Caleb Johnson - Testify

I think we all owe Candice Glover an apology. A lot was made in February when Glover’s Music Speaks sold a tepid 19K copies in its first week. That was the slimmest first-week sales tally ever for the debut album by an American Idol winner. Glover relinquishes that dubious record this week to this year’s Idol champ, Caleb Johnson, whose Testify sold just 11K copies in its first week.

Testify enters the Billboard 200 at #24, which is also the lowest chart entry position ever for anIdol champ’s first album. (The old record here was Lee DeWyze's Live It Up, which debuted and peaked at #19.)

At this point, it seems obvious that the fault lies not with any individual contestant, but with the agingIdol franchise itself. Idol may have a little more life left in it as a TV show, but it seems to have simply run its course an important album-selling force.

It was nice while it lasted.

The first post-Idol albums by the first five winners each sold 240K or more copies in their first weeks. The first to fall short of that level was Jordin Sparks's Jordin Sparks, which sold 119K in its first week in November 2007. Season 7 winner David Cook got the franchise back on track when David Cook sold 280K in its first week in November 2008.

The first winner to fall short of 100K was Season 8 champ Kris Allen, whose Kris Allen sold 80K in its first week in November 2009. He had to live with that embarrassment for exactly one year, until Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze's Live It Up sold about half as many copies (39K) in its first week in November 2010.

Season 10 champ Scotty McCreery reversed the downward trend (and not a moment too soon!) when Clear As Day sold 197K copies in its first week in October 2011. Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips did nearly as well when The World From the Side of the Moon sold 169K in its first week in November 2012.

But now we’re back in the cellar. Everything runs its course eventually. Glee isn’t the force it once was, either. But the fact that so few people are interested in buying the first album by an Idol winner is amazing. The ratings of the TV show are also down, but not to this degree. Nielsen reported that 10.53 million people watched the Idol finale in May. That’s about one-fourth of the 38.06 million that watched the Season 2 finale in May 2003 (the top-rated Idol finale ever).

A contributing factor, of course, is that album sales are down overall. This isn’t just an Idol problem. But industry-wide sales declines can’t explain a drop-off this steep.

You may be surprised to learn which Idol winner’s debut album sold the most copies in its first week.Kelly Clarkson? Carrie Underwood? Nope. It’s Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard, whose Soulfulsold 417K copies in its first week. That tally, as good as it was, fell short of the first-week sales by Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken, whose Measure of a Man had sold 613K copies just eight weeks earlier.

Phillip Phillips is #10

The Season 11 Miss American Idol winner, Phillip Phillips, can now claim his first hit on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. His single, Home, that he sang during the finale, sold a very impressive 278,000 downloads in it's first week available and it enters the chart all the way up at #10.  

With Phillips' single landing in the Top 10, he ends a three year absence in the upper portion of the chart for the debut single from Miss American Idol winners. The last victory single to reach the Top 10 was The Time Of My Life from Season 7 Miss American Idol winner David Cook that peaked at #3 in 2008.

For the record, the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen, hit #11 in 2009 with his winning song No Boundaries. The Season 9 Miss American Idol winner, Lee DeWyze, was only able to get to #24 in 2010 with his winning song, Beautiful Day. And last year, the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, hit #11 with his winning song I Love You This Big.

Incidentally, for the first 5 seasons of American Idol, the show was able to generate a #1 smash hit on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart starting with A Moment Like This by the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. The Season 2 Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Clay Aiken, topped the chart with his single This Is The Night. Fantasia, The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner hit #1 with I Believe. The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, reached #1 with her winning victory single Inside Your Heaven. The last #1 winning single came from the Season 5 Miss American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks and his hit Do I Make You Proud.

Idols on the Charts!

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood leads the pack of 6 albums on in the upper portion of the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week. Her release Blown Away is holding at #3 for a 2nd week after spending its first two weeks at #1. 

The newly crowned Season 11 Miss American Idol winner, Phillip Phillips' "Journey to the Finale" album debuts at #11 with 24,000 units sold. The set is exclusively sold via the iTunes Store. 


The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is at #12 with his album Trespassing.
 
The Season 10 Miss American Idol 2nd Runner Up, Haley Reinhart starts out at #17 with her debut album Listen Up! with 1st week sales of 20,000 copies.

