2 Top 5 Idols

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.

More favorite songs from 2010

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

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 Bowersox - Farmer's Daughter

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.

The Other Side Of Down

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.

New music, TV and videos!

The Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, released his 2nd full album of music on October 5th called The Other Side of Down. The 1st single, Something 'Bout Love, has been out for a few weeks now but it has failed to generate much sales and airplay even though it is a very fun and catchy dance pop song. It's a shame. Next week we'll see how well he does on the album chart....

On the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart, the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert reaches a new peak position of #30 with his awesome high energy hit If I Had You. Also, The Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Chris Daughtry also reaches a new peak position of #40 with his latest single, September.

Just as predicted after seeing her in concert, The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, has filmed the video for her latest single, Mama's Song, and it depicts her real life mother looking through a scrapbook of memories after Carrie's wedding to hockey player Mike Fisher. Let's hope the lyrics to the song ring true and Carrie has really found the man who her mother can be assured is "good and treats your little girl like a real man should".

The 2nd season of the reality show starring the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, has started on VH1. The good news is that Fantasia has kicked her brothers out of her house and her mother has gotten a place of her own. It's a step in the right direction for Fantasia to start taking better care of herself and her daughter. She's also got to be able to focus on finishing her latest album and getting to promoting it and getting the video filmed. It's a lot of fun seeing all the behind the scenes action leading up to its release.

Finally, it is official that the new judges panel for Season 10 will be Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson. It doesn't really matter who the judges are as long as we get some talented and interesting finalists. Last year's group was so bland and boring the show can only go up from here....

Upcoming IDOL releases

A few of the Miss American Idol finalists have some new music that is going to be released in the next couple of months:

The one coming first is from Season Three Miss American Idol winner Fantasia. Her new album, Back to Me, will be in stores this Tuesday August 24th. The first single from the album, Bittersweet, is continuing to make small gains each week on the chart so it could have at least Top 40 potential.

The Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner-Up, David Archuleta, will have his new music in stores on October 5th. We've already heard the first single, Something 'Bout Love, but it still hasn't made a ripple on the charts yet. The video for the song was just released so that might give this very fun and catchy dance pop jam a little more exposure and get people to pay attention to it.

Finally, on November 16th the Season Nine Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, will have his debut album in stores. No new single has leaked out yet so I can't really say much else except he's gonna have to work really hard to have a hit.

Something Bout Love

The Season 7 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up David Archuleta has released a new single to itunes today. It's called Something Bout Love and it's a very fun and catchy dance pop summer anthem. It's a little more radio friendly than his earlier singles so it could actually have some potential to be a hit. In it's first week out it's only at #94 on the itunes chart, but who knows what might happen.

Elsewhere on the itunes chart, The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up Adam Lambert is at #42 with If I Had You. It's a great song that deserves more sales and airplay.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood is still hanging in there at #30 with Undo It, but there aren't any other Idol finalists having much chart impact lately.

The Results - Adam Lambert!

Last week's results show performers, Jason DeRulo and Rihanna, don't need any bump from their American Idol performance as they are already enjoying long rides at the top of the Billboard charts. The Season Seven 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, surely would have liked a bump after his performance last week, but there is no new action for him on either the Billboard HOT 100 or the itunes chart this week. Usher, the mentor from two weeks ago, sees his single, OMG, land at #14 on the Billboard HOT 100.

Once again, the opening group performance sounds so incredibly fake and over produced that it's shameful. It's like the producers are openly admitting that these kids can't sing. This medley of Elvis hits was downright cheesy.

Aaron, Casey and Andrew were all called to the center of the stage hopefully to all be eliminated tonight, but unfortunately, both Aaron and Casey are safe. The only good news to come from this is that Andrew is finally being sent home. The world can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we won't have to be bored by his dreary singing ever again.

Season Seven finalist Brooke White wasn't a very good singer back then and tonight upon her return to the American Idol stage we learn that she still isn't very good. She got up there still completely lacking vocal range and personality to sit at her piano again and sing another sleep inducing song. There is no American Idol bump expected after this weak effort.

Crystal, Siobhan and Lee are all safe this week leaving Michael, Tim and Katie up for possible elimination.

In Season Eight, the audience was treated each week to one of the most dynamic, electric and mesmerizing entertainers in American Idol history. Adam Lambert somehow ended up as the 1st Runner Up, but he's the only finalist to ever come back and mentor the latest group. He once again commanded the stage with an exceptional performance of his latest single, Whataya Want From Me. Even with his own songs, he knows how to mix up the arrangement and the vocals and present something fresh and captivating. It recently peaked at #20 on the Billboard HOT 100, but it should hopefully see a significant bump after this great showstopping effort.

