Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2006 > May
May 2006
6/1: Encores CD debuts at no. 3
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
American Idol’s Season 5 Encores CD debuted at No. 3 behind the “High School Musical” soundtrack and the Dixie Chicks’ latest. It sold 154,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the most of any of the compilations to date, yet again solidifying the popularity of the franchise.
Then again, 154,000 is barely 1/2 of 1 percent of the typical no. of viewers of “Idol’ any given week. I think most folks are waiting for the releases of particular favorite artists. This is merely a souvenir for those who like souvenirs. And if you like only one or two tracks and you download, you can save yourself some money and just buy those off iTunes.
Here’s the link
6/1: Kat, Taylor singles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The new Taylor Hicks CD single “Do I Make You Proudâ€? with “Takin’ it to the Streetsâ€? will be out June 13. It’s been in the top 10 on Amazon.com the past few days. Runner-up Katharine McPhee’s “My Destinyâ€? with “Somewhere Over the Rainbowâ€? will be out June 27 and sales trail far behind. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was ranked #35 vs. #5 for Taylor’s single.
5/31: Should Idol change age limit?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My Idol colleague Donna Reynolds at www.foxesonidol.com suggests they raise the age to 18 so folks like Lisa Tucker and Paris Bennett can mature and be even better a couple years down the road. I agree that Paris, given two or three years, could have won it all. She just wasn’t quite ready.
How about the upper end age limit? Should there even be one? As Donna notes, the producers can cut out anybody remotely geriatric from the pool before they even reach the three judges. Even co-producer Nigel Lythgoe last week suggested raising the age from 28 to 30, a nod to Taylor Hicks, who was on the upper end of the age limit.
I wouldn’t have anything against making it 18 to 30 instead of 16 to 28.
How about an “original music” night like Nashville Star requiring contestants to write something? Should that be a requirement to be “American Idol”? I’m not too keen on that. That’s not a general requirement to be a pop star in this day and age. And it might result in some pretty BAD songs.
Another suggestion Donna made: how about letting them play instruments, at least during the results show, as they allowed Anwar, Carrie and Bo last year? That doesn’t bug me.
Other ideas sound cool: a songwriting contest for the eventual Idol winner so we don’t end up with the crap they fed us this year.
And how about holding performance shows in other cities? Logistically difficult but it could give folks in other cities a chance to see the show.
5/30: Paris wants to release xmas album
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to the Rockford Register, Paris Bennett wants to release a jazzy Christmas album. She was born in that area and has a lot of family in Illinois though she spent most of her years growing up in Minneapolis before moving briefly to Fayetteville last year.
And here’s an interesting post someone sent me from a music guy in Birmingham who knew Taylor as an okay bar band guy with strange dance moves he felt had no prayer of going anywhere in the business despite his aggressive nature. And as an admitted music snob, he’s no “Idol” fan:
Taylor Hicks Labored on the Birmingham Scene for 10 Long Years Before Anyone Noticed
May 25, 2006
by Don VanCleave, Coalition of Independent Music Stores http://www.cimsmusic.com/ - posted under Charts & Rants on website
Birmingham is not a very big place. It is about the size of Nashville or Austin, but acts smaller. I am pretty well known in town from doing business there for 18 or so years. Reg and I both get it. We are the music business guys. So I get a bunch of questions thrown my way. Usually they involve what shows to see or what records to buy. But, since it is late May, the questions ALWAYS involve American Idol.
Yep, who knew that our fair city would land THREE finalists in a row? Ruben, then Bo, and now Taylor Hicks. “Hey Don, how ’bout that Taylor Hicks?� “Hey Don, what do you think about Taylor?� and every other combination.
I have to be honest. I have not watched one song on American Idol this year. I watched a few tunes last year and the year before but I just can*t stand that judge’s panel and their comments. For me, music should not be a contest or related to a sporting event. It is impossible to avoid on the news here. I get the attraction to those folks not in the music business. I mean, talent shows have always been popular. What I find really crazy is how our town has magically produced three acts in a row that make the finals. Maybe it is no small coincidence that Birmingham has one of the top rated Fox stations in the country.
About this time last year, Taylor Hicks sent us his new CD. “Please check it out dude.� OK man. After a listen or two, it went in the big “I listened to it and I promise I did not throw it away, but it is gonna just sit there� stack. It was a decent enough effort, but we get tons of those. How was I supposed to help a thick-looking dude with white hair? To me, he was just another bar band guy among dozens. Way more aggressive, but you know that guy. Trying to make it and quickly running out of time.
In June, we have City Stages in Birmingham. It is our local festival. Reg and I have been very involved since day one. Taylor and his band were to appear on the “Locals Only� stage. He called multiple times to see if we had listened to the CD. I was busy and avoided most of the calls. When I did talk to him, he lobbied me to come see his set at the festival. So, I dropped by and caught a few songs. I thought the guy had a really good voice, but I could barely watch his stage antics. Man, that dude is afflicted with something. You know, whatever that muscular thing is that possesses Joe Cocker.
Later that day, I ran into Taylor and he asked if I saw the set. I was polite, but got out of there quick. Not long after, Taylor just showed up at the office. We like to hide and don’t want local musicians just dropping by. We are total snobs about that. We would never get any work done otherwise. Taylor goes running from office to office asking Reg, Jill and finally me what I thought about him and how could we help him get hooked up. Andrea, my assistant at the time, got up from her perch, took Taylor by the arm and said, “Dude, you need to leave� and that was the last I heard from him. We spent the rest of the day talking about aggressive this guy could be. NO was not an answer ever.
A few months later, Reg came storming into my office and spewed, “Check this ** out. Taylor Hicks is in a serious run in the American Idol prelims.� Wow, that is crazy!
This guy is 29 years old and does not look like an artist that would ever get a record deal. I know dozens of A&R guys. NONE of them would have given Taylor Hicks the time of day a year ago. He is neither young enough nor skinny enough. He has grey hair and is about as goofy as it gets on stage. Normally he would be a total non-starter in this business.
Being one of those people who would not really give this guy any serious time, I wish him only the best in the final round. I hope he gets everything coming to him. He has been slogging it out in bad bars around here for 10 years and never gave up. If he wins, I hope he is very successful.