With 18,000 copies sold, the "American Idol Season 11 - Top 2 Season Finale" EP starts out at #21.  This is a collection of songs by both Phillip Phillips and the Season 11 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Jessica Sanchez.

Further down the list at #26 is the debut of the 2nd album the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen. His collection called Thank You Camellia sold 17,000 copies in its first week. Allen's self-titled debut started at #11 with 80,000 copies sold in 2009.

The Results - Two Songs

The Top seven finalists opened the show with a very festive group performance of Dancing In The Streets that Martha and the Vandellas took to #2 in 1964. It was all fun and partying as it culminated in a rainbow colored balloon drop. The party had to come to an though when Joshua got the news that he is safe while Hollie had to take the first place in the bottom three.

The Season 5 Miss American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks, was in the audience to share his exciting news that he will be headlining in Las Vegas later this year. Taylor then introduced the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen to the stage so he could debut his new single The Vision Of Love. After getting past the initial disappointment that, despite the song title, this has nothing to with the amazing Mariah Carey, it turns out the the song is actually a pretty nice little uptempo number that shows off his smooth vocal range.

Skylar learned that she is safe, but Elise heard the news that she is once again in the bottom three.

LMFAO had a huge 2011 scoring two huge #1 hits on the Billboard HOT 100 with Party Rock Anthem and Sexy and I Know It. Tonight they showed that they are keeping the party going in 2012 with their latest single Sorry For The Party Rocking. It's another dance jam with a great beat that also shows off their wonderful sense of humor.

With Jessica and Phillip both being safe that left Colton to join Hollie and Elise in the bottom three. Sadly, with the judge's SAVE already being used there was nothing to save Colton from having his first visit to the bottom three actually having him be sent home. The American Idol journey for this talented and charismatic young man has come to an end tonight as he was revealed as the lowest vote getter of the week.

Once again, I only correctly predicted one of the bottom three and it was Elise who I got right. She really has to be the one going home next week....

Scotty McCreery is #1

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."

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.

2010 Year End Charts

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.

Lee DeWyze makes his debut

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.

No #1 for Lee

This season's "American Idol" winner and runner-up make a more tepid entry onto the Hot 100 and Digital Songs charts than in past years as Lee DeWyze sends three solo songs onto the Hot 100, Crystal Bowersox one, with the pair teaming up for a fifth debut. A year ago Kris Allen and Adam Lambert combined for nine chart entries in the week that followed the season finale.

DeWyze takes the chart's Hot Shot Debut at No. 24 with his coronation song "Beautiful Day." Assuming a dip in rank next issue, the title will be the lowest peaking "American Idol" winning performance and only the third to fall short of the top 10, joining Jordin Sparks' "This Is My Now" (No. 15) in 2007 and Kris Allen's "No Boundaries" (No. 11) last year.

Other debuts from the "Idol" finalists are DeWyze's "Hallelujah" (No. 44) and "The Boxer" (No. 88), Bowersox's "Up To the Mountain" (No. 57) and the pair's "Falling Slowly" (No. 66). As a reminder, many of the contestants' songs have been available for purchase in the iTunes Store for weeks now, but -- as has been done in years' past -- their weekly sales are withheld from SoundScan (and from appearing in the iTunes Store's own popularity lists) so as to not influence the voting public in the course of the season.

And the new American Idol is......

Season Nine is coming to an end tonight and in two hours the new American Idol will be revealed, but there's a whole party to be had leading up to that announcement. The top 12 got things started dressed in their prep school uniforms to rock it out with Alice Cooper and his top 10 hit from 1972, School's Out.

Last year at this time Adam Lambert was all over the media on magazine covers and websites as the clear front runner to win the season eight Miss American Idol crown, but in a shocking twist the title ended up going to pretty boy with no personality, Kris Allen. His first single, Live Like We're Dying, was a modest hit that failed to crack the top 10 so I'm sure there's hope that by performing his second single, The Truth, in front of millions of people tonight might make it into a hit.

The Bee Gees spent three weeks at #1 in 1977 with How Deep Is Your Love from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Siobhan Magnus has the voice and the personality that should have gotten her farther in the competition, but instead of being in the finals she had to sing this adult contemporary slow jam with the tiny little pixie, Aaron Kelly. Thankfully, the surviving members, Barry and Robin Gibb, appeared on stage to sing along with them.

