The nominations for the 2008 American Music Awards have been announced and once again the Miss American Idol finalists are very well represented. In their wildest dreams did they ever think they would be catapulted into the elite stratosphere of a music legend like Mariah Carey? But here they are!
While Mariah is nominated for Favorite R&B Album for her latest stellar release E=MC2 as well as for Favorite Pop Female Vocalist, there's a few Idols in there also. Daughtry is still having huge success from his debut album getting nominations for Favorite Pop Group and for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist. This year Daughtry will have to compete against Season Six Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks who is also nominated for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist. This is Jordin's first big award nomination and I think she has a great chance of winning it. All the voting is based on online votes from the fans and I have already made her my choice.
The true veteran of award shows is the Supreme Miss American Idol winner from Season Four, Carrie Underwood. She is once again destined to add more trophies to her huge collection with nominations for Favorite Country Female Vocalist and Favorite Country Album for the wonderful Carnival Ride. We'll have to wait until Sunday November 23rd to find out who the winners are, but it should be a great night of entertainment to look forward to if these incredible nominees all perform.
It's also been a big week on the charts for the Miss American Idol Alumni Association. Season Five Finalist Kellie Pickler landed at #9 with her second album, but she was completely overshadowed by the Oscar Winning powerhouse diva from Season Three. Jennifer Hudson has finally released her debut album and it shot all the way up to #2 on the chart with sales over 200,000. Her amazing single, Spotlight, is continuing it's climb up the Billboard HOT 100. The original mix is fantastic, but I decided to also buy the funtabulous dance mix as well and I am loving it!
Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, has released his first single , Light On, from his upcoming album and it made it's debut at #17. That's quite a bit lower from the spectacular hot shot debut at #2 for Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner-Up, David Archuleta, a few weeks ago. David Archuleta's single, Crush, is still at #25 on the chart. Crush is also having huge success on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown where it is the channel's #1 video!
David Cook may have won the Miss American Idol crown, but David Archuleta is winning the competition so far with the most sales and airplay.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
CLAY IS GAY!!!
I am so pleased to report that Season Two Miss American Idol 1st Runner - Up, Clay Aiken has finally decided to swing open the closet door and openly admit that he is gay.
In other news here's the latest on the female Miss American Idol finalists and winners with the best and most effortless singing voices.
The Stand Up To Cancer benefit television special was a truly inspirational hour of celebrities and fund raising. The performance of the single, Just Stand Up, completely lived up to my expectations. What a thrill to see Carrie Underwood standing right next to Mariah Carey! They both looked and sounded amazing. If you haven't already made your contribution to the cause by purchasing the single, you really should. It is well worth it.
Jordin Sparks is still stuck at #17 on the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time. It's such a fun song with a toe tapping beat, it really should continue to make gains in sales and airplay. The same is true for the debut single from Oscar winner and Season Three Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson. The song is called Spotlight and I strongly encourage you to check it out. It has a great beat and the vocals are exactly as amazing as we expect from her. It's just outside the top 40 on the charts, but I fully anticipate that it will be climbing soon.
The cover of the latest People magazine shows Aiken holding his infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, with the headline: "Yes, I'm Gay." The cover also has the quote: "I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things."
This is a big change from what he said in an interview with The Associated Press two years ago: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
What a relief it is for everything to be out in the open! Clay should have been crowned the Season Two Miss American Idol. He was robbed even more so than cute little David Archuleta. Clay put in the most show-stopping performance during the finals that year. He easily has the best and most effortless singing voice of any male Miss American Idol finalist. Ruben is very good, but he's just never impressed me the way Clay does. So go out and buy Clay's latest album as a coming out present for him! It's called On My Way Here and it's very good.In other news here's the latest on the female Miss American Idol finalists and winners with the best and most effortless singing voices.
The Stand Up To Cancer benefit television special was a truly inspirational hour of celebrities and fund raising. The performance of the single, Just Stand Up, completely lived up to my expectations. What a thrill to see Carrie Underwood standing right next to Mariah Carey! They both looked and sounded amazing. If you haven't already made your contribution to the cause by purchasing the single, you really should. It is well worth it.
