Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > July > 06
Sunday, July 6, 2008
7/7: The art of the duet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hope you all had a great July 4th. I went to a party and didn’t make it to Frenchie Davis’ appearance at the Civic Center though I’m sure she did great.
This story comes a little late in the game considering “No Air” by Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks is already well on its way down the charts. But Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe ruminates on the disappearance of the traditional love song duet.
Rather, we usually get the vocalist with a rapper doing a cameo and often it’s just aggressive and dance-club like such as “Promiscuous” or “4 Minutes.”
She thinks perhaps the success of the Jordin/Chris tune will herald the duet’s return. Another recent success that would fit in this category she forgot to mention: Rihanna (featuring Ne-Yo) with “Hate That I Love You.” But I have to say “No Air” has that wonderful interplay and emotional feel that classic duets have, impressive given the relative young ages of both Jordin and Chris.
-While a coterie of rotating “Idol’ finalists are working the Branson route this summer, a trio are also doing a nine-week run in San Francisco. Here’s the combo: Jon Peter Lewis, Anwar Robinson and LaKisha Jones (though sometimes, it will be Gina Glocksen). It’s at the Hotel Nikko. Seating capacity: 140. In other words: quite intimate. You can buy tix here with prices at $45.. There are basically enough “Idol” alums floating around that most can make a living in the near future doing these types of combo gigs.
-Country music is not a big deal in the U.K. So it’s taken all this time for Sony BMG to release Carrie Underwood’s two albums over there. (Daughtry apparently didn’t do well there, either). Here’s a recap.
-Ken Barnes in USA Today gave a rundown of the download charts.. I’m glad to see Jordin’s third single “One Step At a Time” is finally getting some traction, moving from 105-58, a 76% increase in sales to 25K and 152K total. I also heard the song on Q100 for the first time. The song just broke the top 30 on the pop charts. Jordin has now sold more than 4 million download singles.
And Kellie Pickler’s new single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful for her next album is now charting, selling 19K in its first week and debuting at 79. Airplay has been somewhat slow so far but it’s still early.
On the country charts, Carrie’s “Last Name” is slipping off after peaking briefly at No. 1 while Josh Gracin’s “We Weren’t Crazy” is holding at No. 13 after a whoppingly slow 37 weeks climbing the chart. Bucky Covington just broke the top 30 with his fourth single “I’ll Walk.”
In top 40 land, David Cook’s “Time of My Life” has actually charted but I doubt it will go very far. Cook did his best with a lousy song but it’s no winner.
Over in album land, Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” is up to 2.2 million and “Some Hearts,” up to 6.47 million. Jordin is up to 834K and Daughtry is up to 4.13 million. Those are the only “Idol” folks on the top 200. He also noted that season five contestants have now sold about 7 million albums (a majority from Daughtry). Ace’s album comes out July 15. I hope to get a copy soon.
