Direct2Music

ACM Nominations 2012

2012-01-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, is a two time winner of the Academy of Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year. The nominations for the 2012 awards have just been announced, and although she is not up for Entertainer of the Year this time around she does have two nominations. Her duet with Brad Paisley, Remind Me, is up for Vocal Event of the Year and she is also up for Female Vocalist of the Year.

The show is scheduled to air on Sunday April 1st and by that time we will have all heard her brand new single called Good Girl, that will be released on February 23rd. Hopefully we can look forward to her performing the new song on the telecast!

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, is also up for ACM awards this year for her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Wanna Stay. It is nominated for Single of the Year and she will go head to head with Carrie for Vocal Event of the Year.

Also, Kelly's second single from her album Stronger, What Doesn't Kill You, has reached the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 this week at #8.

Katherine McPhee is a SMASH!!!!!

2012-01-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time coming, but the series premiere of SMASH is just around the corner on Monday February 6th.

Just in case you have been living in a hole and don't know what SMASH is, it's a new musical drama about the development of a Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe starring the Season 5 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Katherine McPhee!

But you don't have to wait until Feb. 5th to see it. You can actually go to itunes right now and download the entire pilot episode for FREE! I just watched it and this is gonna be some truly amazing television. Katherine looks and sounds a zillion times better than she ever did while she was on American Idol. I can't wait to see more!!

American Idol - Season 11

2012-01-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

American Idol Season 10 is officially behind us and it is leaving a pretty impressive legacy. After a few years of lackluster sales from the winners, The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, released his first full album that ended up topping the Billboard charts and selling over 1 million copies in just a few months.

Season 10 also became the year that the Country Music genre dominated with Scotty along with the 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, being teen country darlings.

But tonight was the first night of Season 11 auditions and a whole new crop of young singers is gonna do their best to leave their mark and become superstars.

After watching the first two hours, American Idol still has what it takes to be my favorite show. Just seeing these impressive talents give their all for the judges and hear them say "YES, you're going to Hollywood!" is all it takes to get the tears of joy rolling down my face. Their friends and families are out there beaming with pride and giving them support and encouragement. It reminds us why this is still the top rated show on TV after 11 seasons.

Jennifer Hudson - I Remember Me

2012-01-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

2011 was a banner year for the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Adele, The Cast of Glee, Lady Antebellum and LMFAO. But the Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson released a truly wonderful album in 2011 called I Remember Me. While the album did not have the highest sales of the year or produce any massive hits, it is genuinely worth checking out so you can see what you were missing.

The lead single was Where You At and it is a classic smooth R&B jam where Jennifer sings about her man who is continually letting her down. The amazing video was filmed right here in her home town of Chicago and it shows off the grand skyline in winter. She followed it up with another R&B jam called No One Gonna Love You with a great video that features hot dancers doing fierce choreography. Both of these songs were remixed into powerful dance floor anthems which elevated her vocals to an even higher level.

My two favorite songs on the album are Everybody Needs Love and Don't Look Down. These two fun songs have catchy hooks and super bouncy beats with absolutely no remixing needed. I would have loved for them to be released as singles and get played on the radio all day and night.

In addition, the album has her version of Feeling Good that was used in her Weight Watchers commercials. It really is a great song to convey her positive energy about making a healthy change for herself and inspiring others.

Another great song that Jennifer released in 2011, Night Of Your Life, wasn't included on I Remember Me. This outstanding disco dance celebration was only found on the compilation from DJ David Guetta called Nothing But The Beat.

More Favorite Songs From 2011

2012-01-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

I recently listed my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2011. Just for clarification let me explain that those songs all had to meet the eligibility for that list by reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 during 2011. I happen to be one of those people that believes that "It's not a hit until it's a hit on Billboard". Just in case you don't know, in order to reach the top of the Billboard HOT 100, a song must get the most sales and radio airplay for any given week.

There were lots of other songs that I loved in 2011 that failed to make the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Here's a list of some of my other favorites in 2011. One thing that I can say about all of these songs is that it's a shame it didn't get more sales and airplay to do better on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart.
In the ideal world, great songs from Country, Pop, Dance and R&B would all find their way to the upper positions of the Billboard HOT 100.

Country Girl (Shake It For Me) - Luke Bryan: The only thing that could have possibly made this song any better is if Luke was singing "Country BOY Shake It For Me"! It has the perfect bouncy beat for a high energy two-step around the dance floor and it's great to blast really loud while driving.

Get Outta My Way - Kylie Minogue: Another perfect song to enjoy while driving when you want those slow pokes to keep moving and get out the way! Kylie is a huge superstar all over the world, but she just can't seem to get another hit here in the States, even with totally fierce songs like this one.

If I Run - The Harters: This is the perfect song to dance a waltz to when you want to channel the glam and drama of Dancing With the Stars. It has romantic lyrics that are sung beautifully to a lush and sweeping production and arrangement.

MoneyGrabber - Fitz and the Tantrums: Upon first listen to this pop masterpiece one would think it is an oldie from the new wave 80's scene. The fact is, that it is an exciting sound coming from the completely under-rated and Best New Artist of 2011. The entire album is filled with catchy hooks sung to a great beat.

From A Table Away - Sunny Sweeney: The favorite new stationary cha-cha of the year is this classic country tale of the other woman realizing that her man is never gonna leave his wife.

Where You At - Jennifer Hudson: The Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner completely shined on this R&B ballad from her second album.

I Wouldn't Be A Man - Josh Turner: This became my most requested song for dancing a sexy shadow to in 2011. With Josh's deep vocals along with the smooth and steady slow beat there was some steaming lovemaking going on on the dance floor.

I Am Woman - Jordin Sparks: The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner provided the anthem of female empowerment of 2011. Sadly, there were probably only two opportunities to hear it all year. She performed it on American Idol and then the song was used on Dancing With The Stars for a group number.

Don't You Wanna Stay - Kelly Clarkson w/Jason Aldean: The Season 1 Miss American winner had her biggest success on the country charts this year. The video for this lovely duet ended up in the #1 position on CMT's Top Videos of the Year countdown.

Remind Me - Carrie Underwood w/Brad Paisley: Without a new album in 2011, the most we got from the Supreme Miss American Idol and Season 4 winner was this wonderful ballad about rediscovering a faded love. This was another very sexy shadow dance.

Artists of the Year - Katy Perry

2011-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

Katy Perry

2010 was such an amazing year for Katy Perry that it would seem almost impossible for 2011 to be even better, but this girl is on FIRE and that's exactly what happened.

Katy started out the year at #1 with her single Firework, the third single from her album Teenage Dream, that hit #1. The outstanding video for the song ended up getting named the Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards and the song is also nominated for the Grammy for Record of the Year.

This exceptional song, Firework, has connected with so many people because it so wonderfully conveys to all of us that nobody is perfect. We are all made up of our own unique imperfections that we must struggle through life with, but the high energy exuberance of this song along with the encouraging lyrics it lets us know that it's all worth the effort.

The next single from the album was E.T. It had an exciting outer space video that captured the extra terrestrial essence of the song and it ended up becoming the fourth release to claim the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100.

By the time she released the fifth single, everyone was speculating if she could achieve a record breaking fifth #1 single on the Billboard HOT 100 from the same album. All you had to do was hear the song Last Friday Night and see the video to be assured that it was definitely going to happen. It's the most fun that could possibly be had in a pop song and the star studded video is quite simply pure entertainment perfection. The inclusion of a Kenny G lead the trend of saxophone solos coming back to songs.

Another amazing chart achievement that Katy Perry reached in 2011 was the most consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard HOT 100. It all started on May 29th of 2010 when California Gurls spent its first week in the top 10. Katy remained in the top 10 with Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T. and Last Friday Night for a record breaking total of 69 weeks ending on September 17th of 2011.

As 2011 was coming to an end, Katy released a sixth single from Teenage Dream and it was yet another smash. The One That Got Away stands alone as a spectacular single and video telling the tale of lost love and the desire to go back in time and change the past. It's a huge airplay and sales hit on track to become an astounding sixth #1 song for her. It is currently at #3 on the Billboard HOT 100.

Even if it doesn't become a #1 song, Katy Perry, has undeniably provided the most enjoyable and catchy pop songs and videos for the past two years!

Artists of the Year - Lady Gaga

2011-12-31T11:13:00.000-08:00

Lady Gaga

The Mother Monster firmly took her place of iconic status in 2011. Her third album, Born This Way, exploded on to the charts coming in at #1 with first week sales of over 1 Million copies sold in it's first week out! And the title track and lead single also hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. It speaks for all of the young people who might be struggling with their sexual identity - stating quite simply, whether you are gay, lesbian, or transgender, you were born this way baby!

This amazing song inspired an entire episode of Glee where the cast of characters learned to embrace their unique individuality. It culminated with a group performance of the song where they all wore t-shirts with bold words proclaiming the qualities they are proud to accept about themselves.

In addition, the Season 10 finalists of American Idol had the privilege of being mentored by Lady Gaga this year. While most of the young finalists were too shy and conservative to truly appreciate her avante garde and artistic perspective it's the kind of experience that they can only grow and learn from.

The album is jam packed with amazing songs exemplified by the many follow-up singles. Judas picks up the beat where Bad Romance left off and Edge of Glory follows the trend of bringing the saxophone solo back to pop music with the outstanding contribution from Clarence Clemons.

At this year's MTV Video Music awards she opened the show with a performance of the single You and I. She completely embodied the role of a male character that she created for the video. But she didn't just stop there with the performance - she totally committed to the part for the entire evening making all of her subsequent appearances as a presenter and even in the audience as the character.

She is an amazing artist that backs it up with high quality, catchy and socially relevant music. She is ending 2011 with a very deserved Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

Artists of the Year - Adele

2011-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Adele

In 2008 Adele won the Grammy for Best New Artist. She had earned the respect of the music industry, but her debut album and single were still very much under the radar and far from getting mainstream acceptance.

All of that changed in 2011 with the release of Rolling In The Deep, the first single from her second album called 21. The song had a slow build at radio and on the sales chart, but once people started to know about this amazing song, there was no stopping it. It eventually went on to spend 5 weeks at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100, but the bigger story is with the album.

Since it's release, the album 21 has been in the top 5 every week while other new releases have come and gone. This has lead to 21 being the first album in over 6 years to sell over 5 million copies!

And the momentum is showing no signs of slowing down. The second single, Someone Like You, also hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 and the third single, Set Fire To Rain is on it's way to the top of the charts also. In addition, with the recent announcement of the Grammy nominations, Adele is the front runner with nods in all of the top categories including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

If you have somehow not heard this music, climb out from under your rock and find out for yourself that all of this praise and recognition for Adele is very rightly deserved.

American Idol DIVAS!

2011-12-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars for March 20, 2012 because that's the day that the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert, will be releasing his next full album! It's going to be called Trespassing and the first single, Better Than I Know Myself, is available for download now. With this exciting new release coming up 2012 is shaping up to be a great year.

As 2011 comes to an end, there was one more high profile event where a couple of the Miss American Idols made appearances: VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, made herself comfortable and performed her latest single, What Doesn't Kill You, up on the stage barefoot. This is an outstanding single and it should hopefully become one of her biggest hits. Kelly also sang Chain of Fools in a tribute to Motown Soul.

Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson, commanded the stage in full disco diva mode as she performed the smoking hot dance track Night Of Your Life. This song can be found on a collection by DJ David Guetta and it is required listening for anyone who appreciates a real club thumper. She also did another disco classic, Knock On Wood.

But the very exciting news is that Kelly and Jennifer performed on stage together for the very first time in the thrilling opening number. They stood center stage along with Mary J. Blige and performed a cover of the Supremes You Keep Me Hanging on before taking turns with their own biggest hits. Jennifer stole the show with Spotlight while Kelly rocked the house with Since U Been Gone.

Artists of the Year - Cast of Glee

2011-12-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Cast of Glee

Not since the premiere of American Idol has there been another show that celebrates the joy of music like Glee has been doing for the past three seasons.

Each week the cast of extremely talented young performers has treated us to singing and dancing to music from the great American songbooks of pop and Broadway from the past as well as current popular favorites. This has included covers from Katy Perry (Teenage Dream, Firework, Last Friday Night), Lady Antebellum (Need You Now), and an outstanding mash-up of the Adele songs Rumor Has It and Someone Like You. These covers in the hands of a less talented cast could have been weak and boring, but with the exceptional vocals and charisma of Lea Michelle, Darren Criss and the others they are elevated to new and exciting levels.

All of these songs are not only being enjoyed as part of the show, but fans are buying them each week and they are actually showing very impressive sales totals. So much so, that this year the cast of Glee actually surpassed Elvis Presley with the most career songs charted on the Billboard HOT 100. New songs keep charting every week, so the number just keeps getting higher.

But in 2011, the cast of Glee raised the bar even higher for themselves and moved beyond being just a group of talented singers performing covers. They included original songs in some of the episodes that fit very nicely alongside the other hits on the charts. With the addition of songs like Loser Like Me, Get it Right and Light Up The World, the cast of Glee has very deservedly earned a spot as one of the Artists of the Year for 2011.

Artists of the Year - Lady Antebellum

2011-12-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Lady Antebellum

2011 came to an amazing start for Lady Antebellum as they completely cleaned up at the Grammy Awards winning both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for their outstanding smash hit Need You Now. In total, they walked away with 5 Grammy Awards that night!

Anticipation was very high for some new material to be released and we were not disappointed. The first single, Just A Kiss, from their new album was welcomed into our hearts as well as the sales charts and radio play lists. It's another beautiful ballad, but instead of being about lost love, it shares the excitement of experiencing a new love.

By the time the album, Own The Night, came out we had the opportunity to get to know Charles, Dave and Hillary even better and get to respect and admire them even more. On top of being wonderful singers, songwriters and musicians, they are genuinely nice people who the fans can really root for and be happy for their success. They carry themselves with grace and humility and show a sincere appreciation for all of the success they have achieved.

As the year came to an end they performed for the first time on Saturday Night Live and once again were named one of the CMT Artists of the Year. Their hit We Owned The Night was all over the radio and was a popular favorite for a two step at Charlie's. The third single from the album, Dancing Away With My Heart, is yet another example of how they can make you feel the story of the song right with them.

Artists of the Year - LMFAO

2011-12-22T20:23:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of entries where I will be listing my favorite artists of 2011. I hope you enjoy it!

LMFAO

Every year there is that one act that seems to come out of no where and seems to instantly become part of the pop culture landscape. In 2011 that act was indisputably LMFAO with their wild and vibrant look, catchy beats and complete willingness to not take themselves too seriously. In fact, what sets them apart from everyone else is their care free and fabulously self-deprecating sense of humor.

Their breakthrough single, Party Rock Anthem, is the perfect way to introduce themselves to the mainstream. If any dance floor jam ever truly deserved to be called an "anthem" this is it. It instantly crossed over from the clubs and dominated all the of the sales charts and radio play lists all year spending five weeks at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100. The video showed them strutting their dance moves and had everyone copying their choreography.

The follow up single, Sexy and I Know It, carried the fun and humor a step further to finish up the year stalled at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100 on the brink of repeating the #1 success of Party Rock Anthem. They illustrate how any average guy can feel sexy given some confidence and a hot dance beat!

UPDATE!!!!!!

Sexy and I Know It spent a total of 7 weeks at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100, but it started 2012 moving up to #1!!!!

2011 Year End Charts

2011-12-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

The #1 album on the Billboard charts for all of 2011 is 21 by Adele. None of the Miss American Idol finalists managed to even get into the top 40 on the year end albums chart. It turned out to be the newest one who was able to get closest - The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, comes in at #57 with his debut album Clear As Day.

Further down at #74 for the year is R&B release by Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson, I Remember Me. And even though it was only out for a few weeks in 2011 the fifth album by Season 1 Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, Stronger, lands at #126. A second collection, American Idol Season 10 Highlights, from the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, checks in at #174 while the third album, Play On, from The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, is still going strong three years after it's release at #176 for the year. And not to be forgotten, the season 9 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Crystal Bowersox, sneaks in at #181 for the year with her debut release, Farmer's Daughter.

The Top 5 singles for 2011 on the Billboard HOT 100 are: #1 Rolling In The Deep by Adele, #2 Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, #3 Firework by Katy Perry, #4 E.T. by Katy Perry and at #5 Give Me Everything by Pitbull and Ne-Yo.

The Miss American Idol finalist who makes the highest showing on the year end singles chart is the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson at #68 with her duet with Jason Aldean Don't You Wanna Stay. Also landing in the top 100 songs of the year is the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood at #82 with her duet with Brad Paisley Remind Me.

2011 is definitely the year that American Idol turned into American COUNTRY Idol as there was much more successes to be found on the year end Billboard Country Singles chart where Kelly is at #19 with Don't You Wanna Stay, Carrie is at #26 with Remind Me and also at #50 with Mama's Song and Scotty comes in at #63 with I Love You This Big.

With the less than stellar Miss American Idol successes on the albums and singles charts, they also had a modest showing on the Billboard 2011 Top Artists of the Year chart: The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, comes in the highest at #81, The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson lands at #91 while The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood comes in at #99.

Finally, coming in at #8 on the Billboard's list of the Top New Artists of 2011 is Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.

The Top 10 songs of 2011!!

2011-12-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

2011 has been a great year for fun pop songs getting into the upper portion of the Billboard HOT 100 Singles chart. Here's my Top 10 favorite songs of the year:

Last Friday Night - Katy Perry

No other song this year fully captured the pure joy that pop music can bring into our lives better than this 5th consecutive #1 smash hit from Katy Perry's outstanding album Teenage Dream. The beat is bouncy, the lyrics are fun and the video is quite simply the most amazing star-studded entertainment masterpiece EVER! The electric neon fashions of the 80's are back in full force along with Debbie Gibson, Corey Feldman and Kenny G. And the video not only co-stars both Artie and Blaine from the cast of Glee, but they also covered this great song on an episode of the show this year!

Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera

When you take the Grammy winner for Best New Artist in 1999 (Christina Aguilera) and pair her with the Grammy winner for Best New Artist in 2004 (Maroon 5) you are destined to have a huge hit on your hands. While these two acts combined forces as hosts of the music competition show The Voice, the best thing to come out of it had nothing to do with any of the contestants. It was this incredible musical collaboration that starts out paying tribute to the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, but ends up just being a pounding beat that makes you want to get up and dance the night away.

Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO

If you wanted to get the dance party started this year, you needed to look no further than the very appropriately titled Party Rock Anthem. It lived up to its name exceptionally well and could be played multiple times through the night and people would be sweating and dancing to it every time with no complaints. Did you know that LMFAO actually stands for Laugh My Fabulous Ass Off?

Rolling In The Deep - Adele

The first single from her second album can be taken as a literal declaration that Adele is going to have it all not only this year, but for many years to come. She was very rightly honored with the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2008 and this song showed that she can keep on getting better.

Give Me Everything - Pitbull with Ne-Yo

All the right pieces in all the right places, expertly executed by talented artists who look and sound great doing it. It's catchy, danceable and everything it should be.

S & M - Rihanna and Britney Spears

Even without the glitz of this high profile pairing of pop princesses, this naughty little number is still a hit in every sense of the word (hit me baby, one more time!). And the fact is that everything Rihanna touched was at the top of the charts this year. Thankfully the jams were infectious tracks like this one.

Born This Way - Lady Gaga

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Lady Gaga for releasing this genuine anthem of empowerment for all the young gays and lesbians to know that it not only gets better, but in this day and age, it really IS better. This song is a joyous celebration and it inspired an outstanding episode of Glee.

Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum

This is a beautiful ballad that once again exemplifies the wonderful songwriting and vocal talents in this group. They know how to connect with the audience right to our hearts.

Without You - Usher

After cranking out the best hits of his career in 2010, Usher teamed up with DJ David Guetta to keep up the good work. This is another club friendly dance jam that helps to make up for all the unpleasant arrogance that Usher used to be known for.

Mr. Know It All - Kelly Clarkson

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner returned to the top 10 this year with this impressive pop song that is sure to be just a taste of what she will be giving fans in 2012.

American Idols at the ACA's

2011-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

The 2nd Annual American Country Awards was another big night for the American Idols.

The show started out with the Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, as the first presenter of the evening. She was introduced as the star of the upcoming film Sparkle, so we have something to look forward to from her.

Jordin presented the first award of the evening, which was for favorite Single by a Female artist to the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood. Carrie very graciously accepted the award thanking her fans and looking more beautiful than ever.

The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, already has a #1 album that was just certified GOLD to his credit and now he has the American Country Award for Favorite New Artist. He performed his latest single, The Trouble With Girls from his album Clear As Day.

The Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, was also on hand as a presenter for the evening.

The biggest winner of the night was Jason Aldean who ended up accepting 6 awards including 2 for his wonderful duet with the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, Don't You Wanna Stay. Kelly was not present to accept her awards for Favorite Single by a Duo or Group and Favorite Video by a Duo or Group. The honors for this great song are sure to keep coming.

As the night went on, Carrie Underwood ended up taking home two more awards for Favorite Female Artist and Favorite Video by a Female Artist. All of her awards were for her exceptional track, Mama's Song, from her latest CD, Play On. She left the fans by announcing that we can look forward to big things in 2012. Can't wait!!!!!

Idol Grammy Nominations

2011-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, has already been recognized with 5 Grammy wins in the past including Best New Artist and Best Country Female Vocalist three years in a row.

The nominations have just been announced and there's a possibility that Carrie could be adding a 6th Grammy to her collection. She was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for her wonderful Mama's Song.

The only other Miss American Idol to be singled out in this year's list of nominations is the Season 1 winner, Kelly Clarkson, who is continuing to enjoy success from her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Wanna Stay. They are up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

If Kelly wins she could be adding a 3rd Grammy to her collection after previously winning Best Pop Vocal Female and Best Pop Album in 2005 for Breakaway.

We'll find out when the Grammy Awards are handed out on February 12th.

American Idols at the AMA's

2011-11-30T09:20:00.000-08:00

The 2011 American Music Awards have come and gone. This year none of the Miss American Idols walked away with any awards because they weren't even nominated. But that didn't stop many of the Miss American idols from making appearances.

Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was there looking fabulous to present an award. Also, the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert was also a presenter. Unlike the last time he was at the American Music Awards, he did not get a chance to sing or kiss a boy live on camera, but he was still full of enthusiam.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, did get the chance to perform her latest top 10 hit, Mr. Know It All, with a very fun New Orleans style jazz arrangement. If we are lucky, this remixed version will get released as a single.

Finally, the Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Chris Daughtry, performed the first single, Crawling Back To You, from his newly released third album. This high profile appearance helped to propel his album, "Break the Spell" to debut at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with first week sales of 129,000. His previous two releases both hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. In 2007 "Daughtry" had first week sales of 304,000 and in 2009 "Leave This Town" had first week sales of 269,000.

And this week there are two Miss American Idols in the top 10 as the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery moves back up to #10 with sales of 88,000 for his debut album, Clear As Day.

A night of Idols at the CMA's

2011-11-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

The Miss American Idols were out in full force at the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards this year.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, dominated the night serving as the exceptional co-host. She was charming, professional, very funny and looked amazing for every introduction that she did. There were some great comedy moments as she shared the stage with co-host Brad Paisley including a sparring match with Miss Piggy. Through all of it, Carrie showed off her exquisite taste in 8 different ensambles ranging from pink and poofy to short and sparkly. She provided the best performance of the night in her duet with Brad when she took the stage in a lovely long gown with a slit up the side giving a glimpse of her sleek and sexy legs. Their song, Remind Me, is sure to be a nominee for the many award shows coming up for the year.

In a very misguided upset, Carrie did not win the award for Female Vocalist of the Year even though if you saw her raise the roof on "How Great Thou Art" with Vince Gill at the Academy of Country Music's "Girls' Night Out" special earlier this year, you know that there could really be no other choice.

Right after Carrie was done singing, the Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, came out on stage to present an award and also to gush with glee about how fantastic Carrie sounded. And then the next performance after that was the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, singing another hit off of his recent #1 album Clear As Day.

Season 5 Miss American Idol contestant, Kellie Pickler, was also at the party to present an award. She was looking great as always in a glamorous long dress.

And finally, the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, was not there to accept her very first CMA award for Musical Event of the Year for her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Wanna Stay.

Stronger debut

2011-11-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, makes a strong debut at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart with first week sales of 163,000 copies of her fifth studio release, Stronger. This is Kelly's fifth consecutive album to debut in the top three. For comparison, her last release, All I Ever Wanted, was her second #1 album when it debuted in the top slot with first week sales of 255,000 copies.

In addition, the lead single from Stronger, Mr. Know It All, finally jumps into the the Top 10 of the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart this week at #10.

And there are still two Miss American Idol winners in the top 10 this week as Season 10 winner, Scotty McCreery, is holding on at #7 this week with his debut album, Clear As Day, selling another 42,000 copies.

American Country Awards

2011-10-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

The CMA's are just around the corner on Nov. 9th, but there's much more to come for our favorite Miss American Idols as the nominations for the American Country Awards have just been announced:

Last year the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, completely cleaned up at the American Country Awards and walked away with every single award that she was nominated for, including Artist of the Year. This year she is nominated for 4 more awards including Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Single by a Female Artist for Mama's Song, Favorite Video by a Female Artist also for Mama's Song, and Favorite Touring Artist.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, is in the running two times for her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Wanna Stay: Favorite Single by a Duo/Collaboration and Favorite Video by a Duo/Collaboration.

The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, can start adding to his music industry honors. After earning a #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart he can also add a nomination for Favorite New Artist at the American Country Awards.

The awards will be handed out live on Monday Dec. 5th.

2 Top 5 Idols

2011-10-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

The Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, debuts at #5 this week on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with sales of 69,000.

This strong debut was not enough for her to come out on top of the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery. His album, "Clear As Day" was #1 last week, and this week it drops down to #4 with sales of 88,000.

This rare incidence of them both being in the Top 5 at the same time is showing a significant comeback for the success of Miss American Idol finalists. The last time this happened was when the Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, and the Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, were at #2 and #3 back in 2008.

Scotty McCreery is #1

2011-10-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner Scotty McCreery makes history as his debut album, "Clear as Day," enters at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 197,000 copies sold.

Scotty becomes the first country act in history to debut at #1 with their first studio album, and at 18-years old, Scotty is the youngest male to open at the top of the chart with their debut release.

Scotty McCreery, who turned 18 on Sunday October 9th, is also the first Miss American Idol winner since 2003 to hit #1 with their first studio set.

The Season 2 Miss American Idol winner Ruben Studdard was the last champ to start their career with a #1 album, when his "Soulful" entered the tally dated Dec. 27, 2003, with 417,000 sold. Kelly Clarkson, the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, also entered at #1, with "Thankful" on May 3, 2003 with 297,000 copies sold.

"Clear as Day" also marks the biggest debut sales week of any Miss American Idol winner's first album since 2008, when the Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook's self-titled set started with 280,000 at #3. The Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen saw his eponymous 2009 debut launch with 80,000 at #11 and in 2010, The Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze's "Live It Up" arrived with 39,000 copies sold at #19.

Next week, watch for the Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, to arrive on the Billboard 200 with her debut, "Wildflower."

Carrie is #1

2011-10-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood is back at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart this week. No, she does not have a new solo album out, but she is featured on the Tony Bennett collection, Duets 2.

She and Tony Bennett recorded a fantastic version of It Had To Be You and Carrie shows off her astounding vocal range and ability to excel in any musical genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iebbhCOtv5c

A little fun fact about this assortment of 20 duet partners for Tony Bennett is that six of them, included Carrie, were all honored with the Grammy for Best New Artist.

Grammy winner for Best New Artist in 1975, Natalie Cole performs Watch What Happens with Tony.

The most successful Best New Artist winner of all time was given in 1990 when Mariah Carey accepted the award. On this collection she and Tony provide an incredible rendition of When Do The Bells Ring For Me.

Sheryl Crow won Best New Artist in 1994 and here she sings The Girl I Love with Tony.

In 2002 smooth jazz vocalist Norah Jones was recognized as Best New Artist and she and Tony perform Speak Low.

We all know that Carrie Underwood won in 2006, and the next year, in 2007 Amy Winehouse was awarded as Best New Artist. In one of her final recordings before her death earlier this year, Amy and Tony recorded Body and Soul for this collection.

Chart action

2011-09-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood moved into the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown with her duet with Brad Paisley, Remind Me. The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery moved back to #3 on this chart with his video for I Love You This Big.

Over on the Billboard HOT 100 the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson makes her debut at #18 with first week sales of 107,000 of her new single, Mr. Know It All.

Scotty McCreery also debuts on the Hot 100 this week at #84 with his second single, "The Trouble With Girls" with sales of 27,000.

Carrie Underwood - LIVE In Concert! - Part 3

2011-09-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

For two years in a row now the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood has performed live at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park IL. When I learned that she was once again coming back for another performance, I immediately went online back in April and bought tickets for myself and some friends so we could enjoy the fun of music under the stars with Carrie. And this year it turns out that my parents and sister did the exact same thing, so the event was going to be fun for the whole family!

It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon as we hopped in the car to drive up there. Mom and Dad arrived to the park first to reserve a great space for the picnic while we were stuck in traffic enjoying our all-Carrie playlist. We arrived with plenty of time to enjoy some great food and have fun in the crowd. The time just flew by until the Supreme Miss American Idol finally took the stage at about 8:00.

Something that was very new and exciting for this return visit to Ravinia was that instead of performing with her usual band, Carrie was backed by a complete orchestra! We were treated to grand and lush arrangements of all of our favorite songs. She opened the show as she usually does with her crowd pleasing smash hit, Cowboy Casanova. Carrie looked absolutely stunning in black skinny jeans and a long coat accessorized with a very cute scarf. She segued directly into Quitter, just like she did last year. Since she did not released a new album since her last appearance the set list for tonight's show was quite similar to what she did last year pulling huge hits from all three of her multi-platinum albums: Some Hearts, Carnival Ride and Play On.

She didn't have any costume changes through the evening as she went through a spectacular string of hits. She let her amazing voice and warm personality be front and center the entire time. Early in the show she really showcased what an outstanding voice she has with her album track from Carnival Ride, I Know You Won't. It's a simple ballad where her vocals truly soar to amazing heights. Her ability to perform this kind of track in concert so well is nothing short of supremely impressive.

Sounding pitch perfect on Some Hearts, Wasted, Just A Dream, Temporary Home, All-American Girl, So Small and Undo It, she mixed things up a bit with this live rendition of Jesus Take The Wheel. Just when you thought the song was coming to an end, Carrie burst into a stirring performance of How Great Thou Art. You don't have to be devout Christian to be moved by the power and the passion that she exudes with her stunning vocals. It's grand moments like this that prove how worthy she is to have been named Entertainer of the Year two years in a row.

One of the best parts about seeing a show at Ravinia is that fans have the space on the lawn to get up and dance to this fantastic set-list of songs. When the sun went down and the show was building up to the very exciting culmination I put on my black sequined electric cowboy hat and was up on my feet. Carrie sang her smash hits Last Name and Before He Cheats while the crowd sang along with satisfaction and approval. She once again closed the show with the very fun and catchy track called Songs Like This. In all of the energy and excitement fans may have missed that she tossed in a line from Miranda Lambert's White Liar and Beyonce's Single Ladies.

Sadly, the show had to come to end. My hope for an encore of her current hit with Brad Paisley, Remind Me, ended up not happening. Even though it is the #1 song this week on the Billboard Country Songs chart there wasn't a place for it on the set list this time around.

Even without Remind Me, The Supreme Miss American Idol proved once again why she is the multi platinum selling artist who is adored by fans young and old. It was a great night with friends and family. I can't wait to see her again!

American Idols at the CMA's

2011-09-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

The nominations for the Country Music Association awards were just announced today and it looks to be another big night for the Miss American Idols. The show airs on Wed. Nov. 9th and the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood will be hosting the show with Brad Paisley for the 4th year in a row.

Brad and Carrie are certain to be performing their duet, Remind Me, on the show. The song is currently at #1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart.

Carrie is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Last year at the CMA's the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson performed her duet Don't You Wanna Stay with Jason Aldean. This great song and performance has now earned her TWO CMA nominations!

Don't You Wanna Stay is up for Single of the Year and their performance is up for Musical Event of the Year.

While looking forward to what is sure to be a great night, starting today Kelly's fans can download her latest single, Mr. Know It All. There should be an impressive debut on the Billboard HOT 100 coming soon!

Topping the CHARTS!

2011-08-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just one look at the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown and you will see not just one, not just two, but three Miss American Idol finalists dominating the list!

Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, made her debut this week at #16 with the video for her song, Like My Mother Does.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood is at #6 with the stunning video for her powerful ballad with Brad Paisley, Remind Me. The song Remind Me has also hit #1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart.

Back on the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown, Scotty McCreery makes a huge leap with his video for I Love You This Big all the way up to #1!!!!

In other news, check out www.kellyclarkson.com to get your first listen to the new single from the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner. The song is called Mr. Know It All and it is a fun dance pop ditty that is sure to be making it's way to the top of the charts very soon.

Wildflower

2011-08-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Looks like October is turning into Miss American Idol Month!

We've already learned that the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, will have his debut album, Clear As Day, in stores on October 4th.

Now it has just been announced that the Season 10 Miss American 1st Runner Up, Lauren Alaina, will release her debut album the very next week on October 11th. The album will be called Wildflower and it is sure to feature her single Like My Mother Does.

Then, of course, just two weeks after that on October 25th, the fans will get to run out again and buy Stronger, the long awaited new release from Season 1 Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.

Try to contain your excitement!

Now when are we gonna get more music from Jordin Sparks, Adam Lambert and Carrie Underwood?

Clear As Day

2011-08-18T09:32:00.001-07:00

This week on the Billboard HOT 100, Remind Me, by the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, moves up one more notch to #17.

And just one day after the big announcement by the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson of her new album title and release date, we have even more big news to share:

The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, has just revealed that his debut release is going to be called Clear As Day and it will be available on October 4th.

In addition, his first single, I Love You This Big, has a video that just hit the CMT Top 20 Video countdown at #18 and the single has been certified GOLD with sales over 500,000.

Mr. Know It All

2011-08-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, has finally confirmed that the first single from her new album will be called Mr. Know It All.

It will be officially released on Tuesday August 30th. The new album is called Stronger and it is coming out on October 25th so mark your calendars and start looking forward to her return.

Meanwhile, the latest single by the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, jumps up to #18 on the Billboard HOT 100. This duet with Brad Paisley, Remind Me, is fast becoming one of her biggest hits.

Carrie looking amazing in a new video!

2011-07-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

An official video has finally been released for the spectacular duet between Brad Paisley and the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood. Remind Me should be in heavy rotation on CMT very soon and it is a likely contender for the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown.

It's a simple and tasteful portrayal of Carrie and Brad walking towards each other in the vast and beautiful desert. The video showcases their amazing voices and just mesmerizes you as they move closer to each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qzhngp7jh8

Remind Me is currently at #27 on the Billboard HOT 100 and it should get a boost with the release of this exceptional video.

Jennifer Hudson - LIVE!

2011-07-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

After starring in the blockbuster movie musical DreamGirls and winning an Oscar and then releasing her debut album and winning a Grammy, the season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson, has finally embarked on a nationwide tour. And, of course, being a home town girl from Chicago, she was able to sell out two nights at the Ravinia Festival! I am so happy that I had a chance to see her on the first of the two nights, Saturday July 16th.

