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8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta’s “Crush” opens big
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two days after the “Idol” concert in Atlanta, David Cook became reflective on his Web site blog here.. The guy’s a good writer! Here’s a portion:
So, I promised that I wouldn’t really try to process all of this madness until I got an extended break, but something happened today that really made me reflect. Well, I may be getting too generic. A lot of small things have happened lately that correlated into some fresh perspective. Let me explain…
We had a much-needed, much-deserved day off in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, today. I took it as an opportunity to rest myself not only physically, but mentally. The strain of trying to put everything I have into this tour, on top of the scheduling conflicts that inevitably arise from doing a record while on the road, and not to mention the crazy press commitments, have left me, and all the idols, with an almost humorous non-distinct stare as we enter the home stretch of this tour. So, today I did little but stay in bed and walk around. I went with MJ and Chik to go see “Tropic Thunder”. I give it 4/5 stars. Tom Cruise was the only part I didn’t like about it. Don’t know why.
After the movie, we went and grabbed dinner, and then split up upon returning to the hotel. I went out to the beach, and plopped down on a chair to watch the waves and the lightning in the distance. (Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Massive Nuisance Fay) All at once, it hit me full on what has happened to me this last year. I thought about Omaha, and my brother, Andrew, and the Green Mile, and the top 12 red carpet event, and the hotel, and the finale, and this tour. It really became apparent to me at that moment that the tour will be done in about a month, and we’ll all, hopefully, go on to amazing careers and lives away from this “Idol Machine” and apart from one another. After a year with these guys, that thought looms ominous and scary.
I want to say thank you for the support you guys have shown, but more importantly the understanding you guys have shown to my limitations as I try to meander through this very new lifestyle of actually being acknowledged for doing something I love.
-David Archuleta landed at No. 2 on the Top 100 singles chart thanks to being the top download sale single with 166,000 sold for “Crush.” The song debuts at No. 40 on the top 40 chart and should easily exceed “The Time of My Life,” Cook’s coronation song, which is now at No. 29.
Hah! Here’s his vlog shooting the “Crush” video. It looks like he taped it on Tuesday, the offday in Florida after Atlanta. He even says nice things about Atlanta but otherwise, not a lot of content here but Archuleta fans will be thrilled:
“Had a great show yesterday. The crowd was just amazing… it was one of the best nights I had.”
-The Miami Herald reviewer enjoyed the “Idols Live” tour Wednesday, the first one since Atlanta.. Hometown gal Syesha Mercado got plenty of love:
Of the 10, Syesha Mercado of Sarasota, who finished in third place behind the two Davids, looked the most like a seasoned star. She earned the night’s first — and only real — standing ovation for her rendition of the Dreamgirls tune, Listen. (The audience rose for the two Davids afterward but that was more out of adoration than for anything they did — though both Davids played to their strengths.)
Oh, and here’s the gratuitous Ramiele slam:
The Miramar native has such a thin voice and lack of command on stage it’s a shock she even made it through the Idol auditions. She, more than anyone, doesn’t belong here.
And sorry Michael Johns, he didn’t like you:
Michael Johns squandered his opportunity with hamfisted vocals on classic rock (he wasn’t helped by the tepid backing band).
-MJ reported some more “Idol” attendance numbers, most 80% or more. Atlantic City even hit 100%. Yet Cincinnati was the big bomb— just 59%. Of 22 concerts, the average attendance has been 85% and average revenue of $588K. MJ—you are working your buttocks off. Great blogging the past couple of days!
-Meanwhile, over at Idol Chatter,, Ken Barnes reports that the three “Idols” on the Top 200 in album sales moved up. Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” jumped to 38 and sold 11,000, up to 2.29 million. Daughtry jumped to 70 and sold 7,000 copies for 4.19 million total. Daughtry nabs his fifth top 40 hit with “What About Now” debuting at No. 35. Jordin edges up to 71 with 7K more and 885K total. At this pace, it could take quite a long time for her to hit 1 million copies. She is about to have her third top 10 hit with “One Step At a Time,” which is at No. 11, according to Radio and Records. And the song sold 54K copies on the download chart for 554K total. Counting her coronatioin song, she has now sold more than 5 million downloads. Impressive!
On the country chart, Carrie Underwood’s “Just a Dream” is at No. 15 (with her single selling 18K for the week and 92K total) while Bucky Covington’s “I’ll Walk” is stuck at No. 23. Kellie Pickler’s “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” is still gaining airplay but her song fell from 26 to 28 as other songs leapfrogged her. Kristy Lee Cook’s “15 Minutes of Shame” is at No. 46, up from 60.
Chris Sligh’s single “Empty Me” is at No. 8 on the soft Christian pop chart after 23 weeks.