The Doobie Brothers, lead by Michael McDonald, took Takin It To The Streets up to #13 in 1976 and he was joined on stage with finalist Michael Lynche. The judges wisely used the save to get Michael all the way up to the final four and earn him this chance to perform with a music industry great.

The top six girls sang a medley of Christina Aguilera hits including Beautiful and Fighter. The winner of the 1999 Grammy for Best New Artist has a new album, Bionic, coming out June 8th so she appeared tonight to debut a new song for the fans. Rather than doing her uptempo dance jam, Not Myself Tonight, she went for an intense ballad that showed off her big voice.

The top six boys sang a medley of Hall & Oates hits including the #1 smash hits I Can't Go For That and Maneater. The most successful duo of all time on the Billboard HOT 100 charts showed up in the flesh to make our dreams come true.

Crystal Bowersox put in the performances necessary all season to show that she is vocally talented and has the performance skills to be a very worthy Miss American Idol winner. She graced the stage to sing the Alanis Morisette song, Ironic, that peaked at #4 in 1996. Crystal sounded much better than the original and she continued to outsing the real Alanis who showed up to sing You Ought To Know along with her.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, season four winner Carrie Underwood has gone on to sell millions of albums, top the charts and win numerous awards including the 2006 Grammy for Best New Artist and the ACM Entertainer of the Year two years in a row. Tonight she came back to the American Idol stage to sing the latest single from her smash third album. After making huge hits out of Cowboy Casanova and Temporary Home, Undo It is sure to race up to the top of the country chart.

Bret Michaels and Poison took Every Rose Has Its Thorn to #1 in 1988 and he was joined on stage with this year's 2nd runner up, Casey James to make his "look at me, I'm a live and well" reappearance to the world.

Both Crystal and Lee went to their first American Idol audition in Chicago and Lee is actually from the Chicago suburb, Mount Prospect. So it's quite fitting that the legendary classic rock super group of the same name would be here tonight to sing with Lee. This was the perfect fit for Lee because with the huge horn section you could hardly hear his weak vocals at all.

In honor of this being the last night on American Idol for Simon Cowell, former judge Paula Abdul came back to make a loopy speech in his tribute. It was kinda nice to see her, but it was also pretty awkward. And then things turned around when the parade of Miss American Idol winners started with Season One Winner Kelly Clarkson singing an inspirational ballad. She was joined by Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and Kris Allen. For some reason David Cook couldn't make it, but the season seven 1st runner up David Archuleta lead the pack of other former finalists who filled the stage in appreciation of Simon.

How do you follow such a jam packed stage full of stars? With superstar Janet Jackson of course! She started with a medley of Again and Trust In Me and then shouted "Gimme a beat" and launched into her classic pop jam, Nasty.

With just minutes remaining until one of them is crowned the new Miss American Idol, Crystal and Lee sang a rousing version of With A Little Help From My Friends along with Joe Cocker.

And then the announcement was made. The golden envelope was opened to reveal that the Season Nine Miss American Idol is ... Lee DeWyze!

Crystal was robbed just like Adam Lambert was. I guess we have the American Idol voters to thank for this musical embarrassment.

Goodbye to four more....

The Black Eyed Peas sing in their 2009 #1 smash I Gotta Feeling tonight's gonna be a good night, but with the remaining finalists singing it to open the show, it's definitely not gonna be a good night for the four who are being sent packing.

Tim, Michael, Casey, and Todrick are all safe while John couldn't stop gravity from dragging him down and off the show. He bored the crowd one more time with his bland singing.

Lee, Aaron, Alex, and Andrew are also all safe leaving Jermaine to be sent on his way. With his style and vocal range fans may have been left wondering what's going on with this departure, but he still had to sing for his last time.

The dreadful season 8 Miss American Idol 2nd runner up Danny Gokey came back to torture viewers with his limited vocal range and lack of stage presence. Last week's returning Idol, Kris Allen has moved up one place on the Billboard HOT 100 this week to #18 with his single Live Like You're Dying. The song he actually sang last week, Let It Be has made it's debut on the chart at #63.

Lilly, Paige, Katie and Didi are all safe while the fans didn't have their arms wide open for Michelle. She struggled her way through her poor song choice one more excruciating time.