The day started out with packing the cooler with the picnic fixings and having friends pick us up to go to the Metra train. We caught the train exactly as scheduled and was able to be first in line at the gate waiting for the park to open. It was a great time to enjoy the beautiful sunny day with friends, but while visiting out there we were able to hear Jennifer up on stage rehearsing the entire show! She sounded spectacular as she casually went through her set with the band. What a treat to get the sneak preview of the show to come.

Once the gate opened and we were able to lay out our blankets on the perfect spot, we enjoyed more fun times laughing and eating in anticipation of the show. During this time we found the most wonderful glitter covered cowboy hats that light up at the Ravinia Gift Shop. They simply had to be purchased! Also, it turns out that there was a sweet group of kids on a blanket next to us that had GLOW STICKS to play with. Talk about coming to a concert prepared!!!

After getting through opening act, Miguel, Jennifer Hudson made her grand entrance to the opening song Feeling Good. You may all be familiar with this track as it is used in her commercials for Weight Watchers. From our perfect spot on the lawn we had a clear view of Jennifer on the huge video screens and she was proudly showing off her new slim and fit body in a sexy short skirt. Weight Watchers simply could not have a better spokesperson!

Jennifer proceeded to go through her hit packed catalog including Where You At and No One Gonna Love You from her latest album I Remember Me. She also gave a crowd pleasing version of If This Isn't Love from her first release. One of the best moments in the show came when she asked one of her back-up singers to come up and join her in a duet. Turns out it was none other than her fellow Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, George Huff. She and George performed a wonderful cover of Mariah Carey's #1 smash from 1992, I'll Be There.

Then the show really went into full swing with a spectacular medley of songs from DreamGirls. She went from the powerful One Night Only into the song written especially for her, Love You I Do. The sun had gone down, the energy level was high, the electric glittery cowboy hat was on and the glow sticks were lighting up the park! The crowd couldn't help but get on there feet and dance and clap along. When she segued into her biggest hit, the dance jam, Spotlight, the fans roared with approval and sang along.

When she finished Spotlight and said goodnight, we knew she wasn't really going. The crowd cheered and begged for more and she returned to bring the house down with her showstopper, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. Just like they were throughout the entire night, her vocals were passionate and powerful. And the crowd loved every second of it.

Special thanks to Jeff, Nick, Andrew and Samuel for enjoying this great show with me!

Idol Updates:

2011-07-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

The latest single by the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, has made a big leap up the Billboard HOT 100 all the way to #28. The duet with Brad Paisley, Remind Me, is a wonderful love song that is perfect to dance a shadow to.

The 2nd album by Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, "This Loud Morning" makes its debut at #7 on the Billboard Albums chart with sales of 46,000. His new album is off to a slow start compared to his 2008 self-titled debut. That album entered at #3 with 280,000 in opening week sales. It came six months after he won The Miss American Idol crown so a big bow wasn't terribly surprising. However, his new album has yet to find a hit single and he doesn't have the glow of "Idol" to aid him. The new album's lead track, "The Last Goodbye," has so far only dented one of the Billboard airplay charts at #29 on the Adult Pop Songs list.

Also on the charts this week, The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner Scotty McCreery managed to sell 40,000 copies of a Wal-Mart exclusive five-song (and $5) EP "American Idol Season 10 Highlights". That was good enough for a #10 debut.

Things to look forward to include a new single coming out next week for Season 10 Miss American Idol finalist, Pia Toscano, who just recently signed with Interscope Records.

And the wait may finally be over for the new music from Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. A song called Let Me Down leaked, but their is still uncertainty if this will actually be the first single or even if it will appear on the new album that is scheduled to be released this fall.

New Music from Carrie and David

2011-06-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood makes a debut on the Billboard HOT 100 this week at #59 on a duet with her Country Music Association co-host, Brad Paisley. It's a wonderful ballad called Remind Me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQYToz7o6BQ

The Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, is hoping to have a hit with the first release from his second album, This Loud Morning, that will be released on June 28th. The video for the first single, The Last Goodbye, is already in the rotation on VH1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4VyubKgRG8

Finally, after only three weeks on the chart I Love You This Big from the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, drops down to #68.

Scotty and Lauren have big 1st week sales

2011-06-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Season 10 Miss American Idol winner Scotty McCreery scores the the Billboard Hot 100's Hot Shot Debut with his victory ballad "I Love You This Big" at No. 11. The song, which McCreery sang on the Fox show's May 24 and May 25 finale-week episodes, sold 171,000 copies in its first week. I Love You This Big also logs the highest debut on Billboard's Country Songs chart at No. 32 for a brand new artist's first single since Jan. 20, 1990.

McCreery's arrival bests that of the Season 9 Miss American Idol winner Lee DeWyze, whose coronation single, a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day," bowed at No. 24 on the Hot 100 with 95,000 downloads.

The Season 10 Miss American Idol 1st runner-up Lauren Alaina charges onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 20 with "Like My Mother Does," with sales of 121,000 in her first week. Alaina likewise enjoys early support from country radio, as the cut, which she performed May 24 on "Idol," starts at No. 49 on Country Songs.

And the Season 10 Miss American Idol is.....

2011-05-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we've got two hours of awesome music entertainment ahead of us while waiting to hear who the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner will be. Things got off to a great start with the top 13 finalists coming together again to perform one of the biggest hits of the year so far, Lady Gaga's Born This Way. She was a great mentor for the finalists just a few weeks ago and now her full album is set to sell 850,000 copies in its debut week.

While having Lauren and Scotty in the top two might lead us all to believe that the show was going to be all about country music, but that is not the case at all. The Season 10 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner-Up James Durbin set the house on fire with his hard rocking heavy metal collaboration with Judas Priest. The stage was a flame in leather and studs to put it mildly! We were then treated to a true legendary diva on stage when Gladys Knight performed I Smile. Jacob Lusk was very lucky to be her back up singer.

Jack Black is a very funny comedy rocker so his take on the Queen classic Fat Bottom Girls was very entertaining. Unfortunately it was ruined by the creepy presense of Casey Abrams who was leering and lurking around the stage like a crazed stalker.

The girls from the top 13 then took the stage to perform a fierce medley of Beyonce's greatest hits. Thia was wonderful taking lead vocals on Irreplaceable and Pia was superstar quality at the front and center of Deja Vu. The real Beyonce then joined the girls for a fabulous rendition of Crazy In Love. The girl group medleys continued with T-Boz and Chilli from TLC taking us back old school for their hits No Scrubs and Waterfalls.

Country superstar Tim McGraw joined Scotty on stage to sing his mega hit Live Like You Were Dying. Scotty really did an amazing job keeping up with Tim and his voice fit perfectly with the song.

The Season 10 Miss American Idol 2nd Runner Up, Haley Reinhart was lucky enough to get the opportunity to sing a duet of Stepping Out with the legendary Tony Bennett. He was all class and she was all unintentional comedy.

Being married to one of the American Idol judges gives you the chance to perform on stage for this huge audience and there was no way that Marc Anthony was going to let this slip through his fingers. Jennifer played the role of background dancer while Marc entertained the crowd with his salsa extravaganza.

The boys from the top 13 performed a medley of songs from the Tom Jones greatest hits colelction. Stefano was the stand-out taking lead vocals on Kiss, which everyone really knows as a Prince song. Then Tom joined the boys for the popular favorite It's Not Unusual that is always a crowd pleaser no matter how old it is.

Lady Gaga is on track to being named the 2011 Artist of the Year and this performance of Edge of Glory is definitely a huge contributing factor. She was on top of a platform at center stage belting out this amazing anthem and dancing with a very handsome and sexy shirtless man. It is certain that after this outstanding spectacle she has recruited more montsters to put their paws up and join her!

The Supreme Miss American Idol, season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, was the only member of the Idol Alumni Association to take the stage tonight. Lauren started out with the first verse of Before He Cheats and thankfully Carrie came out to join her. Lauren, unfortunately, seemed very intimidated in the presense of Carrie's greatness so this duet was very one sided.

Beyonce is about to release her fourth solo album and she has been hitting the media outlets hard with promotion. The first single, Girls Rule The World, has been out for a few weeks and even had its video premiere on American Idol last week, but it has still failed to reach the top 10 of the Billboard HOT 100. It's simply not very good compared to her previous jams. And now, she is ready to push another single, 1+1, that she performed tonight, but it's not very good either. Beyonce needs to get some better material.

Dragging out the announcement of the new American Idol a little bit longer, U2 took the stage in a desperate attempt to make their SpiderMan Broadway musical a hit. SpiderMan came flying over the heads of the audience while they sang one of the songs. It was visually interesting, but it didn't sound so fantastic. Finally, Steven Tyler had his chance to get center stage and sing Dream On.

And then the time arrived at last for Scotty and Lauren to stand together in the spotlight and have Ryan open the envelope that revealed that the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner is...... SCOTTY MCCREERY!

He took the mic to sing his new single, I Love You This Big, and went into the audience to hug his family and the rest of the finalists. He seemed very humbled and overwhelmed as the glitter fell all around him.

The Top 2 sing for the crown!

2011-05-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina will each sing three times as they go head to head for the Season 10 Miss American Idol crown.

Scotty chose to sing his favorite song from the season so far, Montgomery Gentry's Gone. This was a good choice to allow him to show some energy and personality. He worked the entire stage and engaged very well with the audience giving them more of what they have grown to like so much all season.

Lauren chose to sing her favorite song from the season so far, Carrie Underwood's Flat On The Floor. She did her best to overcome her strained vocal chords, but you could tell it was hurting as it was a little raspier than it should have been. She did a pretty good job compensating with her bubbly and youthful style.

Scotty's music hero George Strait selected his own hit Check Yes Or No for him to perform. This is exactly the kind of song that Scotty can do well. It's a nice story of young love that perfectly fits Scotty's image. He stood center stage with his guitar like he was headlining on the main stage of the County Fair.

Lauren's music hero is the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood and she selected the Pam Tillis classic Maybe It Was Memphis for her to perform. She looked very cute and fun in her short poofy skirt and cowboy boots and sounded sweet. Looks like Scotty was the opening act at the County Fair for Lauren.

And the song that was specially picked out for Scotty to be his first single is an uplifting ballad called I Love You This Big. It's a nice appealing little number, but even with his deep voice I'm not sure if he was vocally capable of making it as big as the song and arrangement required. You could see where they were trying to go with this, but I don't think he got there.

The song specially picked out as Lauren's first single, on the other hand, was so perfectly well played that it could probably be called a text book case. The song is called Like My Mother Does and it pulled every emotional string about how awesome we think our moms are that we want to sing about them. Vocally and emotionally, Lauren did exactly what was necessary to win over the undecided voters.

It seemed like Scotty was the front-runner all season long, but Lauren surpassed him tonight by referencing Carrie Underwood liberally and by pushing our buttons just right. My prediction is that Lauren Alaina will take the Season 10 Miss American Idol crown tomorrow night.

The Results - 3 become 2

2011-05-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

The first performance of the night was from a new group of young guys called IL Doro. I can only imagine how different American Idol would be if they actually had finalists with impressive vocal talent like these guys in the competition. Each of the three guys in the group was exceptionally gifted and it was a very entertaining performance.
A performance by the lead singer of the Pussy Cat Dolls was also thrown in as she is continuing to try and have a successful solo career. It was a lot of glitz and glam, but it wasn't the catchiest song I've ever heard her do. Maybe it will grow on me.....

The rest of the night was all about the three remaining finalists getting the rock star treatment for their trips back home. Haley, Lauren and Scotty went back to their high schools, had home town parades and performed for thousands of screaming fans. It was a once in a lifetime emotional roller coaster.

And then the moment finally arrived when it was revealed that the boy and girl next door team of Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery will be going against each other next week in the Season 10 Miss American Idol finale.

That means that after weeks of being wrong, I have finally gotten my prediction correct and Haley Reinhart is out of the competition. And in the true comedic farce that her run this season has been, for her final performance she played her crazy drunk girl self with her laughable rendition of Bennie and the Jets. Suffering through this hot mess again encapsulated all the insanity she brought to the stage every week.

So how on earth did she make it all the way up to the Final three!??? What has caused the standards of the American voting public to sink so low? I don't know what it is, but I expect to see a well-rehearsed finalist with exceptional talent who is striving for perfection and Haley just doesn't come close. So when she ends up winning the Grammy for Best New Artist and when her debut album becomes the best seller of the year, I will be the first to step up and admit that I have mis-judged her potential. It's written here and you can all hold that over me when it happens.

Jordin Sparks tears it up!!!

2011-05-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, completely tore up the stage last week with her fierce performance of her latest single, I Am Woman.

Looks to me like she can do Beyonce even better than Beyonce can!

The Top 3 Perform

2011-05-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Top 3 finalists will each perform three times tonight: 1. Their own personal song choice 2. a song selected by music producer Jimmy Iovine 3. a song selected by the judges. Pop music superstar Beyonce helped them work on their own personal choices:

Lonestar spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2000 with Amazed. Beyonce thought this song would allow Scotty McCreery to show more of his vocal range so he went for it full force. But even with throwing in some higher notes this song didn't feel like a natural fit for his style and personality.

Faith Hill had a hit in 1993 with Wild One and Lauren Alaina did her best to get over her nervous nature and sing her little heart out. Even Beyonce could notice that she is surrounded by uncertainty every time she tries to sing. She was doing her best to let go, but it came off as strained and screaming in a few places.

Led Zeppelin included What Is and What Should Never Be on their 1969 epic album Led Zeppelin II. Beyonce was very generous in praising the courage of Haley Reinhart for making this selection. Haley has many of the qualities necessary to be a star, including courage, but the fact remains that all the guts in the world isn't going to make up for the lack of talent. She is just a kid getting up there on stage and play acting.

Jimmy selected Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not by Thompson Square for Scotty. One of the best things to be said about an Idol finalist is that he sang the song better than the original and once again, that can not be said about Scotty's rendition. It was good, but it didn't come close to the fun and frolic to be found in the one we can see on CMT any time we want.

Jimmy selected If I Die Young by The Band Perry for Lauren. This one got close to being better than the original from the vocal range stand point, but it fell short in the area of emotional connection. In addition, her performances are always marred by her lack of confidence.

Jimmy selected Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac for Haley. Along with her lack of talent this performance showcased her complete lack of an interesting personality. Stevie Nicks is an iconic persona where Haley is just a mess.

The judges selected the Kenny Rogers #5 hit from 1979, She Believes In Me, for Scotty. He's such a good kid with a full deep bass that sounds pure and clean. It would be nice if he had some personality traits with some energy or a performance style that was interesting, but he's so bland. He did a very good job with the song, but he has no texture to his voice to really make it special.

The judges selected the 2000 Grammy winner for Best Country Song, I Hope You Dance, for Lauren. She's a really sweet girl that would be lots of fun to go shopping at the mall with, but she has zero stage presence. Even when she hits a few nice notes she still appears scared and unsure of herself. This truly is one of the best songs ever and Lauren was just going through the motions.

The judges selected Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know for Haley. This song let her scream her heart out and it didn't matter that she has no talent. I didn't think it was possible, but Haley's version was even more dreadful than the awful original.

Now more than ever I am convinced that Haley is only on the show this season because of some high powered connection that bought her this opportunity. I can't even begin to be able to predict which two will make it to the finals as none of these three have completely won me over. So I'm just going go with the boy and girl next door team of Scotty and Lauren making it through and predicting that Haley will finally be taken out of the running. But what do I know??????

Introducing Katherine McPhee in SMASH!!!

2011-05-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

The season 5 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Katherine McPhee, has tried many times since the competition to make it big, but all of her efforts have failed to have much impact.

Check out the trailer for her new show that will be on NBC this fall. It's called Smash and it's a musical drama about getting a show on Broadway. It co-stars Debra Messing from Will & Grace and it looks like it has potential to finally make Katherine a star.

The Results - Lady Gaga

2011-05-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Scotty and James opened the show with a performance of the Brad Paisley and Keith Urban duet, Start A Band. James was able to add a convincing musical interpretation to the lyrics as this is something that he has clearly been striving toward for his entire life, while Scotty was just going through the motions. Lauren and Haley followed this up with their best effort of the Miranda Lambert anthem Gunpowder and Lead. The fact is, though, that clearly neither of these girls has the spit fire composition to live up to the premise of the what little girls are made of in the song.

Lady Gaga performed a live concert on HBO this week and the You and I clip from it was shared with the American Idol audience. It was nice to see this song done well after the mess that Haley made of it a couple of weeks ago.

Lauren was then the first of the remaining finalists to secure a spot in this year's top three.

The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, has enjoyed some wonderful well-deserved success since getting the crown. She has consistently reached the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 with singles, No Air, Tattoo and Battlefield. Tonight she made the debut of her latest single, I Am Woman, which is an empowering dance throw down. Hopefully this year's finalists were watching closely and learning a lesson about how a very young and talented singer should look in order to have pop music success. Jordin looked and sounded amazing.

Enrique Iglesias made his way back to the upper portion of the charts last year with his dance club friendly songs like I Like It. Tonight he is hoping to get more success with his release Dirty Dancer.

In an unpleasant twist, it was announced that Haley would be the next person joining Lauren in the top three along with Scotty. That left the most impressive singer with the best vocal range and stage presence, James Durbin, to be the one eliminated this week.

Needless to say, I was not right with my prediction at all this week and Haley is continuing to move another step closer to winning the Season 10 Miss American Idol crown.

It seems like James Durbin is set to follow in the footsteps of Chris Daughtry who was eliminated at this same point during Season 5, but went on to release the top selling album for all of 2007.

The Top 4 - Lady Gaga

2011-05-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

The top 4 finalists are once again singing twice. The first time they are selecting a song that inspires them and for the second song they will get guidance from mega-pop performance art superstar, Lady Gaga.

