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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > October
October 2008
10/29: NY Post reports Idol might block Josiah Leming’s album
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is a nutty turn:
After “American Idol” rejected Josiah Leming last year and didn’t place him in the top 24, the 19 Entertainment lawyers are threatening to block his album from coming out January on MCA.
“Idol” contestants must sign strict contracts with the show’s producer, Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, promising to record only with the label chosen by “Idol” - Sony/BMG. The 19 Entertainment shop also retains exclusive right of refusal for management and merchandising.
A rep for Leming, who grew up in Tennessee as one of eight siblings, said, “Josiah was the only ‘Idol’ contestant ever to get a record deal who didn’t make the top 24, and one of only four contestants to get a deal this year. He has personal reasons for getting his music out, threat or not.”
As MJ noted, this is complete bullhockey on the part of the “Idol” folks. Why deny this kid a chance to get his music out?
- I skipped radio airplay and sales figures last week. Here’s the latest:
Jennifer Hudson remains in the top 10 on the album charts after a tragic week, selling 29K and 355K total. “Spotlight” sold 18K and 240K total. The single slips from 5 to 6 on the urban charts.
Jordin Sparks sees her single “One Step at a Time” fall to no. 10 on the top 40 charts via Radio & Records after peaking top 3. Her album sold another 4K and 941K total. Another 33K sold of the song and 908K total. That song will breach 1 million.”No Air” sold another 11K and 2.54 mil total.
David Cook has seen his single “Light On” jump back in digital sales with 34K sold for the week and 189K total. “Time of My Life” moved another 13K and 970K total, another that will break 1 million soon. “Light On” has yet to broach the top 40.
David Archuleta sees his single “Crush” frozen at No. 13 on the top 40 charts, shy of top 10. Single is at No. 16 on the download chart with 55K sold and 805K total. It’s a guaranteed million seller, too.
Daughtry’s “What About Now” has peaked on the top 40 chart and is now at No. 28. It sold 15K and 441K total. The album moved 6K and 4.26 million total.
Carrie Underwood “Just a Dream” has become her seventh number one song including her fourth off this current album. That is an amazing run. Digital sales: 19K for the week, 305K total. “Carnival Ride” moved up to 37 from 58 thanks to the Wal-Mart special xmas edition and sells 12K and 2.39 mil total.
Bucky Covington In its 27th week, “I’ll Walk” moves up to 12 on the country chart. It sells 6K on the digital download chart and 90K total. His album has sold 1,800 and 376K total.
Kellie Pickler Her single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” peaked around No. 20 and is now slipping off the charts. Her CD drops to 59 with 8K sold and 79K total.
Kristy Lee Cook has managed to get in the top 30 with “15 Minutes of Shame.” Her CD sold just 1,000 and 20K total.
Josh Gracin edges up to 39 from 40 with “Unbelievable.”
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10/29: Gossip sites say Carrie Undewood dating Travis Stork, Jennifer Hudson family murder case: suspect may not have acted alone, cops say
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Carrie Underwood is dating “The Bachelor: Paris” Travis Stork, according to the New York Daily News.
Gossip sites are aflame with sightings of them together.
Underwood has dated NFL player Tony Romo and “Gossip Girl” actor Chase Crawford.
-William Balfourmay not have acted alone in the triple homicide of Jennifer Hudson’s mom, brother and nephew, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Balfour has not been charged in connection with the murders but is held on a parole violation after being arrested and questioned in the case over the weekend.
-Cloris Leachman is off “Dancing With the Stars.” No shock but are you sad? Relieved? Is Maurice or Susan next?
-We’ve had duets, country singers, gospel singers, celebrity singers, dancers and every permutation since “American Idol” came out. How about Fuse’s “Redemption Song” featuring women competing for a singing prize, except they are all “bad girls” such as a stripper, an ex-druggie and a teen runaway? There’s booze and host Chris Jericho and cattiness galore. The New York Post loves it. I might have to DVR this just to tell you how it goes!
-Idol Chatter nabbed a copy of Melinda Doolittle’s album and like it a lot.
Here’s Ken Barnes’ summary: Excellent as the album is (I’d lean somewhere between three and three-and-a-half stars out of four), I fear it’s being released too late, with an entire season of Idol and the beginnings of Season 8 having ensued since Melinda was top-of-mind. Quite possibly, even the subsequent vogue for neo-classic soul triggered by Amy Winehouse and Duffy might have faded by January, although that’s the best hope for this album’s widespread acceptance. It won’t have a major label’s push, either, coming out as it is on a small indie label.
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10/28: More on the Jennifer Hudson tragedy, Josiah Leming opens up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve been so busy with Michael Johns and David Archuleta, I haven’t done much on Jennifer Hudson at all.
Here’s the latest news:
-From the Chicago Tribune:: Julian King, the 7-year-old nephew of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson, died from multiple gunshot wounds and his death has been ruled a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said this afternoon. The announcement follows an autopsy on Julian’s body, which was found in a sport-utility-vehicle parked on a street on the city’s West Side on Monday.
On the morning of the day Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were killed, the singer’s sister Julia Hudson had argued with her estranged husband over car payments, sources say.
The husband, William Balfour, is in custody but has not been charged with the killings of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
Although her famous daughter encouraged her mom to leave their often-dangerous Englewood neighborhood, Donerson resisted.
“She didn’t need to move,” says Richard Lyons, Hudson’s acting coach for her 2006 Oscar-winning role in Dreamgirls. “She didn’t need a bigger house. She didn’t need anyone to buy her a new car. She didn’t desire or want those things. She was just supportive and stood by her daughter.”
And Jennifer’s sister Julia (right) blogs about her son’s death, according to mtv.com.
“I guess it’s time to update this,” she continued. “Now because I chose to do what was natural to me and love someone, it cost me my beautiful family. It cost me my beautiful, loving, supporting mother Darnell, my true blue baby brother Jason — I love you baby — and last but never least, my only son Julian, my innocent baby one that was sheltered from all the evil in the world because we loved him so much.”
And in more frivolous “Idol” news:
-Thanks to Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler has gone vegetarian:
“Most country girls do like their meat!” she told People. “I used to eat steak rare all the time. I’d just throw it on the grill for two seconds, flip it over and it was done and everyone was like, ‘That’s so gross - that thing is still moving!’ ”
He’s quite embittered by the “Idol” experience:
“The real story is that the producers didn’t like me,” said Leming, who lived out of his car during his “Idol” experience. ” ‘Cause I wanted to do my own songs, and I wanted to have complete control.”
And of the show that brought him to the world’s notice, he added: “The producers pretty much control everything. You know, it’s all kind of rigged, and hands are coming in from places you don’t see. You just see the hand. It’s a dirty hand. And you don’t want to eat the food that that hand touches.”
“Idol” declined to comment.
Despite his new album coming out and having a pad in L.A., he seems a bit lost and may always be:
*”Sadness finds you,” he said as he ripped a sliver of onion in half, again and again, until the fragments covered his plate. “It doesn’t matter where you are, or how much money you’ve got, or how many people know your name. It’ll get you one way or another.” *
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10/27: David Archuleta on Q100
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I checked out David Archuleta and his appearance at Q100, where they created a rather convoluted plan to surprise three big fans of his. They gave the impression to the fans that Archuleta was on the phone and the one who had the best Archuleta fan story was going to Houston to see him at a concert there.