Katelyn, Crystal, Siobhan, and Lacey are all safe as well leaving Haeley to climb her way back down from her Idol peak. Once again, I gotta say she's still better than Miley when she smiles and sings.

This week I managed to get two of my predictions correct in John and Michelle. Let's keep hoping that the remaining finalists get better next week.....

Someones gotta go...

24 finalists who weren't so spectacular this week all came together to sing Estelle's 2008 hit American Boy and it wasn't so spectacular. Time to get rid of four of them....

Siobhan, Haeley, Michelle, Katelyn and Katie were all safe and Janell was the first to learn she is going home. She sang What About Love one last time.

The top girl on Miss American Idol Season 8 was 3rd runner up Alison Iraheta. She's released her first album to some great reviews but it has gotten ZERO radio or video airplay. Tonight she had her big chance to get some exposure to a huge audience, but the song she did, Scars, wasn't the best track on the album. She looked great and sounded pretty good, it's just the material that could have been better.

Paige, Lacey, Lilly, Crystal, and Didi were all safe and Ashley had to get the unhappy news that she has reached the end of the road. She then had to get through singing Happy once more.

Michael, John, Aaron, Todrick, and Tim were all safe and Joe had to get the surprise that he's done in this competition. But then he sang his drab version of You and I and it didn't seem so surprising anymore that he's leaving.

Idol gives back is returning this year on April 21st. The Season 8 Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen, is here tonight to sing a song whose sales will all go toward benefiting earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. It was #1 for 2 weeks in 1970 for the Beatles and I'm sure the hope is that this very weak version by Kris will have some similar impact, but even if it is a charity single, I don't ever want to hear it again. He really should have taken advantage of this chance to promote his single Live Like You're Dying that has just reached a new peak position of #19 on the Billboard HOT 100 this week.

Casey, Jermaine, Lee, Andrew, and Alex were all safe and Tyler got kicked all the way back to the 70's because he isn't coming back here next week. He served us one last helping of American Woman before truckin out of here.

I only got one of my predictions correct by knowing that Janell would be going. It's amazing that people voted to keep Tim and Alex in the competition. These boys have to get a lot better to curb my suffering. I may just have to give in and watch them with the volume down. That must be what everyone else is doing.

A Supreme Super Bowl!

It was just announced that the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood will be singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday February 7th! She joins Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and Season Three finalist Jennifer Hudson who have already had this honor. Carrie is sure to do a fantastic job!

Meanwhile, on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart the Season Eight Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen, has reached a new peak with his single, Live Like We're Dying, coming in at #25. Also, The Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st runner-up, Adam Lambert, is also seeing some gains as his single, Whataya Want From Me, jumps up to #37.

Switching gears to the reality television world of Season Three Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, we learned that she is struggling with her record company over the first single to be released from her new album. Fantasia is so firm that her favorite track called Move On Me should be a single, that she is considering switching to a new record company who will see things her way.

We also had the chance to see Fantasia celebrate her 25th birthday with friends and family. Missing from the festivities was her estranged brother who is so self-absorbed in his desire to be a rich and famous recording star that he keeps refusing to patch things up with his sister. In addition, Fantasia has another older brother who has aspirations to be front and center in the singing spotlight. He has been very supportive working all these years as one of Fantasia's back-up singers, but he has announced that he can't take it anymore and he has to take the chance to be a star in his own right.

Both of these brothers seem to have a sense of entitlement at being mega rich superstars and their inability to learn from everything that Fantasia has gone through to maintain her career is evident.

Fantasia For Real on VH1 is continuing to be a very insightful and entertaining glimpse into the world of life after being crowned the Miss American Idol. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest that you give it a look.

Another Season of American Idol

We've survived the first two cities of the Season Nine Miss American Idol auditions in Boston and Atlanta. It looks like we may have already seen a couple of contestants who may make it pretty far in the competition this year!

Until the crowning of the Season Nine Miss American Idol winner here's a look at what's going on with the previous group on this week's Billboard charts. There's actually quite a bit happening:

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is still going strong on the Top Albums chart with her latest, Play On, hanging in there at #18.

The Season Five Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Katherine McPhee manages to make a ripple on the chart with her album, Unbroken, debuting at #27.

The Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is at #40 with his release For Your Entertainment.

The Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Chris Daughtry is hanging in there at #59 with his sophomore album, Leave This Town.