Journey created a timeless classic when they first charted with Don't Stop Believin' at #9 in 1981. The song was already a consistent top download on itunes 30 years later, but then the cast of Glee performed it and breathed even more life into it. Now that James Durbin has done a fantastic job singing it, Don't Stop Believin' isn't going to stop being a fan favorite for a long time.

Michael Jackson had the ability to take a lyric about respect for our fragile planet and make it into a sweet and powerful anthem. Haley Reinhart has no similar capacity whatsoever. Her vocal ability is weak and once again she was more of a caricature than an artist. The screaming was completely unpleasant and her look and style was cartoonish.

Scotty McCreery knows how to appeal to his fans as he selected Alan Jackson's Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning. He did exactly what he had to do to make them happy.

Lauren Alaina finally selected the perfect song to showcase her voice at its best. Martina McBride's Any Way allowed her to have an emotional connection to both the song and the audience. It's a little late in the game, but she finally found herself.

Lady Gaga encouraged Haley to give in to her crazy drama and give the audience an over the top dramatic interpretation of I Who Have Nothing. Lady Gaga could easily see that Haley doesn't really have the vocal skills to pull this song off. It's a fantastic power ballad if you've heard a talented artist sing it, so all Haley could provide was a painfully comical parody.

Lady Gaga really pushed hard to get Scotty to express a sense of humor and have some personality with his rendition of Young Blood. Once he got on stage it was clear that he had taken her advice but still stayed true to his bland and conservative self.

Lady Gaga had the difficult challenge of getting Lauren to transform into the "good girl gone bad" performer for her performance of Trouble. But after all these weeks, Lauren has finally gotten comfortable on stage with her genuine good girl persona that this was all a little too much too soon.

James Durbin was actually pretty apprehensive about getting face to face with Lady Gaga, but in the end she was even able to help him take it up a notch. His arena rock extravaganza of Love Potion #9 was nothing short of amazing. He truly knows what he is doing on stage and his vocal range is simply outstanding.

America has got to get a clue and not allow Haley to make it into the top three. If there is any basis of reality and respect for talent my prediction of the bottom two will be accurate: Haley and Lauren should be in the bottom two and Haley should seriously, finally go home. I mean, Haley was truly awful tonight.

The Results - Now & Then

2011-05-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Turtles took Happy Together to #1 for three weeks in 1967 and the top 5 finalists showed that they are not able to harmonize together at all with this sloppy opening performance.

Thankfully, Grammy winning super group, Lady Antebellum took the stage to debut their brand new single, Just A Kiss, to demonstrate how well three distinct voices can sound wonderful together. The song follows the winning formula of their smash, Need You Now, but it tells a more upbeat story of the fun and anticipation of a new relationship. It is sure to be one of the biggest hits of 2011.

American Idol judge, Jennifer Lopez, then performed her latest song, On The Floor, that has brought her back to the upper portions of the Billboard HOT 100 after being gone for quite a few years. It's a trendy dance pop jam with a rap by Pitbull that the 5 finalists should pay attention to - this is how to perform a hit, get radio airplay and sell singles.

Haley, James and Scotty were revealed to be safe, leaving Jacob and Lauren in the bottom two. With this being the first time Lauren was in the bottom, the tears were streaming down her face, but she must have been very relieved that Jacob was actually the lowest vote getter and he is being sent packing.

I correctly predicted that both Lauren and Jacob would find themselves in the bottom and was right that Jacob would be going home.

The Top 5 sing Now & Then

2011-05-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Each of the top 5 finalists will be singing two songs tonight. One that is current and contemporary while the other is a classic oldie. They got some guidance from 1994 Grammy winner for Best New Artist: Sheryl Crow. After each review this week I will be giving two scores on a scale of 1 to 10. One for stage presence and another for vocals. (1 is really bad and 10 is exceptional superstar talent)

30 Seconds to Mars had a huge hit last year called Closer To The Edge that was a perfect choice to show how James Durbin can connect his classic heavy metal energy to a fresh and current sound. He completely owned the stage like he was entertaining to a sold out arena. Without You was a #1 smash in 1972 for Nilsson and then it was a huge hit again hitting #3 in 1994 for iconic superstar and 1990 Grammy Winner for Best New Artist, Mariah Carey. James further demonstrated his emotional depth with his raw and tear-jerking interpretation of this outstanding song. To say he gave the audience chills only scratches the surface. Stage Presence: 9. Vocals: 9

The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks had a huge #3 hit with No Air in 2008. Jacob Lusk completely butchered this passionate R&B slow jam with his over dramatic screeching vocals. Rock group Nazareth hit #8 in 1976 with Love Hurts and Jacob did his best to show some range by taking on this power ballad, but once again the vocals might have been strong, but they were totally out of control and he looks awkward and dresses all wrong every time he is on stage. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 5.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood included Flat On The Floor on her second multi-platinum album, Carnival Ride. Lauren Alaina gave it her best effort, but the fact remains that she has no personality to speak of no matter how she dresses or what she does on stage. The Righteous Brothers truly created a timeless classic when they first charted with Unchained Melody at #4 in 1965. It's an emotional powerhouse vocal extravaganza and Lauren managed to put in her best vocal performance of the competition so far with this effort. But the reality is that she threw away many opportunities to showcase her voice with weak choices. The world has heard many many better versions of this song leaving hers to be completely forgettable. Stage Presence: 4. Vocals: 7.

Scotty McCreery used the Montgomery Gentry song, Gone, to try and show he can do something uptempo and move around the stage. He then used the 1982 Grammy Winner for Song of the Year, Always On My Mind, to demonstrate his tender side. Either way, Scotty ended up falling short of the mark. There is nothing exceptional to say about him. Stage Presence: 5. Vocals: 5.

Lady Gaga performs You and I as part of her live concerts and Haley Reinhart had the honor of bringing this unreleased song to the American Idol stage. Lady Gaga will definitely benefit from the exposure on the top rated show on TV, but she has nothing to be threatened about with the way Haley did it. This girl gets up on stage and does every corny and comical mannerism that comedians use to mock Casino lounge singers or cruise line entertainers. It's impossible to take her seriously. The Animals spent three weeks at #1 in 1964 with The House of the Rising Sun. Haley had some small moments of vocal talent buried under this performance but you had to get past the feeling that she is part of the show this season playing a big joke on all of us. Stage Presence: 3. Vocals: 6.

From the scoring system, it's plain to see that James Durbin is the clear front-runner, but all of the others seem to be competing very hard to be the next one eliminated. My prediction for the bottom three this week is Jacob, Lauren and Scotty with Jacob finally going home.

The Results - Carole King

2011-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Top 6 finalists opened the show with a medley of more great songs from Carole King that included the #1 hits Go Away Little Girl and It's Too Late.

The Season 9 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Crystal Bowersox was the clear front-runner from the beginning and it was a huge surprise that she didn't win. She came back to perform a great song that was the perfect mix of pure vocal talent combined with a fun country/pop/rock vibe.

Haley, James and Lauren are all safe leaving Jacob, Scotty and Casey in the bottom three.

Bruno Mars has been an unstoppable hit machine for the last 12 months hitting #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 with Nothing On You, Just The Way You Are and Grenade. Tonight he performed his latest single, The Lazy Song, and it is sure to be on a fast track to the top in the next few weeks as well.

Jacob and Scotty were both safe meaning that after being the lowest vote getter for the second time, we are finally going to be rid of Casey Abrams. He has given people the creeps since he first knocked a chair off the stage followed by very rudely slapping James. Then he was very inappropriate when he kissed Jennifer combined with the general hostility that he evokes when he's trying to sing. Thankfully we won't have to see his instability on stage again. And he's just not a good singer also.

I correctly predicted that Jacob and Casey would both be in the bottom three. Haley Reinhart should have never made the top 24 and the fact that she is now in the top 5 doesn't make any sense at all. Start bracing yourselves now as she is likely to wind up winning the whole thing....

Pia Toscano is in demand!

2011-04-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWDTTbuPwUI

Season 10 isn't even over yet and the offers and opportunities are already rolling in for finalist Pia Toscano.

I guess it's a good thing that she was eliminated way too soon because it gave her a chance to do this fantastic performance on Dancing With The Stars! She really looked and sounded wonderful.

The Top 6 sing Carole King

2011-04-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight the Top 6 finalists performed the music of accomplished singer/songwriter, Carole King.

Carole King released an album called Love Makes The World in 2001 that included the track Oh No Not My Baby and Jacob Lusk did his best to make this song his own. He brings a lot of enthusiasm to his performance and literally bounces across the stage, but his vocals just aren't focused and controlled enough to impress.

Tapestry, her Grammy winning Album of the Year from 1971, included the track Where You Lead that Lauren Alaina did her best to inject some personality into. Where Carole has written a fantastic song Lauren, sadly, doesn't have much personality to contribute so it ended up falling flat.

I Feel The Earth Move spent 5 weeks at #1 in 1971 and Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart made a complete mess of this fantastic song with their complete inability to sing well. There was an embarrassing amount of over-compensating going on up on the stage with unpleasant wailing, growling and screaming substituting for vocal talent. It's as if they both are blatantly admitting they don't have what it takes to just sing well.

You've Got A Friend won the 1971 Grammy for Song of the Year as well as spending one week at #1 for James Taylor. Scotty McCreery did his best to convey some depth and sensitivity with his interpretation, but it all ended up falling flat. It was an effort at showing some range, but this exposed that he doesn't really have any.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow by the Shirelles became the first song written by Carole King to hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 when it stayed there for two weeks in 1960. James Durbin demonstrated for all of the other contestants what it means to perform, interpret and re-invent a pop classic. James has an exceptional voice and outstanding professional stage presence. He quite literally rocked the house and 50 years later this song could be a #1 hit all over again!

The Drifters took Carole's song Up On The Roof to #5 in 1962. Scotty and Lauren's duet of this wonderful song was over before it began. It simply lacked any connection to each other or the lyrics.

Blood Sweat and Tears took Hi-De-Ho to #14 in 1970. Casey Abrams just gave us more of his self-indulgent creepy mannerisms to this performance and it was just a relief when it was over. He brings unpleasant tightness and hostility to the stage that is uncomfortable to watch.

Beautiful is another wonderful track from Tapestry and Haley simply brought it down to the level of a second rate amateur hour. She's is up there play acting the part when she just doesn't have the goods.

I'm Into Something Good was a #13 hit for Herman's Hermits in 1964. The pairing of Jacob and James for this duet was not something good. James is up there like a seasoned professional while Jacob is floundering around completely unable to keep up.

My prediction for the bottom three is Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk and Haley Reinhart. I have to believe that at this point in the competition the public is able to tell the difference between the legitimate talent that James Durbin has and that they will be voting to keep him in the game. The rest of them can go, but this week Jacob Lusk should be the lowest vote getter.

How Great is Carrie Underwood!

2011-04-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eiEaK4GXtw

After the Academy of Country Music Awards a few weeks ago, they decided to take advantage of having all the biggest names in Country Music together to tape a special called Girls Night Out.

It was an opportunity to give recognition to the best women in country music, so of course, that means that they saved the best for last in honoring the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood.

She was singled out and praised for being the only female artist to win the ACM Entertainer of the Year award two years in a row.

She graced the stage to perform How Great Thou Art and brought the audience to their feet with her exceptionally pure and outstanding, emotional performance.

The Results - 21st Century

2011-04-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

Stefano, Jacob, Haley and Lauren opened the show with a performance of one of the biggest hits of 2010 - Hey Soul Sister by Train. Then Casey, Scotty and James got together to sing Coldplay's #1 hit from 2008 - Viva La Vida.

The first bit of unfortunate news for the evening was that the first finalist to be named as safe was creepy Casey. Jacob was the first to be named in the bottom three.

The Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, is more well known for his support of charitable causes that he is for his musical success. He has failed to hit the top 10 again since his #3 debut single The Time Of My Life in 2008. He came back to the American Idol stage to debut the first single from his second album so maybe this exposure is just what he needs to make another dent in the charts.

It was then revealed that Lauren, James and Scotty are all safe leaving Haley and Stefano to join Jacob in the bottom three. Haley barely had a chance to sit down, though, before Ryan sent her back to safety.

Superstar hitmaker Katy Perry was easily one of the most successful top artists of 2010 hitting #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 with California Gurls and Teenage Dream. The hits have continued in 2011 with two more huge #1 hits Firework and E.T. Katy came to the American Idol stage and brought all of her extraterrestrial, supernatural amazing awesomeness in an outstanding performance of E.T. that should ensure that it stays at the top of the charts for a long time to come.

For another week now we have had to say good bye to one of the best finalists as Stefano was revealed as the lowest vote getter. His fantastic high energy disco performance of Lately was a final reminder that the voters don't want to recognize exceptional talent this season. His vocal range is outstanding and he moves across the stage with handsome finesse.

This week I correctly predicted that Jacob would be in the bottom three, but it's a shame that we'll have to see him again next week. The more we see Casey each week the more we see his creepy and unlikable personality. It was especially weird and unpleasant when Casey got up in her face and kissed Jennifer. Scotty and Lauren are coasting in this popularity contest without having any impressive talent to back it up. Haley is like a character study for a recurring skit that Kristen Wiig will be doing on Saturday Night Live next year. That leaves us with James as the only remaining finalist with any vocal skills, talent and stage presence worthy of a legitimate career in the music business. That probably means that James will be going home next week.

The Top 7 sing the 21st Century

2011-04-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

The Top 7 finalists were able to select any song recorded since the turn of the century:

Leann Rimes won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1996, and as recent as 2010 she was nominated for a Grammy for her high energy performance of Swingin'. Scotty McCreery tried to give his own spin to this hot song. He slowed down the arrangement and essentially sucked the life out if it. There was no personality in his tepid rendition.

Current hitmaking rockers, Muse, had a hit in 2010 with Uprising and it was the perfect song to allow James Durbin to show that he can just as easily be fresh as he is classic. He displayed amazing vocal range and personality.

Adele won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2008, but it wasn't until this year that she hit the top of the Billboard albums chart with her second release 21. She also earned her first top 10 hit on the Billboard HOT 100 with Rolling In The Deep and Haley Reinhart provided her least messed up performance of the season so far with her cover. She didn't totally butcher it, but you could tell she was really trying to with her totally awful growl thrown in there just to remind us that she's more of a comedy routine than anything else.

Luther Vandross won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 2003 for Dance With My Father and Jacob Lusk actually interpreted it very well. He showed some amazing vocal restraint for a change and was more watchable than usual.

Maroon 5 won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2004 and Casey Abrams chose to sing their very first hit, Harder to Breathe. In his case he is just getting harder to watch and harder to listen to. Creepy does not even begin to describe his unpleasant stage presence. He belongs in the background as a musician - if that.....

Ne-Yo hit #7 in 2008 with his pop smash, Closer. Stefano Langone took our breath away with his vocally fantastic performance. He is completely ready to be in the spotlight on stage and in front of the camera for hot music videos. He gave us American Idol perfection! His dance moves are slick and impressive and he belts out the big notes with effortless ease. Not to mention the fact that he looks so handsome in the most stylish fashions. :)

Sara Evans had a big hit with Born To Fly in 2000. It's a fun song, but Lauren Alaina failed to give any personality to her take on it. Her voice is mildly good, but nothing exceptional. She doesn't seem to know what do with herself on stage so she just stands there appearing to be scared and nervous.

My prediction for the bottom three this week is Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk and Scotty McCreery. I'm giving Haley a free pass this week because she restrained herself to do a respectable job on a song that I really like. If we're really lucky, by my not predicting her to be in the bottom three we may finally get rid of her! So of the three boys I predicted to be in the bottom, I think Casey and Scotty will be safe because they have enough fans who will stick by them no matter how creepy or boring they are. That leaves Jacob to be the one going home this week.

The Results - Movie Music

2011-04-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

This year's Miss American Idol Sweethearts, Scotty and Lauren, opened the show with a very bland performance of American Honey that made us long for the original version by Lady Antebellum. Then Haley and Casey moaned and groaned their way through a sloppy mess of something verging on jazz, except that it wasn't any good. It was revealed afterward that Scotty, Lauren and Casey are all safe, while Haley had to take the first seat in the bottom three.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, has enjoyed some fantastic success including platinum sales, #1 hits and some Grammy wins. She is showing some lasting staying power as she is still having hits after all these years. She returned to the Idol stage to perform her current hit, Don't You Wanna Stay, with country star Jason Aldean. This wonderful love song has slowly been getting bigger and bigger every week and now with this high profile exposure it is sure to get a significant bump on the charts.

The remaining boys, James, Stefano, Jacob and Paul, got together to perform a medley of Simon and Garfunkel #1 hits: The Sounds of Silence and Mrs. Robinson. While James and Jacob were both safe, Stefano and Paul had to go join Haley in the bottom three.

The biggest superstar hit maker over the past five years is without argument Rihanna. She has had a string of too many #1 hits to list all of them. She has already hit the top with the first two singles (What's My Name and Only Girl In The World) from her latest album, Loud. While her third single, S&M, is on the verge of doing the same thing, she came to the American Idol stage and decided to perform her fourth single rather than giving S&M the push. Honestly, everything she touches becomes a hit whether she promotes it or not so she might as well debut the fourth single.

Haley and Stefano were announced as safe so that left Paul McDonald to be the first boy to be eliminated from the top 13. He performed his quirky version of Maggie May one last time.

This week I correctly predicted that both Haley and Paul would be in the bottom three. At this point it's all just part of the joke for me to predict that Haley will be the one going home because we all know that she is going to win the whole thing anyway.

The Top 8 sing Movie Music

2011-04-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

The top 8 finalists are singing songs from the movies tonight:

Old Time Rock & Roll originally peaked at #28 in 1979 for Bob Seger, but it didn't become a classic until Tom Cruise did an underwear lip sync to it in Risky Business in 1983. Paul McDonald not only left his pants on for this performance, but he showed off another flowered suit. The suit ended up being the best part of this as his vocals were once again all wrong.