But he was actually in an office down the hall. The trio were kept in the dark (yes, even their cels were temporarily confiscated in case friends clued them in on the ruse.). Once they were done with their pleas, the Bert Show came up with a cockamamie “the video camera didn’t work, we need to re-do your pleas” excuse.
So one by one, each woman was placed at the mike to repeat their spiel. Archie, now hidden behind a green curtain, would sneak out and catch them from behind and shock them. The best was Karin Carlson’s reaction. Watch her voice go up an octave!
The other two fans were Lynn Slocum, a substitute teacher, and Kathleen Horgan (below in video), a Georgia State student who is friends with Rebecca Terry, who is buds with Michael Johns.
“I’m freaking gullible,” Horgan said afterwards. “It was a really fun. I’m really glad I did it. The embarrassment will pay off!”
The fans all said they are fans because of his music and his always nice persona but since he’s only 17, it has nothing to do with anything more, so to speak.
Archuleta’s album comes out November 11. He is also appearing December 17 at rival Star 94’s Jingle Jam. (This Q100 in studio was a way to make sure the label keeps both stations happy.)
The smile that has melted many an Archie’s Angel.
Although Jeff Archuleta tries to stay out of the limelight, Bert Weiss convinced him to go on mike and refute his reputation as an overbearing stage dad. “When David had that one week he forgot the lyrics, the tabloids wanted to make a reason why that happened. I became the scapegoat. It just kind of mushroomed from there. We weren’t allowed to defend ourselves.” Archuleta said he wasn’t even aware of the issue until near the end of the competition when reporters began asking him about it. “That’s all they wanted to talk about,” he said.
Here’s a cake given to one of the fans, Karin Carlson of Mableton.
Archuleta was listening to a song while Jeff Dauler snapped this photo. I just have my dorky headphones around my neck.
Archuleta, during the Q100 interview, noted how he had been a lighting guy at the local amphitheatre before he decided to try out for “Idol.” “It was a good choice in the end definitely,” he said. He hates seeing himself on TV, refuses to do so, never watched a full episode of “Idol.” He doesn’t read the Web so he’ll never see this blog. He’d go into medicine if the music thang doesn’t work out.
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10/27: Michael Johns at Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“American Idol” finalist Michael Johns, formerly of Buckhead, flew into town for a gig in front of 80,000-plus NASCAR fans Sunday to do a pre-race concert and the National Anthem.
He sang three cover songs. He said there’s no reason to introduce anything new in this environment. He chose Free’s “All Right Now,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” and Pearl Jam’s “Alive.” (When he performed at C.J.’s Landing earlier this decade in Buckhead, he loved channeling Eddie Vedder.)
Here’s video I took of him singing “Sweet Home Alabama”:
I left the media center a bit late and didn’t make it to stage in time for his National Anthem. I heard it from the infield, not too clearly. He joked before hand that he hoped to get the song right and remember the lyrics because he didn’t want to be remembered like Roseanne Barr. “Hopefully, I don’t suck,” he said. It sounded like he did just fine. He said he’s done the song for the Braves, the Falcons and most recently, the Cubs.
After his pre-concert, he sat down with me a short interview. He apologized for looking a bit out of it. He said he suffered food poisoning Friday from a fast-food eatery well known for its chicken and wasn’t quite 100%. The gas fumes from the stage at the starting line didn’t help matters. As a result, he wasn’t nearly as gabby as he normally is. When I asked him about this 30th birthday party for instance, he merely said it was “awesome.” A few friends from Atlanta Blaine Terry and Jason Ingram flew in.
Since the end of the “Idol” concert tour in September, Johns has been doing virtually non-stop gigs, including corporate gigs (paycheck!) and charity events. He said he just did a promotion for a new Toyota car launch in Vegas with Santana, Sheryl Crow and Blue Man Group.
When I saw him in August, he said he was planning to work with Andrew Farriss of INXS but he said their schedules didn’t match up. He said he readily admitted though he loves his home country, he prefers to live in the States. “Idol” aired on a secondary cable channel, he said, but still drew a million people a week. So many folks there knew him. (Too bad he couldn’t get votes from them, too!)
Johns gave props to www.michaeljohnsonline for keeping track of him. He said he’s deeply flattered. “I had an interview with Star 94 and within an hour, it was up on the site!” he said. MJ has a summary of those interviews here.
His favorite Mavid dances from the tour: the Titanic “I’m the king of the world” moment and the “Singin’ in the Rain” umbrella homage.
He said he wanted to release a single next month but has run out of time. “I didn’t want to just put something out for the sake of putting it out,” he said. He’s still targeting a release of his indie album early next year, which he’ll have total control. He said he’s had too many bad experiences with big record labels to deal with that, even if it means potentially fewer albums sold
When I mentioned David Archuleta is coming to Q100 Monday, he gave out that Archie is ticklish and they should pretend to do so. “He’s really jumpy!” Johns said.
He also mentioned he’s going to do four dates in the Phillipines. “Apparently, I’m big there!” he said. (Just like Jasmine Trias!)
A couple of producers he’s working with besides Diane Warren: David Cobb, an up and coming Atlanta producer and John Shanks. Shanks has worked with Bon Jovi (“Have a Nice Day”), Sheryl Crow (“Wildflower”), Bo Bice (“The Real Thing”), Jessica Simpson (“Do You Know”) and Kelly Clarkson (“Breakaway”). He’s also planning to work with folks affiliated with Gnarls Barkley and has been invited to sing for the Winter X Games. He’s working on the soundtrack to a documentary on snowboarder Shawn White to be aired on ESPN.
He didn’t plan to stay long at the race. “I need to get some sleep,” he said. And instead of a hotel, he stayed at his friend Blaine’s pad.
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10/26: Jennifer Hudson offers $100K reward for missing nephew
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before I get to the Michael Johns appearance at the NASCAR race today, I do need to get this tragic story out:
Jennifer Hudson is offering a $100,000 reward for her missing 7-year-old nephew after her brother and mom were killed Friday. This from the Chicago Tribune.
A suspect in the slayings was believed to have abducted the boy, but when the man was arrested Friday night the boy was not with him.
About 3 p.m. Friday, a relative found Hudson’s mom Darnell Donerson, 57, fatally shot in her living room, law enforcement officials said. The family member notified authorities, who then found her brother Jason Hudson, 29, dead in a bedroom.
Police believe the murders happened about 11 a.m., and started outside with the gunman firing through the door and striking Hudson’s brother, according to a law-enforcement source. The gunman then entered the house and continued to fire, striking Hudson’s mother when she entered the room. Police have recovered shell casings from the scene.
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10/24: David Archuleta visiting Q100 Monday, Kelly Clarkson finishes album!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Archuleta is on a promotional tour of radio stations to push his top 15 hit “Crush” and his upcoming album, due out November 11.. He comes to Q100 at about 8:30 a.m. Monday. I’ll be there but for some reason, not allowed to converse with the little Archie. Maybe another time. Nonetheless, I’ll get video and photos up asap.