Jennifer Hudson’s “Spotlight” is at No. 24, showing modest airplay increases.
Taylor HIcks’ “Early Works” moved 2,300 copies and missed the Top 200.
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8/20: Leftovers from Monday’s concert
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the Dirty Bird Falcons dance David Cook and Michael Johns attempted in Atlanta Monday night. (Earlier in the song, I couldn’t tell if Carly’s mike went out or she forgot the words. Can anyone tell?) They do the Mavid dance at the 2:00 point. Although Michael told me he didn’t think David got it quite right, it looked fairly coordinated to me.
I have a friend Cheryl Monkhouse, whose husband Tim, played footie (Australian rules football) with Michael Johns when Johns lived here in Atlanta. He got sixth row seats and backstage passes for a post-concert meet and greet, which was more like a party. Regular blog reader and David Cook fan Karen Durden (below, with me), an engineer, joined me.
There is normally a backstage meet and greet with all 10 “Idol” contestants but Michael Johns had a special one just for him and 100 of his closest friends and fans. He even had free beer for everyone and encouraged them to hang out instead of just coming and going. He hugged old friends from his CJ’s Landing days in Buckhead and even a gal from his Tifton college tennis days.
(Sorry for the red eye problem here on this shot):
ABOVE: David Cook was the king of patience. He joined the Michael Johns party unexpectedly, he said, to grab a beer. But he was inundated with fans wanting pictures. I didn’t help matters by trying to take a picture of my friend here Cheryl but botching it a few times. Don’t ask. I do have to give David credit for keeping himself amused by making goofy expressions.
Here’s a Mavid shot with Caroline St. Antoine in the middle.
And David makes another funny face with Kristy Stupka of Blue Medspa.
Unfortunately, my friend Karen left before David showed up and missed him.
I stayed until about 11:40 p.m. Kristy Stupka insisted I take my picture with Michael so here it is:
Michael hung out til close to midnight when the tour bus pulled out to go to Florida. I figured he was the last “Idol” out of the arena that night though we saw Carly with her husband and some friends as we walked out.
In other “Idol” news:
-MJ reports that Justin Guarini, Gina Glocksen, Nadia Turner and Brandon Rogers recently visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan and found Brandon’s blog about his experience though he hasn’t updated since the first day August 5.
Afghanistan Day One: 8/5/08 Today I finally made it to the first stop on the “Idol Legends Tour”, (hey, I didn’t name it). After a five hour flight to DC, a five hour layover, then a fourteen hour flight my destination was reached, Doha, Qatar. Little did I know that the US had a military base on this beautiful, incredibly humid, wealthy peninsula in the Arabian Gulf. This base was an R&R base for soldiers who have been ling deployed in the middle east and just need a break. The soldiers get four days with few restrictions and lots of stuff to do. Little did Justin, Gina, Nadia and I know how much a little visit from us could brighten their spirits. They are so far from home that they feel that our taking the time and risk to fly halfway across the planet to see them was some sort of grand gesture. We tries our best to make them realize that the true pleasure was ,in fact, all ours. It was a privelege to see such brave men and women risking their lives day in and out to protect our way of life. Our hats go off to them. What a great way to start the trip.
-I got this tidbit from Extra TV:
(Los Angeles - August 20, 2008) - He’s Baaaacccck! American Idol alum, Sanjaya Malakar, is starring AND singing in a new commercial for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Malakar sat down in “Extra’s” New York Times Square studio and revealed his musical talent has improved since his Idol days. He said, “I’ve noticed while recording the [new] album, I can sing higher.”
“Extra” surprised Malakar with a video message sent from Simon Cowell who, despite constantly criticizing his Idol performances said, “Hello, Sanjaya. In a strange way, I sort of miss you.” Malakar responded, “Well, thank you Simon. I kind of miss you too.”
On Idol, Malakar debuted many talked about hairdos. Using “Extra’s” flip camera, one of his fans asked the burning question everyone wants to know - Does Malakar prefer hair mousse or gel? Malakar said, “I actually prefer water. Mousse and gel are gross. Make my hair all crusty.”
“Extra’s” interview with Sanjaya airs tonight and for all the latest celebrity news, log onto www.extratv.com.
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8/18: Idols in concert in Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After mocking various critics who were forced to watch this concert tour, I come in knowing the purpose of “American Idols Live” is somewhat different from most concerts. It’s merely a celebration of ourselves and the folks we picked to make the top 10, a visual and mental souvenir. We validate ourselves with the success of these singers, many of whom will never sing in venues this large again while a select few will use this as a springboard for bigger and better things.
From that standpoint, the concert was a rousing success, highlighting the depth and breadth of talent this year. Sure, the TV show itself is getting gray around the edges (like me), but there are a few solid reasons the show sold out: David Cook and David Archuleta (with a few Jason Castro fans thrown in for good measure.)