Miley Cyrus took her Hannah Montana character to the big screen in 2009 and had a #4 hit from it with The Climb. Lauren Alaina did a better job than Miley with her rendition, but since Miley's not a very good singer that's pretty easy to do. This is exactly the comfort zone for Lauren so if she keeps on doing more of this she should be around a lot longer.

Boyz II Men spent 13 weeks at #1 in 1992 with the End Of The Road. Who even remembers that this song was featured in Boomerang? Stefano Langone has a super smooth voice that is perfect for this R&B slow jam. He served up an outstanding vocal performance and he looked even more handsome than ever.

George Strait is probably the most boring man in country music history - and he's also one of the most successful. He made a movie called Pure Country in 1992 and included a song called I Cross My Heart that Scotty McCreery decided to sing tonight. Clearly Scotty is striving for safe and boring. It worked for George Strait and it will certainly work for Scotty.

Nat King Cole is the standard when it comes to jazz classics and Casey Abrams got up on stage with his upright bass again and performed his Nature Boy. It was very far from the standard set by Nat as Casey crossed over into the creepy with his weak vocals and strange facial expressions. If anyone knows what movie Nature Boy was featured in, please let me know.

Blondie spent six weeks at #1 in 1980 with Call Me from the movie American Gigolo. This song is one of the best rockin dance/pop jams in the history of ever and Haley Reinhart just made a mockery of it. Once again she acted like any old random drunk girl in a bar. Haley has no sense of professionalism, style or good taste when it comes to her performance choices.

Simon & Garfunkel spent six weeks at #1 in 1970 with Bridge Over Troubled Water. It also went on to win the Grammy for Record of the Year. Jacob Lusk provided his most controlled and disciplined performance of the competition so far with this fantastic song. Incidentally, the song was included in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006.

In 1981 the animated cult classic Heavy Metal was released with the hard rocking theme song performed by Sammy Hagar. James Durbin closed the night with an outstanding over the top high energy rock concert performance of this anthem. James has the vocal skills and the stage presence to headline anywhere and everywhere right now!

Tonight we were treated to a broad range of musical diversity from smooth R&B to hard rocking heavy metal, and from classic country to jazz. James and Stefano were easily the best of the night while my prediction for the bottom three is Paul, Haley and Casey. I'm going to keep saying this every week until she ends up winning the whole thing, but Haley will hopefully be the lowest vote getter and will be going home.

The Results - Rock&Roll Hall of Fame

2011-04-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

The show opened with the top 9 finalists performing a fun mash-up with the girls singing the 1982 Joan Jett and the Blackhearts #1 smash I Love Rock-n-Roll mixed together with the boys singing Lynard Skynard's Sweet Home Alabama that hit #8 in 1974. It was good, but it really highlighted the difference between the finalists who have stage presence and talent (Pia, James and Stefano) compared to the awkwardness of the others.

And it figures that one of the most talented, Stefano, ends up being the first to be in the bottom three while Lauren and Scotty were safe.

The Season 4 finalist, Constantine Maroulis, returned to the Idol stage to perform a very good rendition of Unchained Melody. He has been touring across the country for a few years now in the smash Broadway hit, Rock Of Ages. He even got a Tony Nomination for his performance.

Things went from bad to worse when another of the most talented finalists, Pia, had to go join Stefano in the bottom three while Paul and Casey were safe.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Iggy Pop, then performed his very unique brand of alternative rock that was actually pretty bad. I'm sure Haley was taking notes very closely and she'll be adding some of his moves to her comedy routine for next week.

Unfortunately, Haley will be coming back next week as she and James were both safe leaving Jacob to take the final spot in the bottom three.

Last week, America got it very wrong sending Thia home way too early and it is just getting worse from there. Stefano and Jacob are both safe and in the worst joke in American Idol history since Jennifer Hudson was eliminated, Pia Toscano was the lowest vote getter of the week.

What started out as a great competition with lots of talented finalists is quickly becoming a farce. At least I correctly predicted that Jacob would be in the bottom three, but the pity party votes for Casey are going on for way too long. And the fact that Haley is getting any votes at all is the biggest piece of confusion in all of this. At the rate things are going, I predict that Haley will end up winning the whole Season 10 Miss American Idol crown.

The Top 9 sing Rock&Roll Hall of Fame

2011-04-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight the top 9 finalists had to make a selection from the inductees of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Michael Jackson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Jacob Lusk showed that he doesn't have any star quality remotely close to that of the King of Pop as he butchered Man In The Mirror (#1 for 2 weeks in 1988). He really should have switched places with the wonderfully talented singer and songwriter, Siedah Garrett, who was on stage with him doing background vocals. Jacob does not belong front and center.

Janis Joplin was inducted in 1995 and Haley Reinhart performed her classic Piece of my Heart. Haley is taking her game of playing dress up as a pop star way too far. She must be the niece of some high powered record executive to have gotten this far in the competition because she has no likable or desirable vocal talent at all. This was just comical screaming.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted in 1993. Have You Ever Seen The Rain hit #8 in 1971 and Casey Abrams got back up on stage with his upright bass and showed that he's much more of a musician than a singer. His vocals simply aren't that good.

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, was inducted in 1987. Lauren Alaina took one of the greatest songs of all time, A Natural Woman (#8 - 1967) and made it very emotionless and boring. And the outfit she had on was not flattering at all.

George Harrison has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once with the Beatles in 1988 and then again as a solo artist in 2004. His power ballad While My Guitar Gently Weeps is the perfect showcase for James Durbin's dynamic musical and vocal range. This was a spectacular, powerful and emotional performance.

The King of Rock-n-Roll, Elvis Presley, was inducted in 1986. Elvis could successfully perform Rock, Soul, Country and Gospel where Scotty McCreery isn't quite as convincing when he steps out of his comfort zone. This was a respectable effort but he really needs to polish things up a lot more before he's ready for the big leagues.

Tina Turner was inducted in 1991 and one of her signature hits is River Deep, Mountain High. This song has a dramatic production value that is an exciting compliment to the outstanding vocals of Pia Toscano. She sounded even better than last week!

Percy Sledge was inducted in 2005 and he is most well-known for his fantastic smash When A Man Loves A Woman that hit #1 for two weeks in 1966. Stefano Langone once again showed that he has all the ingredients necessary to be a huge pop idol. His vocals were over the top amazing as he belted out every lyric with passion and conviction.

Johnny Cash was inducted in 1992 and he is probably the coolest cowboy ever. Paul McDonald is more like the cool cowboy's crazy cousin, but he definitely made Folsom Prison Blues his own. It was the same quirky Paul that we've seen every week.

The division between the good finalists with pop music potential and the other finalists is getting wider and wider. It's very clear that the talented front-runners are Pia, Stefano and James.

Then there's the not-so great ones who should be going home. My prediction for the bottom three vote getters this week is Jacob, Haley and Casey with Haley finally going home this week. Haley has absolutely no star quality or charisma and her performance style is so embarrassing and amateurish. We can only hope that we won't have to see her again.

Taylor Hicks on TV??!!!!!!

2011-04-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Season 5 Miss American winner, Taylor Hicks, hasn't really been seen much since his debut single Do I Make You Proud hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 shortly after his win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLAMhTorPCk

In a very fun surprise he showed up performing with Stephen Colbert on the Jimmy Fallon Show singing the latest pop sensation, Friday. As always, he looks like he's having a great time and he even pulled out his signature harmonica. This version is a billion times better than the original. :)

It's all about Carrie Underwood!

2011-04-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

The Academy of Country Music Awards were just on and it was another night all about the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood!

This is the Awards show that for the past two years in a row named Carrie the Entertainer of the Year. Even though Carrie didn't win any awards this year, she was still all over the show. Here is a very exciting clip of her performance from the evening. She starts out with her huge hit Undo It and she is joined by current American Idol judge, Steven Tyler. They then go into a rocking jam of Walk This Way. Easily the best performance and the highlight of the evening!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBMrC2ToAgU

In addition to this showstopper, Carrie was featured in not 1, not 2, but 3 commercials throughout the telecast.

We've all seen her stunningly flawless face in the ad campaign for Olay for many months now and it continued to be shown during the Academy of Country Music awards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE3KeVmLl1g

Carrie wrote and performed a song called There's A Place For Us for the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Commercials advertising that the movie is being released on DVD this week were played during the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua_r7u6__tY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2Vzw33v6w&feature=fvwrel

Then there's the biggest and most exciting news about Carrie's big movie opening in Theaters on Friday April 8th. She has a starring role in Soul Surfer based on the true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through the love of her family, her sheer determination and unwavering faith. The film features an all-star cast, including AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt, with Carrie Underwood in her film debut, and Dennis Quaid.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SoulSurfer4811?v=MWeOjBCi3c4&feature=pyv&ad=10080872974&kw=soul%20surfer

The Results - Elton John

2011-03-31T22:13:00.001-07:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood took I Told You So to #9 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2009. Tonight Lauren and Scotty gave us their own inferior interpretation before hearing the news that they are safely returning next week.

Ashford & Simpson had a #12 hit with Solid in 1985 and Jacob and Naima tried to do it justice tonight. Right afterward Jacob learned that he is safe, while Naima is the first to be in the bottom three.

The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, made a return trip to perform the third single from her Grammy winning latest release, Back To Me. She looked wonderful in a sparkly red gown and a fresh new blond do. The song, Collard Greens & Cornbread, is a fantastic slice of retro, old school fun and her vocal performance was perfect.

Thia, Haley and Pia then took the stage to perform the super-awesome best song of 2010, Teenage Dream, that Katy Perry took to #1 for 2 weeks. Thia and Pia continue to sound great while Haley is just confusing. In an unfortunate twist, Pia and Haley are both safe while sweet and talented Thia had to join Naima in the bottom three.

Paul McCartney and Wings hit #1 in 1974 with Band On The Run and the four remaining boys, James, Stefano, Casey and Paul all combined forces to make their own band and perform the incredible pop masterpiece. After the mis-guided judges save from last week, Casey learned that he is once again coming back to scream at us next week. James and Stefano are also safe leaving Paul to round out the bottom three.

Because the judges save was used last week, we are unfortunately losing two of the bottom three this week. With Paul being revealed to be safe that means that the very talented Naima Adadepo and Thia Megia are leaving the competition way too soon and instead of others who should be leaving before them.

I correctly predicted that Paul's hot mess of a performance last night would land him in the bottom three, but America is clearly throwing their pity party votes to Casey. Hopefully, the sympathy votes won't last long. Also, I now am very suspicious of what is really going on that is keeping Haley coming back each week. She is seriously not good.

The Top 11 sing Elton John

2011-03-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight the Top 11 finalists made a song selection from the legendary pop music catalog of Elton John:

Scotty McCreery found the one and only country song that Elton John ever did from his album Tumbleweed Connection. The song Country Comfort allowed Scotty to stay in the safety of his comfort zone and give his legion of fans more of the same.

Naima Adedapo is leaving her mark once again on the American Idol stage as the one finalist who tries something different and mixes things up every week. Tonight she re-worked Elton's I'm Still Standing (#12 in 1983) into a festive reggae jam. It was wonderfully entertaining.

Paul McDonald took his guitar in hand to put his folksy stamp on Elton's Rocket Man (#6 1972). This is the second time Paul showed off his jacket embroidered with red roses as well as the second time he's tried to sing Elton. We didn't need to see the suit again and we do not need to hear him ruin Elton's music again.

Pia Toscano selected a song that Elton made into a smash hit twice! Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (#2 in 1974, #1 in 1991) As we have come to expect from her, she looked stunning in a short sparkly number and her vocals were amazing.

Stefano Langone wrapped his fantastic voice around one of Elton's classic songs that never actually hit the singles chart. Tiny Dancer is the opening track on the album Madman Across The Water and Stefano was simply dreamy in every respect with this heartfelt performance.

Lauren Alaina chose a song that has had many lives. Candle In The Wind was originally on the 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It hit #6 in 1987, but in 1997 it spent 14 weeks at #1 in tribute to Princess Diana. Left in Lauren's hands, unfortunately, this song might never be a hit again. Her version was flat and boring.

James Durbin wants to remind the fans that Elton John used to know how to ROCK before he started doing only one ballad after another later in his career. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting hit #12 in 1973 and James worked his way through the audience like a seasoned professional with this one.

Thia Megia graced the song Daniel (#2 - 1973) with her lovely vocals. In addition to her exceptionally pure voice, Thia added an impressive depth of maturity that is far beyond her years. It was much more than just singing. Thia interpreted this classic and brought it to life making us feel the story and get to know the characters.

Casey Abrams was saved by the judges last week even though the voters were sick of hearing him scream every week. Tonight he did his best to tone it down as he performed Your Song (#8 - 1970) and it's what he needed to do. He's still not that great, but it's clear that he's trying.

Jacob Lusk could only benefit from making a selection from the Elton John songbook since he's usually such an over-dramatic hot mess. The song he decided to tear up was Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word that peaked at #6 in 1976. All I will say is that given a good producer who can keep Jacob in check, he's not all bad.

Haley Reinhart was the drunk girl at the party who gets up on the piano to sing when no one wants her to. She made a fool of herself destroying Elton's #1 smash from 1974, Bennie and the Jets.

Since the judges used their SAVE last week, that means two of the finalists will be sent home tomorrow night. My prediction for the bottom three is Paul McDonald, Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart. I'm going to keep on predicting that Haley will be the one sent home until it finally happens. Casey will also be joining her.

The fans Remember Jennifer Hudson!

2011-03-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

The sales totals are in and they all add up to a big debut on the Billboard 200 album chart for the Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Grammy winner and Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson.

Her second album, I Remember Me, comes in at #2 with first week sales of 165,000.

Lip Sync For Your Life!

2011-03-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

Next to American Idol, the best reality competition show on TV is RuPaul's Drag Race. If you have not seen it, you really should see what you've been missing as they compete to show off their Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent to be crowned the Next Drag Superstar!

In a very exciting pop culture collision the worlds of American Idol and RuPaul's Drag Race came together last night when the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, was a guest judge on the the show!

The queens needed to create three looks to walk down the runway that showcased distinct hairstyles. It was three times the fun as usual and one of the best episodes EVER!

At the end of the show two of the queens must lip sync for their lives in order to avoid elimination and they song they used, Even Angels, was from Fantasia's latest album. The two drag queens put everything they had into this performance, but this song required that they be able to portray all of the emotional depth in the vocals and lyrics, and one of them just wasn't up to the task. RuPaul had to tell Shangela that it was time to Sashay Away.

The Results - Motown

2011-03-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

The top 11 finalists opened the show with a super fun group performance of the Diana Ross #1 smash Ain't No Mountain High Enough, but they barely finished the song when the real Stevie Wonder showed up and sang his hit Signed, Sealed, Delivered. The festivity was just beginning as the song segued into a happy birthday celebration for judge, Steven Tyler, complete with cake, candles and presents.

Pia, Lauren and Scotty were the first of the night to learn that they are safely coming back next week.

Country duo Sugarland then took the stage to perform their latest crossover hit, Stuck Like Glue.

After seeing a fun clip of the finalists goofing around the house trying their best pro wrestling moves on each other, the two biggest wrestling fans, James and Paul, were called out center stage to hear that they were safe from none other than Wrestling superstar, Hulk Hogan. Jacob, Naima and Haley just got to hear the news of their safety the old fashioned boring way by having Ryan tell them.

Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Grammy winner and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson then graced the stage with a fantastic live performance of her new single, Where You At. She looked wonderful and her vocals were flawless and powerful.

With everyone else being safe, that left the bottom three to be Thia, Stefano and Casey. After Thia and Stefano were both informed that they were safe, Casey was given his final chance to sing for his life. And that could have been it - America voted and decided that they don't want to hear his screaming every week, but the judges weren't satisfied with that. They actually used their one and only SAVE of the season on Casey.

So all 11 finalists are coming back next week. As for my predictions, I am very happy to report that I correctly guessed that Casey would be in the bottom three, but that was the only one I got right. I am amazed that people are voting for Haley and that she is still in this competition.

Fantasia on the Drag Race!

2011-03-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Some very fun television to look forward to:

The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, will be a guest judge on Monday's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race!

Now in it's third season, RuPaul's Drag Race has been providing some of the best entertainment on TV. Fantasia is sure to add some of her special R&B diva energy to the show. :)

The Top 11 Sing Motown

2011-03-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight the top 11 finalists made a selection from the legendary Motown catalog:

I Heard It Through The Grape Vine was a huge hit twice for Motown. Gladys Knight and The Pips took it to #2 in 1967 and then Marvin Gaye took it to #1 for 7 weeks in 1968. It's a fantastic song that Casey Abrams simply screamed his way through adding nothing likeable or refreshing.

Heat Wave was also a smash hit two times. Martha and the Vandellas took it to #4 in 1963 and Linda Ronstadt hit #5 with it in 1975. Thia Megia has a sweet, pure and melodic voice that made this song sound fun and fresh. She's young and dynamic and each week we see more of her potential realized.

You're All I Need To Get By was a hit in the Billboard HOT 100 four times! The classic version is by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell that hit #7 in 1968. Thank goodness Jacob Lusk had some good back-up singers on stage with him to make his version listenable.

You Keep Me Hanging On is one of those rare songs that actually hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 by two different artists. First by Diana Ross and the Supremes in 1966 and then again by Kim Wilde in 1987. The judges have been raving about Lauren Alaina since they first saw her, and tonight she actually provided something worthy of praise.

Hello was a #1 hit for Lionel Richie for 2 weeks in 1984. Stefano Langone used this simple ballad to showcase his fantastic voice and to connect perfectly with the audience.

You Really Got A Hold On Me peaked at #8 in 1963 for the Miracles. Haley Reinhart completely butchered this lively tune with her choppy vocals and a clunky arrangement.