I’ll also be doing a blog Sunday about my visit with Michael Johns at the NASCAR race here in Atlanta Sunday.
In other Idol news:
-Constantine Maroulis will be guesting on “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” on Fox tonight. I may or may not remember to tape it.
-Carrie Underwood denied to People that she has any bitterness toward Jessica Simpson over dating her ex Tony Romo. She also had a funny comment about her Madame Tussaud’s wax figure: “Honestly, it looks so good, it’s almost kind of creepy looking at myself.”
-Kelly Clarkson on her blog tells the world she’s finished with her album. No details yet:
I finished recording my record yesterday woohoo!!! Can’t wait to get it mixed and mastered and y’all to hear it! I LOVE the record! So so happy We had a show tonight in North Dakota and it was a great crowd! On our way to Minneapolis for another show and to meet Melissa Peterman’s family ….I hope they’re all like her because that means lunch will be awesome and very funny!
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10/23: Carrie Underwood goes wax, Diana DeGarmo stalker goes on trial
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Carrie Underwood unveiled her wax version of herself Wednesday at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City.
I won’t dare make any jokes about this because really, it’s way too easy. I’ll leave that up to you!
Caption photo please!
She also has a special holiday version of “Carnival Ride” out just on Wal-Mart.. Five Christmas songs are included.
-Poor Diana DeGarmo has suffered harassment from an Australian hacker/stalker, who has broken into her cel phone and her computer the past two years and sent her nasty emails and phone calls. The woman Tanya Maree Quattrocchi will stand trial for her actions.
Here’s an excerpt from the Herald Sun.
“I have moved twice and she still finds me. I cannot have any private or professional life without her infiltrating it,” Ms DeGarmo said in a statement.
“No matter what I do I cannot get away from her. She is still to this day stealing my online identity and harassing my friends, family and myself,” she said.
The court heard Ms Quattrocchi allegedly sent emails stating the singer wanted to have sex with her brother, loved older men and was a lesbian.
This woman needs to be kept away from all electronics! What a nut!
-David Cook previews his album for Rolling Stone
A preview of eight tracks suggests that listeners can expect radio-ready anthems like the sweeping, U2-esque “Come Back to Me,” some aggro rockers like “Bar Bi Sol” and plenty of the soaring voice that the AI judges loved.
-MJ got a cool tip showing a photo of Daughtry producer Howard Benson with Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry. Is a duet forthcoming?
-And proving how nice those folks in Nashville can be, Kristy Lee Cook has been invited to perform at the Grand Ol’ Opry.
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10/22: Idol’s biggest trainwrecks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Nikki McKibbin and her coke habit on display onVH’1s “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” debuting Thursday at 10 p.m., I figure I’ll post my top 5 biggest “Idol” trainwrecks so far. (I’m not talking about individual trainwreck performances. That’s for another blog. These are just trainwrecks in general.)
1- Jessica Sierra — Her time on the show was relatively indistinguished though I found her oddly appealing. Basically she was a trashier version of Carrie Underwood, which barely got her in the top 10. Afterwards, she never quite got her career in gear and dabbled in cocaine, landing in jail for possession. She then did VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab,” but it didn’t stick because late last year, she was arrested again for disorderly intoxication. Last reported, she was still in a rehab facility in California. She also had a saucy sex tape that’s floating around on the Web.
2- Corey Clark — It’s hard to find anything likable about this guy. On the show, Sideshow Corey with his Justin Guarini wannabe hair came across as arrogant, his singing Justin Timberlake lite. And he is the only guy disqualified from the show for not revealing an arrest ahead of time. Oh, and he claimed he hooked up with a certain “Idol” judge, who denied it. Class act!
3-Paula Abdul — She’s a trainwreck not for any arrest record but for her general history of loopiness, punctuated this past season by her ability to critique a song before it was even sung! Whether med-induced or not, her unpredictability makes for great TV. Unfortunately, her crappy short-lived reality show on Bravo “Hey Paula” revealed that her so-called best friends seem to be hired help, a sad state of affairs.
4-Nikki McKibbin — The drinking, the cocaine, the mom who died of a drug overdose, her depression driven deeper by Simon Cowell’s comments. (Boo hoo!) Hmmm… I wonder why she hasn’t been able to carve out much of a post-“Idol” career, eh?
5-Sanjaya Malakar — The most polarizing contestant in “Idol” history, he often seemed more concerned with his hair than his singing. And his own ability to generate buzz was both brilliant and bizarre. Long after we’ve forgotten who LaKisha Jones and Blake Lewis are, Sanjaya will remain our generation’s Tiny Tim.
Any others you’d like to add?
-Any surprise Toni Braxton went home yesterday on “Dancing With the Stars”? She was a very good dancer but she didn’t have the fan bases of Susan Lucci, Lance Bass or Cloris Leachman. She lacks the sparking personality of Warren Sapp. And she wasn’t as good as Brooke Burke. I tried to get an interview with her since she used to live in Atlanta, but ABC said she’s too busy.
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10/21: LaKisha Jones drops a single, Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler sexiest women in Country Weekly mag
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A truly deathly dull day in “American Idol” news when the only possible lead I can offer is LaKisha Jones coming out with a single, culled from MJ, the hardest working Idol blogger on earth!
Her album is set to drop in February 2008. You can hear her first single on her MySpace page.. It’s a mid-tempo R&B song, very modern, not bad after a listen.
Hmmm.. scraping, scraping, scraping for items!
-Kelly Clarkson last week performed at the ASCAP Awards, honoring Reba McEntire. Kelly pops up at 31 seconds, Kellie Pickler at 1:41 looking like Marilyn Monroe.
-Oh wait! I now get Country Weekly and the readers of the mag voted for sexiest female country singer. Last year, Carrie Underwood won. This year, she got beat out by Kellie Pickler. (No, I did not vote!). She was ranked No. 5 last year. Underwood came in second this year around. The rest of the top 10: Gretchen Wilson (I’m all for that!), Shania Twain (she’s still in country music?), Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Faith Hill and Danielle Peck.
-“The Secret Life of Bees,” with Jennifer Hudson did well opening at about $10.5 million, finishing No. 3. Reviews were mixed. Rottentomatoes.com noted that 56% of critics liked it.
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10/20: Michael Johns coming to Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry for the belated entry today. But I did set up my media credentials to see former Atlanta denizen Michael Johns at the Pep Boys 500 NASCAR race this Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The last time I was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway? To see William Hung. I know, I know. Why do I admit such things? Johns will be singing a pre-game concert of three or four songs from 12:50 to 1:05 p.m. Sunday, then will sing the National Anthem at 2 p.m. or so. These races attract 80,000 plus people. It’s like Athens on a UGA home football game day.
I just spoke with one of his buddies from Atlanta, Blaine Terry, who was in Hollywood over the weekend celebrating Johns’ 30th birthday. Brooke White, David Cook, Chikezie and David Archuleta were all there. I’ll definitely ask Johns about that, as well as his trip to Australia and his upcoming album, which is about halfway done.
- Good review here for Constantine Maroulis’ “Rock of Ages” off-Broadway play.
