Top 7 week of Idol's first season marked the first time the 1970s would be used as a theme for a performance episode, and Christina Christian's choice of song would become a standard for many an Idol finalist, including the show's latest winner, Kris Allen. Watch Christina perform Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" below:
Although she would be eliminated the next week of the competition, Christina demonstrated an understanding of vocal control and dynamics in this performance, and it remains one of the highlights of the premiere season.
While Americans everywhere spent yesterday held cook outs and watched fireworks in honor of our nation's birthday like any self-respecting U.S. citizen would, Idol alums were out in full force doing the same.
There was no shortage of messages exclaiming their patriotic festivities on Twitter, as many used the micro-blogging service to prove they were busy celebrating. Exhibit A:
David Archuleta Have a good 4th of July weekend everyone!!! 12:32 PM Jul 4th from txt
Diana DeGarmo i only got one morning glory sparkler done b4 it started raining......boooooo 9:14 PM Jul 4th from mobile web
Josh Gracin Happy 4th of July Weekend.Me and the family have just got back from our lake trip.No firework emergencies to report at this time...Maybe one about 10 hours ago from web
Leah Labelle HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!! i'm in canada lol. so we will jus make our own 4th here. gettin up for the day is young... 2:50 PM Jul 4th from web
Blake Lewis To all the fans, Thanks for your love and support. I hope your having an amazing 4th! Send your love to our troops and there families. about 24 hours ago from Tweetie
Scott MacIntyre Had some great bbq food today in honor of the 4th:) Dress rehearsal is going on now with full hair and makeup for the first time. about 23 hours ago from txt
Syesha Mercado It's times like these where I really miss being home with the family. Really missing those yearly 4th of July cookouts. 9:29 PM Jul 4th from web
Carly Smithson Yesterday was so good . Fireworks were so magic . Sat on the water with todd and watched all three beaches go off at the same time about 7 hours ago from web
Jordin Sparks "Im proud to be an American where at least I know Im free. And I wont forget the men who died and gave that right to me..." 10:00 PM Jul 4th from web
Lisa Tucker reggae music, tamales, fantas...yesterday was the perfect way to celebrate the 4th of july. about 7 hours ago from web
Brooke White God bless America, My Home sweet HOME!!! Happy 4th everyone!! 2:46 PM Jul 4th from web
Other alums took to the stage to perform patriotic songs in honor of the holiday. For example, Felicia Barton sang "God Bless America" with the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra:
And of course, we cannot forget Ryan Seacrest's famed contributions nor can we overlook Paula's nonsensical words of wisdom when discussing Twitter:
Ryan Seacrest Happy b-day America! And happy 11th b-day Malia Obama! She started celebrating on thur w/ 20 girls at camp david. Now thats a slumber party. about 21 hours ago from TweetGenius
Paula Abdul Hope everyone is enjoying their pool parties and bbq's! Have a safe holiday and remember to keep your pets inside so they don't get scared! 5:42 PM Jul 4th from web
Kelly Clarkson last night made a stop at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, Calif., to perform her current single "I Do Not Hook Up" on the fourth week's results show of So You Think You Can Dance. Watch the performance below:
This is not the first time Kelly has been mentioned on this season of FOX's Dance, as "Already Gone," one of the songs on her current album All I Ever Wanted, is the "goodbye" song for the female dancers upon being eliminated.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Ace Young is the latest Idol alum to pop the question, as he and girlfriend Allison Fischer were recently engaged. According to UsMagazine.com:
The 28-year-old singer - who finished seventh on the fifth season of the hit Fox show - recently popped the question to Allison Fischer, 20, his costar on Broadway's Grease.
There is no wedding date for the two at the moment.
>Daughtry announced a 13-city tour on Monday, which will run from Aug. 2-22 in smaller venues. The dates and destinations are as follows:
08/02/09 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues 08/04/09 - Foxboro, MA - Showcase Live 08/07/09 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion 08/08/09 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre 08/09/09 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze 08/11/09 - Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom 08/12/09 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall 08/14/09 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live 08/16/09 - Englewood, CO - The Gothic Theatre 08/18/09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre 08/19/09 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre 08/20/09 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore 08/22/09 - Las Vegas, NV - Pure
Tickets go on sale on Sat., July 11, with special pre-sale VIP packages beginning on Wed., July 8.
>The latest batch of Idol alums spoke with EOnline.com a few days ago and it was revealed that Kris Allen will be covering The Beatles' classic "Hey Jude" on the upcoming "American Idols Live!" summer concert tour, which kicks off Sun., July 5, in Portland, Ore. As for what he will doing while he waits for his 5-song set list each night, Kris said:
"I have nothing to do until later, but I'm so weird I'll probably be watching from the wings anyway."