For Once In My Life hit #2 in 1968 for Stevie Wonder. Scotty McCreery did a wonderful job transforming this song into a meaningful classic country story song. The substance of the lyrics truly came through combined with his rugged deep voice.

All In Love Is Fair is a track from Stevie Wonder's 1973 Grammy winning Album of the Year, Innervisions. Pia Toscano completely owned this song and wrapped her outstanding vocals all over it. Fantastic!

Tracks of My Tears was a hit on the Billboard HOT 100 three times including the original 1965 version by the Miracles. Paul McDonald took his guitar in had and re-worked this into an easy going folk-rock ballad.

Dancing In The Streets is yet another Motown classic to hit the Billboard chart three times from acts as diverse as Martha and the Vendellas, van Halen, Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Naima Adedapo added her own unique diversity to her funtabulous performance with an African inspired, bongo infused dance break mixed in with her great vocals.

Living For The City was a #8 smash for Stevie Wonder in 1973. James Durbin showed off his energetic stage presence as he completely worked every member of the audience with his amazing vocals. Outstanding.

It was a great night of musical entertainment. Fans are picking their favorites and casting their votes so you voice to keep your choice safe. My prediction for the bottom three goes completely against the mis-guided gushing from the judges: Casey Abrams, Haley Reinhart and Jacob Lusk will get the lowest number of votes with Haley finally getting sent home.

Adam and Jennifer's new releases!

2011-03-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

The new album from Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Oscar winner and Grammy winner, Jennifer Hudson is released today! It's called I Remember Me and here's the video for the first single, Where You At.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_IvRcr04E

Also in stores today is the CD/DVD combo pack, Glam Nation Live from the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert. This includes a full taped concert from his Glam Nation Tour and an additional CD featuring 13 songs from the show. Here he is performing Sleepwalker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZACqNnO9-E

The Results - Beginnings

2011-03-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

The top 12 finalists opened the show with a mash-up performance celebrating their beginnings: The current #1 song on the Billboard HOT 100 - Lady Gaga's Born This Way sung by the girls combined with the #2 smash from 1968 by Steppenwolf, Born To Be Wild. It was a nice effort to try and stick to the theme, but it didn't quite hit the mark.

Jacob, Lauren, Casey and Paul are all safe while Haley was the first to be in the bottom three.

The Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, is already a candidate for a "where are they now" special after winning the crown less than a year ago. His singles have completely fizzled on the charts so he showed up tonight to try and give his career a much needed boost. Too bad he's still a boring performer no matter what he sings, but after giving his best effort tonight it's still possible some of those fans that voted for him will go out and buy his latest song.

Scotty, Pia, James, and Stefano then got the news that they are safe, but Naima had to go join Haley in the bottom three. Finally, Thia was given the good news that she is also safe, but Karen wasn't so lucky.

The Black Eyed Peas then took the stage to debut their latest single, I Just Can't Get Enough, with the hopes to reclaim the top of the charts like they did in 2009. Unfortunately, with a song like this one it will not be likely.

Both Naima and Haley were sent back to safety leaving the very talented Karen Rodriguez to sing Mariah Carey's huge #1 smash from 1994, Hero, one more time hoping the judges will use their save and keep her in the competition. Karen once again did a wonderful job, but the judges decided to let her go anyway.

I got two of my predictions right this week in correctly guessing that Haley and Naima would be in the bottom three, but Karen is definitely going home to soon. Who knows what kind of hot mess Haley is going to serve up next week.

The Top 12 sing their beginnings....

2011-03-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

This week the top 12 finalists were to select a song that came out the year they were born:

Naima Adedepo was born in 1984 and she performed Tina Turner's comeback smash hit that spent three weeks at #1 and Grammy winning Record of the Year, What's Love Got To Do With It. Tina's classic version was all about the image being a perfect match for the unique vocals, but Naima seemed to pay more attention to her image and less to her vocals. She's very talented, but still needs to work on combining her great style with her wonderful voice.

Paul McDonald was also born in 1984 and he performed Elton John's hit that peaked at #4, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues. Paul does best when he finds the right song to match his quirky style and this was not it. He's cute and distinctive, but let's hope he never puts his stamp on this one again.

Thia Megia was born in 1995 and she performed the Oscar winning theme song from the film Pocahontas that Vanessa Williams took to #4. Thia was a stunning and beautiful princess as she performed this inspirational ballad with total vocal perfection. She is a young woman with limitless potential.

James Durbin was born in 1989 and he performed Bon Jovi's hit that spent one week at #1, I'll Be There For You. James served up more of his classic rock singing for this power ballad without going over the top as usual. From what we've come to expect from James, this was pretty tame.

Haley Reinhart was born in 1990 and she performed Whitney Houston's pop smash that spent one week at #1, I'm Your Baby Tonight. This version will definitely not become a pop smash as Haley turned it into a dreadful big band mis-step. She has tried to show herself as a vocal chameleon with previous performances, but this week the vocals were simply not good.

Stefano Langone was born in 1989 and he performed Simply Red's fantastic cover of the Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes classic that spent one week at #1, If You Don't Know Me By Now. With Stefano's charming good looks and flawless vocal interpretation, this song could be a hit all over again.

Pia Toscano was born in 1988 and she performed Whitney Houston's hit that spent two weeks at #1, Where Do Broken Hearts Go. Pia was able to lift this lovely ballad to new heights with an exciting uptempo arrangement that showcased her amazing voice even more than usual.

Scotty McCreery was born in 1993 and he performed Can I Trust You With My Heart by Travis Tritt. We already know he's got a nice deep voice, but he's not showing much range or personality. He's the type of artist where the song is more interesting than he is.

Karen Rodriguez was born in 1989 and she performed Taylor Dayne's biggest hit that spent one week at #1, Love Will Lead You Back. First can we say, WOW! what a cute outfit! the go-go boots and mini dress are fierce with the big hair and huge hoop earrings!!! And her voice was just perfect also.

Casey Abrams was born in 1991 and he performed Nirvana's huge cross-over smash that peaked at #6, Smells Like Teen Spirit. He seemed to be going for respectful as he performed a very safe version of this song that defined a generation. And, of course, he provided his signature screaming.

Lauren Alaina was born in 1994 and she performed a song that peaked at #8 for Melissa Etheridge, I'm The Only One. Lauren has successfully earned herself the title of the most over-rated finalist of the season. The judges rave about her, but she never seems to deliver on stage and tonight was no exception.

Jacob Lusk was born in 1987 and he performed Heart's rocking power ballad that spent three weeks at #1, Alone. He should stick to gospel, but he is also a contender for the most over-rated finalist of the season. The judges don't know what they are talking about.

The most clear shoe-in for one of the bottom three vote getters is Haley. It's gonna be a toss up for who will be joining her so I'm just gonna take a random guess and predict Naima and Paul will be in there also. But Haley should definitely be the one going home.

Kelly Clarkson's 5th album delayed

2011-03-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Fans anxiously awaiting the fifth album from Season 1 Miss American idol winner, Kelly Clarkson will have to wait just a little longer. According to a post on her official facebook page the album is still currently untitled and its release has been delayed until September 2011.

She added that the recording of the new album has been completed and she assures fans that it sounds great.

Her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Wanna Stay, is currently #1 this week on Billboard's HOT Country Songs chart so her fans are clearly eager for more new material.

Kelly's last album, All I Ever Wanted released in 2009 was her second #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and it stayed there for two weeks selling 913,000 copies to date.

The Results - Their Idols

2011-03-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

The Lucky 13 opened the show with a fun medley of Michael Jackson's greatest hits. You could definitely tell that they were singing live as it was pretty choppy in places, but they did their best.

Jacob and Stefano are safe, but Karen ended up being the first one in the bottom three.

The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert, returned to perform his song Aftermath. He is making it available as a charity single to support the It Gets Better Campaign that helps give gay youth support in the face of ignorant bullying. Adam's performance was just as dynamic and spectacular as we have come to expect from him. This acoustic rendition was jam packed with outstanding vocals conveying every emotion in the meaningful lyrics.

Then Lauren was informed that she is safe while both Ashthon and Haley had to join Karen in completing the bottom three.

Diddy Dirty Money, or Puff Daddy, or P Diddy then came out to perform his latest single Coming Home in the hopes of getting an American Idol bump to help improve its sales and airplay.

The good news was then given to Karen and Haley that they are coming back next week, while Ashthon got the bad news. And then it got worse when the judges decided that they were not going to use their SAVE on her. She sadly had to watch her brief Miss American Idol experience get summed up while listening to this season's new "Goodbye" song.

This year, the producers are giving a break to the Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, who has recorded his own version of the 1985 #1 smash by Simple Minds, Don't You Forget About Me to be used as the "Goodbye" song.

I correctly predicted all three of the lowest vote getters, but I would have rather seen Haley go home instead of Ashthon.

Fantasia Brings Home A NAACP Image Award!

2011-03-10T04:24:00.000-08:00

The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia's newest album, Back To Me, achieved another great milestone this weekend after winning a NAACP Image Award.

Fantasia's first single, "Bittersweet," won the award for Outstanding Song against talented musicians like Sade and Alicia Keys.

New Jennifer Hudson remix!

2011-03-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

http://kickinthepeanuts.com/?p=11465

Click on the link above to get a FREE download of the Dave Aude dance mix of Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson's new single, Where You At.

The Top 13 sing their IDOLS

2011-03-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight the top 13 finalists had the chance to perform a selection from the catalog of their personal idol:

Lauren Alaina selected a song from the platinum selling superstar Shania Twain, Any Man of Mine. If Lauren gets far in this competition, she will be coasting on her sweet girl-next-door personality. The judges claim she has an amazing voice, but this performance was very low key and bland. She caps it off with a perky smile and wink and hopes that the fans are falling for it.

Casey Abrams selected the song we all grew to know and love as the theme song from The Wonder Years, Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends. He opened the song with a soft voice that we haven't heard from him before but it didn't last long enough. Next thing you know he's just screaming. Unfortunately, it was devoid of the emotional impact that the Wonder Years theme served up every week. There's no reason to listen to Casey's voice sing this when he's not live on stage.

Ashthon Jones selected the Diana Ross ballad When You Tell Me That You Love Me. She once again embodied the true diva essence standing center stage in an elegant silver gown. Her vocals were strong and confident and maybe, even better than the original.

Paul McDonald selected Come Pick Me Up from Ryan Adams. This guy is all smiles and cute moves in skinny jeans, so what he lacks in vocal power he makes up for with interesting presence. This song was a pretty weak choice to win over new fans, but he can definitely coast on the good looks.

Pia Toscano selected All By Myself by Celine Dion that hit #4 in 1997. She looked stunning in a sparkly little gold mini and the huge vocals that resonated from her were even more stunning. Pia is a genuinely talented singer who is sure to impress us more and more each week.

James Durbin selected Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney that hit #10 in 1977. James showed his ability to be more than a heavy metal screamer with his powerful vocal range on this wonderful love song. It was controlled and embodied all the depth necessary to make us feel the lyrics as they were intended to be.

Haley Reinhart selected Blue, the debut song that lead to Leann Rimes winning the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1996. I am surprised to admit that Haley managed to do this great song justice. It allowed her to show some range that we didn't know was there from the deep growl to the country yodel.

Jacob Lusk selected R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly that hit #2 in 1996. I don't believe I can listen to Jacob over-sing another song in this competition. He just gave us more of the same indulgent wailing that completely lacked attention to genuine emotion and melody. If only the backing choir that joined him on stage sang louder so they would have drowned him out it would have been listenable.

Thia Megia selected Smile that Michael Jackson recorded on his 1995 release History. She performed this classic with crystal clear, pure vocals that conveyed a maturity far beyond her years while also being fun, fresh and youthful. Thia mixed things up with an interesting funky arrangement that exemplifies her ability to be the best of the old and the new.

Stefano Langone selected Stevie Wonder's Lately that Jodeci took to #4 in 1993. He has everything that we want to hear on the radio right now. Stefano took this ballad and elevated it into a disco dance floor throw down anthem. His vocals were perfectly strong to convincingly pull off this dynamic transformation.

Karen Rodriguez selected I Could Fall In Love that Selena to to #15 in 1995. It was clear that something wasn't quite right with Karen as she attempted to perform this song from her idol. The vocals weren't quite at the level that we have come to expect from her, so hopefully she will get another chance to prove herself.

Scotty McCreery selected The River by Garth Brooks. Everyone knows that I am a fan of Country Music and I acknowledge that Scotty has a good voice. But the fact is that he is not bringing anything exceptional to the table. He's just a kid with a deep voice getting a chance to sing some of his favorite songs on TV.

Naima Adedapo selected a song that spent 7 weeks at #1 in 2007 for Rihanna, Umbrella. The best was saved for last. Naima has an exhilarating star quality how she showed off her strong vocals with her fantastic stage presence dancing on the stage. She also mixed it up with a reggae dance break showing that she can do it all.

I am so happy to report that there were many VERY good performances tonight from some very talented finalists. The best being Thia Megia, Pia Toscano, James Durbin, Naima Adedapo and Stefano Langone.

My prediction for the bottom three vote getters is Haley Reinhart, Karen Rodriguez and Ashthon Jones. These girls are all pretty good, but it's gonna be hard to stand out in this group. I think Haley will be going home.

And the Lucky 13 are....

2011-03-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

The Top 24 is going to get chopped down to only 13 finalists moving forward in the competition.

Based on the votes from America, this is the Top 10:

Scotty McCreery
Lauren Alaina
Pia Toscano
Karen Rodriguez
Jacob Lusk
Casey Abrams
Thia Megia
Paul McDonald
Haley Reinhart
James Durbin

In my opinion, it's a very mixed bag. The best thing is that America got it right by voting for Thia Megia to be moving forward. She is the clear front-runner. It is also very nice to see Thia joined by Pia, Karen, Paul and James. All of these contestants have very good voices combined with fresh, entertaining and fun personalities.

The others, though, are going to have to work very hard to win me over into thinking they belong here still. Haley Reinhart should have never even made the Top 24, so I can't figure out at all why people are voting for her. As for Casey, Jacob, Scotty and Lauren: they are all very over-rated by the judges. The judges gush over them no matter what they do and it feels like they are force feeding them onto the viewers. The judges can keep repeating that they are the best things ever, but I still haven't seen it from these finalists yet.

So with three more positions to fill the judges asked six of the remaining finalists to sing for their lives!

The first to get another chance was Ashthon Jones who pleaded her case with the fantastic diva anthem from Dreamgirls that was made famous by Oscar winner and Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. She once again brought all of her fabulous vocals and attitude to the stage and looked and sounded great.

The next was Stefano Langone who served up a a dynamic vocal extravaganza with his heartfelt, passionate and emotional rendition of I Need You Now. He seriously connected with every lyric in the song and made us feel it with him as we watched him sing.

For some reason the judges wanted to hear Kendra Chantalle sing again and she gave her best effort with Georgia on my Mind. It started out as an awkward droning sound and then it became a very unpleasant screech-fest. What were they thinking?

There is no confusion at all with understanding why the judges next selected Jovany Barreto to sing for his life. He is easily the most captivating male finalist American Idol has ever seen. In addition to his chiseled and stunning good looks, he has a clear and pure vocal range that is effortlessly impressive. He applied his skills and talents to Jon Secada's Angel and it was simply musical and vocal perfection.

There is also no confusion regarding the fact that Naima Adedapo was asked to step back into the ring. She poured every ounce of her heart and soul into her flawless performance of For All We Know. She is the genuine real deal and it comes through every time the audience is blessed with hearing her sing.

The final opportunity was given to Robbie Rosen, and he is another that should never have even been in the Top 24. His version of Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word was very strained and cumbersome.

I am happy to report that the final three slots were all given to very worthy contestants:

Ashthon Jones
Stefano Langone
Naima Adedapo

Unfortunately there wasn't room for Jovany Barreto to be included and that is a real shame. He clearly has the whole package and then some! With his looks and talent he should end up with some other exciting opportunities.

The Top 12 girls take their first shot...

2011-03-02T21:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight we get to know what these top 12 girls can really do - they can pick any song they want to present themselves to America for the first time:

Rihanna took Only Girl in the World to #1 in 2010. Ta-Tynisa Wilson used this Grammy winner for Best Dance Recording to strut her stuff in high heels and belt out some big notes. She did a pretty good job showing off her potential to be a radio friendly hit-maker.

The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, performed Summertime and to this day set the standard for best Idol performance ever. Naima Adedapo did her best to mix things up with a more bouncy and light jazz arrangement to make the song her own. She was actually quite successful showing off a great vocal range and professional performance style.

Christina Aguilera included Impossible on her 2002 album Stripped. Kendra Chantelle has a nice voice and is quite pretty, but she didn't add anything special or exceptional to her performance of this very hot album track.

Fiona Apple took Criminal to #21 in 1997. Rachel Zevita served up an almost unrecognizable burlesque version of the song that was partially entertaining, but sort of awkward as well. It's clear she has ambitions to be an all around entertainer, but this performance did not showcase her voice at it's best.

Mariah Carey took Hero to #1 for four weeks in 1994. Karen Rodriguez stepped up to the challenge and and hit it out of the park with her wonderful Spanglish interpretation of this popular favorite. She exuded stage presence, confidence and class.

Lauren Turner took the stage and presented herself as a sort of female version of Season 5 Miss American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. She was singing some bluesy number and she was running around all over the stage.

Monica released Love All Over Me from her under appreciated 2010 release Still Standing. Like Monica, Ashthon Jones definitely has all the necessary qualities to be chart-topping hit-making DIVA herself. She looks beautiful and her voice can powerfully belt out the big notes with passion and emotion.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, took Breakaway to #6 in 2004. Julie Zorrilla should unfortunately not expect to have any success after her very weak rendition of the song.