The staging was simple, the backing band solid, the opening host Corey aggravating to the nth degree. (Yes, he’s the type of host who had to exhort people to stand up, clap and do the hokey pokey.) And adding a level of corporate surrealism, big Pop Tarts characters walked around. The crowd was your usual blend of families with kids and gobs of middle-aged women.
Let’s run down the top 10. In fact, the show itself for the first time celebrates the countdown on the big screens behind the singers.
Chikezie (below) is facile on stage, with the chops to handle both slow and fast songs. He lacks a certain something that would make him a big star. I can’t quite figure out why but he isn’t Ruben Studdard.
(PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho)
What can I say about Ramiele without being mean? Well, there is only one point on stage where the audience can touch the contestants stage right. When Chikezie, Michael, the two Davids et. al. went over people stood up, cheered, reached for them, took pictures. When Ramiele came over? Nothing. They just sat there. Ouch. She was so robotic during her “I Want You Back,” I watched the backup singers, who were given their one chance to show off their dance moves.
Michael Johns got a great reception from his hometown crowd. (In fact, he had a separate meet and greet afterwards for more than 100 people. I’m going to post a blog entry about that Tuesday.) He sounded great, looked comfortable and even introduced “Dream On” as “the song that got me kicked off ‘American Idol.’ ” But alas, he still likes the song too much to care.
Kristy Lee Cook feels very calculated, very rehearsed but that sheen of professionalism got her through her three songs, including (of course) Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” She, like most of the other women, went all sparkly, probably because it can be seen in the back of the arena.
Carly Smithson, without the pressure of the judges or the weight of her past, let loose with Evanescence, Heart and Cyndi Lauper. When she’s more comfortable, we feel more comfortable. And she pulled off this dress below far better than 99% of the population. She can still scrunch her face up impressively when she sings passionately.
Brooke White is a joyous presence on stage, even when she partly tripped getting up from the piano. As the second coming of Carly Simon, she even had ’70s-style wavy hair.
During the U2 “Pride” group sing, I caught the two former Atlantans together on stage here. They should definitely do some duets at some point:
After the break, Jason Castro came on with a lovely rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” followed by his emotive take on Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” that we missed on “Idol” because they couldn’t get full clearance. Castro noted he was really nervous doing it in Hollywood but now has more confidence or something like that. The dreadheads were out in force. Somebody in line sight of me kept waving a big “No. 1” foam finger with dreads on it.
I still have a hard time finding a real identity behind the polished and professional Syesha Mercado but she is amazingly good at imitating the likes of Alicia Keys and Rihanna. And I managed to get the best photo of the night despite how far away I was from the stage (about 30 rows back on the side).
David Archuleta received screams almost as loud as those I heard for the Jonas Brothers a few months back. He sounded amazingly good as always and acted as if he’d never heard such feedback before. I don’t even think it’s an act. It’s just Archie. And he has this nervous tick of saying “hah!” every time he paused between thoughts.
The winner David Cook came on finessing both “Billie Jean” and “Hello” into grunge-like Cook masterpieces just like on the show. And he managed to make both his coronation song “Time of My Life” and the execrable Aerosmith song “And I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” palatable. He also brought out a video camera and taped the crowd, a sweet souvenir. He still comes across as a less arrogant, more supple Daughtry and that’s why he deserved to be the winner. Folks closer up said he does like to wear a lot of eye liner along the lines of Dava Navarro:
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8/18: Idols Live meet and greet at Gwinnett Arena, new Daughtry video
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Larry King wanted to tape an interview with the 10 Idols so CNN ended up taping it today at Gwinnett Arena. That kind of threw off the standard Q&A interview portion but I got to take some shots of them during the interview below and got to finally meet the two former Atlantans Carly Smithson and Michael Johns. The “Larry King Live” is set to air Friday.
I got a few more tidbits from Michael Johns about this upcoming post tour plans. He will be working with Andrew Farriss from INXS in October on a song. He’s also hoping to attend the Elton John celeb-am tennis match in a few months. He also expects to move back to Atlanta next year. He’s working with the same people as Elliott Yamin to get his album out. He also gave a shout out to www.michaeljohnsonline.com for being such a great fan site.
He described the umbrella bit they did last night at Charlotte, which is already online. Michael, Syesha and I watched it on this computer:
Johns said by pure coincidence, he had heard Turner Classic Movies had paid homage to Gene Kelly of “Singing in the Rain” fame that same day.
As I was putting these pictures up in the meet-and-greet area, Kristy Lee Cook came up and looked through them. Brooke came by, too. Sweet gal. And Michael hated his shot below, says he looks kind of weighty. I said he looked fine but what do I know?
