Crush

As you all know, when David Cook ended up being crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol, all of my attention went toward feeling bad for cute little David Archuleta. The judges set him up all season to think he was certain to get the crown. When he didn't, you could see that he was blind-sided by the news.

David Cook then went on to dominate the Billboard HOT 100 (for one week at least) with 11 songs debuting in the same week. David Archuleta had to once again settle for being in the shadows, but this week, his time in the spotlight has come! David Archuleta's first original single "Crush" has sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100.

Compared to the chart achievements of the other American Idols, this is pretty amazing. Even David Cook's The Time Of My Life only peaked at #3. The only other Idol single to get up to #2 is Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone from 2005. This is a very promising start to David Archuleta's music career.

Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, is continuing to inch up the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time which is now up to #21 this week.

The other exciting news to come out involves the Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, releasing a benefit single with some of the other biggest musical divas in the business. She will be joining 14 other superstars on the single to be released on Sept. 2nd that will benefit cancer research. The impressive list includes the biggest hitmakers of recent years, Fergie, Rihanna and Beyonce, and three other divas who share the honor of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist just like Carrie Underwood did. Those other divas are Sheryl Crow, the amazing Leann Rimes and the biggest mega-superstar diva of all time, Mariah Carey.

I will be right there on iTunes the day this song is available to buy it immediately. I haven't even heard it yet, but it's already my favorite song of the year!

One Step At A Time

Katy Perry is showing the Miss American Idol finalists how it's done. She's now spent her 6th week at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles charts with her provocative dance pop single, I Kissed A Girl. Perhaps the expectation of a squeaky clean image is preventing the Idols from having bigger hits these days. While Katy has achieved huge success announcing to the world that she kissed a girl and she liked it, David Cook and Jordin Sparks are struggling.

While the sales for David's The Time Of My Life have slowed down, it seems like airplay is picking up a bit because it's not dropping as fast as it was off the chart. Jordin's duet with Chris Brown, No Air, is also dropping very slowly of the charts. Chris Brown is doing very well all by himself - his hot dance smash Forever is holding strong at #3 this week. It's one of my favorite songs out right now. It's great to blast really loud while driving.

Remember back when Jordin performed her new single on the American Idol finals when David Cook was crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol? She sang One Step At A Time and she looked and sounded amazing. This song is very fun and catchy and I am happy to report that it has finally started to get the airplay that it deserves. It's sitting at #34 this week on the Billboard HOT 100.

While Jordin is making her way up the charts one little step at a time, the reigning pop superstar, Rihanna is still topping the charts with everything she puts out. She's still at #2 with her former #1, Take A Bow, and this week her latest release, Disturbia, leaps all the way up to #4. It's not that rare for an artist to have more than one song in the top five in the same week. The biggest megastars like The Beatles and the Bee Gees did it almost every week and a Legendary Diva like Mariah Carey has done it on numerous occasions. It's still a feat that no American Idol has done yet, but it can still happen - one step at a time...