5/29: Idol TV appearances
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Conan and Letterman are on repeats next week, but Regis & Kelly will have Taylor on Tuesday May 30, Kat on Wednesday May 31 and Elliott on Thursday June 1. Taylor will be on “Ellen” on Friday June 2. Taylor will also be on The Today Show Thursday morning with Kat.
You can view the Taylor appearance on Leno last week. Taylor gets to see David Hasselhoff tearing up for the first time. And it’s still hilarious!
5/27: Atlanta Idol tour dates appear sold out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The two dates at Gwinnett (August 3 and the ones that just went on sale Wednesday for Sept. 12) appear to be sold out, which I define as the inability to order two tickets on ticketmaster.com. That’s more than 22,000 seats — very impessive!
So the options are thus: brokers like www.stubhub.com or waiting til just a couple of days before the actual concert and seeing if they release some seats reserved for insiders but not used or are considered less than ideal. Last year, I purchased two seats on the side of the stage that were opened up less than 72 hours before the performance because the organizers would only give me one review ticket and my wife wanted to go. I don’t think those seats were originally going to be sold but they were great!
There has been a ton of speculative advance purchasing of Idol tickets for resale. The tix were going for $36.60 to $70 or so face value. On stubhub for August 3, folks are opting to get a 100% or greater return on their investment. Second row seats? Someone is asking for a whopping $971 each. I bet a lot of these were on sale before the 2nd date was put on sale. Overall, more than 140 seats were available on stubhub alone for this date.
I just checked the Sept 12 date and there are even MORE tickets available— more than 190. And the prices are in general lower for better seats than those for August 3. Here’s the site. No seats were available in the front few rows but there are plenty of great seats available right now for under $130 each.
And 143 seats are on sale for the August 3 date on www.greattickets.com And 184 more are available on that site for Sept. 12.
Over at www.ticketsnow.com, 148 tickets are on sale for August 3 and 188 more for Sept. 12.
And at www.razorgator.com, 94 seats are yours on August 3 and 146 tickets on Sept. 12
More than 200 tickets are on sale on ebay at the moment. It appears based on completed listings you can get your tix cheaper this way but there is a little more risk than with established brokers.
So of those five sites alone, more than 1,400 seats, or more than 6 percent of the entire ticket inventory is available. Those are major sites but you have to wonder how many of the seats are in the hands of folks who have no intention of actually GOING to the Idol tour but are merely trying to make a buck. That’s capitalism! I’ll check again as the dates get closer to see if the prices start dropping as folks get more desperate to unload.
5/28: Clay Aiken the next Beatle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a funny photoshopped picture of Clay Aiken as the fifth Beatle
5/27: Want to sample Idol Encores?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m not sure how long it’ll be available but AOL currently has the entire Idols Season 5 Encores CD available for streaming so you can sample it in full.
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5/26: Prince kept Idol guessing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Prince was in the house for exactly 5.5 minutes. He didn’t talk to any of the contestants, just came in, did his songs, and left. What a guy! “Idol” producers weren’t even sure he’d show up until seconds before he did.
Here’s the story.
5/26: Nigel speaks to TV Week
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nigel Lythgoe, co-executive producer here
On Taylor: “He is unique and gives you something every week to get you to pick up your telephone. Most of the time he gave a good performance.”
On his marketability: “That will depend on the songs he and the record company puts out. He will be a great live act. If they put out mediocre records, people will buy them to remember the occasion.”
On the show’s growing popularity: “We always say we don’t make major changes. We just tinker with the format. We did make major changes last year by splitting into a boy’s and girls area. It revitalized the format. It brought people together. That was the springboard for this year. Many peoople joined us early and chose our favorites. We seeded them well.”
Who goes first and who goes last: “It’s luck of the draw. Ken and I try to do a normal variety running order. You’ll see the order flip flop.”
The finale: “You can’t take really too much credi. So much people are due credit for. We sort of state what we want. Then there’s disbelief you can’t get it done. We only have a number of hours to put it together. Thanks to my team in all areas of sound, music, the lighting, the stage management, then the actual performers. Professionalism gets the show going. It goes through. The last one we did was one of the best ones I’ve done in my entire life. It all came together.”
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5/26: Taylor/Kat talk to print media
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ann Powers of the LA Times does a nice music critic analysis of Taylor and the show in general.
Taylor has a fan in high places: Condoleezza Rice
Here are a few bits I got from Taylor during the phone print press conference this afternoon:
I asked him about why he didn’t sing “Georgia on My Mind.” He said he wanted to but couldn’t find an opening.
“That would have been a tough fit� with the themes “Idol� gave him, he said. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll sing it on tour.�
Hicks said he also wanted to sing “Try a Little Tenderness� during “love song� week but had to do “Easy.� He also wanted to sing Van Morrison and Paul Simon but couldn’t get clearance.
As for his worst performance, he said doing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads� didn’t click. “I think I was flat the whole song,� he said. “I should have sung ‘Country Boy Can Survive’ [by Hank Williams Jr.]�
I asked Kat about Paris. Her response:
“I love Paris! We actually ended up being roommates. She and her mom were so adorable and wonderful to live with. She’s so talented and you forget she’s 17. She’s really marketable.”
As for Meat Loaf, I had to ask her and she said pretty much the same thing she told mtv.com. She at first wasn’t familiar with him but when she heard his hits, she recognized them.
“There’s a big age gap… The more people told me some of his hits. Oh, sure. I know that song and that song. He’s just a normal, humble guy. I just wanted to put on a good little show. It was definitely intense working with him. He puts all out every time he performs. It took me a couple of times to focus in. We’re on American Idol, not Broadway. But it work, put a cool dynamic on the show.”
Most amusing moment during the Kat conference. Some reporter from InStyle magazine innocently asked, “Who are you dating?” Before she could even say more than “I don’t want to…” a publicist cut it off by barking loudly, “Next question!” I guess she is dating someone, eh? In comparison, Taylor readily admitted to being single and when a journalist asked about a girl in the audience and wondered if he was dating her, they let the question go with no interruption.