ABOVE: Kristy Lee Cook with Michael Johns.
A side shot with Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael and Chikezie Eze.
Usually, the “Idols” get to meet and greet fans outside at around 2 p.m. but today, because of the “Larry King Live” shoot, they couldn’t do it, leaving disappointed fans to hang outside.
I got to meet Carly in person. She remembered that I knew Jennifer Ordonez, who wrote that WSJ piece about her. She has amazing blue eyes. She has no concrete plans post tour yet but she’ll be working an album of course.
Brooke White with Jason Casto.
My favorite shot: David Cook with a mischievous grin while David Archuleta does his grin.
Carly with Chikezie.
Jason with Kristy.
David Cook recently got this tattoo of an eye. Not sure why or what it means. I wasn’t listening carefully to his explanation during the taping.
My artsy shot of the day from the second floor over some sweatshirts set to go on sale soon.
Ah… yes. The fans!
Michael, Carly and Chikezie from the side.
Syesha and the two Davids cutting up. One random observation about Archuleta I got from Johns. Archuleta eats constantly, usually healthy stuff, but he eats a lot. I saw him grabbing a few corn dog bites from the MarquisJet NetJets food spread. Ah… the advantages of youth!
Here’s other “Idol” news:
-This from a press release I got from CNN:
CNN today announced that platinum-selling recording artists Daughtry have rerecorded “Feels Like the First Time,” originally made famous by Foreigner in 1977, as the theme song for the network’s League of First Time Voters initiative. The music video will premiere on Campbell Brown: Election Center on Monday, August 18, and will be available on CNN.com via video on-demand.
The single will appear on Daughtry Deluxe, the band’s upcoming deluxe version of its debut album, due out Tuesday, Sept. 9.
“We strongly believe that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you vote,” said Chris Daughtry, lead singer of the Grammy-nominated band. “Getting to rerecord a classic song like this was a real honor for us, and we hope it helps inspire people to vote.”
-Word is from SOHH.com that Fantasia is in town working on her third album with Rock City.
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8/15: Remember Mikalah Gordon? She’s baaack in “Gone Country 2”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Mikalah with Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync. credit/CMT
ABOVE: The cast (l-r). Sebastian Bach, Mikalah Gordon, Sean Young, Lorenzo Lamas, John Rich, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick.
Mikalah Gordon was a polarizing figure from season four in 2005. She started out with a lot of refreshing attitude, then kind of melted into confusion over her image and sound. And her diction while singing was odd to say the least.
She didn’t quite disappear after “Idol,” doing some hosting work for Fox Reality Channel’s “Idol” roundups for a couple of years, acting as a correspondent for “The Tyra Banks Show,” plus playing a spoiled pop star on “The Unit.” She also portrayed Fran Drescher’s cousin on Fran’s sitcom “Living With Fran.”
And now she’s on her first big reality show since “Idol” called “Gone Country 2,” where this Jewish, Italian gal from Vegas attempts to “go country.” She’s now 20 years old and while she says she wants to be a country star, this is also a good way to get some (any!) exposure and a paycheck, too.
“I find country music very genuine and passionate,” she said. “I think it’s time for something unique in country. I know what I want to do. I want to sing.”
Growing up, she listened more to old-school country such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. “Kris Kristofferson is an in incredible songwriter,” she noted. She’s a fan of some modern-day stuff by Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Tim and Faith. Plus, she likes southern rock along the lines of Lynyrd Skynrd, a style she would tend to prefer for herself.
She joins a wacky “Surreal Life”-type cast: actor Lorenzo Lamas (pretty looking even in middle age), the slightly nutty actress Sean Young, the “Dee Snider” character in Sebastian “Skid Row” Bach, Jermaine Jackson (yes, one of those Jacksons!), Irene “Fame” Cara and Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync fame. Like Diana DeGarmo the first time, Mikalah is by far the youngest. And Mikalah is less well known than Diana, having finished 11th (as opposed to second).
One thing she said John Rich doesn’t do to her the way he did to Diana was make her cry. “I don’t cry,” she said.
The show debuts tonight at 8 p.m. I watched a preview. Mikalah comes off more mature and level-headed than she was on the show because, well, she is 20 years old, not 16.
Mikalah voluntarily jumped into clearing the air about “Idol” without me even asking. She said she made some serious mistakes on “Idol” but chalked it up to being young. “I was really really insecure,” she said. “I know I came off as kind of annoying. I had a really big mouth. I used that more as a cover. I really thought this could make me a huge star.”