-More on David Cook’s album here on mtv.com while he was shooting a video for “Light On” last week .:
“I did [a version of Cornell’s cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’] on the show, and Chris went into the media and said some really, really nice things,” he explained. “And this song actually got pitched to us, which I take as another huge compliment, the fact that he saw something in me with a song of his … just the fact that somebody of his caliber takes the time out of their day not just to mention my name, but to say something nice, it’s kind of out of this world.”
-The New York Times reports that “Spamalot,” despite the return of Clay Aiken is losing money now and is set to close its doors January 18, 2009. The economy can’t be helping Broadway business.
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10/17: Simon Cowell fed Nikki McKibbon’s depression with his remarks, that mean, mean man!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nikki McKibbin said Simon Cowell’s negative comments toward her during the first season of “Idol” fueled her low self esteem and “drove me deeper into depression,” she told US magazine
McKibbin is talking in advance of her show I wrote about a couple days ago, “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” on VH1, which debuts October 23.
“We were heavily chaperoned, but I would buy vodka and sneak it into the refrigerator on the bottom floor,” McKibbin tells Us. “If I wasn’t too exhausted, I’d have one or two drinks.”
Here’s a quick weekly rundown in sales and radio airplay:
- Jordin Sparks saw his “One Step at a Time” drop from 4 to 6 on the Radio & Records top 40 chart. Download sales: 43K, 833K total (courtesy of Idol Chatter). Her album sold another 5K and 932K total. Like I said, this album may have trouble hitting 1 million unless she gets a fourth single aboard and I’m not sure if anything else on the album is top 40 worthy. We’ll see.
-David Archuleta’s “Crush” is stalling out a bit, holding at 15. It’s also No. 15 on the download chart with 60K sold and 694K total.
-David Cook saw his single “Time of My Life” hold at No. 38, an impressively slow fall off. It sold 13K downloads and 946K total. It should hit million downloads within a month or so. “Light On” fell sharply on the download chart, selling 31K and 140K total.
-Daughtry sees his “What About Now” slip from 19 to 20. Looks like it has peaked. Downloads sales are stuck 17K (409K total.)
-Carrie Underwood moves up to No. 3 with “Just a Dream” and has a shot to be her seventh No. 1 single. Incredible, eh? Download sales: 20K for week, 270K total. Album sales are down to 8K and 2.37 million total.
-Bucky Covington keeps edging up with “I’ll Walk” to 16 after 25 weeks. He sold 5K in downloads and 77K total.
-Kellie Pickler saw a major dropoff in sales of her album week two to 16K from 43K. Her single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” takes a jump from 25 to 21 after 21 weeks on the chart and 8K in sales on the download chart for 103K total.
-Jennifer Hudson watched sales of her album drop 71 percent week two to 63K and 280K total. “Spotlight” hits the top 5 of the urban chart and remains at No. 1 on urban AC for her third week. It sells 25K on the downloads chart and 202K total.
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10/16: Melinda Doolittle’s album to hit stores January 2009, Constantine Maroulis on (off) Broadway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Season six top 3 finalist Melinda Doolittle has an album set to drop in January. I don’t know what the single is yet. Here’s the “sell” job from the publicist:
Melinda Doolittle will release her hotly-anticipated debut solo album, Coming Back to You, on Hi Fi Recordings in January 2009. Featuring production by Grammy-nominated producer Mike Mangini (Joss Stone, Run DMC, The Jonas Brothers), Melinda’s debut solo album is an R&B tour de force that combines the fiery electricity of Tina Turner’s early years with the slick production and lush instrumentation of today’s pop-soul renaissance.
“I’m so excited to be using live instruments and to be singing music that really paints a picture,” said Melinda. “I knew my task was to just go in the studio and be me and the music would take care of the rest.”
Melinda’s undeniable talent has resulted in a timeless collection of 13 songs that will take listeners on a journey from the blues clubs of Louisiana to the churches of Mississippi, to the piano bars of New York City and back. From the first horn blasts of “Declaration of Love,” listeners will feel a driving pulse and unstoppable energy that is reminiscent of Tina Turner’s iconic hits, while “Coming Back to You” and “Wonderful” feature Melinda’s silky voice wrapped around the smooth, sleek sounds of classic R&B. Melinda commands the emotional storytelling and funky delivery of the blues in “Dust My Broom” and “Walkin’ Blues”, and her impeccably artful and expressive voice has never been more on display than on the beautifully lush ballad “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” and the stripped down jazzy melody of “Wonder Why.”
-Constantine Maroulis is back on stage, playing a wannabe rock star on an off-Broadway play called “Rock of Ages.” There are lots of ’80s cheeseball songs by the likes of Bon Jovi and Whitesnake.
Here’s a Fox 5 report from New York. The show opens tonight. He tells the reporter he’s single.
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10/15: David Archuleta at Star 94’s Jingle Jam December 17 at Gwinnett Arena, 2008 American Music Award nominations, David Cook on Saturday Night Live Nov. 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Archie’s Angels are going to be lining up for tix Saturday because David Archuleta will be joining Star 94’s annual Jingle Jam at Gwinnett Arena. Mark the date: December 17. Tix go on sale Saturday at Ticketmaster but you can get seats Thursday by signing up with Star 94 here.
He will be joined by We the Kings, Flyleaf, Colbie Caillat and Gavin DeGraw. Although he’s not the headliner, he is arguably the best known name in the lineup this year and will drive sales the way the Jonas Brothers did last year (although Avril Lavigne was the headliner.)
-Daughtry, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood all received American Music Award nominations this year. Show is set to air November 23 on ABC.
Daughtry was nominated for favorite band, duo or group in the pop/rock category (vs. the Eagles and Coldplay) and favorite artist in the adult contemporary category (vs. Jordin Sparks and the Eagles.) He might have a shot at either one.
Carrie Underwood once again was nominated for best female artist in country, against Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire. (Taylor is hot right now. She could win based on online votes.)
-David Cook is going to appear on “Saturday Night Live” on November 1 (with Ben Affleck), the big one right before the election. Except mondo ratings. Already, “SNL” is up 50 percent over last year, averaging about 10 million viewers. He is the fourth “Idol” to appear on the show after Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Info confirmed by the Chicago Tribune.
-And MJ found David Cook’s album cover and track listing for his new album set to be released November 18, courtesy of RCA. It’s just $9.99 on Amazon.
01 Declaration
02 Heroes
03 Light On
04 Come Back to Me
05 Life on the Moon
06 Bar-ba-sol
07 Mr. Sensitive
08 Lie
09 I Did It for You
10 Avalanche
11 Permanent
12 A Daily Anthem
BONUS TRACK
The Time Of My Life (yes, the fact it became a top 40 hit at all forced their hand on this one)
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10/14: Sanjaya writing a memoir, Blake Lewis incredibly frank, Jennifer Hudson not so much
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I would have nabbed a Blake Lewis interview if he were coming to Atlanta but his date here on October 20 was cancelled. Nonetheless, the Philly Daily News got some incredibly frank comments from the man. As the reporter noted, he’s the most honest of any contestant I’ve ever seen, short of Chris Sligh.. This is a must read and as MJ noted, he gives some sort of strange comment about Sanjaya at the end that along makes me very very curious indeed. (Indeed, Sanjaya on his MySpace page says he’s writing a memoir because we all need memoirs from 19 year olds.)