5/26: More leftovers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The snarkiest TV writer on earth, The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes, even became an “Idol” expert and took questions from readers yesterday.
Typical Q &A:
Bethesda, Md.: What makes you just an expert on this?
Lisa de Moraes: Because I don’t understand anything else? Oh, are you asking why I think I’m such an expert on “Idol”? I thought you were asking why I know so much about “Idol” and am an idiot about everything else. Actually I am a brainiac about many other things. Did you know, for instance that objects in motion tend to remain in motion? And that you should not wear open toed shoes after Labor Day? I’m a wealth of information.
5/25: Idol ratings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Idol drew about 36.4 million viewers last night, a 15% increase over last year. The show overall drew about 14% more than a year ago. It’s the biggest night in Fox history. The season two Clay-Ruben showdown drew more viewers at 38 million but was only an hour results show. During the second hour, “Idol” this past Wednesday drew more than 40 million.
Among the 56 “metered” markets, Atlanta drew the third highest percentage of viewers: 46% of all Atlanta TVs that were on had “Idol” on. We had about 1.3 million people in Atlanta watching the finale.
The top 5 based on % of homes with TVs on watching:
- Birmingham (Taylor’s home): 64% (vs. 53% last year, ranked no. 1)
- Greensboro (Chris/Kelly/Bucky market): 51% (vs. 42% last year, ranked no. 2)
- Atlanta (Paris): 46% (vs. 36% last year, ranked 5th)
- Charlotte (Chris/Kelly/Bucky): 44% (vs. 36% last year, ranked 5th) T5. Columbus & Cleveland (Scott Savol): both 38% (for Cleveland 40%, Columbus 34%)
The least popular “Idol” spot was San Antonio, where just 14% of TVs were tuned in, followed by Albuquerque (16%).
The biggest dropoff: Tulsa, Ok. (Carrie country), where 1/3 fewer viewers watched the finale from 42% to 28%.
Richmond, Elliott country, saw a big increase of course: 26% last year to 36% this year.
Los Angeles, Kay’s home market, was a below average 26%, but up from 23% a year ago.
Denver, Ace country, saw a jump from 18% to a still below average 25%.
Nashville is actually below average when it comes to viewership of “Idol” at 28% (compared to 32% across the board).
For some odd reason, Boston really glommed on to “Idol” this year: 36%, up from 27% a year ago. Could we call that the Ayla Brown effect???
5/25: Behind the scenes stuff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s tzm’s amusing observations about the finale.
And People mag’s somewhat less compelling behind the scenes look.
And Randy working with his bud Mariah:
BC-Mariah Carey-Tour,0281 Carey turns to ‘American Idol’ judge to help spice up summer tour AP Photo NYET492
NEW YORK (AP) — Mariah Carey is tapping a longtime friend — “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson — to help her mix things up a bit on her “Adventures of Mimi” tour, which kicks off in August. “With this tour, I’m going to be working on some different arrangements for some of the older songs, to kind of like, give it a little more life to them,” Carey recently told The Associated Press. “That’s not to say they’re going to sound totally different and to freak anybody out … (but) I love re-singing songs to different music.”
Carey and Jackson have been meeting to discuss how she’ll spice up some of her old hits, and Jackson might even join her on a few dates.
“Randy Jackson is my musical director, and he has been for many years, even before ‘American Idol,’” she noted.
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5/25: Meat Loaf? Who’s Meat Loaf?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No surprise that Kat had no clue who Meat Loaf was (see below)
Here’s a quick one on one with www.ew.com with Taylor.
A few highlights:
After the show went off the air, all of your boys — Chris, Ace, Elliott — ran up to you and picked you up in the air. It seems like you all got really close. Was it nice to share your victory with the guys before anyone else?
We all are such a family. It’s such a family-oriented thing you go through; it’s such an interesting process. We’re all friends, and what a great group of folks and what great talent.
How did you get hooked up with Toni Braxton?
It was so awesome. She’s such a great entertainer and performer.
I thought she was kind of flirting with you.
Well, uh, you know, I’m just trying to be the best performer I can.
Does that mean playing up to your new heartthrob status?
I’m ready for that when I can sleep for a couple of days
And here’s the talk with Kat Highlights:
Q: It’s what you do with it now that will shape your career. But when Simon predicted on Tuesday night that Taylor would win, weren’t you bummed?
No, I didn’t get mad at all. I wasn’t really hurt. It was just one of those things when it’s like, Okay, someone’s gotta win. And then you think, Well, maybe I can still win. I don’t think I was in this… I don’t think I was really desperate to win American Idol. I was just grateful to be in the top two, to be honest.
Q: Your single, ”My Destiny,” was pretty widely panned by the judges and fans. Did you like it?
I liked it when I heard it, but it’s a lot different when you hear it produced. I think people will like it when they hear it produced, with the echo behind it, just a lot of things they put with the song that you don’t get to hear live. And also, my voice was not doing good. I sang it as best I could.
Q: In the theater you sounded great, but I watched the show back on TV and you could hear your voice was strained.
Yeah, I was losing my voice by the dress rehearsal. I had to have a shot of cortisone from my doctor. He came in and definitely saved my day.
Q: Did you ask producers to hook you up with a Meat Loaf duet?
They just came to me. It wasn’t like it was my choice. They just said, Okay, you’ll be singing with so-and-so.
Q: I haven’t heard the guy in a while.
I didn’t even know who he was. But now I do. He was like really big in the ’70s, right?
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5/25: Leftover thoughts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After I finished my print edition story (which included a quote from local Taylor buddy Mike Hardee, who told me Taylor had called him at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday to ask about dialido.com numbers and was pleased to hear he was way way ahead.), I caught up with Nancy Downes, Bo Bice’s mom. She was there with Emily Studdard, Ruben’s mom. Nice to see the “Idol” family members bonding geographically.
Nancy said Bo is doing well, on tour right now and fully recovered from his foot injury and intestinal blockage issues. She was staying at Bo’s house in Helena for the night, said it was on sale but hadn’t been sold yet. She said she never got a chance to meet the Katrina familiy that stayed there for six months (If you recall, Bo is now living in Nashville and donated the home rent free to the Katrina family.). Bo will be in Atlanta for the Star 94 concert on June 2. I’ll be at my college reunion so I’ll unfortunately miss it. Nancy said he is back with his original band, plus three new members, so he now has a hefty seven piece backup band. Bo had an engagement in New Jersey last night and couldn’t make it to the finale though Idol asked him.