Here’s Mikalah’s original audition where she shows some of her sass:
She works over Simon during Hollywood week:
But after making the top 24, she looked at the message boards. Big mistake. “I saw what people were saying about me. I was devastated. i was heartbroken.” (They insulted her attitude as well as her singing style.). She felt at that point to show her “more gentle or softer side. I was so confused. I was just trying to please everybody but myself.” She said she grew up without a lot of real life experiences and wasn’t used to be criticized.
She never saw herself as a diva on the show. “My mom would have kicked my ass if I ever became one. I had good intentions. I just didn’t know what I was doing.”
Here’s the “too mature for a 16 year old” take on a Barbra Streisand song “Somewhere.” It’s actually not bad in my opinion but I think she got reamed for it by Simon.
After the show, she stopped singing publicly for at least two years. She moved to Los Angeles and waitressed to pay the bills between TV gigs. “I made hardly any money from ‘Idol,’ ” she said. (Missing the top 10 for the tour didn’t help matters.) “I didn’t make money until I started doing some hosting gigs,” she said. During her time in L.A., she said she was tempted to go back home to Vegas and go to beauty school. But she stuck it out. “Now I’m self sufficient and independent,” she said. “I’m now more confident though I’m not cocky.”
She also got herself a vocal coach to help her reduce her nasal tone in her voice. She had to think about speaking only from her diaphragm.
She recently did the Razz Room in San Francisco with Gina Glocksen and Ricky Smith and got to meet Trenyce and R.J. Helton. She sang “Last Dance,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” and “God Bless the Child.” (She’s even planning to do a Wizard of Oz charity event in Lovett, Texas, in which she plays Dorothy and R.J. plays the Tin Man.)
Her take on each contestant besides herself:
Sebastian Bach: “He’s wild. I learned a lot from. He stays true to himself. I don’t know what his true intentions were for being on the show. But when he gets on the stage to sing, you see so much love for what he does.”
Sean Young: “Crazy girl! She was in one my favorite movies! [Ace Ventura]. She was very much in her own little world. But for what it’s worth, she was nice to me… her main goal was to write a song. And she did. She knew she wasn’t going to get a career out of it.”
Lorenzo Lamas: “He’s a good looking man! He’s way handsome for an older man.” [I teased her about the fact he’s more than twice her age.] “I wouldn’t go there. He was very serious. He does a lot of gigging around. You can’t help but respect him.” How was his song? “You have to watch and judge for yourself. At least he’s good looking.”
Jermaine Jackson: “I wanted to kill myself being there with a Jackson! I have to say, I was intimidated. He’s really wise and spiritual and humble. I was surprised how humble he is being a Jackson. And his wife is so cute.”
Chris Kirkpatrick: “”He was my best friend in the house. He was closest to my age. Funny thing— I was the rebel when I was 11. I refused to listen to ‘N Sync. My girlfriends were all in love with Justin. I listened to a lot of soul and my father was a jazz musician… I think his main objective was to prove that he can stand on his own. He did a good job. There is some tension between him and John Rich. But at the end of the day, Chris wrote a genius song. I think he did what he set out to do.”
Irene Cara: “You’ll see. Nothing I can say about that.” Hmm….
-Diana DeGarmo’s gig this fall with “Godspell” on Broadway is in trouble before it even started, according to Variety. Financial problems are being cited..
-Carmen Rasmussen is pregnant, according to people.com..
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8/13: Michael Johns interview is now up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The fans at michaeljohnsonline.com sent me more than 20 questions for Michael Johns. Thank you! I only had 15 minutes by phone but I asked as many key ones today as I could in advance of the “Idols Live” tour at Gwinnett Arena August 18.
Johns lived in Buckhead for several years before moving to Los Angeles to try to break into the business and “Idol” identified the neighborhood as his “city” of residence.
Going indie: He noted that he’s been on two major labels and an indie. He plans to go on his own like Elliott Yamin and hopes to find distribution any way he can. “I want control back,” he said. “It’s not like I need a label to get me noticed. This is one of my last shots to be in this situation.” He also plans to do separate deals in Australia and the U.K.
So far, so good: To date, he says he’s recorded eight songs (two songs by Diane Warren), most done before the tour started. He hopes to get 25 done by Thanksgiving and pick 12 for an album set to be released in January or February. No producer named yet. “I can’t believe producers are returning my calls!” he said. “Ultimately, we’ll write as much as we can then figure out what producer to stylize it.” He admits he has fought off the INXS vibe but realizes he’s good with the bluesy-soul blend and will stick with it. He has no plans to use any songs from the past. He expects the album will include all new songs. “It’s an album hopefully you can dance to, work out to, chill out to.”
Radio, radio: J.D. asked if Michael Johns can get on the radio without major label support? (Elliott Yamin pulled it off but he’s the exception.) “I’ll get an aggressive street team and radio commercial team. There are businesses who do that.”
