Chart Debut action

Last year at this time I was able to report that the Season Six Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, made her debut on the Billboard albums chart with first week sales of 119,000 copies. She has gone on to have huge success with three singles from that album with Tattoo being the first to go Top 10. Her Duet with Chris Brown, No Air, was the biggest hit spending many weeks in the top 5 and she followed that up with One Step At A Time that is still getting top 20 airplay. The Season Six Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Blake Lewis, had first week sales of 98,000 for his album and it, sadly, went down hill from there. The album Audio Day Dream went completely unappreciated this year and had no hit singles off of it.

Last week I shared the news that the Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, made his strong debut on the album chart with first week sales of 183,000 to land at #2. This week he drops down to #11 on the album chart while his single, Crush, continues to hold steady with top 20 airplay and sales figures.

This week the numbers are finally in for the first week sales of Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook. Even though he comes in one position behind David Archuleta's debut at #3, David Cook sold about 100,000 copies more to have a total of 280,000. These solid numbers should translate into some more sales and airplay action for his single, Light On, that is still no where to be found in the top 50 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart.

And the American Music Award goes to....

The 2008 American Music Awards have come and gone and once again the Miss American Idol finalists and winners were all over the show. This year's Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, didn't get a chance to perform during the show, but they did let him sing a few songs during the Red Carpet pre-show. We'll see if this, along with his presenting an award during the show, will lead to a strong debut on the albums chart this week. This year's Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, was greeted with a roar of applause when he took the stage to present an award, but he didn't get to sing at all. His strong sales and airplay should continue for many weeks to come.

The major disappointment of the night came when, as I suspected, the award for Favorite Female Country Artist didn't go to Carrie Underwood as it should have. The wave of support for Country Teen Queen, Taylor Swift was too strong to overcome this time around. The other disappointments came when the awards that the Miss American Idol winners did get were announced in ceremonies prior to the live telecast. The Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, was honored with the trophy for Favorite Country Album for her amazing release Carnival Ride. Carrie wasn't even in the audience, so I guess it's OK that it happened off camera. The Season Six Miss American Idol winner, super cute Jordin Sparks, was in the house and presented an award during the show, but when it came time for her to win one it also happened off camera. Jordin claimed the very well-deserved prize for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist.

The only Miss American Idol finalist to get to walk up on stage and accept his award was Chris Daughtry, Season Five 3rd Runner Up. His band was honored with the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band.

So the American Idols were all over the show, but they still aren't at the level of getting an award just for showing up like Mariah Carey is. As we all know, Mariah is having a great year with the hits off her stellar album E=MC2. Mariah graced the American Music Awards stage with a beautiful performance of her latest single, I Stay In Love. Before she took the microphone and let the harmonious notes escape from her mouth she was given the Special American Music Award that recognized her outstanding chart achievements this year. When Touch My Body hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 she broke the record for Most #1 singles (18) by a solo artists as well as Most weeks at the #1 position.

Those Miss American Idols have a long way to go before reaching the amazing status of Mariah, but it sure is fun watching them give their best efforts!

David Archuleta makes his debut

Carrie Underwood has not won another award this week. We'll have to wait and see how she does at the American Music Awards this weekend. I suspect she's gonna have some tough competition from teen star Taylor Swift. She's a cute young country girl who is making it big riding on Carrie Underwood's coat tails. After Carrie become the Season Four Miss American Idol, she opened the door for country music to have a place on the mainstream pop charts right next to the rock, dance and hip hop. So along comes Taylor Swift who isn't nearly as cute as Carrie and can barely sing a note in tune, but she's selling hundreds of thousands of CDs each week.

Taylor Swift released her second CD last week and she exploded onto the chart at #1 after selling 592,000 copies. That meant that Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up David Archuleta had to settle for coming in at #2 on the Billboard albums chart. He managed to move 183,000 copies of his self-titled CD in its first week. Now we'll have to see how the Season Seven Miss American Idol winner David Cook does next week. For another week in a row David Archuleta's single Crush is still in the top 20 on the Billboard HOT 100 while David Cook's single Light On is still no where to be found in the top 50.

Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood, after her phenomenal performance at the CMA's, has reached a new peak on the Billboard HOT 100 with her wonderful song Just A Dream at #29.

It's not Just a Dream!

David Cook, the Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, will be releasing his debut album this week. Things are not looking good for his first week sales based on the lackluster reception of the first single, Light On. After making an appearance in the top 20 of the Billboard HOT 100 last month, it has dropped out of the top 50 already. Meanwhile, the Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta is continuing to be well-received at radio and on the charts. The sales figures will be coming out soon for the first week of his debut album being in stores. Based not only on the fact that his first single, Crush, is still in the top 20 on the Billboard HOT 100 after 13 weeks, and that the video for the song has been #1 on the VH1 Top 20 Countdown for 5 weeks now he should make an impressive debut on the album chart.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four Winner Carrie Underwood keeps on collecting more honors and recognition. This week she served as the host of the CMA Awards with her usual stunning poise, style and grace. She performed her current single Just A Dream. The song recently peaked at #34 on the Billboard HOT 100 and became her 7th #1 on the Billboard Country singles chart. It's the 4th #1 song on the Country chart from her outstanding album, Carnival Ride. The others are: So Small, All American Girl and Last Name.

The song Just A Dream tells a heartbreaking story about a young bride who gets the devestating news that her fiance will not be coming home because he was killed in the war. The introduction for her CMA performance was done by a real life woman who, sadly, is a living representation of the poignant song lyrics. Just an example of why Carrie is the Supreme American Idol - she's amazingly talented and she sings songs that the public can relate to.

After her beautiful performance the award for Female Vocalist of the Year was handed to her. This is the third year in a row that Carrie Underwood has been given this honor. Three wins in three nominations!!! Carrie's phenominal career is definitely not a dream. And the award season has just begun....