I hitched a ride with her to the after party at Workplay, a couple miles away at a complex I was told was built by Alan Hunter, the original MTV V-Jay. It’s funky with bold colors and a lovely concert space where the Lil Memphis Orchestra played (formerly the Taylor Hicks band.) It was very jam band like, not my personal taste, so I hung out mostly in the back area gabbing with a few of Taylor’s friends. Didn’t really hear any juicy scuttlebutt, which gave me the impression that Taylor has led a fairly clean life. One friend did note that in college, Taylor was self conscious of his graying hair and even died it jet black once. But just once. She said he still got the ladies though. No surprise there! Taylor hopes to squeeze in a few days off before the “Idol” tour starts and after the media blitz is over but he won’t really have much time. Some of his friends seemed mildly wistful that in a sense, they have lost their good friend to the rest of the world. That’s the price of fame.
I also dished with a couple of Taylor fanatics. Again, nothing too surprising. San Francisco professor Lee Davis, who was at the performance show Tuesday night and flew to Birmingham Wednesday night, said she was able to see actions that weren’t on camera for the rest of us. For instance, she thought it a bit disrespectful that members of the McPhee family sat while others stood during Taylor’s performances but Taylor’s family stood along with everybody else during Kat’s songs. She also said rumor was that Taylor refused to sing the truly lousy “My Destiny” song, forcing “Idol” to grab the slightly better “Do I Make You Proud.” If I get to talk to Taylor, I will certainly ask about that!
Please feed me some other questions to ask him when I get the chance. I bet I won’t get a few minutes with him until next week.
One more observation: Kat clearly didn’t have much of a viewing party, which is understandable given she was from Sherman Oaks. So the producers wisely chose to minimize airtime for the Taylor party in Birmingham, lest they’d be viewed as unfair. (The satellite feed looked downright blurry and there were virtualy no closeup shots, just wide overviews.) And as MJ noted in her blog, the show felt much smoother minus the pap from the viewing parties and the judge interviews that littered past finales. And even though some of the pairings last night were downright bizarre (Yes, when I think of Taylor Hicks, Toni Braxton is the first name that comes to my head. Huh?), they were fun in a train wreck sort of way. I still can’t wait to actually hear what everything sounded like for better or wosre in a slightly smaller venue.
5/25: To my regular bloggers…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For Linny, Shay, Vin, Mike S, Deidre, et. al., thank you for keeping my blog lively and fun. You guys helped lift my blog to more than 1 million hits over the “Idol” season, a number that just astonished me to no end. As a reward, I have collected some cheesy “Idol” memorabilia from my desk from over the past four years and will mail to each of you a precious “Idol” trinket. But you’ll have to email me at rho@ajc.com with your home address and identify who you are (I promise I won’t tell…).
Mike S, by the way, you win the “Most Valuable Blogger” award this year. You were smart, helpful, informative and the best person to ever take over my job. :) And thank you Deirde for backing him up when he was busy.
Also, I’m sorry I wasn’t quicker about getting rid of the poseurs, esp. the idiots who pretended to be you!
I’m going to keep this blog alive offseason if you want to stay in touch with “Idol,” as I did last year. I might also make occasional comments about “Rock Star: Supernova.” And I will be attending the Augsut 3 “Idol” tour as well. In the meantime, keep up with me on my Radio Talk blog as well.
5/24: Taylor takes it home!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have a Taylor victory! No surprise but still sweet for me since I’m here in Birmingham at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.
I got to speak to Taylor’s mom briefly. She had a custody battle over Taylor when he was a child and didn’t really see him til after high school. He gave her a video of his life from age 4 to 18 and she joked, “I wonder how much that would sell?” She said she has developed a great relationship with Taylor since then but agreed to let his dad “have the moment” in Los Angeles this week. So she stayed in Birmingham. “He did it! He did it!” she said moments after he won. “I love him so much. I’m so proud of him!”
Overall, this was the best finale show ever without a doubt in terms of entertainment and guests, capped by Prince. (He supposedly didn’t want to work with the contestants so a Prince theme night never happened.)
Anyway,, I snagged a front row seat courtesy of a group of Taylor fans who travelled from around the country to be here — including my new Marietta buddy Kelly Barton. She is a regular poster on the AI message boards (as Bama4Taylor with 9,000 posts to her credit) but has never even heard of this blog. Yet other front-row bloggers from New Jersey (Idolwatcher33) and San Francisco (Tayloraholic) who flew in are familiar with this blog. Go figure! Soulaz (3,800 posts to her name) is my neighbor. She’s from Phoenix.
Overall, the crowd is about the same as the one for Bo last year, with 3,000 or so. I think some folks have been diverted to at least five other watch parties I’m aware of.
Members of Taylor’s band are here as well as Taylor’s mom Pam, who I just met moments before the show started. I also heard Taylor’s prom date is floating around.
Lovely duet between Paris and Al Jarreau, even with the lousy sound in this areana.
Wow. This duet of Chris and Ed Kowalczyk of LIve is great except it seems like they’re twins, like a nondeliberate copy of the Joe Cocker/John Belushi duet.
And in the first strange combo: here’s Meat Loaf and Kat. Thank god they’re not singing “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” That would be way wrong. Why not “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad?” Instead it’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” There’s only a 35 year difference between the two of them. Kat’s pups are out and about. And somehow, the performance is not bad (then again, I can’t hear well here). But that’s because I really like Meat Loaf for all his histrionics. And she worked the histrionics well.
Pleasant time killer with the best vocal awards. It’s always wonderful to see Crazy Dave Hoover again!
Puck n’ Pickler: Very funny! Her reaction to the live lobster was precious. And yumm.. escargot!
The male group sing. I can’t even HEAR Taylor and his harmonica on this one in here. I’m going to have to watch this off my DVR tomorrow. Does Kevin look out of place or what?