**The “Mavid Bromance”: The fans seem bemused by the close relationship David Cook and Michael Johns have developed. And they are wondering if the pair will work together. “I can’t see how we wouldn’t work together. We’re such great friends. Even though we’re a bit different stylistically, I used to do that kind of sound back in Atlanta. We really have a good connection. We keep each other sane. Working together - it’s something we talk about all the time.”
The “Movad” dances are back!: Ah, yes. Fans have enjoyed the silly dances the pair have done during Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music” at most concert dates. I posted the video yesterday off YouTube showing a compilation of those silly dances, ranging from the Robot to the Running Man to the “Terrible Towel” to “King of the World!” But a week ago, the tour managers asked them to stop doing it. For a couple of dates, they complied, just did the song straight. M.J. and Cook fans through a hissyfit on the Web. Heck, there was even a petition!
Johns confirmed that they were told to stop doing the dances. He protested but relented. He is even familiar with the video compilation above. “It’s hilarious!” he said. He said a few concerts in, during soundcheck, he and David began coming up with a silly dance. “Every day is different,” he said. He was surprised but pleased that “everyone has been spazzing out about it. The fans love it. We were told to reel it in. But the fans wanted it back. They were up in arms!” So the concert organizers reversed the decision and let them go back to business. In Baltimore a couple days ago, Johns and Cook did the Rocky Balboa fists in the air dance in celebration.
Tattoos?: Jasela wanted to know if Johns has any tattoos. Nope. “Never will,” he said, then imitating Austin Powers, says, “It’s not my bag, baby!”
Early release: He asked to be released from the 19 Entertainment contract that is normally thrust upon all “Idol” finalists (at least the top 12 that I know of) for six months after the finale or the end of November. But Johns asked to be let go early and for the first time that I know of (though it may not have been the first), 19 agreed. “They were amazing to me,” Johns said. “They said, ‘Look- we realize you’re 29 years old. Good luck.’ I was so thankful. I’ve been able to work and get things done instead of wait around.”
Off to the races. Michael Johns will be singing the National Anthem October 26 at the Pep Boys Auto 500 and he’ll do three songs as well. You can buy tix here..
Why no instruments? Karen from Atlanta asked why he didn’t use instruments like the two Davids, Brooke and Jason, he said “the right song hadn’t come up yet for me. I was actually going to do it for Neil Diamond. But look—I’m a singer foremost, being a front man. Instruments weren’t going to define me. Not necessary.”
How about the Boston Herald critic calling you the “slightly edgier Michael Bolton:” “If I can sell 50 million albums like him, I don’t care! He was 37 when he broke it big and that’s amazing. Major labels nowadays don’t care about people over 25. ‘You’re 27? Forget about it!’ That’s over the top!”
I ran out of time. With one question left, I asked whether he plans to play golf on Monday when he’s in Atlanta. (That was one fan’s question.). His answer—no. He plans to spend the morning he’s here to visit his friends here and he has plenty here.
In the interim, here’s some “Idol” news:
-Daughtry will be performing at a private party during the GOP national convention in Minneapolis in early September along with the likes of LeAnn Rimes and Sammy Hagar.
-New papa Clay Aiken is giving “Spamalot” another stint after taking the summer off. More info here.. I’m surprised he didn’t embark on a more aggressive concert tour to promote his current album, which has not done well at all. He will be on Broadway from Sept. 19 through Jan. 4, 2009. E! has a picture of Clay holding hte baby but we can’t really see the baby here.
-After relatively low turnouts in other cities, 11,000 people are estimated to have shown up at Jacksonville for today’s auditions. More info here.
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8/12: Daughtry gets expanded treatment, Michael Johns interview forthcoming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Daughtry’s first CD has already sold 4 million-plus copies but according to USA Today, the label is releasing an “enhanced” version featuring acoustic versions of “What About Now” and “Home,” as well as a live version of “It’s Not Over” and a cover of Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time.” A DVD features the videos from his five singles and concert footage.
Acts such as Chris Brown and Rihanna have created “bonus” CDs. This is the first time an “Idol” alum has earned such an honor. Or a desperate way for the label to make a few more pennies. And believe me, those labels need every penny because albums seldom sell 1 million copies nowadays, much less 4 million.
You can pre-order here.. It’s out Sept. 9.
-I have a Michael Johns interview set up in advance of the “Idols Live” tour coming to Gwinnett Arena Wednesday. Any questions I should ask the former Buckhead man? Email me at rho@ajc.com.
One of his fans sent me this video of Michael and David Cook doing goofy dances at varous “Idols Live” concerts ranging from “The Robot” to “The Running Man” to some sort of “Grease” takeoff. Word is that they’ve been told to stop it from the Powers That Be. I’ll definitely ask if this is true.