Finally, holding on for dear life at #97 this week is the self-titled debut album from the Season Eight Miss American Idol winner, Kris Allen.

There's also quite a bit of activity on the Billboard HOT 100 Singles chart this week:

After peaking at #13, the Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is now at #25 with Already Gone, the third single from her album, All I Ever Wanted.

Despite the weak showing of his album, Kris Allen's single, Live Like We're Dying is at #33 this week after peaking at #30.

The lead single, Cowboy Casanova, from Carrie Underwood's album Play On peaked at #11 and it is at #43 this week.

Chris Daughtry is at #56 with his single Life After You.

The title track from Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment pretty much fizzled at radio so he is already working the second single, Whataya Want From Me, which is at #65. In fact, all day today VH1 has been playing the video at the top of every hour, so hopefully that will give it a push.

Carrie Underwood is also already working the second single from her album with Temporary Home making it's debut this week at #89.

The premiere episode of Season Three Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia's reality show on VH1, Fantasia For Real was on this week. We got an inside look at how even after winning, it takes a lot of hard work to stay on top. We learned that at only 25, Fantasia is supporting 6 members of her family - and they aren't all that appreciative of her work. Especially her 28 year old brother who would rather go test drive Ferrari's than get a real job. Fantasia seems to have a pretty smart manager who is working closely with her to get a new album and single released so we'll have to wait and see how successful it turns out to be in the next few weeks....

The Billboard chart gets GLAM!!!

In a week when the reigning Miss American Idol's debut album plummets from #11 all the way down to #35 people can say that the Idol magic is gone. While that may be the case for the Season 8 winner, Kris Allen, it's not the same in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. This week there are two Miss American Idol finalists showing strong sales and having some magical impact.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, season 4 winner Carrie Underwood sold another 124,000 copies of her latest release Play On and she's at #9 on the chart this week.

Meanwhile, there's some very Glam action happening at #3 where the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert makes a strong debut with his release For Your Entertainment. He sold 198,000 copies in his first week in the stores.

Kris Allen takes the record for.....

Kris Allen's self titled album Kris Allen debuts at #11 on the Billboard 200 album's chart with first-week sales of 80,000. It's the first debut album by a Miss American Idol winner not to debut in the top 10. This also makes Kris Allen the new record holder for the lowest first-week sales tally for an Idol winner's debut.

So now the sweet and wonderful Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks doesn't have to hold onto that record anymore when two years ago she debuted at #10 with sales of 119,000.

The Supreme Miss American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is still in the top 10 this week with with her album Play On garnering more sales than Kris.

Is all the recent publicity going to be enough to get this year's 1st runner up, Adam Lambert some huge sales numbers? We'll know next week....

American Music Awards 2009

Overall the 2009 American Music Awards was quite a lot of musical entertainment. There were hot performances by the biggest hitmakers of the year including Lady Gaga and the Black-Eyed Peas.

Miss American Idol Season Five 3rd runner up Chris Daughtry performed, but he ended up going home empty handed. Even the Supreme Miss American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood, who provided one of the best performances of the night of her current smash hit Cowboy Casanova, had to allow the reigning artist of the year, Taylor Swift, to accept the award for favorite Country Female Vocalist. After Carrie has won it for the past three years, it's acceptable for her to pass the torch to the young woman who would be nothing if she hadn't blazed the trail for her in the first place. One of these days it would be nice if Taylor thanked Carrie when she's up there accepting an award for paving the way and making country music popular with young people again.

Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson was also on stage performing her latest hit, but they truly saved the best for last when Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert gave the first live performance ever of his new single For Your Entertainment. He gave us all the glam we've come to expect from him with his energetic and showstopping over the top vocal extravaganza. His new album is in stores tomorrow. The perfect holiday gift!!!

Season Eight Miss American Idol winner Kris Allen did not perform, but he was there to present an award. His new album hit stores last week, so we'll see how many copies it sold and where it's gonna land on the charts very soon.

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....

Idol struggling chart action

Here we are almost two months after Kris Allen was crowned the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner. He had his initial explosion on the charts, but he is now no where to be found. The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is also absent from the charts. Adam may show up on the charts in the near future with the unauthorized release of a single called Want that he recorded back in 2005. He has gone on the record stating that he is not supporting the promotion of this release, so it is quite possible that his fans will also not support it. While Adam is not on the charts, he is getting plenty of press as the cover boy on magazines such as Rolling Stone.