First a U2 song was cleared, I think. But instead of Bono, we get Mary J. Blige, who has covered the U2 classic “One.” Now she’s with Elliott. A show stopper though Mary is outsinging Elliott on pure volume. (And she did steal Elton John’s sunglasses.)
Ultra-weird combo #2: Toni Braxton (???) with Taylor doing “In the Ghetto.” She’s been so out of the spotlight, this is a good move for her. Again, could barely hear a thing in here.
Female group proves the depth of talent this year vocally vs. past years. And it makes me miss Mandisa. Sigh…
There’s the hilarious Michael “Clay Aiken impersonator” Sandecki. Is this going to be the Clay Aiken appearance? Yes— it is! He’s got a moptop and … bangs? Who would have thought Clay had that much of a sense of humor? That has to be the funniest moment in “idol” history.
The Bert Bacharach medley is better than I expected, again because of the depth of talent of this year’s contestants. The only truly painful moment: poor Kevin singing “What’s New, Pusscat?” Just having him say “pussycat” is wrong. Dionne Warwick does look great, even if this meant a cheesy end with “That’s What Friends are For.”
5/25: The sad world that is Corey Clark
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Idol’ Reject Clark Peddles CD
tzm.com
May 24, 2006 1:05PM ET
‘American Idol’s’ Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee are on top of the world right now. But they shouldn’t get too big for their britches just yet — they could find themselves peddling CDs on the streets of LA just like one of their predecessors.
As Hicks and McPhee were filming Tuesday night’s ‘Idol’ finale, just a few blocks away, ‘Idol”s second-season finalist, Corey Clark, was outside a Coffee Bean on Sunset Boulevard selling his rock CD, titled ‘Corey Clark.’
Even before Tuesday night, the Hollywood hopeful has been seen numerous times in the area peddling his CD — even in crosswalks. Corey and his friends carry a box of CDs, along with a boombox and posters with the CD cover on them in hopes the public will take interest.
The aftermath of Clark’s success on ‘Idol’ — and even an alleged affair with ‘Idol’ judge Paula Abdul — has left the ‘Idol’ contestant down on his luck, still in hopes of finding fame and fortune. Permalink to this story
5/24: Story behind Taylor’s purple jacket
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From tmz.com;
Taylor’s Jacket Power May 24, 2006 3:00PM ET
‘American Idol’s’ Taylor Hicks rocked the judges during Tuesday night’s finale and TMZ has the story behind his purple velvet jacket.
The jacket is by Dolce & Gabbana and retails for a whopping $1,648.
Taylor was with his stylist when he purchased the jacket from the trendy LA store Traffic. Sources tell TMZ that the moment Taylor tried the velvet number on, his comment was, “Okay, I feel it!” and instantly bought the jacket!
The white shirt Taylor wore under the jacket was an Ozwald Boateng shirt retailing for $205.
Sources tell TMZ that Traffic is Taylor’s favorite store. Since Taylor has been on ‘Idol’ he’s shopped at the store roughly eight times.
Taylor is such a fan of the clothes, he even brought his father into the store to show him all his choices. Although his father bought nothing, he loved Taylor’s picks.
Sources say Taylor is a very quick shopper. He knows immediately whether a piece works or not.
While the ‘Idol’ star is in the store, witnesses describe him as very polite, confident and friendly - even to the gawking fans.
http://tmz.aol.com/article2/_a/taylors-jacket-power/20060524145109990001
Gillian Sheldon Telepictures Productions
5/24: On the road in Taylor’s hometown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve had a delightful five hours so far in the Birmingham area, including getting lost once. (Locally, Midtown’s Smith’s Olde Bar is holding an ‘Idol” party tonight on behalf of Smith’s alum Taylor Hicks.)
I started at Open Door Cafe, a lovely luncheon place that has popular jazz brunches in the tony Mountain Brook neighborhood. Taylor used to frequent this spot and play on occasion as well. A lithograph of Taylor is on the wall, along with “Good luck” posters.
A woman Dede Pittman came rushing in looking for a “Soul Patrol” T-shirt. They only had ones saying “Got soul?’ a take off on the “Got Milk” campaign. She wanted one with Taylor’s face and left emptyhanded. In strolled Bill Williams, by coincidence, for lunch. He’s one of Taylor’s best friends, who has spoken to Taylor frequently during the show (as recently as Tuesday night) and has worked with Fox media crews and producers in recent weeks as an informal Taylor spokesperson. (I quoted him in my story Tuesday). He said Taylor’s mom Pam isn’t in Los Angeles but will be at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center tonight so hopefully I’ll grab a quote from her.
I later stopped by Hoover High School, where Taylor graduated. The secretary showed me the Class of 1995 yearbook and found four shots of Hicks — his official senior photo. He’s thinner and has dark hair but it’s distinctly Taylor. There’s him posing on the basketball team, the only senior on the team, the secretary said. Another is him playing the Blues Cats as musical entertainment for the high school pageant. And he was named “most musical” among the senior superlatives. No shock there.
The assistant principal Kathey Long knew Taylor from his high school years and said while he wasn’t a stellar student, he was very dedicated to his basketball and music and she recalls telling him one time that he should go to Hollywood and become a star. If true, she had a good eye for talent.
Then I got lost for an hour trying to find the HairGroup, where I am now typing this. This is the salon where Travis Cash works. He’s been Taylor’s hairdresser for two years, though he admits probably not any more. Travis said Taylor’s hair is easy to cut. It’s coarse and thick, of course. He would do it in about 20 minutes, add a little styling gel to it but knew Taylor didn’t do it himself. He’s also not a big fan of Taylor’s bangs, since cut by “Idol” stylists. He said Taylor was a great tipper: $10 for a $22 cut.
The last time Taylor was there was on March 31, right before leaving for the final 24. Taylor called, in a rush to get his hair cut immediately. Travis said he was busy and he was: he had Miss Alabama USA in the chair, Haleigh Stidham. But Travis put two and two together and realized Taylor had made it to the final 24, though Taylor couldn’t say. So Taylor came in and Haleigh recognized him. She said she’d give him her chair for a few minutes if he’d give her an autograph. Taylor obliged.