-And yes, it was no problem getting a hold of season four’s Mikalah Gordon. I am talking to her Wednesday as well for “Gone Country 2” debuting Friday so if you have any questions to ask her, please email me as well.
-David Archuleta’s “Crush” is now available on iTunes and Amazon. Have at it fans!
-The Boston Herald reviewer gave the show a lukewarm review.
Funny (or mean, depending on your mood) line about Michael Johns, who the writer felt lacked movement:
The weathered Aussie rocker has the chops to churn out Queen and Aerosmith anthems, but in terms of mannerisms he’s a slightly edgier Michael Bolton.
-I wrote an advance print story about the “Idols Live” tour which is here.. I basically did a comparison of the two Davids.
-Carrie Underwood states the obvious in Allure magazine: fame makes dating hard. Really!
“You never really know why somebody wants to be around you, or if they do genuinely like you,” Underwood, 25, tells Allure magazine in the September issue. “I wish everyone had a label on their forehead so you could automatically tell their intentions. Sometimes you just wish that no one wanted anything from you.”
-Do you want to know what Ryan Seacrest looked like shirtless in 1994? TMZ provides this classic pose.
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8/11: Gone Country reunion, David Cook’s “Time of My Life” makes Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CMT on Friday decided to run a mix of “best of” and leftovers from the original “Gone Country” featuring Atlanta’s Bobby Brown and “Idol” alum Diana DeGarmo.
John Rich brought the originals back together. A moment we missed was the folks skeet shooting on Gretchen Wilson’s ranch. Funny line from Bobby Brown:
“There was a segment in which we were shooting guns. I don’t think they want to see black men shooting guns, especially on CMT.” Sisqo was especially good at it. “He had too good of an aim with the skeet shooting,” Diana said.
“Maureen [McCormick] had a shotgun which was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life,” said Dee Snider.
Fan favorite moment was Bobby almost peeing on Dee Snider with his sleepwalking. “Watching myself sleepwalk was weird,” Brown said. “I’m getting help for it. Working on getting sleep earlier in the day. Going to the bathroom before I go to sleep.”
McCormick and Carnie Wilson accidentally saw Brown’s junk when he kicked his covers off. She also got major infections from wearing boots without socks. She wondered if she got it slipping on Bobby’s urine.
“I have Tourettes,” Carnie Wilson said. She cussed and farted tons. They repeated the Bobby/Maureen flirtation. Diana burping.
John Rich’s take on Diana DeGarmo: “There’s no doubt in my mind that Diana Degarmo when she gets it all right will be a big star in country music.” But his rationale for picking Julio Igelsias Jr., which confused all of us: “You can see the entire audience move toward him and he moved toward them… That was a very big click in my head why he should win… I’m te kind of guy who always wants to see country music push beyond its boundaries.”
Carnie imitated Julio, asking if that’s country music? (No, it’s not.) “I wanted to win!” Diana said. Bobby fake cries. Oh, well.
Since the show, John produced Julio’s song “The Way I Want You.” (No radio airplay that I can tell.) Bobby is working on country as well as R&B/hip-hop. Carnie and Sisqo aren’t doing much countrywise that I can tell. Dee Snider no longer hates country music. Diana, of course, moved to Nashville and is working with John on an album. Maureen says people now see her for “Gone Country” as well as Brady Bunch.
This is a preview for “Gone Country 2,” which premieres next Friday. I’m going to try to talk to Mikalah Gordon this week. What should I ask her?
-NBC used David Cook’s “Time of My Life” during the montage at the end of the TV coverage of the Beijing Olympics. Rickey.org has it here..
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8/8: Clay Aiken’s baby has arrived!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TMZ reports that Clay Aiken now has a son named Parker Foster Aiken.
Aiken provided the sperm for his friend 50-year-old Jaymes Foster to be artifically inseminated. This is similar to the David Crosby/Julie Cypher/Melissa Etheridge deal a few years back.
Aiken’s mom Fayes told a local Raleigh, N.C. TV station that the dark-haired Parker weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz and was 19” long. She says her son is “smiling from ear-to-ear.”
Aiken and Foster met while he was on the “American Idol” in 2003. She’s the sister of record mogul David Foster.
According to msnbc.com,, he posted the following note on his Web site (though I didn’t see it on the home page.)
“My dear friend, Jaymes, and I are so excited,” Aiken wrote. “Wow … 8:08 … 08/08/08. The little man is healthy, happy and as loud as his daddy. Mama Jaymes is doing quite well also.”
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8/8: Obama not too keen on “Idol,” Ryan Seacrest gets name boost for “Rockin’ Eve”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barack Obama told ew.com that he isn’t a huge “Idol” fan.
Are there any shows you two argue about?