Jordin Sparks is still stuck at #17 on the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time. It's such a fun song with a toe tapping beat, it really should continue to make gains in sales and airplay. The same is true for the debut single from Oscar winner and Season Three Miss American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson. The song is called Spotlight and I strongly encourage you to check it out. It has a great beat and the vocals are exactly as amazing as we expect from her. It's just outside the top 40 on the charts, but I fully anticipate that it will be climbing soon.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Crush
As you all know, when David Cook ended up being crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol, all of my attention went toward feeling bad for cute little David Archuleta. The judges set him up all season to think he was certain to get the crown. When he didn't, you could see that he was blind-sided by the news.
David Cook then went on to dominate the Billboard HOT 100 (for one week at least) with 11 songs debuting in the same week. David Archuleta had to once again settle for being in the shadows, but this week, his time in the spotlight has come! David Archuleta's first original single "Crush" has sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100.
Compared to the chart achievements of the other American Idols, this is pretty amazing. Even David Cook's The Time Of My Life only peaked at #3. The only other Idol single to get up to #2 is Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone from 2005. This is a very promising start to David Archuleta's music career.
Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, is continuing to inch up the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time which is now up to #21 this week.
The other exciting news to come out involves the Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, releasing a benefit single with some of the other biggest musical divas in the business. She will be joining 14 other superstars on the single to be released on Sept. 2nd that will benefit cancer research. The impressive list includes the biggest hitmakers of recent years, Fergie, Rihanna and Beyonce, and three other divas who share the honor of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist just like Carrie Underwood did. Those other divas are Sheryl Crow, the amazing Leann Rimes and the biggest mega-superstar diva of all time, Mariah Carey.
I will be right there on iTunes the day this song is available to buy it immediately. I haven't even heard it yet, but it's already my favorite song of the year!
David Cook then went on to dominate the Billboard HOT 100 (for one week at least) with 11 songs debuting in the same week. David Archuleta had to once again settle for being in the shadows, but this week, his time in the spotlight has come! David Archuleta's first original single "Crush" has sold 166,000 downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and opens at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100.
Compared to the chart achievements of the other American Idols, this is pretty amazing. Even David Cook's The Time Of My Life only peaked at #3. The only other Idol single to get up to #2 is Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone from 2005. This is a very promising start to David Archuleta's music career.
Jordin Sparks, meanwhile, is continuing to inch up the Billboard HOT 100 with One Step at a Time which is now up to #21 this week.
The other exciting news to come out involves the Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, releasing a benefit single with some of the other biggest musical divas in the business. She will be joining 14 other superstars on the single to be released on Sept. 2nd that will benefit cancer research. The impressive list includes the biggest hitmakers of recent years, Fergie, Rihanna and Beyonce, and three other divas who share the honor of winning the Grammy for Best New Artist just like Carrie Underwood did. Those other divas are Sheryl Crow, the amazing Leann Rimes and the biggest mega-superstar diva of all time, Mariah Carey.
I will be right there on iTunes the day this song is available to buy it immediately. I haven't even heard it yet, but it's already my favorite song of the year!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
One Step At A Time
Katy Perry is showing the Miss American Idol finalists how it's done. She's now spent her 6th week at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles charts with her provocative dance pop single, I Kissed A Girl. Perhaps the expectation of a squeaky clean image is preventing the Idols from having bigger hits these days. While Katy has achieved huge success announcing to the world that she kissed a girl and she liked it, David Cook and Jordin Sparks are struggling.
While the sales for David's The Time Of My Life have slowed down, it seems like airplay is picking up a bit because it's not dropping as fast as it was off the chart. Jordin's duet with Chris Brown, No Air, is also dropping very slowly of the charts. Chris Brown is doing very well all by himself - his hot dance smash Forever is holding strong at #3 this week. It's one of my favorite songs out right now. It's great to blast really loud while driving.
Remember back when Jordin performed her new single on the American Idol finals when David Cook was crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol? She sang One Step At A Time and she looked and sounded amazing. This song is very fun and catchy and I am happy to report that it has finally started to get the airplay that it deserves. It's sitting at #34 this week on the Billboard HOT 100.
While Jordin is making her way up the charts one little step at a time, the reigning pop superstar, Rihanna is still topping the charts with everything she puts out. She's still at #2 with her former #1, Take A Bow, and this week her latest release, Disturbia, leaps all the way up to #4. It's not that rare for an artist to have more than one song in the top five in the same week. The biggest megastars like The Beatles and the Bee Gees did it almost every week and a Legendary Diva like Mariah Carey has done it on numerous occasions. It's still a feat that no American Idol has done yet, but it can still happen - one step at a time...