I’d still like to talk to him one of these days.
The best part of the interview excerpted here but read the rest.
Q: Did you always feel like an odd man out on the show?
A: [Laughing] They sure treated me like a troublemaker. Early on, when we got to Hollywood, we had this handler … I wanted her fired. She’d come down to the lobby in her pajamas at 10 o’clock at night and scream at me - where had I been, blah, blah. I don’t disrespect anybody, but if I get disrespected, I’m over with you.
I also complained that they didn’t feed us well. The catered food was really gross. The biggest TV show and you’re treating us like cattle? You ought to make people happy who’re making you half a billion a year.
So I’d leave, do my own thing. I brought a skateboard with me and would get away from the bunch. Plus, I didn’t rehearse a lot, and they hated that.
I come from a jazz/hip-hop/electronic/freestyle improvising tradition. I did a one-man-band thing for 10 years before this came along. At rehearsal, I’d stand straight in front of the camera and sing badly. I was holding back for the live show. After three weeks, they finally caught on and let me be.
And I wasn’t a team player. I hung out with the production guys - the lighting and sound guys. Maybe that’s a reason I was successful. I cared about the true people running the show.
-A writer in the U.K. Davina Morris read my blog about Jennifer Hudson’s people refusing to let me ask about her album cover or personal questions and was concerned. But Davina wrote she was “cheery and enthusiastic.”
“I’m confident, so maybe people mistake that for arrogance,” she said. “But I think it’s just a misconception. I find that some people are afraid to approach me. When those people meet me, they seem almost surprised that I’m a nice person!”
But when the reporter even dared broach her weight, she said, “It’s really not an issue. And you know what? When people meet me, they know way better than to come to me and say something crazy like that!”
Ooookay. She sounds defensive, doesn’t she?
Then she said she didn’t know anything about any tampering with the photo of herself on the cover that makes her look a bit slimmer. (This is the first time I’ve even seen the issue addressed. Thank you Davina!)
“If there was,” Hudson told the reporter, “I’m not the photographer. I’m just the person in the picture.”
Hudson is a bit contradictory about talking about her personal life. She has talked about her engagement enthusiastically with several media outlets (remember Leno?) but then chooses not to with others. With this British reporter, who asked about her wedding date, she said, “I don’t discuss that.”
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10/13: Nikki McKibbon on Dr. Drew’s rehab show, Simon Cowell’s “Idol” payday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not much goin’ on in “Idol” land so I previewed the second season of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” on VH1, which debuts October 23 at 10 p.m. and features season one third-place finisher Nikki McKibbon. The concept: 21 days in a treatment facility with Dr. Drew Pinsky. The first season was interesting in many ways though it’s clear 21 days is barely a start for a lot of deeply drug-addicted people, celebrity or not.
“I screwed everything up, drinking and doing drugs” McKibbon said on the “Rehab” show. “I’m an alcoholic. I have a very severe drinking problem and I need help.” She is also trying to “kick a really bad coke addiction. I got down to 90 pounds, wasted away.”
She actually looks a little heavy now. “I’ve been drinking every day since my mom died,” she explained, noting her mom was also a druggie and died from it. “The coke kills the pain. On the other hand, you’re crazy from it.” (“She blames herself for her mom’s death,” Dr. Pinsky said.)
She told Dr. Pinsky that she had physical and emotional abuse as a kid. “She has emotional diagnoses,” Pinsky said. “There are many different layers.” He said it could take months to deal with her issues.
McKibbon, who was the relative rebel on the show and a single mom, never really had a career of any note that I can recall, at least nothing notable. She did do “Fear Factor” and “Battle of the Network Reality Stars.”
She follows Jessica Sierra, who was in the first season and continues to do rehab now.
McKibbon’s celebmates include Jeff Conaway (again!), Rodney King (yes, the man who got beat up by cops and said “Why can’t we all just get along?”), Amber Smith (model/actress), Tawny Kitaen (that gal on the hood of the car in a Whitesnake video), Gary Busey (he already had his own reality show!), Sean Stewart (son of Rod) and Steve Adler (Guns ‘n Roses). This is a bizarro way to get treatment — in front of TV cameras. But alas, this is entertainment first, rehab second. Oddly, Busey is there to “help” out the others, having been through rehab himself and saying he’s been sober 13 years.
-Nigel Lythgoe revealed Simon Cowell’s annual take from “Idol” alone now. He said it’s $36 million a year, a pittance compared to the $500 million plus in ad revenue the show generates each year. He notes that the salaries for Paula and Randy have never been revealed but his higher salary is a “bone of contention.” Then again, it’s fair to say he’s more valuable than either of those two so he should get far more cash. He also dubbed him a smart negotiator, refusing to sign anything longer than one year.
“He’s only ever negotiated by the year,” Lythgoe said. “And now he is getting something like $22,000 per minute.”
-MJ is noting that David Cook is now doing radio promotional interviews to promote his upcoming album. Nothing terribly revelatory but if you want more details, read it here.
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10/10: Interview with John Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“American Idol Rewind” offered up a few of the lesser known “Idols” from seasons three and four to talk to to promote the syndicated show (also seen on TV Guide Channel.). I decided on John Stevens, the cute redheaded singer from season three who managed to finish sixth ahead of Jennifer Hudson.
Stevens, who is now a senior at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, didn’t feed me any cool insider anecdotes or shocking insights. But he sounds very grounded and ready to work when he graduates next year. I liked him on the show though he was clearly uncomfortable stretching into genres he was unfamiliar with at the time.
“I’m much more confident with my own voice and everything,” he said. “My repertoire has expanded so much. I’ve got so many more tools. I could be able to pull off from different genres now.”
He said he had only performed solo for a couple of years before “Idol,” unlike Diana DeGarmo, who was the same age but had done so since he was age five. (The two still keep in touch. He also keeps tabs with Jasmine Trias, who continues to make a living in the Phillipines.)
Though Stevens could imitate Dean Martin (the audition was replayed in the first “Rewind” episode), he was actually the youngest contestant on the show in its history, having just turned 16 at the time. After the show, he released an album “Red,” which featured standards such as “Come Fly With Me” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” It sold modestly. After touring in 2005, he chose to go to Berklee.
He did so because he felt like he didn’t know enough about music. During his “Red” tour, he had worked with a seven-piece band, guys from ages 24 to 30 who had gone to college for music. “There was this communication barrier,” he said. “I needed to go back to school and get accustomed to the language.”
While in school, he’s learned to write his own music, which he said remains jazz flavored. He is also taking acting classes. He performs with swing orchestras in Boston and does regular gigs whereever he can. He is surrounded by musicians from 70 countries at his school and has learned much more about jazz and bebop. He also has gotten into Afro Cuban, R&B, pop, rock. But can he still do a mean Dean Martin? “I can still do those imitations but I keep them on the back burner,” he said.
He said he did receive “a lot of flak” for outlasting Hudson in 2004, but such befuddlement has receded with time.