She likes American Idol, her and the girls, in a way that I don’t entirely get.
Have you or any member of your family ever voted for an Idol?
I think the girls did vote in last year’s contest. I don’t know who they voted for, but I recall that a vote was cast. They were very excited about it. [Obama’s camp won’t comment, but rumor has it that his daughters, Malia and Sasha, were big David Archuleta fans last season.]
-Ryan Seacrest, apparently recuperated from that shark bite, will have his name added to the ABB New Year’s celebration. Originally known as “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” it’s not “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest.”
According to TV Week:
The company [Dick Clark Productions] has triggered a three-year option on its deal, which means Mr. Seacrest is now locked in through 2010.
Back in 2005, Mr. Seacrest signed a long-term deal with DCP that called for him to eventually take over as sole host of the franchise.
-Seacrest interviewed Nigel Lythgoe about his departure from “Idol” here.. He said the time pressure to deal with both SYTYD and “Idol’ was tougher and tougher. “I needed a break to do something else,” he said. He said leaving “Idol” was not as tough as coming to America and leaving the U.K. “It is one of those things. It’s the love of your life you need to give up purely and simply because I have to move on and the program has to move on. I hope they don’t tweak it too much.” Who will take his place? He doesn’t really answer that. “Everyone knows what they’re doing. I’m such a control freak, I never let them off the leash.”
-Sorry to be so late on this one: Bo Bice weclomed child no. 2 on Tuesday, People.com reported.
The baby boy, named Caleb, was born in Nashville. He joins big brother Aidan, who will be 3 in September.
-“Gone Country” on CMT debuts August 15 at 8 p.m. with season four finalist Mikalah Gordon (as well as Jermaine Jackson, Irene Cara, Lorenzo Lamos, Sean Young, Sebastian Bach and Chris Kirkpatrick of N Sync.)
-Remember when Natalie Cole “dueted” with her late great dad Nat King Cole? Well, Elvis will be “dueting” with a bunch of country stars, many who weren’t even born when he died. Carrie Underwood is one of them, singing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Kind of nauseating though how can this beat Celine Dion singing to his hologram during “Idol Gives Back”?
-“Nashville Star” winner Melissa Lawson actually made it to the top 75 season four but got zero airtime! Here’s the excerpt from an ew.com interview.:
Give me an example of one of those times when you’ve been knocked down and you can now look back and say, “Okay, that was just a step in my getting here.”
You know, probably one of the ones that people would relate to most is American Idol. I competed Season Four and made the top 75, but after going through all of that, I never got airtime at all. It was almost a slap in the face, and it just made me feel like there was no validation there at all, no respect for the time that was put in. It just made me feel horrible. That’s one of many. Overall, I’ve paid a lot of dues to get where I’m at today, and I feel very, very fortunate to have won last night. Time is ticking in such a weird manner right now, I can’t believe it was just last night.
-A quick summary of sales from Idol Chatter: Jordin Sparks’ “One Step at a Time” increases sales 9% and is up to No. 28 with 44K sold and 328K total. The song in Radio and Records is up to No. 16 from 22. It’s positioning itself nicely for a top 10 spot, Jordin’s third. David Cook’s “The Time of My Life” edges up to No. 33 on the top 40 charts. I doubt it will get much higher.
Her album is picking up, too, from No. 108 to No. 69, up 22%, bringing totals to 871K. Daughtry moved up, too, to 78 with 7,000 sold and 4.17 mil total.
On the country chart, Carrie’s “Just a Dream” is up to No. 21 while Josh Gracin’s song started slipping and given its age, was quickly dropped off the chart. Bucky’s “I’ll Walk” moves up to No. 28 from 30 while Kellie Pickler holds at No. 31 with “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” but still gaining airplay (albeit slowly.) Kristy Lee Cook’s “15 Minutes of Shame” debuted at No. 58.
Latest comments
Olympics still. I guess I’ll go into Olympic withdrawl next week. Thank goodness I don’t have to wait four years for the next Idol.After reading what David Cook wrote, I believe we picked the right idol.... read the full comment by Harmony | Comment on 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big Read 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big
Nana, you remind me of s’one i know…are you from vietnam ?... read the full comment by bigbigbig | Comment on 8/18: Idols Live meet and greet at Gwinnett Arena, new Daughtry video Read 8/18: Idols Live meet and greet at Gwinnett Arena, new Daughtry video
The Larry King interview of the Idols, which was supposed to air on Friday, is on right now. :-(... read the full comment by Deirdre | Comment on 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big Read 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big
All of those songs that David A. is selling must be teeny boppers borrowing Dads credit card. Maxaman... read the full comment by Maxaman | Comment on 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big Read 8/21: David Cook reflects on life so far, David Archuleta's "Crush" opens big