For months now the Billboard HOT 100 has been ruled by the huge smash by the Black Eyed Peas, Boom Boom Pow, that spent 12 weeks at #1. They are so hot this summer that they successfully achieved the very rare feat of replacing themselves at #1 with the follow up single, I Gotta Feeling. With all of this Black Eyed Peas domination, the American Idols have been struggling to make a dent on the Billboard HOT 100.

This week the Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks is making the best showing of the group with her first single from her second album. It's called Battlefield and it's at #30. I expect that it will climb higher in the next few weeks as it is quite catchy and showcases her great voice. The video is in heavy rotation on VH1.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson is sitting at #32 with her latest single, I Do Not Hook Up. Unfortunately, it is on the way down on the chart after peaking at #20 a few weeks ago. In an unexpected surprise, Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Chris Daughtry is floundering with the first single from his second album. The song No Surprise is all the way down at #47 this week after recently peaking at #15.

My favorite song by a Miss American Idol finalist on the Billboard HOT 100 this week comes from Season 5 finalist, Kellie Pickler. Her song The Best Days Of Your Life is at #50 this week. While it only peaked at #46 last week I encourage everyone to check this song out as it is lots of fun to sing along with and two step around the dance floor with.

Without the American Idols represented on the charts lately they should take a lesson from the following stellar pop gems that are my personal favorites and also dominating sales and radio airplay:

Sean Kingston is at #6 this week with Fire Burning
Pitbull is at #8 this week (after peaking at #2) with I Know You Want Me

These songs are just an example of the kind of material the American Idols should try to release if they want to remain competitive on the Billboard HOT 100. I have a lot of faith that Adam Lambert is going to be able to be a contender.

Finally, the legendary Mariah Carey has just released a new single called Obsessed that should be making a significant impression on the charts in the coming weeks. She is continuing to set the standard for musical success by releasing catchy material that is relevant even after 19 years in the business.

Another year without a #1

For the first five seasons of American Idol, shortly after the glittering coronation ceremony, there was a new #1 song on the Billboard HOT 100 from one of the Idol Finalists. Kelly Clarkson hit the top in Season One with A Moment Like This. Season Two Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Clay Aiken, hit #1 with This Is The Night. Fantasia topped the chart in Season Three with I Believe. The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood had a #1 smash with Inside Your Heaven and the Season Five winner, Taylor Hicks continued the streak of #1 hits with Do I Make You Proud.

Season Six winner Jordin Sparks marked the first time for the winning single to not hit the top of the Billboard HOT 100. Her song, This Is My Now, didn't even make the top 15 and it dropped off the chart quickly. The Season Seven winner, David Cook, managed to get up to #3 with The Time Of My Life, but this year's winner, The Season Eight Miss American Idol, Kris Allen will also have to settle for a chart debut outside of the top 10. His single, No Boundaries, has made it's chart debut this week at #11 selling 134,000 downloads.

While this may seem like it's bad news for the future success of the Miss American Idols, all of the other chart news isn't so bad. Turns out that seven (7) songs in the top 40 of the Billboard HOT 100 belong to American Idol finalists.

Three of the seven songs in the top 40 this week by American Idols belong to Kris Allen. Along with his No Boundaries at #11 he has his version of Heartless at #16 and his cover of Ain't No Sunshine at #37. The Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert, was able to sell 115,000 copies of Mad World for it to land at #19.

Last year's winner, David Cook, performed his new single, Permanent, on the American Idol finals and it propelled the song to debut at #24 this week. Kelly Clarkson is continuing to enjoy success with the singles from her latest album, All I Ever Wanted. Her former #1 smash hit, My Life Would Suck Without You is still at #30 this week, while the follow up single, I Do Not Hook Up is at #32.

It may come as a surprise that Adam Lambert, who many regarded as the finalist with the most potential, only had one song in this week's top 40, but there's one other bit of information that cannot be overlooked. An i-tunes album called Season Eight Favorite Performances was made available for both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. While Kris' collection of songs made it's debut on the album chart at #50 (10,000 downloads), Adam's collection came in all the way at #33 (16,000 downloads).

In the weeks ahead we'll see if their songs drop off the charts quickly or if they have some staying power....