Allison Iraheta, on the other hand, said she will be singing three songs while on the tour, including "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin.
>Also on the Season 8 train, an exclusive album at Walmart featuring songs from the Top 10 was released this past Tuesday. The album features two tracks from Kris Allen and Adam Lambert and select studio versions that were available to purchase throughout the season on iTunes. The album is $10.00 in Walmart retail locations nationwide and online.
>A TV spot for Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming comedy Bruno featuring everyone's favorite female Idol judge has begun making the rounds on the airwaves. Watch a short snippet of Paula Abdul being humiliated below:
Paula began bracing for the scene months ago while she appeared on various talk shows to promote the eight season of Idol. Bruno opens everywhere on Fri., July 10.
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?
The Idol roster found on Billboard's Hot 100 chart was a little healthier than the one found on its Hot Digital Songs chart, as six songs by five alums were able to make the cut for the chart week of July 11.
Kelly Clarkson kicked things off once again with "I Do Not Hook Up," which was down two spots to #27. Kelly also saw her "My Life Would Suck Without You" actually rise four spots to #44 for the week.
Jordin Sparks' current single "Battlefield" was also up into positive territory, as it barely re-entered the Top 30 at #30. Next up was Daughtry's latest, "No Surprise," which jumped six spots to #39, while Kellie Pickler's "Best Days of Your Life" held steady at #46.
David Cook's "Come Back to Me" rounded out the Idol representation at #73, up two spots from its placement the previous week.
Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100 27 25 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 30 31 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 39 45 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 44 48 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" 46 46 Kellie Pickler, "Best Days of Your Life" 73 75 David Cook, "Come Back to Me"
Due to the inevitable onslaught of Michael Jackson tracks, the Idol representation on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart was further diminished, as sales for only three singles were made public.
Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" was down a whopping 19 spots on the chart side thanks to the "MJ effect," but it only decreased sales-wise by 7% to 50.9k. It has sold 291.5k to date.
Next up was Daughtry and its latest single "No Surprise," which was the only Idol-related track (and one of the few overall) to see positive sales gains on the chart, as it was up 3% and sold another 38.1k downloads. Despite falling #38-54, the song has now sold 374.8k.
And Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" was the final Idol-related track to show up this week, as it slid 13% in sales to 31.7k for a total of 476.2k. On the chart rankings, it fell 25 spots to #66.
Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:
40 21 Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield" 50,876 -7% 54,566 291,466 54 38 Daughtry, "No Surprise" 38,082 3% 36,817 374,820 66 39 Kelly Clarkson, "I Do Not Hook Up" 31,697 -13% 36,631 476,166
Things are beginning to get a little ridiculous on IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, as another Season 7 alum once again advanced to the finals of the series.
Kristy Lee Cook was voted the favorite seventh-place finalist of all eight seasons, taking in 41 votes (49%) in all, which was far ahead of the 22 votes (26%) that favorite Jennifer Hudson was able to muster.
The only other placing worth mentioning is Ace Young's third-place finish with 11 votes, or 13% of the total.
In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which sixth-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Ryan Starr 0 (0%) Kimberly Caldwell 6 (7%) Jennifer Hudson 22 (26%) Anwar Robinson 1 (1%) Ace Young 11 (13%) Sanjaya Malakar 0 (0%) Kristy Lee Cook 41 (49%) Lil Rounds 2 (2%)
The 30-second album previews for Daughtry's forthcoming album Leave This Town and Jordin Sparks' sophomore release Battlefield have found their way onto Amazon.co.uk weeks before they will be available to purchase.
Clips of Daughtry's second studio album, which consists of 12 songs not including the many different bonus tracks that will eventually be available, were added to the album's page on Amazon.co.uk the other day before being removed shortly thereafter.
Titles include "Life After You," "Ghost of Me" and "September," and the album is fairly ballad-heavy. Listen to the album preview of Leave This Town below:
Similarly, clips of the 12 songs from Jordin's next album are currently available to stream on its Amazon.co.uk page.
As assumed, the track "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" is a highly reworked version of the 2005 song released by Fefe Dobson, and the club-banger "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)" has been edited to better fit Jordin's image. Listen to the clips below:
Leave This Town will be released on Tues., July 14, while Battlefield will hit stores' shelves the following week on Tues., July 21.
IDOL LIVE is the place to stay up to date with the most current news on past, present and possibly future American Idol contestants, in addition to discussing the show in real-time as it happens.