It’s now 4:30 p.m. Birmingham time, 5:30 p.m. EST. I need to hit the Sheraton next to the civic center, check in, then get a good seat at the show. Will be back later!
5/23: Did Taylor seal it?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spent the evening at one of Taylor’s friends’ homes at the Perimeter, Spencer Forrest. He and his fiance have an amazing 42 inch LCD HD TV. Spencer’s fiance Stacey is text messaging like mad for Taylor. (She text-messaged Taylor 600 times last week and hoped to get 1,200 tonight.)
That final song probably helps Taylor edge out Kat. That’s my gut reaction, along with Simon’s.
As of midnight, dialidol.com numbers, measuring only phone call busy signals and not text messaging, have Taylor way ahead of Kat. She’s going to need some serious West coast support and a massive edge in text messaging as well to win this. And based on recent weeks, that’s highly unlikely. And as someone noted below, it’s interesting that Carrie Underwood on the same night as the performance finale won two ACMs over at CBS for best new female vocalist and best single (“Jesus, Take the Wheel”). Congrats, Carrie!
Star gazing: Ben Stiller, Mandy Moore & Christina Applegate
Kat (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”) She just did it last week but it was her best performance so why not? It’s her ace in a hole. Her dad’s crying as usual. Randy: “When I saw you doing the same song again, it’s a little anticlimactic. You worked it out again.” Paula: “Every father around this country is feeling their tears down their faces as your father does. Congratulations. You own it up there.” Simon: “Round one. You got slaughtered. Now you’ve come back I believe this was your best performance of the competition so far. You’re back in the game.” She then explains the ear monitor, which didn’t work but she started on the right key. “Yah!” she said.
Taylor (“Liviing for the City”) - He’s wearing a pink velvet suit which looks just bizarre. (Spencer says, “Looks like he stole it from Hugh Hefner”) He starts in the audience where we see Tori Spelling, Kevin, Ace, Mandisa, Elliott, Paris and Ace. It’s certainly better than what I just heard on the CD. Randy: “You know what I love about you dude. Stevie’s the hardest thing to do. You don’t care where it’s from. You always make it your own. America, that’s a hot one right there!” Simon: ‘This audience hated you. It was a great way to start the show. A smart choice of song. The worst jacket I’ve ever seen but what do I know?”
Kat (“Black Horse & the Cherry Tree.”) She still does it in such an oddly chipper way. It’s perfectly okay. Randy: “You finally look like your’e having a little bit of fun, jiving with the guys and doing your thing. It wasn’t that super exicting to me but I think you sang it better than the first time.” Paula: “A fun way to start why you’re hear tonight. But I know there’s more of you and better of you.” SImon: “Kat. I’ll give a good with a small g because I think the occasion tonight is bigger than that song. That’s what I call a warmup.”
Taylor (“Levon”) — This is not one of Elton’s bigger songs but a big favorite for Taylor. He performed this way back in the semifinals. He’s doing the subtle Taylor, which works fairly well in this case. The song doesn’t do that much for me. He did okay. Randy: “Nice song. To be honest… it was a little pitchy for me this song.” Paula: “May be pitchy ot you may be the essence of what Taylor is.” Simon: “Doesn’t make any sense what you said… Taylor, probably not as popular as the first song. You walked the first round. Katharine has taken the second round.”
Taylor (“Do I Make You Proud”) — Another piano opening. “I’ve never been the one to raise my hand. That was not me. Now that’s who I am. Because of you I am standing tall.” etc. etc. The song starts a bit slow. Let’s see if he can pick it up. The choir is out again. A so-so chorus as a song. But Taylor hits his money note better than Kat. He ends much stronger than Kat, too. Randy: “Based on the song, I think this is a slightly better song. What I love about you. You know how taylor hicks i.s no matter what the song is, you know how to make it aylor hicks. Yah! Yah!: Paula: â€?I couldn’t agree with Randy more. You are better than the song. All your riffs, the nuances exists in that song.â€? Simon: “Assuming I was right, that the show was tied. Then you have just won ‘American Idol.’ “
Kat (“My Destiny”) — A soft piano opening. She’s in shadows. Smoke. “”I have always dreamed of this/ I’ll admit that there was something I missed.” etc. etc. Her lower registers are a bit of a problem, but she does well with the chorus. As one observer here in the room noted, it sounds like something Arial from “The Little Mermaid” would sing. The song is better than “Inside Your Heaven” but that isn’t exactly saying much. Didn’t quite hit the money note. Oh, no. The gospel choir is out! She misses a few notes but ends well. Randy: “I got three things for you. You look amazing. You sounded really good. I did not love hte song.” Paula: “That is not your fault because you are brilliant.” Simon: “You know. I’m sorry Katharine. In my opinion you went from brilliant to quite good in one song. You’re a great great potential artist Katharine. I’m delighted you’re in your final. For everyone to vote for Kat and remember the second song.”
5/23: 2nd ATL date added to Idol tour
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wow! In a first, the “Idol” tour has added a second date here in Atlanta. The first three years were in the much larger Philips Arena and if I recall correctly, only the second one with Clay and Ruben sold out. Last year, season four sold out the smaller Gwinnett Arena, which apparently sold out again for August 3.
The second date is September 12 at the Gwinnett Arena again.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow Wednesday May 24 at 10 a.m.
Here’s the link
For those who have seen the show the past two years, the Idol production folks have skimped big time on the production values. Let’s hope they spend a few more bucks this year around.
And for you Kevin Covais and Melissa McGhee fans, you’re out of luck. It’s only the top 10.
5/23: The Idol Encores CD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m listening to “American Idol: Season 5 Encores” for the first time, 12 cover songs from the 12 finalists. The CD renditions pretty much solidifies my opinions the first time I heard the songs. This is the order of the songs on the CD, not a ranking. Is it worth buying? As always with any of these compilations, it depends how badly you want an “Idol” souvenir that is unlikely to be in your CD player too long though you might download a couple of your favorite cuts onto your iPod.
Melissa McGhee: “What About Love” Funny they started with her given 90% of the population has already forgotten her. The song fits her. It’s forgettable, too.