Tim and Michael are both safe leaving Katie Stevens to be eliminated from the competition way too soon. She's a talented young woman with her whole life ahead of her that will surely be filled with many more opportunities.

I only got one of my bottom three predictions correct, but at least it was the long overdue elimination of Andrew Garcia. The elimination of Katie was completely unexpected. We wish her the best!

The Results - Lennon/McCartney

Last weeks mentor, Usher, had a huge sales week after his performance on the show selling over 300,000 copies of his latest release, Raymond Vs. Raymond, to debut at #1 on the Billboard album chart. The song he performed, OMG, is currently #6 on the itunes sales chart so it should make a pretty strong leap on the Billboard HOT 100 chart as well. Unfortunately, the Season Two Miss American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard, saw no such sales bump as a result of his performance last week.

This week, the top 9 opened the show with a Beatles medley that sounded completely over-produced and fake. None of these finalists actually sound this good. It was a very obvious lip sync. But the girls looked simply fabulous in their 60's mod mini dresses!

Getting the good news out of the way first, it was revealed that all three girls, Crystal, Siobhan and Katie are all safe this week.

Jason Derulo hit #1 in 2009 with his smash hit dance jam Whatcha Say and tonight he performed his follow up single that recently peaked at #8 on the Billboard HOT 100, In My Head.

One of John Lennon's most amazing songs, Imagine, hit #3 in 1971 and was performed on the American Idol stage in Season Seven. David Archuleta, who ended up being the Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up that year, came back tonight to entertain the fans with his fantastic rendition of this exceptional song. He sounded great.

Lee, Casey and Tim are all safe leaving Michael, Andrew, and Aaron as the bottom three. Aaron was then informed that he was also safe.

Rihanna has been the biggest hit maker on the charts of the last 5 years hitting #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 six times including Rude Boy which is at the top of the chart this week. Tonight she introduced the world to her next single, Rock Star 101, which is sure to be another hit.

With Andrew finally in the bottom two where he belongs, we got the shock that he is once again safe and Michael Lynche is the lowest vote getter of the week. He did a great job singing for his life hoping the judges would save him. And it worked! All nine finalists will be coming back next week including Michael.

I got two of my predictions right this week with both Andrew and Aaron ending up among the lowest vote getters. If we are lucky, they will both go home next week.

2009 Year End Charts

The #1 album on the Billboard charts for all of 2009 is Fearless by Taylor Swift. None of the Miss American Idol finalists managed to get into the top 10 on the year end albums chart, but it's somewhat of a surprise to see who got closest...

Coming in all the way up at #13 is the debut album from Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook! Who would have thought that his album that failed to generate any hit singles would end up selling this well and staying on the chart for so many weeks?

Further down at #33 for the year is the fun and hit packed release by Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted. The second album by Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry, Leave This Town, lands at #37 while the debut from Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, ends up at #59 for the year.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood, places two albums on the year end chart with Carnival Ride still going strong at #60 and her latest release, Play On, coming in at #73 after only a few weeks on the chart during the year.

Rounding out the top 200 albums of 2009, we find Jennifer Hudson's album at #103, Chris Daughtry's first album sticking around at #130, and the album with the super fun hit single, The Best Days of Your Life, Kellie Pickler coming in at #152.

The Top 5 singles for 2009 are only by three artists! The Black Eyed Peas come in at #1 with Boom Boom Pow, Lady Gaga takes both #2 and #3 with Poker Face and Just Dance and then the Black Eyed Peas return at #4 with I Gotta Feeling. Taylor Swift manages to squeeze in at #5 with Love Story.

The American Idol finalist who makes the highest showing on the year end singles chart is Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson at #23 with her #1 smash My Life Would Suck Without You.

Also landing in the top 100 songs of the year is Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks at #57 with Battlefield, Chris Daughtry at #63 with No Surprise and then Kelly Clarkson comes back at #91 and #95 with her follow up singles, I Do Not Hook Up and Already Gone.

With all of this Miss American Idol success on the albums and singles charts, they also did very well on the Billboard 2009 Top Artists of the Year chart: #14 - Kelly Clarkson, #33 - David Cook, #35 - Carrie Underwood and #37 - Daughtry.

Idol Grammy Nominations

The Grammy nominations were just announced this week and there will be no new Miss American Idol names added to the list of winners this year. Both the Season Seven Miss American Idol winner and first runner up, David Cook and David Archuleta were completely overlooked.

There were only a small handful of American Idol related nominees this year and they are both previous winners. Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson could be adding a third Grammy to her collection if she wins this year for Best Pop Vocal Album for her fun and catchy collection All I Ever Wanted. This is a category where she has won before for her 2005 album Breakaway.