Alicia Keys took Fallin to #1 in 2001. Alicia went on to become a Grammy favorite winning Best New Artist, but Haley Reinhart should not expect the same results at all after this forgettable and clumsy performance.

Irene Cara took Out Here On My Own to #19 in 1980 from the Fame Soundtrack. Thia Megia stood center stage in a spotlight with almost no musical accompaniment and showed all of the other finalists, both the boys and the girls, what it's like to have a truly pure and exceptional vocal instrument. Thia is exactly the kind of talent that American Idol was made for. If America has any sense at all, this extremely talented 15 year old is on the track to reaching her very own success story to FAME!

Country music superstar, Reba, is having current success with her latest single Turn On The Radio. Lauren Alaina infused this fun anthem with some youthful energy and did a great job showing off her nice voice and fun personality.

The Pretenders took I'll Stand By You to #16 in 1994. Pia Toscano did not hold back at all in her genuine efforts to show off that she is the whole package - voice, confidence, beautiful good looks, and stage presence.

Now it's up to America to vote so you can go online to support your favorites at http://www.americanidol.com/. My top 5 will be: Thia Megia, Pia Toscano, Karen Rodriguez, Ashthon Jones and Naima Adedapo.

Thia Megia is the clear front-runner by a wide margin. :)

The Top 12 boys take their first shot...

2011-03-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Tonight we get to know what these top 12 boys can really do - they can pick any song they want to present themselves to America for the first time:

Stevie Wonder took Superstition to #1 in 1972. Clint Jun Gamboa used this funky jam to belt out some big notes. He did a pretty good job, but not sure if it will be enough to win over votes after he turned off the fans during the group portion of the Hollywood round. He just doesn't seem like a very nice guy.

Edwin McCain took I'll Be to #5 in 1998. Jovany Barreto thoroughly and completely impressed with vocals that were pure and powerful. Combined with his stunning good looks he elevated this song to higher heights with an amazing crescendo at the end of the song that was a million times better than the original.

Usher took OMG to #1 in 2010. Jordan Dorsey missed the mark with his awkward efforts at dancing and this song choice did not showcase any interesting vocals at all.

Tim Halperin doesn't have a chance based on this performance of Rob Thomas' Come On Over. It was clunky and vocally choppy. This didn't inspire any interest.

The Doors took Light My Fire to #1 for three weeks in 1967. Brett Loewenstern has that skinny rock star thing going for him along with a dynamic and bold vocal range. His youth comes through, though, with the lack of maturity and intensity that this song requires.

Judas Priest became classic heavy metal rockers with songs like You've Got Another Thing Coming. James Durbin tried to set himself apart from the original glam-rock standard set by the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner-Up, Adam Lambert. While he's very talented vocally, James does not do Judas Priest better than Adam could.

Sarah McLachlan took Angel to #4 in 1999. Robbie Rosen's rendition of this sweet ballad was painful to listen to. His voice is very plain and lacking any personality and his huge smile didn't help at all to convey the appropriate emotions for the lyrics.

John Michael Montgomery took Letters From Home to #24 in 2004. Scotty McCreery is up there doing an imitation of what other singers have already done better. He's a talented deep-voiced country boy, but he doesn't really add anything new to the mix.

Bruno Mars took Just The Way You Are to #1 in 2010. Stefano Langone has a sweet and smooth tenor voice that fits into what is happening in pop music right now. In addition, he's very young and cute and ready for music videos.

Rod Stewart took Maggie May to #1 for five weeks in 1971. Paul McDonald recreated this classic tale of love into a quirky slice of hipster delight. He has a warm personality that pulls you in and keeps you engaged.

Luther Vandross gave the world a legendary version of A House is Not A Home. Jacob Lusk was clearly trying very hard to over-sing his way into our hearts, but it was all a lot of loud screaming effort without the emotional pay-off.

Casey Abrams puts on a great show when he closes his eyes tightly and screams at the top of his lungs. It looks impressive on stage, but it is very reminiscent of what made Taylor Hicks the Season 5 Miss American Idol winner. The fans loved him on stage, but they didn't buy his albums.

Now it's up to America to vote and for the first time you can go online to support your favorites at http://www.americanidol.com/.

My top 5 will be: Jovany Barreto, Brett Loewenstern, James Durbin, Stefano Langone, and Paul McDonald.

And Jovany is my early favorite. :)

Fantasia - Grammy Winner!!!!

2011-02-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

In the 10 year history of American Idol there have only been three finalists who have gone on to win Grammy recognition:

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson was acknowledged with two Grammys for her 2005 megasmash Breakaway and Since U Been Gone.

Season 3 finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson got a Grammy for her debut album.

And, of course, the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood has the most Grammys with 5 including the 2006 Best New Artist and then the 2006, 2007, and 2008 honor for Best Female Country Vocal.

But now another Miss American Idol has joined this elite group as the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia has won the 2011 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal for her fantastic song Bittersweet.

Unfortunately, Carrie Underwood did not win again in her category this year and neither did the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st runner up Adam Lambert. He ended up losing to Bruno Mars who had a great year with his #1 hits Just the Way You Are, Grenade and Nothing On You.

Country Music is LOVING the Idols!

2011-02-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

If you want to see where some of your favorite Miss American finalists are finding success these days, all you have to do is switch channels over to the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown and you will find not one, not two, but THREE of them all near the top of the chart!

We all know that the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood rotates one fan favorite video after another on that chart on a regular basis. Her Mama's Song video is still getting plenty of airplay.

But who knew that the Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, would be all the way up at #2 on the chart with her duet with Jason Aldean, Don't You Want To Stay. The only video for the song is from their live performance at the CMA Awards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUZQodw_wY

Even more exciting is the fact that the video holding down the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown is from the Season Nine Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Crystal Bowersox! Her video for Farmer's Daughter has been in heavy rotation since it's release and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NR8tH9tDGQ

Meanwhile, in other Country Music news, the nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards, or the ACM's, were just announced today and Carrie is once again nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. What's somewhat surprising, though, is that after winning Entertainer of the Year for two years in a row and coming off an incredibly successful year, Carrie was not even nominated this year. This oversight has confused and upset many fans, but we're always happy for Carrie's numerous successes and have no problem with letting another artist get the spotlight for a change.

Lots to look forward to!

2011-01-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

It's only the second night of the Season 10 American Idol auditions and we've already seen some very impressive talent. It looks like we're going to have a lot to look forward to and it's going to be tough to decide who to root for. This is quite a big change from the way it was last year...

Speaking of things to look forward to:

We are just a few short days away from the release of a new single from the Oscar winning, Grammy winning, Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist - Jennifer Hudson!!! You can hear a sneak peek of it at her website:

http://www.jenniferhudson.com/

The brand new album is called I Remember Me and it will be in stores and available everywhere on March 22nd.

Season 10 Begins....

2011-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Season 9 of American Idol was weak to put it mildly. None of the finalists had much energy or style and the ratings dropped significantly. It was the last year for judge Simon Cowell who has decided to move on and start another talent competition show. Also, the addition of superstar judge Ellen Degeneres failed to add any excitement to the show so she ended up leaving after only one season.

The Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, has barely made a ripple in the music business with low album sales and minimal radio airplay. The 1st Runner Up, Crystal Bowersox, is doing only slightly better with a little more critical acclaim, but still not much sales or airplay.

So the 10th Season of American Idol has a lot of pressure to deliver the goods or go down in flames. The only judge returning is Randy Jackson who will now be joined by multi-platinum selling classic rocker, Steven Tyler and superstar hit maker Jennifer Lopez.

On tonight's premiere episode of auditions the judges were all optimism and enthusiasm for their first group of hopefuls. While I approached the premier with cautious anticipation, I am very happy to report that there were some very impressive voices moving forward to the Hollywood round. There was also just the right amount of emotional stories attached to these talented young singers to make you want to root for them and look forward to what else they might be able to do.

Also, the producers thankfully gave us very few mean and humiliating scenes from the delusional try-outs. So for now, American Idol is still my favorite show. :)

More favorite songs from 2010

2011-01-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I listed my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2010. Just for clarification let me explain that those songs all had to meet the eligibility for that list by reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 during 2010. I happen to be one of those people that believes that "It's not a hit until it's a hit on Billboard". Just in case you don't know, in order to reach the top of the Billboard HOT 100, a song must get the most sales and radio airplay for any given week.

There were lots of other songs that I loved in 2010 that failed to make the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Here's a list of some of my other favorites in 2010. One thing that I can say about all of these songs is that it's a shame it didn't get more sales and airplay to do better on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart....

Undo It - Carrie Underwood: The Supreme Miss American Idol and Season 4 winner is doing a great job with sales and airplay on country radio, but her crossover to mainstream pop stations this year was limited. Undo It is a great song to dance a sexy shadow to and she sounds amazing performing it live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywtJYvDBKek

If I Had You - Adam Lambert: The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up is very well loved by the critics. There are numerous things written about his amazing talents and potential. Unfortunately, he must be too good for the mainstream because his fantastic single If I Had You just wasn't connecting as broadly as it should have. This song and video embodies his unique willingness to bring some all out glam high energy exuberance to the pop world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmXQFwlD7vk

Round and Round - Selena Gomez: She is the star of the Disney Channel series the Wizards of Waverly Place, but her singles in 2010 show how she is the Disney Diva most worthy of musical attention. She is very cute and she knows how to match her vocal talent with a fun and catchy song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcvO2t8Ntg

Our Kind of Love - Lady Antebellum: The best selling album of 2010, Need You Now, was packed with great songs from beginning to end. This song became an instant favorite at Charlie's for dancing a county line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOKbvpxnTo

Naturally - Selena Gomez: This is just another example of the wonderful pop sounds this teen queen was offering during 2010. Just look at how many YouTube plays this hot track has gotten: 79 Million! Makes you wonder why that other Disney star was getting all the attention when Selena Gomez was clearly so much more awesome....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_YR4dKArgo

Feel It - Sean Kingston/Three 6 Mafia: Just one listen to this hot club jam and it was perfect for the opening sequence of the 2010 cheerleading routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FThuVI_maAs

Something Bout Love - David Archuleta: I've said it numerous times this year, but I just don't understand why this great single was overlooked by radio. The Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up has served up a wonderful slice of pop heaven with this great song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhRvd0bzIoE

Little White Church - Little Big Town: This fantastic song is exactly why two stepping is so much fun! Grab your best friend and whirl around the dance floor to this knee slapping, hand clapping witty celebration of love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B077Dw_zDe0

Bittersweet - Fantasia: The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner gave fans her best single ever with Bittersweet. It perfectly showcases her passionate voice and ability to perform heartfelt lyrics so you can really relate to what she's singing about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80lh4Oj2Ys4

Giddy On Up - Laura Bell Bundy: After starring on Broadway in Legally Blonde - The Musical, Laura Bell Bundy came out with this infectious country anthem that immediately became the favorite new line dance of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xfFbB2CRo8

In the ideal world, great songs from Country, Pop, Dance and R&B would all find their way to the upper positions of the Billboard HOT 100....

Clay Aiken, Fantasia and David Archuleta

2010-12-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

It was a very good Christmas this year because I finally got some of the great CD's released in 2010 by some of the Miss American Idol finalists. In these three releases, you can see the broad range of diverse and high quality talent that is coming out of American Idol.

David Archuleta: The Other Side of Down - This is the second album released in October 2010 by the Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up. From his first album he had a hugely successful single, Crush, that hit #2 on the Billboard HOT 100, but he had no such success with this release. The first single called Something 'Bout Love is a very catchy song with a great beat, but it just didn't connect with radio and music buyers. David is a very talented young man with a great voice and with a fresh, young innocence that it would appear is just too pure for the mainstream. I am very glad to add this fresh, young and innocent music to my collection as it is very enjoyable and you can feel the sincerity in every word David sings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1-eYBbspA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhRvd0bzIoE&feature=channel

Clay Aiken: Tried and True - In June when this collection of pop standards was released by the Season 2 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, he stepped out in front of all the others by having 5 Top 10 albums hit the Billboard charts. Being a collection of covers like Misty, Moon River and Who's Sorry Now, it's no surprise that none of them made a dent on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Having come out as openly gay, Clay is more at peace than ever doing the kind of music that he wants to do and that he does best. He exhibits his exceptional and pure vocal range on every track and the big band, jazz arrangements are outstanding. He is definitely a singer that does not need to rely on studio production at all to sound amazing. Clay is a great live performer and he makes each one of these interpretations into a fantastic showstopper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MT7vyxzxEY&feature=related

Fantasia: Back To Me - With her third release in August, the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner reached her highest position on the Billboard albums chart 8 years after her win. The years of hard work in the music business and her personal struggles have all contributed to the creation of a raw, gritty and genuine R&B album. On each track you can hear the emotion in her voice and you feel all of it as if it were happening to you. Fantasia has never been and will never be a product that is put together by a record company. She is a REAL down to earth artist with deep down in your heart SOUL. Her performance of I'm Here from the Color Purple that is included on the album illustrates her unique ability to tell a story and bring a song to life with her passionate voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84KUK3Cq0fg

Crystal's BIG Debut!

2010-12-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

The first album from Season 9 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up Crystal Bowersox makes it's debut on the Billboard albums chart at #28 this week. She had one week sales of 58,000 copies which puts her at almost 20,000 more than the Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze was able to move in his first week. For the third year in a row, we are now seeing the Miss American Idol 1st Runners Up making a bigger splash on the music scene than the winners are.

After only 5 weeks on the chart the debut album, Live It Up, from Lee DeWyze is at #119. The latest album, Back To Me, from Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, is at #123 after 17 weeks on the chart.

Leave it to the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood to be making the most significant impact on the charts to still be at #63 after 59 weeks on the chart.

Go Back Home in New 'Idol' Winners Special

2010-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

All nine "American Idol" winners, from Kelly Clarkson to Lee DeWyze, traveled to their hometowns and reflected on what life has been like since being crowned America's favorite singer on "AI: Welcome Home," a special that aired on Fox affiliates over the weekend.

In the special, the Supreme Miss American Idol, season four champ and country star Carrie Underwood visits an animal shelter with her mother and gushes about her home state of Oklahoma, saying that it "has the best people. They're wonderful and nice, and throughout my whole career you can still, at any given moment, walk down Main Street and see signs in store windows and things like that. They're very supportive."

"I love Texas," first-ever "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson gushes of her home state. "I always call it my Tara -- from 'Gone with the Wind,' you know, it's the place where Scarlett O'Hara finally went home and felt at peace. That's what Texas is for me."

Season three victor Fantasia says her goal is to "always make High Point, North Carolina, very, very proud. They support me during 'American Idol.' They support me during anything. I don't care what happens, they got my back," she laughs.

Reigning "Idol" champ Lee DeWyze, meanwhile, talks about what winning season nine meant for him. "I look at American Idol as a huge stepping stone for me," the Chicago native says. "It was a huge stepping stone and a great experience. But now it's onto the next goal."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Smq5gJ3pDY

Use the link above to see the full special.

Artists of the Year - Carrie Underwood

2010-12-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

Carrie Underwood:

The producers of American Idol got very lucky the day that young Carrie Underwood left Checotah OK to go to her very first audition for the show. She has become the living and breathing example of how the show can discover a phenomenal talent who becomes a superstar.

Carrie took her place right from the beginning as the Supreme Miss American Idol and Season 4 winner and here it is, 5 years later and she is still raising the bar higher and higher. In 2010 she not only gave an example for what the American Idol finalists can hope to achieve, but she is coming out on top of all of the others in the music business as well.

The collection of awards she has won in 2010 is staggering! She is the ACM Entertainer of the Year for the 2nd year in a row. She won the CMT Video of the Year Award for Cowboy Casanova. She won the favorite Country Album of the Year for Play On at the American Music Awards. She was honored with the CMT Artist of the Year. She completely cleaned up at the American Country Awards taking home all 6 awards that she was nominated for including Artist of the Year. And she is ending the year with another Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocalist - something that she has won three times and has been nominated for every year that she has been eligible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM7NQQ0Lfu4

In 2010 Carrie followed up Cowboy Casanova with a string of outstanding singles from Play On. The 1st one was the emotional ballad, Temporary Home, that Carrie co-wrote and holds a very special place in her heart. Her live performance of Temporary Home from Invitation Only won the CMT Award for Best Live Performance of the Year. The next single was Undo It and it was a favorite song to do a fun and sexy shadow to at Charlie's. The latest single, Mama's Song, is a wonderful song for a smooth and sweet two step with a favorite dance partner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraOiHUltak&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywtJYvDBKek&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpFW4Yhy08k&feature=channel

Carrie Underwood showed the world in 2010 that she is an all-around amazing superstar talent. She has flawless beauty and she looks stunning in everything from runway fashions to jeans and a t-shirt. She has a pure and versatile vocal talent that is unmatched. She has built up an impressive and diverse catalog of songs from her first three albums. These songs have become classic standards that people will be listening to, dancing to and being emotionally moved by for many many years to come. And along with all of this, Carrie Underwood is beloved by so many fans because she is a true sweetheart and a genuine class act.

Artists of the Year - Lady Antebellum

2010-12-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

Lady Antebellum:

As 2009 was coming to an end Country super group Lady Antebellum finally crossed over onto the pop charts with their amazing ballad, Need You Now. It easily claimed a place in my 2009 Top 10 Favorite Songs of the Year. From the very first time I heard this song it was so much more than just another love song. It speaks to me, like it does for so many others, of that deep feeling of desire to be with the one you love when you are apart from each other. Hearing just the first few notes played at Charlie's, you can see the wave of emotions come over the room as everyone looks around to find that special dance partner with whom to share a very meaningful two-step.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWWDm9x48ak

This connection that people have with the song propelled it into the upper stratosphere of super huge mega smash hits. When the Album, Need You Now, was released it shot to #1 on the charts and became the best seller of the year. Need You Now is a wonderful collection of songs from beginning to end. The other singles all have become dance floor favorites at Charlie's. American Honey is a warm and sultry shadow and Our Kind Of Love is the undisputed favorite county line. They are now touching our hearts again with their latest single, Hello World.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzzr7RbzUTs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOKbvpxnTo&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HXw3EIQoZk&feature=related

These fantastic songs have lead to many well-deserved awards throughout the year including the CMA Group of the Year, CMT Group Video of the Year and the CMT Artist of the Year. Lady Antebellum is also nominated for Grammys in the Album of the Year and Record of the Year categories.