Bucky Covington “Superstition”: I’m surprised they chose this one to represent Bucky but given a country-rock edge, it’s actually not half bad.
Mandisa’s “I’m Every Woman.” As we know, she’s got pipes and proves it here but the background singing and arrangement is painfully generic.
Chris Daughtry “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Does he add anything Jon Bon Jovi hadn’t already? Not really. But Chris fans should be satisfied.
Ace Young “Father Figure” This is his signature song and he does it decently though the song is rather lengthy. If you’re no Ace (or George Michael) fan, skip quickly.
Taylor HIcks “Takin’ It to the Streets” Mildly disappointing. Taylor doesn’t “pop” in this rendition the way he might live. Decent sax solo by some background musician, though.
Lisa Tucker “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”: Like Lisa, it’s a credible take but nothing more than that.
Kellie PIckler “Walkin’ After Midnight” This was Kellie’s best live performane and it works wonderfully here as well. She shows a lot more slinkiness than I recall.
Elliott Yamin “Moody’s Mood for Love” This is the best cut on the CD. You can see clearly why he made it into the final three. It helps that I don’t know the song because I don’t have any preconceived notions from the original.
Katharine McPhee “Think” She shows more soul in the studio version than I recall live. It’s solid but not in Aretha’s league. (Then again, who is?)
Paris Bennett “Midnight Train to Georgia” She shows off her skills here. This is less frenetic than the live version but it doesn’t suffer in the studio.
Kevin Covais “When I Fall in Love” He’s a sweet kid and this is a sweet version but the texture in his voice isn’t warm or inviting. He’s only 16 and it shows.
5/23: A dozen Idol story links
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here are an array of Idol-related stories to kill time before they crown the victor tomorrow:
Worldwide “American Idol” fever prevails.
Ryan Seacrest’s empire building
An argument from slate.com why Taylor will win
An argument why Taylor SHOULDN’T win because it will hamstring his creative control
A billboard.com poll shows it’s a tight race
Idol stylist dishes about Kat and Taylor to the NY Post.
LA Times checks Sherman Oaks in search of McPheever..
Things are a bit more pumped in Hoover, Ala. for Taylor
5/23: Wed. finale song spoilers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This looks like a joke to me but tmz.com is releasing it, perhaps to mock us. I mean, “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” and “What’s New, Pussycat?” And that horrible “That’s What Friends are For???” Why not have them sing “We Built This City” and “The Pina Colada Song,” too?
I’ve heard some folks say Clay is just appearing but below claims he will sing, too.
‘Idol’ Finale Performances Revealed
May 23, 2006 12:00PM ET
Sources revealed to TMZ details of Wednesday’s night ‘American Idol’ finale.
The show will feature songs by prolific composer Burt Bacharach, with Dionne Warwick performing her 80s hit, ‘That’s What Friends Are For.’
Other Bacharach performances will include Bucky Covington’s rendition of ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,’ and Kevin Covais singing ‘What’s New Pussycat.’
17 year-old Paris Bennett is scheduled to duet with Grammy-winning vocalist Al Jarreau.
TMZ has also learned that this year’s female contestants will take the stage for a medley of girl-power themed songs including, ‘I’m Every Woman’, Aretha Franklin’s ‘Natural Woman’ and Shania Twain’s ‘I Feel Like a Woman.’
Last year’s ‘Idol’ winner Carrie Underwood and 2003’s runner-up Clay Aiken are also scheduled to perform on Wednesday.
http://tmz.aol.com/article2/_a/idol-finale-performances-revealed/20060523114609990001
Gillian Sheldon
5/23: Song spoilers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Finals performance night is usually a bit overhyped and often a let down. Brace yourself for some rehash (Kat’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.”, Taylor’s “Living for the City” and “Levon”) and lousy original tunes. Sorry — no “Georgia on My Mind.”
According to some songwriter named Hanne at www.hannesorvaag.com, he has written a song with the wonderfully gagworthy title “My Destiny.” It will be performed by Kat tonight.
And one of my sources was kind enough to provide this info:
Someone posted on MJ’s board that Taylor’s coronation song is “Do I Make You Proud.” I looked up the writers on ascap and found the following. We will soon learn the truth. I am sure Taylor will hit it out of the park.
“Do I Make You Proud” was written by Tracy Ackerman, Andrew John Watkins, and Paul David Wilson, whoever they are (per ascap.com title search)
Well, I looked up some of the other songs this trio has written and the artists that have performed them and it does not sound good. Most of the stuff they have written has been performed by manufactured teen pop groups from Europe - S Club and B*Witched. And there is an Idol connection - S Club was created and managed by Simon Fuller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SClub7
5/22: My story on Taylor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I worked every Georgia angle I could find for this story about Taylor. I interviewed three of his local friends, an Atlanta-based high school acquaintance and the co-owner of Smith’s Olde Bar, where Taylor has played several times. His brother Sean goes to Ga. Tech, too. And of course, Taylor is a huge fan of Georgia native Ray Charles.
5/22: Diana photo shoot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For you Diana DeGarmo fans, here are some glamour shots taken of her by David Morgan .
5/22: Birmingham viewing party Wed.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anybody willing to join me for the Taylor Hicks viewing party at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, here’s the press release. They are expecting twice as many people as last year, when about 3,000 folks showed up to support Bo Bice.
Come out to support your local finalist at the OFFICIAL Taylor Hicks /American Idol Viewing Party.
Be part of the phenomenon as we broadcast live back to the American Idol finale at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA.
Let’s show Taylor how much you support him and show the world the soul of Alabama. The American Idol Results show will be shown on 2 GIANT Screens as well as the scoreboard screens.
BJCC Concession stands will be open
Date: Wednesday – May 24, 2005
Time: Doors open at 4:30 pm
Location: BJCC Arena
Downtown Birmingham
Check www.bjcc.org for further info. Or call the BJCC at 205-458-8400.
* THIS IS FOR ALL AGES & ADMISSION IS FREE**
Dye your hair gray and bring signs to support Taylor Hicks.
SOUL PATROL, SOUL PATROL, WOOOOOOO!
5/22: Random Idol factoids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here they are, courtesy of mtv.com. Real Idol addicts have probably read a few of them before and a few I’ve mentioned in the blog. But it’s a nice compilation.
