (6%).
In this week's poll of the week, readers will be asked to vote for their favorite debut album from a Season 2 alum. You have exactly one week to vote.
Thankful (Kelly Clarkson) 45 (75%)
The Dreamer (Tamyra Gray) 4 (6%)
Justin Guarini (Justin Guarini) 9 (15%)
Real Life (RJ Helton) 1 (1%)
Unleashed (Nikki McKibbin) 1 (1%)
Rollercoaster (Jim Verraros) 0 (0%)
Total votes: 60
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Analysis: "Light On" doesn't meet high expectations
David Cook's opening week sales of 109,035 for his second single, "Light On," are underwhelming. There's no way of getting around it considering Cook's upcoming release is one of the most highly anticipated from an Idol in a long time. But before you Word Nerds jump in defense, consider the following: this is only because some are choosing to make the release into a competition, which is nothing new in the Idol world. By establishing this climate of competition with David Archuleta, whose "Crush" opened with 166,247, it was almost impossible for expectations to be met, which is the reason the sales do in fact seem underwhelming. And this goes both ways of course, as with any battle.
But when put into perspective, things do not look nearly as bad. Here are some comparable first week sales of opening singles for Idol champs from 2007:
Kelly Clarkson, "Never Again" 106,809 (#4 on Hot Digital Songs)
Carrie Underwood, "So Small" 70,808 (#6 on Hot Digital Songs)
Jordin Sparks, "Tattoo" 33,764 (#22 on Hot Digital Songs)
By looking at these numbers it is easy to see that "Light On" is not nearly as disappointing as some are making it out to be. Granted, RCA was probably trying its best to boost the numbers when they received early figures last week, which helps explain its behavior in choice of promotional approach. At least some dots are starting to connect.
The fact that RCA feels it needs to try its hardest to make sure the first week sales of "Light On" are in line with what many had expected just underlines the current attitude in not only the music industry, but the Idol world as well. There is no better proof than the fact that the label is milking Cook's Idol appeal for all its worth, which is not a bad thing at all, but still shows that the connection is serving an important component in his marketing as fans await his album.
Another well established factor that contributed to the lower-than-expected sales is the amount of competition the single has faced. "Light On" was one of five major digital single releases for the week, which stands as one of the busiest weeks for the 2008 calendar. In these tough economic times, there is only so much money to go around, and if it comes down to purchasing Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody," Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Getting Better" or "Light On," not every song is going to get the same sales as each one might have generated had there been less competition. It's not like this is the week after Christmas.
And keep in mind, "Light On" has not even gone for adds yet at any radio format (it will hit Hot AC on Mon., Oct. 13 and Top 40 and Rock next Tues., Oct. 14), so the fact that is has received 519 spins and a total audience impression of 1.838 million to date is very respectable. As for its position on iTunes at the moment (#21), that is something that will fluctuate over the next few weeks before Cook's album hits shelves. Nothing should be read into it unless it fails to stabilize by the time the single starts making substantial gains in airplay.
So for any Cook fans that are going around pouting about "Light On" selling 109k, cheer up. This is about longevity, not first week sales. Just ask Jordin Sparks. And for any Arch fans that are going around bashing Cook and making this into a competition, be careful what you wish for. Competition is all fun and good, but it is meaningless in the larger scope of things.
Digital sales roundup: "Light On" #8 (10/4/08)
In a big debut week for the music industry, David Cook led all Idol alums on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart with "Light On," which had a Top 10 debut, coming in at #8. Its sales totaled 109k. If "Light On" had been released at any other time rather than a week filled with the stringent competition from Nickelback, Christina Aguilera and T.I. (his "Live Your Life" opened with 334.5k!), it is fair to speculate that it would have opened a little bit stronger.
Following eight spots behind was David Archuleta, whose "Crush" fell four spots thanks to the host of new tracks that opened above it. "Crush" took home 66.7k, or a 7% drop, and now has its total at 633.3k. Jordin Sparks' "One Step At a Time" was next up, slipping #27-28 thanks to a scant 5% decrease in sales. The additional 42.5k downloads means its total is at 789.9k.
The last four tracks to appear on the chart all were aided by album releases during the week, as Jennifer Hudson's slowburning "Spotlight" saw an uptick in sales of 145%, jumping 61 spots to #38 with a weekly total of 32.5k. Its total is now at 177.1k. Jennifer's "If This Isn't Love" also made an appearance, coming in at #195 with 6.5k downloads. Kellie Pickler's "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" rose a smaller but still respectable 71% for the week, shifting 8.6k downloads for a total of just north of 95k. Her "Best Days of Your Life" also made an appearance at #153, selling 7.7k downloads.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
008 --- David Cook, "Light On" 109,035 999% 0 109,035
016 012 David Archuleta, "Crush" 66,677 -7% 71,631 633,306
028 027 Jordin Sparks, "One Step At a Time" 42,520 -5% 44,762 789,856
038 099 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 32,486 145% 13,241 177,097
133 --- Kellie Pickler, "Don't You Know You're..." 8,598 71% 5,033 95,004
153 --- Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 7,681 999% 0 7,681
195 --- Jennifer Hudson, "If This Isn't Love" 6,455 999% 0 6,455
Total sales are in bold.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
HITS estimates: Jennifer 225k, Kellie 43k
As estimates came in today from HITS Daily Double, Jennifer Hudson was victorious with her debut self-titled album, as it placed second with 225,400 copies. Kellie Pickler's Kellie Pickler also saw a Top 10 debut, coming in at #9 with 43,454 copies.
Both estimates are on track with HITS' earlier predictions, as Jennifer was expected top pull in between 215-225k and Kellie 40-45k. It will be interesting to see where things stand when all is said and done.
Paris gives birth to Egypt
The fifth season's fifth-place finalist, Paris Bennett, gave birth to her daughter, Egypt, yesterday at 3:36 p.m. according to People.com.
Said Paris of her 5 lb. 15 oz baby girl:
"I'm so excited to finally see my little angel – and man, does she have lungs on her. I guess she's gearing up to be the next American Idol."The now 20-year-old will drop her Christmas album A Royal Christmas on Tues., Oct. 14. No word on whether the baby's father will be revealed any time soon.
Out today: 'My Kind of Holiday'
Elliott Yamin's Christmas album My Kind of Holiday hit store shelves and online retailers' listings today. The 10-track offering includes timeless classics such as "This Christmas" and "Jingle Bells" in addition to the more interestingly titled "Back Door Santa" and "Let's Be Naughty (And Save Santa the Trip)." Links to purchase the album can be found below:
Albums
Elliott Yamin, My Kind of Holiday
Amazon - ($13.99) - Buy
Best Buy - ($13.99) - Buy
Circuit City - ($12.99) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.90) - Buy
Target - ($13.99) - Buy
Walmart - ($12.88) - Buy
My Kind of Holiday is currently #11 on iTunes' Top 100 Holiday albums chart.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Keeping up with Brenna Gethers
Brenna Gethers was known more for her sassy attitude than her singing abilities on the fifth season of Idol. The New York City native has left behind her "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" days and has embraced the r&b/funk group Bomb Squad, which she fronts. Watch a performance of "Maybe" by Brenna and Bomb Squad below:
Bomb Squad's latest album, Bomb Squad II, is on iTunes without Brenna's vocals since she did not join the band until 2007. Two of the groups songs including "Maybe" are available to listen to on its official music MySpace page. Brenna's 28th birthday is tomorrow, Oct. 7.
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