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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > January > 09
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
1/10: Katharine McPhee loses her contract, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wow! They are dropping like flies in the winter chill!
First Ruben and J Records parted ways, then Taylor and Arista, now season five runner-up Katharine McPhee has lost her record deal with RCA. She sold only about 365,000 records of her self-titled first album and had one minor radio hit. Naturally, I’m sure McPhee’s camp will complain her record got no support but honestly, “Over It” wasn’t a terribly good song and there wasn’t much going for her on the album period.
But for Kat, at least there’s her movie career and modeling to fall back on.
I have to credit Entertainment Weekly for this nugget, just like it broke the Taylor Hicks record contract ending last Friday.
1/9: Simon Cowell says Diana DeGarmo isn’t “current”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Simon Cowell was answering the last question of a 30-minute, fairly routine, press conference promoting “American Idol,” season seven. A reporter from the Palm Beach Post asked him the following question, which led into him using poor Diana DeGarmo as an example and not in a good way:
Palm Beach Post: You talked about this crop of singers being more current and younger. Then you talk about singing school kids who don’t have personalities. Is it hard to have talent and interesting people when you have kids who haven’t had a chance to become interesting and develop personalities outside of their training?
Simon: I don’t know. It depends on the individual. I’d pluck out Diana DeGarmo as an example. To me, she’s a talented stage singer, nice person, very good voice but just didn’t seem current to me or even relevant in the music business. Whereas a lot of the contestants during this conference call [he has talked about such as Daughtry] seem more edgy and current… They may not even be as good a singer as Diana but have something that could work today in 2008.”
I’m speaking to Diana tomorrow about her upcoming reality show “Gone Country” and will see how she reacts to that. Do you agree with him on this one?
As for other topics, he repeated that the show talent is up from last year and though that’s what Randy & Paula said last year, he claims he never said that for season six, a definite down year. And he wouldn’t say if “Idol” has peaked. He thinks that other networks have avoided “Idol” in the past couple of years in terms of scheduling and the strike won’t change that. “I’m more optimistic now than I have been in a long time,” he said. He equated the first audition episode (which opened a year ago at a record 37 million viewers) is like the Super Bowl [which draws about 90 million viewers.]. “Our auditions are the secret of our success. That’s the net that seems to catch everybody.”
We as reporters only had 30 minutes and one question (no follow up.) I was about 5th in line so I asked a question about his thoughts on Ruben and Taylor getting dropped from J Records. His answer was fairly innocuous:
Based on the record sales, I’m not surprised. Taylor—I’ve always gone on the record as saying I genuinely thought he was not the best singer of the year. He was the most popular person. I’m not overly surprised that happened. But you know— we always said from day one, American Idol is a reality show. We reflect the reality of the record business, which is unpredictable. Certain people are not going to do as expected. Chris Daughtry only came in fourth but he did amazing business last year. He was the No. 1 album of the year. [Okay, not quite, but he was top 5.] Someone like Ruben I thought was one of the better competitors but doesn’t do as well as you want. It’s not a great thing but at the same time, it’s the record business.
I wanted to ask him if he thought we’d ever hear from Sanjaya again. One reporter from the Hartford Courant (Roger Caitlin, nice guy) did ask if he thought Sanjaya hurt “Idol” last year. Simon said no though he was worried at one point about it. “Now I look back and laugh about it,” Simon said. “I think he was harmless. He had a run. He had some fun. He was a nice kid, very polite afterwards. I don’t think damage was done.”
I didn’t bother asking him what he thought of the auditions in Atlanta because Philly Inquirer and San Antonio reporters already asked him about the auditions in their respective cities and he said it’s all a blur.
Simon held a separate press conference with different quotes and comments on the same day. There, he said he wasn’t sure if he’d stick around after 2010, his ninth season. He dissed Fantasia’s brother. He was also disappointed that Blake and Jordin haven’t taken off. More here. He also provided some advice to Britney and his thoughts on the presidential election and the writers’ strike.
1/9: Idol in TV Guide
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s a phone press conference with Simon Cowell later at 2 p.m. EST. If you have any questions you’d like me to ask, email me at rho@ajc.com. I’ll post the best quotes as soon as possible.
In a cover story for next week’s TV Guide, Simon admitted that season six was a letdown. “Last year just wasn’t good enough,” he said. Even Paula said, “I don’t remember hardly anyone (from) last year.” Ken Warwick: “There was not quite the buzz or magic.” We all knew that, eh?
Paula and Simon repeat that it’s going to be a stronger season than last year. That wouldn’t seem like too tough of a stretch. Simon also says he hates contestants who are not in it to win it all. (Blake said he didn’t care if he won or not. Chris Sligh said he was happy to make it on tour by landing in the top 10.)
Other barely notable bits from the story: Paula did pranks on the other judges while they were on the road. In Miami, Randy DJed when the guys went clubbing. In Philly, a luxury dealership let them drive around in an Astor Martin and Lamborghini (though certainly Simon could afford those!).
They let all the contestants stay through the first two rounds and only cut before the final Hollywood round, a change from past practice. And as noted, they got to play instruments if they wanted.
They’ll be a new stage and as noted before, fewer mentors.
Here is the Taylor Hicks statement on his myspace page about going independent.:
To all my fans and The Soul Patrol, I want to take a moment to talk about the recent news that my label and I have mutually parted ways. The important thing for all of you to remember is that I’ve been a working musician my whole life. This is turning the page on a new chapter of my career. Artistic freedom and control is an exciting prospect. The things that are most important to me is creating my art, performing it, and my fans. With the momentum that all of you have created over the years, Taylor Hicks is not going to stop anytime soon. I’ve started working on the new album, writing and scheduling exciting collaborations. The DVD, Whomp at the Warfield, is in it’s final stages, and will be released soon. So as one door closes, a new one opens for 2008 with more excitement for all my fans than ever before. Sit tight, because the best is yet to come!
And Jessica Sierra received rehab in a year-long treatment center in California, according to a thorough story on Tampa Bay Online Web site.
Judge Daniel Perry probably won’t be too pleased with her first stint in rehab being on that VH1 show after these comments:
“I don’t want this to be some sort of stepping stone for her to have some sort of a career as a recovering addict,” Perry said. “I don’t want her giving interviews. I don’t want her on TV. I don’t want anybody glamorizing the fact that she’s a drug addict. I’m over that.”
Sierra has been jailed since a Dec. 1 incident in Ybor City, where she was arrested for misdemeanor disorder.
The Pasadena Recovery Center will pay for her entire year there in treatment, probably for the publicity.