There is one clear discrepancy: although Nigel Lythgoe said during season 3 that he would release the voting totals after the season is over, he never did to the degree I would prefer as in actual totals week to week. They have given out the percentages for the very final episode the first three seasons. If memory serves me correct, Kelly won 55-45, Ruben won by less than 150,000 votes, and Fantasia won by about 53-47. (We never heard how close the vote was last year between Carrie and Bo, which makes me think it wasn’t particularly close.)
5/22: Guests on finale
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MJ’s blog features a slew of rumors and such about the performance show and finale.
Former season five semifinalist Becky O’Donohue (I vaguely remember her) is going to host for the Taylor Hicks Birmingham viewing party I’m attending Wednesday night. I wonder how they’ll do the viewing party for Kat since she lives down the street from the Kodak Theatre already in Hollywood.
And Mary J. Blige is rumored to be dueting with Elliott Yamin, although you’d think Paris might be joining in since she has sung a Blige song before.
As earlier noted, Meat Loaf (Kat) and Live (Chris) are skeded to show up as well for the two-hour grand finale.
And I saw this item about AI 3 finalist George Huff: Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel has produced a new music video that features former American Idol contestant George Huff. The video, with the Ford Fusion vehicle integrated within it, makes its world premiere Tuesday at precisely 9:01 p.m. – one minute after the finale of American Idol – on both the Gospel Music Channel and at GospelMusicChannel.com.
I just received the “American Idol season 5 Encores” CD. I’ll offer my thoughts when I have a second to listen to it.
5/22: Taylor, Kat comments from Friday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was dealing with an Atlanta radio breaking story Friday afternoon and missed most of Kat’s press conference. (I heard the first five minutes, then had to take a call.) Then I decided to skip the rest of Kat’s conference to get on hold early for Taylor (whose conference came on right after Kat’s). I needed to corroborate if his friend here from Alpharetta Mike Hardee was the one who planted the seed to do “Idol” so I got that question in at the top of the conference. Taylor said Hardee was part of a crew of five or six friends who were pushing him to do “Idol” but acknowledged Hardee was one of the more insistent ones.
Fortunately, MJ’s blog offers excerpts from the press conferences. I did catch Kat use the “s” expletive, the first time I’ve ever heard an “Idol” contestant curse. You’ll see the “expletive” in the comments. The most interesting comments she made was admitting to nerves, to crying a lot. And it seems unfair to critique her for looking happy after Elliott got voted off.
I found Taylor’s love for the road endearing. After driving what one of his friends told me was a Ford Explorer around the country, he is now thrilled to get an actual tour bus.
USAT Today runs almost everything that was said from the press conference here.
I plan to run a Taylor profile for Tuesday with quotes from a few of his Atlanta buds, most from his Auburn days.
Both Simon and Randy think Taylor will win here. Paula is happy that Simon was skeptical about Taylor at first and fought for him. Simon also wishes Chris was in the finals.
5/21: Taylor parody on SNL again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the SNL players (I think it’s Jason Sudeikis) did his Taylor Hicks imitation again tonight during Weekend Update. Not as funny as the first time but the fake Taylor did reference Kat’s puppies in a way I’m not even sure I could use in this “family” blog. You should be able to get it from here
“I’m just going to do what I do best,” said the fake Taylor. “Sing from the heart and scare the hell out of children!”
5/21: Online polls have Kat winning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MSNBC.com as of Saturday night had it split 50/50 between Kat and Taylor out of 57,000-plus voters.
Kat is also ahead 51/49 on the mtv.com poll
AOL has Kat winning over Taylor. Then again, AOL voters favored Clay in season two and Bo last year. In fact, Bo was ahead in most polls right before the finale by a wide margin. So they should be taken with a major grain of salt.
Here’s our own poll:
5/21: Meat Loaf duet with Kat?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Us Weekly has leaked that Katharine will be dueting with Meat Loaf on the two-hour finale show. Live is also rumored to be joining Chris. Who do you think will show up with Taylor or Elliott?
Last year, various musicians such as George Benson (with Scott Savol and Nikko Smith) and Rascal Flatts (with Carrie Underwood) showed up for for the finale to sing.
Also, here’s what many say is the American Idol single this year, written partly by Nick Lachey and former “Idol” finalist Tamyra Gray, Make it Real.
And here’s an interesting story about geographic/economic bias in The LA Times. Can Katharine overcome the fact she’s wealthy and comes from a big city. Past winners have been mostly smaller town folks with inspirational stories. Kat doesn’t fit that mold at all and her video on Wednesday showed that. Elliott and Taylor got huge parades. She filled a high school auditorium and that was pretty much it. I wonder if Ayla Brown’s privileged Boston background hurt her as much as her singing performance as a semifinalist. In fact, exactly zero New Englanders have made the finals of “American Idol,” which is three fewer than Birmingham alone.
5/20: Demo shift after Paris ouster
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This story notes that fewer blacks watched “American Idol” the week after Paris Bennett was ousted and the show dropped from No. 1 to No. 6 in African-American households, even behind “House.”
I did my own analysis as well:
About 1.815 million African-American households viewed the “Idol” performance show the week Chris Daughtry was ousted. The week before, when Paris was ousted, 2.44 million black households saw the performance show. That’s nearly a 25% drop in one week although national ratings were about the same. And that’s about an 18% drop from the comparable episode a year ago when No. 3 finisher Vonzell garnered the fewest votes. (Total black viewers dropped from 3.817 million to 2.709 million week over week this year, a 29% drop, compared to a total viewership, which went up from 28.58 million to 28.85 million.)
For the same week a year ago, among all households, “Idol” ratings are up 9.1%, from nearly 17 million last year to 18.5 million this year. So the percentage of black households watching the show dropped from 14.4% of the total to 9.8% once Paris was gone.
This is the first time that an African American was not in the final four. In year one, Justin Guarini (who is half black) and Tamyra Gray were in the final four. In year two, Ruben Studdard and Kimberley Locke were part of the finale four. In year three, LaToya London and Fantasia were in the final four. And last year, as noted, Vonzell finished third.
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