And of course, the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is getting recognized once again by the Academy. For the fourth year in a row she is up for the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She's won it three years in a row, but this year her competition is from that teenage award winning dynamo Taylor Swift so the streak could be broken. Also, she's up against Martina McBride for her performance of I Just Call You Mine which is one of my favorite songs. Carrie is nominated for Just A Dream which is a totally award worthy song, so she has a good chance of overcoming the competition again this year.

Carrie is also nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet of I Told You So with Randy Travis. If she wins in these two categories her total Grammy wins will be at six! But let's not get ahead of ourselves....

Carrie Underwood back at #1

Carrie Underwood's "Play On" bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week, shifting 318,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's the country star and former "American Idol" champ's second album to top the Billboard 200, after her sophomore set "Carnival Ride" bowed in the penthouse with 527,000 in 2007. Underwood's debut effort, "Some Hearts," started at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2005 and at No. 1 on Top Country Albums with 315,000.

"Play On's" 318,000 sum is also the largest sales week for an album by a woman in 2009.

This debut at #1 arrives on the same day that the Season Four Miss American Idol winner co-hosts the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. She performed her smash hit Cowboy Casanova which has been the #1 video on CMT's Top 20 countdown for three weeks now.

The big winner at the CMA's turned out to be the young woman who has been following in Carrie's footsteps all year. 19 year old Taylor Swift ended up winning the awards for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Entertainer of the Year. Just like Carrie did earlier this year at the ACM's, Taylor ended up snagging the biggest prize of the night from the old boys club.

The next big award show of the season will be the American Music Awards Sun. Nov. 22nd. Once again Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry are the only Miss American Idol finalists who managed to get any nominations. Neither of last years top two, David Cook or David Archuleta, have made a ripple in the music awards season so far. The glaring omission from the 2009 American Music Awards nominations is Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. She had a huge #1 smash early in the year with My Life Would Suck Without You and it is certainly deserving of recognition.

This year's top two, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, are right at the beginning of their opportunity for ongoing success in the music world with new albums coming out this month. We'll just have to wait and see what happens....

The Results - DISCO!!!!

Before she became an American Idol judge she was a chart topping hit maker hitting #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 six times from 1988 to 1991. And before that she was the most sought after award winning choreographer. Everybody wanted their video choreographed by Paula Abdul. Tonight, while the top 7 finalists performed the Jacksons top 10 smash from 1979, Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground), they danced to smoking hot disco dance moves provided courtesy of Paula Abdul.

Lil Rounds was the first finalist to learn that she is one of the two finalists to be going home tonight. She performed I'm Every Woman one last time.

Freda Payne hit #3 in 1970 with Band of Gold. She came out to the American Idol stage to start a medley of dance hits. Freda was followed by Thelma Houston who spent one week at #1 in 1977 with Don't Leave Me This Way. After singing her chart topper Thelma introduced Harry Casey who is better known as KC from KC and the Sunshine Band. From 1975 to 1980 they had five huge #1 smash hits on the Billboard HOT 100. With so many hits to choose from he decided to entertain the crowd with the one that started it all, his first one - Get Down Tonight.

Kris Allen then learned that he is safely returning next week to perform again. We can also look forward to another exciting musical interpretation from Adam Lambert. Unfortunately, Danny Gokey is going to come back to torture us again next week. Anoop Desai got the news that he is once again in the bottom three. In an unpleasant turn of events, Matt Giraud, who should have gone home last week, managed to get enough pity votes to keep him safe for another undeserved week, putting the very talented Allison Iraheta in the bottom three with Anoop.

In another example of what should have been, the finalist who was robbed of the Miss American Idol crown last year, David Archuleta came back to the American Idol stage to sing his latest single, Touch My Hand. David is even more charming, adorable and talented than he was last year and this song is a fun, uptempo slice of pure entertainment. If you haven't checked out his self-titled debut album, you have to hear what you're missing.

Turning things around, we don't have to complain about what should have been tonight. Anoop is finally going home tonight after consistently being one of the lowest vote getters every week. His dreary rendition of Dim All The Lights closed out the show.

This week I got two out of three predictions correct, but only was right about one of the two going home. Matt is over staying his welcome for another week. With just five remaining, who is going to be good enough to stand next to Adam in the finals?

Season 8 Begins...

We just got through two nights of the Season 8 auditions. It was more of the same as the judges humiliated the delusion young people and shattered their dreams and made them cry. I see no point in writing about these first few weeks of each season. Once we get to the top finalists and their performances I will resume the reviews...

Until then, we have Lady GaGa holding on to the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100 for a second week with Just Dance. There aren't any Miss American Idol finalists near the top of the charts this week. David Cook is continuing to make a respectable showing on the album chart with his debut, but the single, Light On, just hasn't been able to rise very high on the airplay and sales charts. Just like with the video for David Archuleta's, Crush, the video for Light On is doing very well on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown.