“She’s obviously gone on to do much bigger and betting things and done fantastic for herself,” he said. “We were actually very close on the tour. I would say she’s one of my best friends from that show.” But he hasn’t heard from her recently and has been seeking a way to track her down while she’s busy winning Oscars and promoting “Spotlight.” (So, Jennifer, the folks at BWR public relations has his number if you want to catch up with him!)
-The Birmingham News talked to Taylor Hicks about his “Grease” gig, plus his new album. He finally explains why he chose his current deal with Artist to Market rather than a traditional label after RCA and he split.
“In today’s marketplace, having the control as the artist is key,” Hicks says. “I’m in control of where I spend my marketing dollars, who I want to record with, and in control of the companies I hire out. It allows me a really focused release. Basically, I am my own record label.”
He plans to write or co-writer almost everything on this album and will cross-promote by singing his single during the show. (How that will work is kind of strange to me but maybe he’ll have a song that relates to “Grease”?)
-David Archuleta is singing “God Bless America” tonight during the seventh inning stretch for the ACLS matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox. I doubt that will be televised though someone will post the video on YouTube almost immediately.
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10/9: Kellie Pickler suffered year-long depression
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
People magazine apparently is the place for “American Idol” contestants to spill their guts. (Certainly it isn’t me!)
Kellie Pickler, whose latest CD debuted last week at No. 9 with 43,000 copies sold (compared to 79,000 for her first album but not a bad performance nowadays), suffered from a year-long depression, she told People.
[She] suffered severe reactions to anti-depressant pills after struggling with family problems and an emotional breakup from her boyfriend, hockey player Jordin Tootoo.
“Everything in my professional life seemed great,” says the former American Idol contestant, 22. “But in my personal life, I was just crumbling.”
Her dad had gone back to jail and she had to deal with her mom, subject of her song “I Wonder.” Her new boyfriend, Nashville songwriter Kyle Jacobs, had helped her balance her life again.
-Here’s Jennifer Hudson doing “Spotlight” on “Dancing With the Stars”:
-Here’s a roundup of how songs performed this week in Radio & Records on radio:
Jordin Sparks Her single “One Step At a Time” peaked at No. 3 on the Top 40 chart, with Pink’s “So What” supplanting it this week on the “Radio & Records” chart. It’s now at No. 4 and Leona Lewis’ “Better in Time” will supplant it next week. Download chart places the song at 43 with 43K sold and 790K total. “No Air” has now sold 2.51 million copies. Her album sold 5K and 927K total. It’s going to be a slow slog to 1 million.
David Archuleta and his song “Crush” is losing momentum. He only gained 125 extra spings this week and his song slips back to 15 from 14. It’s now sold 633K in downloads and ranks No. 16.
Daughtry with “What About Now” edges up to No. 19 from 21 with a modest gain in airplay as well. He has sold 7K for the week and 4.24 million total.
David Cook and his coronation song “Time of My Life” is dropping slowly, down to 38 from 36. The song is still top 3 on the Q100 countdown list here locally and No. 71 nationally in downloads (933K total sold so far). His new song “Light On” is just starting to get radio airplay but debuts at No. 8 on the download chart, according to Idol Chatter with 109,000 copies sold.
Carrie Underwood breaks into the top 5 as usual with “Just a Dream” at No. 4 on the country chart. It sold 21K on the download chart and 250K total. “Carnival Ride” sold 9K and 2.36 mil total.
Bucky Covington continues to gain airplay but slips back to 17 from 16 with “I’ll Walk.”
Kellie Pickler moves up to No. 25 from 26 with “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” It sold 9K and 95K total. Her likely next single (and guaranteed to be a bigger hit) “Best Days of Your Life” sold 8K.
Kristy Lee Cook gutted herself into the top 40 at No. 40 with “15 Minutes of Shame.” Her album in its third week sold just 2,500 copies and 16K total, falling off the Billboard top 200.
Josh Gracin is stuck at 48 with “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)”
Jennifer Hudson (who debuted at No. 2 on the album chart) holds at No. 6 on the urban chart with “Spotlight.” It remains at No. 1 on the urban AC chart. The new album boosted the single’s sales to 38 from 99 and 31K for the week and 177K total.
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10/8: Taylor Hicks to release new indie album in early 2009
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Taylor Hicks, dumped by J Records earlier this year, is set to release a new album via the indie route in February, 2009.
Hicks, going on a national tour of “Grease” to sing “Beauty School Dropout” as Teen Angel starting December 2, will be releasing the still-untitled album through the indie company Artist to Market with an assist from his own label, Modern Whomp Records, to “connect more directly with audiences,” according to [E! online.]http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b32785idolstaylorhicksgoes_indie.html)
Tommy Lee, Dolly Parton and Sinead O’Connor have used Artist to Market.
-Jennifer Hudson sold a very solid 225,000 copies of her album “Spotlight” her first week, more than Jordin Sparks did her first week and quite respectable, according to hitsdailydouble. Billboard and SoundScan report 217,000. She came in No. 2 behind Atlanta’s T.I.
-David Archuleta has signed with Azoff Management but his dad Jeff will be comanager. Azoff also reps the Eagles, Christina Aguilera and Neil Diamond, according to [ew.com]http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/10/david-archuleta.html?xid=rss-hollywoodinsider-20081007-David%20Archuleta%20signs%20with%20Azoff%20Management). 19 Entertainment passed on him, as it did on several other runners up. As MJ noted, 19 Entertainment no longer reps any runners up.
-Elliott Yamin, who sold more than 50,000 copies of his Christmas EP last year at Target, is tilling that field again with “My Kind of Holiday,” which is basically a fatter version of the Target release. And this one’s available everywhere.
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10/7: Paris Bennett has her baby
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Season five finalist and former Fayetteville resident Paris Bennett had her baby Egypt at 4:36 p.m. Monday. The baby weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces, according to a press release. Paris and Egypt are both doing fine.
Paris, 20, said in the release: “I’m so excited to finally see my little angel and man does she have lungs on her I guess she’s gearing up to be the next American Idol.”
Her Christmas album “A Royal Christmas” is due out October 14.
When she came in June for a divas concert at Philips Arena, the baby “bump’ was so noticeable, she had no choice but to announce what was going on (this is taken by Robb Cohen):
I’ll add more “Idol’ news on Tuesday.
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10/7: LaKisha Jones married, “Idol Rewind” is back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since ajc.com decided to make **LaKisha Jones’s marriage a lead “buzz” item this afternoon, I decided I better post this now. Personally, I don’t get a sense that many people care about Jones compared to even Melinda or Jordin or even Blake. But alas, here’s the news right here..
She’s married some financial advisor in Beverly Hills. And she has an album coming out next year. That’s pretty much it!
-Misty May-Treanor is out of “Dancing With the Stars” with an Achilles tendon break. They’ve never had anybody drop out due to injury mid competition before. At least I can’t remember that happening. Anybody help me on that one? Will this mean they will bring back Kim Kardashian? Was this some nefarious plot from our blogger JTesla to get her back? We shall see…
-I watched the first episode of ‘American Idol Rewind,” finally. I still need to catch the Atlanta auditions featuring Fantasia and Jennfier Hudson, the two most prominent contestants from that season. That aired this past weekend on WATL-TV in the evening. TV Guide Channel airs the Atlanta episode this Friday and in repeats over the weekend. (Watching it on TV Guide Channel is irritating because you have the TV grid eating up 20% of the screen.)