Artists of the Year - Katy Perry

2010-12-16T21:15:00.000-08:00

Katy Perry:

I cannot imagine what 2010 would have been like without the bouncy and vibrant music of Katy Perry! With each new single and video released she kept on entertaining us with more and more unapologetic pure FUN! Back with her debut album two years ago she developed a solid base of fans and with her second album this year those fans just multiplied and took over the world!

It all started with the colorful trip to candy land and California Gurls that kept us dancing and singing all summer long. It was such a huge smash that it seemed impossible for her to follow it up with something even better, but with Teenage Dream, that's exactly what she did. When California Gurls and Teenage Dream dominated the radio airplay and the sales charts they both became #1 hits on the Billboard HOT 100 and she finished up the year with the third single, Firework, quite literally exploding onto the scene and becoming her third #1 hit song in a row.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw&feature=related

In addition to the fans not being able to get enough of her, she earned the respect of her peers who honored her with multiple Grammy nominations including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year! She is truly the feel good success story of the year and I still can't get enough of these great songs!

Artists of the Year - Usher

2010-12-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

Usher:

Some would say that Usher peaked in 2004-2005. Back then he had a multi-platinum album with a string of huge #1 hits on the Billboard HOT 100, but I never really liked any of those songs all that much.

He started out 2010 releasing a couple of singles from his upcoming new CD Raymond Vs. Raymond, and once again they weren't really impressing me. But then, he appeared on American Idol to mentor the Season 9 finalists and he performed his single, OMG. Now he finally had my attention. This song had a great beat and energy like he has never shown before. OMG skyrocketed to #1 after this appearance and he released an equally high quality next single in DJ Got Us Falling In Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnPB76mjxI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dvTjK_07c

But it wasn't just his own career that he kicked into high gear in 2010. Usher is also the mastermind behind the success of teen idol, Justin Bieber! He literally ushered his young discovery and himself to huge success in 2010 and it was all pretty great.

Artists of the Year - Fantasia

2010-12-14T20:06:00.000-08:00

Fantasia:

At the start of 2010 the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, was completely off the radar. It had been a few years since her last big hit and it didn't seem like there was anything on the horizon. But then it was announced that she was going to have her own reality show on VH1, Fantasia For Real. On the show fans had the chance to see how hard she has worked to maintain her career and support her family.

We got to see an up close and personal look at her working on the release of her new album, Back To Me. It ended up making a very strong debut on the sales chart. The first single, Bittersweet, is one of the best singles she has ever put out there. It's very catchy and she performs the heartfelt lyrics with amazing depth and emotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80lh4Oj2Ys4

She is ending 2010 with Fantasia For Real being one of VH1's highest rated shows of the year. In addition she has three Grammy nominations for Back To Me and Bittersweet. And her latest single, I'm Doin Me, is making impact on the charts as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF6EVk2yHTk&feature=channel

Crystal Bowersox - Farmer's Daughter

2010-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

We interrupt the Artists of the Year series for this important update:

The Season 9 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Crystal Bowersox, has her debut release, Farmer's Daughter, ready to hit the shelves on December 14th.

She played a big role in writing most of the songs on this collection so it will truly be a reflection of who she is as an artist. We know she has a great voice, but is lacking somewhat in the area of showmanship.

While it would be great if this catapults her into being one the Artists of the Year for 2011, but we'll have to wait and see what kind of reception this gets at radio and how good the sales are.

From Season 7, the 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta did much better on the HOT 100 with his single, Crush, than anything released by winner David Cook.

From Season 8, the 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is completely blowing the winner, Kris Allen, away in all areas from sales and airplay to media buzz and awards.

The Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, has already set the bar pretty low with the release of his first album and single, so there's a very good chance that Crystal could continue the pattern of the 1st Runners Up doing better than the winners.

Artists of the Year - Bruno Mars

2010-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

Bruno Mars:

He was just a featured vocalist on the first single, Nothin On You, from rapper B.o.B., but in 2010 Bruno Mars stepped right into the spotlight all by himself. Nothin On You is incredibly catchy, it shot to #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 and it has earned a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. And that was just a taste of what's to come....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0&feature=related

The first single from Bruno's solo album, Just The Way You Are, also leaped to the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100 and it has earned a Grammy nomination for him in the Best Pop Male Vocalist category. And once again, just the tip of the iceberg...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk

Bruno's album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, is sure to be a hit factory moving into 2011. The next single from this outstanding collection, Grenade, is already in the top 5 with a bullet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6iYWJxHqs&feature=channel

The TV show Glee has already covered his songs twice so he is definitely one to watch and enjoy!

Artists of the Year - Justin Bieber

2010-12-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Justin Bieber:

Yes, that's right. I am living in the real world and I see no point in denying that 2010 was the year of the Bieber Fever epidemic. Just stating the facts here - his two albums: My World and My World 2.0 were huge sellers - he swept the American Music Awards which are voted on by the fans taking 4 awards including Favorite Artist of the Year and he even got two Grammy nominations which are voted on by an Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences big wigs. He is up for the Grammy for Best New Artist.

The music snobs can't stand him, but the fans can't get enough of him. In my expert musical opinion, I think the songs are fun and catchy so I have nothing to complain about. That being said, I can also acknowledge that his success is due in large part to contributions from many talented musical collaborators. He hasn't actually had a big solo hit. He also has not had a song that reached the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100. His biggest hit, Baby, managed to get into the top 10 and it featured a guest rap with Ludacris. Other hits that failed to make the top 10 are Eenie Meenie which is a duet with Sean Kingston (who had one of my favorite hits of 2009 in Fire Burnin) and Somebody To Love which didn't become a hit until a remix was released as a duet with Usher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmmCg5bKxA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOI4OF7iIr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkyhvCdJ_vM

So Justin may have gotten a lot of help in 2010, but the songs were good and he deserves some recognition as one of the Artists of the Year.

Artists of the Year - Taio Cruz

2010-12-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of entries where I will be listing my favorite artists of 2010. I hope you enjoy it!

Taio Cruz:

2010 got off to a very slow start where all the best music on the radio at the start of the year was holdovers from 2009. Things were looking quite bleak and I was getting close to accepting that 2010 was just going to be the end of my being able to find and enjoy new hit music every year. I was so happy when that ended up not being the case when Taio Cruz burst onto the scene with the exhilerating club dance beats on his #1 smash Break Your Heart. It was like the dark clouds were clearing to reveal the bright and colorful spotlights on a million mirrored disco balls!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_SI2EDM6Lo

And it was even better when Taio showed that he's not going to settle for being a one hit wonder when the exhuberant sounds of his follow up song Dynamite started to get airplay. This song became THE definitive dancefloor anthem of the year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vysgv7qVYTo

Who knows what's in store for Taio Cruz in 2011, but he will always go down in history as one of my favorite artists of 2010. :)

2010 Year End Charts

2010-12-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

The #1 album on the Billboard charts for all of 2010 is I Dreamed A Dream by Susan Boyle. None of the Miss American Idol finalists managed to get into the top 10 on the year end albums chart, but it's no surprise to see who got closest...Coming in all the way up at #12 is Play On, the hit packed third album from the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood.

Further down at #29 for the year is the fun and energetic debut release by Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment. And still going strong into another year, the second album by Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry, Leave This Town, lands at #59. The third album, Back To Me, from the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, checks in at #105 while the debut from Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen, ends up at #115 for the year.

The Top 5 singles for 2010 on the Billboard HOT 100 are: #1 Tik Tok by Ke$ha, #2 the most spectacular song Need You Now by Lady Antebellum, #3 Hey Soul Sister by Train, #4 California Gurls by Katy Perry and at #5 OMG by Usher.

The Miss American Idol finalist who makes the highest showing on the year end singles chart is the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up Adam Lambert at #45 with his top 10 smash Whataya Want From Me. Also landing in the top 100 songs of the year is the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner Kris Allen at #48 with Live Like We're Dying and the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson #74 with Already Gone. Carrie Underwood lands at #88 with her crossover hit Undo It and Daughtry manages to squeeze in at #96 with Life After You.

With all of this Miss American Idol success on the albums and singles charts, they also did very well on the Billboard 2010 Top Artists of the Year chart: The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood comes in the highest at #23, Adam Lambert is at #27, Daughtry is at #51, Kris Allen lands at #57 for the year and Kelly Clarkson makes the list at #90.

Idol GRAMMY Nominations!

2010-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

This year's Grammy nominations have been announced and some of the Miss American Idol's were lucky enough to hear their names:

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood is once again being recognized in the Best Female Country Vocalist category for her hit Temporary Home.

The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is getting the first Grammy nomination of his career in the Best Male Pop Vocalist category for his smash Whataya Want From Me. While this is a very exciting nomination, he unfortunately was not nominated for Best New Artist even though he should have been.

It has turned out to be a very big year for the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia who ended up getting three Grammy nominations! She is up for Best R&B Female Vocalist, Best R&B Album for her latest release, Back To Me, and Best R&B Song for her fantastic single Bittersweet.

The Top 10 songs of 2010!

2010-11-26T20:53:00.000-08:00

2010 has been a great year for fun pop songs and here's the Top 10 of the year:

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry: No other song this year embodied the vibrant thrill of being young and in love than the title track from Katy's latest album. Not only that, but it reached the broader audience of older listeners making them feel young again. Then, this amazing song was used in an episode of Glee and it was elevated to an even higher place of significance in all of our hearts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E46BhMIRujI

Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert: The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up released a fantastic collection of songs on his debut release For Your Entertainment and was asked to be a mentor to the Season 9 finalists. They were a very dreary group, but even Adam's dynamic range and performance style couldn't get them out of their doldrums. When he performed this second single from his album on the show it leaped into the Billboard HOT 100 Top 10 singles chart. This song is the perfect response to how the media loves to scrutinize his free spirited personality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Fqn9du7xo

Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz: 2010 was getting off to a very boring start in the first three months of the year and that all changed when Taio Cruz released his debut single. This song can take credit for the sudden turn around making the radio fun to listen to again. It lead the charge of the club friendly dance beats that came to dominate the rest of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_SI2EDM6Lo

Only Girl In The World - Rihanna: Her dismal release Rated R is responsible in large part to what was making radio so boring in the first part of the year. Rihanna clearly wanted everyone to be in just as bad a mood as she was, but thankfully the first single from the album Loud turned all of that around. This song is a joyous anthem that demands your attention and you feel fantastic with no regrets afterward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa14VNsdSYM

OMG - Usher: As one of the biggest artists of the decade, Usher was never one to be a follower, but this year he could have been accused of jumping on the club dance beat bandwagon. The fact is that while this song is very danceable, it is nothing like the generic throb found in other songs. He is continuing to be an innovator releasing the most entertaining and enjoyable single of his career. Usher was also a mentor on American Idol this season and his appearance helped catapult this song to the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnPB76mjxI

Nothin' On You - B.o.B. / Bruno Mars: When you pair two completely new artists together the odds of having a hit are slim to none, but when the song is this catchy it becomes impossible to ignore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

I Like It - Enrique Iglesias: Everything about this song from it's strange Lionel Richie tribute to the fact that it's by Enrique Iglesias, who has never put out anything all that great, made me think this was just a throwaway track. Even the inclusion of the horrible Jersey Shore cast in the video couldn't stop me from admitting that yes, Baby - I LIKE IT! It's a completely feel good and fun jam every time you hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0QzUdjhIg

Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner: Here's another unknown artist who managed to find the perfect song to introduce him to the public. It's completely infectious and who can't relate to the lyrics?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWq_48LxWQ

Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars: After the success of his smooth vocals on Nothin On You, Bruno was primed and ready to have a huge solo hit and it came in the form of this toe tapper. Once again, just like with Teenage Dream, while it was still at the top of the charts, the cast of Glee injected some more life into an already amazing smash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttwW7y1x1rk

Baby - Justin Bieber: Every generation needs to have their teen idols and in 2010 they were all catching Bieber Fever. This was his biggest hit and it is well crafted to have all the ingredients of young love and innocence to appeal to exactly who it's supposed to, teenage girls and me. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

Lee DeWyze makes his debut

2010-11-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, released his debut album, Live It Up last week and the totals are in. He ended up selling just under 40,000 copies which was good enough to chart at #19 on the Billboard Albums chart.

Last year at this time the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen, broke the record for having the lowest number of copies sold in his first week and now Lee has completely shattered that record and taken it for himself!

Elsewhere on this week's Billboard album chart the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, can be found at #71 with her latest release Play On. This fantastic collection of songs has now been on the chart for over a year at 55 weeks. It has sold 1.8 million copies so far and at the American Music Awards last week it was just honored with the award for Favorite Country Album of the Year.

Also on the Billboard Album chart, in it's 13th week the latest release by the Season 3 Miss American Idol Winner Fantasia is at #80 with Back To Me. Things are continuing to be very dramatic on her VH1 Reality show, Fantasia For Real, as we are watching her embark on her album promotion efforts while trying to hold her personal life together.

2010 CMA Viewing Party!

2010-11-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

As the 2010 Country Music Association Awards was approaching I was filled with anticipation. Of course, I was looking forward to seeing the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood perform live on stage, but there was even more to be excited about.

A wonderful friend decided to host a 2010 CMA's Viewing Party in the Movie Theater at his condo. How awesome is that!!!! Watching on a big screen TV, eating pizza, cookies and cupcakes with your favorite friends!!!

The night turned out to be a super fun blast even though I am sad to report that Carrie ended up not winning either of the awards she was nominated for. But even though she didn't take home an award, she was still quite the star of the evening as she hosted the show once again with Brad Paisley. Carrie looked stunning as usual pleasing the crowd with 7 different costume changes.

She opened the show with a performance of her high energy jam Songs Like This.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az4_6wHhuzE

Later in the show she came back to sing her latest single whose video just hit the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Countdown, Mama's Song. For this lovely song she stood center stage in a beautiful long lilac gown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbbxfS2AR1I

In addition to hosting the show and having two performances, Carrie was spotted in not just one, but two commercials that were airing during the show. Carrie is the radiantly beautiful and flawless face of the new Olay ad campaign and the new commercial for the Chronicles of Narnia film features a new song written and sung by Carrie. It's called There's a Place For Us and the film opens in theaters on December 10th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE3KeVmLl1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2Vzw33v6w

Season Five Miss American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler made an appearance on the show as a presenter exuding her usual bubbly personality in a fabulous gold sparkly number. The Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is also getting back in touch with the Country audience after her successful duet with Reba a few years back. This time Kelly performed a duet on stage with Jason Aldean. She truly provided one of the best vocal performances of the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUZQodw_wY

All award shows should be viewed this way because even though none of the awards went to any of our favorite Miss American Idols, a great time was had by all and we all felt like winners! Thanks Andrew!

It doesn't get more REAL

2010-11-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0YrpnpaWSY&ob=av2n

Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, has been doing very well lately with her latest album, Back To Me, getting some of her best sales ever. She's also back on the radio with Bittersweet recently peaking at #7 on the Billboard R&B chart and her next single, I'm Doing Me, steadily climbing that chart as we speak.

But during all of this Fantasia has had to deal with some very unhappy times with a relationship falling apart, lawsuits, and a serious suicide attempt.

She is now in the second season of her VH1 reality show, Fantasia For Real, and she has not been shy about letting her fans see every detail of what's going on in her life, the good and the bad. In a recent episode she simply sat with the camera pointing at her and described her thoughts leading up to the overdose. It was very emotional, and honest and reality TV just doesn't get more REAL than this.

In other news, the season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, has released his first single called Sweet Serendipity and the complete album titled, Live it Up! will be released on Nov. 16th. So far it has not made a ripple on the airplay or the sales charts. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SaSxJkH5do

The Other Side Of Down

2010-10-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

It looks like the Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, made a big mistake by naming his second album The Other Side Of Down. The album was just released and after debuting at #13 last week on the Billboard Album chart it has dropped DOWN DOWN DOWN all the way to #71 this week. It's a real shame that the audience is not connecting with this very talented young man. The songs are very catchy and he has great vocals.

Meanwhile, after 50 weeks on the chart the latest album, Play On, by the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood is still hanging in there ahead of David at #65 this week.

Also, after 8 weeks on the chart the latest album, Back To Me, by the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia is going strong at #36 this week.

And Award Season continues....

2010-10-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is in the middle of collecting even more recognition for her fantastic music. She's already hosting, performing and poised to win a couple of awards at the CMA's coming up on November 10th and now she's nominated for more awards at two more upcoming ceremonies...

The 2010 American Music Awards will air on November 21st and Carrie is up for the Favorite Female Country Artist and for the Favorite Country Album for her latest release Play On.

Also, there's a brand new award show this year called the American Country Awards that will air on December 6th. Carrie is up for 6 awards including the overall Artist of the Year, the Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Play On, Female Single of the Year for Cowboy Casanova, Touring Headline Package of the Year, and Female Music Video of the Year also for Cowboy Casanova.

Carrie is finding herself in direct competition for the first time of her career with another Miss American Idol finalist, Season Five runner up Kellie Pickler. Kellie has two nominations for her song Didn't Know How Much I Loved You. One is for Female Single of the Year and the other is for Female Music Video of the Year.

Season Eight 2nd Runner Up, Danny Gokey, is even finding himself with a nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year!