So with no current action going on with the Idols on the charts here's a few things we can look forward to:

Jennifer Hudson will be singing the National Anthem at the SuperBowl on Feb. 1st.

The Grammy Awards will be on Feb. 8th and we'll get to see if Jordin Sparks, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson will come home winners.

Season One Miss American Idol Winner, Kelly Clarkson, is going to try and make us all forget her totally dreary last album My December by releasing some new material finally. The artwork for her new single, My Life Would Suck Without You, is bursting with vibrant and fun energy. She's all dolled up with cherry red lipstick holding a heart shaped lollipop. That song could be hitting the charts any day now and I expect it to be her biggest hit since she peaked at #2 in 2005 with Since U Been Gone. The new album is called All I Ever Wanted and it will be released on March 17th.

2008 Year End Charts

The #1 album for all of 2008 on the Billboard chart is As I Am by Alicia Keys. It's no surprise that the only Miss American Idol finalist to be in the top ten on the Year End Album chart is the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood. She lands at #9 with her hit packed second release, Carnival Ride.

You have to go all the way down to #33 to find the next Miss American Idol finalist represented on the chart. Season Five 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry continued to have success through 2008 with his first album that was the #1 album for all of 2007 on that Year End Chart. Just a little bit behind Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, the Season Six Miss American Idol winner ends up at #35 with her debut album.

Carrie Underwood's first release, Some Hearts, that first hit the shelves back in 2005, continues to sell so well that it holds onto the #89 position on the 2008 Year End Chart. Her three year old album came out ahead of the debut release from Oscar winner and Season Three finalist, Jennifer Hudson, who sits at #93.

The only other Miss American Idol finalist is represented further down the chart, the under-appreciated album from Season Six 1st Runner Up, Blake Lewis, could only beat box it's way to #150 on the 2008 Year End Chart.

The top 5 songs of 2008 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart are: 1. Low - Flo Rida 2. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis 3. No One - Alicia Keys 4. Lolli Pop - Lil' Wayne 5. Apologize - One Republic.

Just missing the top 5, Season Six Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks lands at #6 with her duet with Chris Brown, No Air. Chris Brown actually ended up as the #1 Artist on the entire Billboard HOT 100 also landing at #9 and #10 with his smash hit songs, With You and Forever. Jordin Sparks definitely selected the right person to work with in 2008!

All by herself Jordin managed to end up at #30 with her hit song, Tattoo. She also made the 2008 year end chart at #61 with her third single, One Step At A Time, all from her debut album.

Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, logs in at #69 for the year with his winning song, The Time Of My Life. That's just a little bit above the first single from David Archuleta, The Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, who rests at #76 with Crush.

The final song from a Miss American Idol finalist to register on the 2008 year end Billboard HOT 100 chart comes from Chris Daughtry with Feels Like Tonight at #95.

Overall, it was another great year on the charts for the Miss American finalists. I can certainly say the Jordin Sparks turned out to exceed just about everyone's expectations. She got off to a very slow start, but proved she has what it takes to be a smash hit!

Top New Artists of 2008

Every year at this time Billboard Magazine reveals which artists have been the biggest sellers and chart makers of the last 12 months. The Miss American finalists have been putting in a great showing every year and 2008 is no different.

Billboard has just revealed the Top New Artists of 2008. These are exclusively considering those artists who hit the chart for the very first time in 2008. The #1 New Artist of 2008 is X Factor winner, Leona Lewis, but right behind her at #2 on the list is the Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks!

It's no surprise that Jordin would put in such a great showing on this list as the radio airwaves were dominated by the string of hits that came off her debut album. This was a stark change from the reception of her winning single, This Is My Now, that completely fizzled on the charts. Thankfully, when it came time for her song, Tattoo, to come out radio completely embraced her and put it in heavy rotation. That was followed by the Grammy nominated and inescapable duet with Chris Brown, No Air. Jordin was now solidified as a teenage smash hit maker when her next single, One Step At A Time got the kids up on the dancefloor.

Further down on the year end chart for the top new artists, Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook is taking his place at #8. While his winning single, The Time Of My Life, peaked at #3, he earned this position largely due to the fact that he totally dominated the Billboard HOT 100 the week after he won. David Cook had a total of 11 songs on the chart in the same week. For that brief moment in time he achieved a chart status that can only be compared to The Beatles.

Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta lands at #10 on the list of the Top New Artists of 2008. This comes on the strength of his hugely popular debut release, Crush, that has enjoyed heavy airplay and sales for the past few months.

More 2008 year end charts will be coming out soon.....

Chart Debut action

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

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

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

And the American Music Award goes to....

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

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

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

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

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

David Archuleta makes his debut

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

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

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