MJ found the schedule for “Idol Rewind,” which airs just 22 episodes and meshes seasons three and four, rather than just one season. Apparently, the editors figured nobody cares about season three that much (the least popular in many people’s minds) so it’s covered in just seven episodes. The top 12 episodes are covered in two hours. The semifinal and Hollywood rounds aren’t even included.
I may speak to season three crooner John Stevens later today and will post something if that happens.
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10/6: Ruben Studdard in Atlanta for sickle cell awareness campaign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I missed Ruben Studdard’s performance at the Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church Saturday night because I was uploading video of Diana DeGarmo. Else, I would have done video of Ruben, too. He was in town to spread awareness of sickle cell disease, which affects African Americans disproportionately. More details here.. I did catch him briefly signing autographs and spoke to him for a few minutes afterwards.
He’s prepping for his “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” national tour gig as Fats Waller and is still working on his fourth album. He’ll be in Atlanta again at Fox Theatre next month. (As you may recall, he recently married an Atlanta gal he met at a Wal-Mart CD signing a couple years back.) Here’s the original Fats Waller:
Ruben had no particular comment about Clay Aiken coming out a couple weeks back.
“I don’t have any thoughts,” he said. “That’s Clay’s sexual preference. And that’s pretty much all I have to say.” He said he talks to Clay regularly but not about stuff like that. He also hopes to catch Clay in “Spamalot” when he’s up in New York prepping for “Ain’t Misbehavin’ “.
He said he hasn’t done stage work since college doing “Porgy & Bess” but his parts were always small. In this case, he’ll be on stage virtually the entire time. His colleague Frenchie Davis has told him to rest up a lot and drink plenty of liquids to handle the eight days a week grind.
Here are a couple of other photos I took:
-Speaking of Clay, he wrote extensively about why he came out and his mixed feelings about the public (or in his mind, the media) obsessing over it. Here is what he wrote. And here’s an excerpt:
[F]or the last five years, I’ve found what seems to have been an inordinate amount of interest (not from the public, but from the media) in my own personal life. The questions never seemed to stop. Oh sure, they die down for a period, but they resurface. The wind blows another direction, and I do yet another interview worried that my personal life will become a topic of discussion. No doubt the birth of Parker would bring the same scrutiny, just heightened. It’s an interesting time we live in. Gone are the days when entertainers could go about their lives without the invasion of privacy that we now see everyday in the form of paparazzi and internet tabloid bloggers. So, in the hopes of being able to sing and act (and dance poorly) and do what I love to do for a living while raising my son in a hopefully more private and accepting environment, I chose to go ahead and confront things head on.
Yes, I would have preferred to separate my personal life from my professional life. I would have been just as happy to go on without discussing my orientation. But, it seems like that was not an option. Make no mistake, its not because I am ashamed. No, not for a minute. I haven’t always been as comfortable as I am now, but I am without a doubt, proud of who I am and make no apologies for it. Instead, I would have been happy to have kept my personal life private for that very reason. Because it’s personal life and I have always considered myself a private person. But, living as myself without discussing my sexuality publicly would have been as impossible.
For some of you it won’t be enough, but I can’t apologize for keeping my personal business to myself. If someone feels that they were mislead, I can totally understand that viewpoint and apologize for that feeling, but I can’t apologize for how I handled questions that affected me and my right to privacy.
In a fairly verbose way, he covered the topic thoroughly. Honestly, what’s there more to say about it? If he had done so four years ago, the elephant would have left the room a looong time ago. But that was his choice and now we can all (hopefully) just move on, right?
-And here’s a Blake Lewis interview. Is he bitter? Nahh…
Why didn’t Arista get behind the record?
They were at first. But a lot of the people who were got fired because of the industry’s troubles. The people that stepped in didn’t call me or e-mail me for like two months. So I waited and waited and waited, while I could have stepped up and toured. (Laughs) It’s kinda nice to have a label’s support when you’re on a label.
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10/4: Catching up with Diana DeGarmo (with video!)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I stopped by Underground Atlanta for the Go Arts Month celebration today to catch up with Diana DeGarmo, who did a panel on how to become a singing star, signed autographs and sang a couple of songs. Here’s her new song “Turn To Me,” which she said she has only performed live once before. (My first attempt at video! Tell me if it works or not…)
What do you think of her country turn? It has a Faith Hill feel to it, doesn’t it? She co-wrote the song with John Rich and Vicky McGehee (who has worked with Gretchen Wilson).
Snellville’s own and season three runner up started doing gigs at age 5 and said she had sung many times pre-‘Idol’ at Underground, sweating it out in Kenny’s Alley.
Diana has never been terribly warm toward me even though we’ve probably talked at least 7 or 8 times over four years. One of these days, I might have to just be real and bring it up to her why that is, but I’ve never felt comfortable doing so. At best, she’s been polite and she was in polite mode today, more so than she was at Turner Field in April when she sang the National Anthem.
If anything, she looks great. Believe it or not, she’s now 21 years old. I don’t recall her ever looking this slim before either.
She said she would have been doing previews for “Godspell” on Broadway but the investors pulled out with the economy going to pot. So when she was asked to do this Go Arts gig, she said yes.
She’s still living in Nashville, working on her songwriting and networking with country music business. “I really want to be respected here,” she said. “I don’t want to be known as a pop star who just came in as a flash in the pan.” I said, “Like Jessica Simpson?” She was too smart to take that bait. “I won’t say any names.”
So far, she said the country music folks have treated her really well. She has had to sell her story, that she has sung plenty of country growing up and knew singer/songwriter Steve Wariner when she was a kid. “He remembered me!” she said, when they met up again. She has also joined the Nashville Songwriters Association. Writing country vs. pop, she noted, is “more real. You can take on subjects you can’t in pop.”
Diana said she’s still in talks for a label for her first country album. Nothing has quite clicked yet. “I want a label that connects with me, has a real passion,” she said. She said she’s halfway through her album so far.
After her panel discussion, eight-year-old Chloe Gabriella McSwain poses with Diana. She was only four when Diana competed but remembers watching her.
“American Idol Rewind” has just started airing season three so on TV Guide Channel and the CW you’ll be able to catch the show. The Atlanta episode is airing this weekend at 6 p.m. on MyATL-TV and on TV Guide Channel Friday evening. I’ll do a recap if I remember to DVR it.
-Ruben Studdard is going to be in Atlanta tonight. Not sure if I’ll be able to go but he’s at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church for a free concert to spread awareness about sickle cell disease. If I can get by, I’ll post another blog entry with photos and such. I’ll do a real sit down or lengthy phoner with Ruben later on for his “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” tour, which hits the Fox Theatre in mid November.
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10/3: Carrie Underwood to co-host CMAs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I am always rooting for Kellie Pickler to get hosting gigs but “Idol” colleague Carrie Underwood will be co-hosting the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley.
The show will broadcast live Nov. 12 on ABC. Underwood strikes me as a pretty plain vanilla gal who won’t exactly blow anybody away as a host. Paisley has a glint in his eye and should be a fun addition. I hope Pickler at least gets to present.
In addition to their hosting duties, Paisley and Underwood will also perform on “The CMA Awards.” Previously announced performers include Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban, with more performers to be announced soon.
-Speaking of hot country blondes, USA Today has a story about Carrie, Kellie and the others here..
Labels may be dipping too far into the talent pool looking for the next Underwood, who won Idol in 2005: Cook finished seventh last season. Several country stations, including KKGO in L.A., are taking a wait-and-see approach to Cook’s 15 Minutes of Shame, currently No. 36 on USA TODAY’s country airplay chart.
“I’m skeptical about the runner-ups until I see a proven single,” says KKGO program director Tonya Campos.
-Early signs of tension between Kara DioGuardi and Simon Cowell? He tells Extra that she’s a mike hog. “She never shuts up,” he said. I believe he isn’t being serious.
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10/2: David Archuleta acting debut, Jennifer Hudson 1st week sales to eclipse Kellie Pickler’s, “America’s Got Talent” winner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Archuleta will appear in an episode of Nickelodeon’s “iCarly,” according to people.com. He will play a version of himself. His album is due out Nov. 11 and the “iCarly” ep will air next spring.
Based on one-day sales Tuesday, Jennifer Hudson should open with at least 225,000 copies but an appearance on Oprah today (Thursday) might push that even higher. That would place her No. 2 next week behind Atlanta’s T.I., who should easily break 500,000, according to estimated by Hitsdailydouble.
Kellie Pickler, however, will open much more modestly at around 40,000 copies, about half of what her first CD “Small Town Girl” opened. The problem, I suspect, is the modest performance of first single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” A couple weeks ago, I was close in predicting Pickler’s number, way low on Hudson.
Reviews for Hudson’s album are all over the map.
The Washington Post is mostly positive::
The credits on “Jennifer Hudson” include more than two dozen songwriters and nearly as many producers, a debut-by-committee approach that has record mogul Clive Davis’s fingerprints all over it. Davis, the album’s lead producer, never met a demographic he didn’t want to court, but his vision, such as it is, works against Hudson by preventing her from establishing a clear artistic identity on the very album that bears her name.
Still, the woman who coulda — and shoulda — been a contender shows plenty enough on her debut to reinforce that she’s a major talent whose career will be worth following.
Chicago Sun Times gave it just one star, blaming Clive Davis for the album’s problems.:
Now, after an inexplicable and unconscionable delay in this accelerated era of five-second attention spans, Hudson finally has delivered her self-titled major-label debut, which arrives in stores today. Sad to say, not only is it not worth the wait, but in typical “American Idol” fashion, it’s an overworked, overwrought, shamelessly pandering piece of pop product unworthy of her considerable talents and largely devoid of the personality that made us love her in the first place.
The Dallas Morning News liked it more or less.
For a mass-appeal project targeted to sell millions, the Chicago native doesn’t embarrass herself. She satisfied all the honchos and sounds like she’s artistically committed, too.
The Boston Globe gets a kick out of her more than most of the songs.
Despite its flaws, Hudson’s debut comes on much like her “Dreamgirls” character, with admirable self-assurance and real-girl sensuality. Every song may not be a winner here, but the woman who sings them sure is.
- The “America’s Got Talent” winner Neal E. Boyd is apropos He’s highly skilled at opera, has an amazingly humble attitude and has underdog written all over him. Heck, he’s an insurance saleman! I actually preferred Nuttin’ But Strings but Boyd’s victory is not surprising. He cried alot and cried again when he won, of course. Congratulations, Boyd! “What has happened to my life!” he said. Personally, I think Nuttin But Strings broke new ground and could do a great Vegas show but Boyd truly touches the heart. And an opera singer won in the U.K., too.
Here he is from his audition:
-Here are how some singles are doing on Radio & Records charts:
Jordin Sparks sees her single “One Step at a Time” move up to No. 3 on the top 40 chart. Download sales: 45K for the week, 747K total. Her album had its worst week yet with 5K sold, ranked No. 114 and 922K total.
David Archuleta moves up to No. 14 from 15 with a decent increase in airplay for “Crush.” It’s still the top “Idol” download at No. 12 and 567K total.
Daughtry slips back to 21 from 20 with “What About Now” but actually gains airplay so all is not lost yet for his fifth single. His album falls to No. 65 with 8K sold and 4.24 million total.
David Cook with “The Time of My Life” falls to 36 from 33. No sign yet of “Light On,” which should appear on the chart next week. It sold 15K in downloads, 915K total.
Jennifer Hudson has gained momentum with “Spotlight” jumping from 10 to 6 on the urban chart. Downloads are 13K and 145K total.
Carrie Underwood edges up to No. 6 from No. 7 with “Just a Dream” on the country chart. Download sales: 22K last week, 228K total. Her album “Carnival Ride” is the top seller of the week among “Idols” with 9K sold and 2.35 million total.
Bucky Covington gets to No. 16 from 17 in his 23rd week with “I’ll Walk.”
As noted earlier, Kellie Pickler is at No. 26 from No. 27 with “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.”
Kristy Lee Cook moves up to No. 41 with “15 Minutes of Shame” but is losing airplay. Her album plummeted from 49 to 153 with sales of just 4K. It won’t last another week on the top 200. B-bye.
Josh Gracin takes a small jump to No. 48 form 54 for “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)”
And here’s a thank you note from David Cook for the early reaction to “Light On.”
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10/1: A potpourri of Gone Country, Kellie Pickler, Chris Sligh
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Quiet day so far. I’ll add more later if anything notable happens:
-I finally caught up with the finale of CMT’s “Gone Country” with season four’s Mikalah Gordon. While Sean Young and Lorenzo Lamos did not embarrass themselves, Mikalah made a false start, tried to serenade John Rich, then brought a little girl on stage. Very gimmicky, not very warm. Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row, earned the win. With Kid Rock on the country charts, I could see Sebastian actually crossing over.
-On October 21, Carrie Underwood’s “Carnival Ride” is getting an added Christmas CD, exclusive at Wal-Mart.
-And surprisingly, Kim Kardashian and her boring persona was ousted from “Dancing With the Stars.? I thought Rocco Dispirito was a goner.
-Kellie Pickler has resisted a reality TV show so far, she told CMT:
“I’ve been offered so many reality shows just to have people follow me around,” she tells CMT.com. “I don’t see why anybody would want to follow me around all day because I’m really not that interesting. I told my manager, ‘I can’t do it. It’d be like ‘bleep bleep.’ They wouldn’t be able to show anything. It’d be like a whole television show of nothing. It would be muted the whole way. There would be no talking, and I’d probably get committed into some home. … They’d probably take me away to some psychiatric ward because I’m nuts. But, yeah, I can’t have one unless they have it on, like, HBO at night.”
-Chris Sligh is inviting folks to lip sync to his song “Empty Me” and the best ones will be spliced together into a video. More details here.