While the sales for David's The Time Of My Life have slowed down, it seems like airplay is picking up a bit because it's not dropping as fast as it was off the chart. Jordin's duet with Chris Brown, No Air, is also dropping very slowly of the charts. Chris Brown is doing very well all by himself - his hot dance smash Forever is holding strong at #3 this week. It's one of my favorite songs out right now. It's great to blast really loud while driving.
Remember back when Jordin performed her new single on the American Idol finals when David Cook was crowned the Season 7 Miss American Idol? She sang One Step At A Time and she looked and sounded amazing. This song is very fun and catchy and I am happy to report that it has finally started to get the airplay that it deserves. It's sitting at #34 this week on the Billboard HOT 100.
While Jordin is making her way up the charts one little step at a time, the reigning pop superstar, Rihanna is still topping the charts with everything she puts out. She's still at #2 with her former #1, Take A Bow, and this week her latest release, Disturbia, leaps all the way up to #4. It's not that rare for an artist to have more than one song in the top five in the same week. The biggest megastars like The Beatles and the Bee Gees did it almost every week and a Legendary Diva like Mariah Carey has done it on numerous occasions. It's still a feat that no American Idol has done yet, but it can still happen - one step at a time...
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I'll be Lovin U Long Time
Saturday, July 5, 2008
No Bump Needed
Well, it's been quite a few weeks now since cute little David Archuleta was blindsided in front of millions of viewers when he was revealed to be the Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up behind winner David Cook.
There was the initial splash of attention when David Cook dominated the Billboard HOT 100 charts almost as much as the Beatles. While the Fab Four were able to sustain their dominance on the charts from 1964 to 1970, David Cook could only hang on for mere weeks. All of those songs have since dropped in sales and have therefore disappeared from the HOT 100. I don't expect to see either of the Davids show up on the charts again until later in the fall when their debut albums surface.
Overall, the American Idol energy has faded from the public view. Season Six Miss American Idol, Jordin Sparks is making a slow decline on the charts with her huge smash No Air, but the follow up single, One Step At A Time, is barely making a ripple. It's too bad, because it really is a fun and catchy song. Maybe there's still a chance for it...
While the Season Four Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, is continuing to dominate on the country charts, she is having more of a struggle in her efforts to cross-over to the mainstream Billboard HOT 100. For a while it looked like her wonderful jam Last Name was going to repeat the success of Before He Cheats, but it seems to have already peaked in the top 20 and now it is on its way down. Just like with Jordin, I am going to keep my fingers crossed on this one - Last Name is an exceptionally good song and I think people are just taking a while to wake up and realize it.
So with the Idols floundering and struggling to make their presence known on the charts that leaves the top spots wide open for other artists who don't need the American Idol Bump at all. There have been some pretty significant chart and sales achievements over the past few weeks. On the Billboard Albums chart Lil' Wayne and Coldplay posted the biggest one week sales with their latest releases. Lil' Wayne managed to sell over a million copies of his album in just one week while Coldplay sold over 700,000.
On the Billboard HOT 100, the same two artists - Lil' Wayne and Coldplay - have been resting comfortably at #1 with their hits Lollipop and Viva La Vida.
So there is still music to be bought even if it doesn't appear on American idol? Who knew...
There was the initial splash of attention when David Cook dominated the Billboard HOT 100 charts almost as much as the Beatles. While the Fab Four were able to sustain their dominance on the charts from 1964 to 1970, David Cook could only hang on for mere weeks. All of those songs have since dropped in sales and have therefore disappeared from the HOT 100. I don't expect to see either of the Davids show up on the charts again until later in the fall when their debut albums surface.
Overall, the American Idol energy has faded from the public view. Season Six Miss American Idol, Jordin Sparks is making a slow decline on the charts with her huge smash No Air, but the follow up single, One Step At A Time, is barely making a ripple. It's too bad, because it really is a fun and catchy song. Maybe there's still a chance for it...
While the Season Four Supreme Miss American Idol, Carrie Underwood, is continuing to dominate on the country charts, she is having more of a struggle in her efforts to cross-over to the mainstream Billboard HOT 100. For a while it looked like her wonderful jam Last Name was going to repeat the success of Before He Cheats, but it seems to have already peaked in the top 20 and now it is on its way down. Just like with Jordin, I am going to keep my fingers crossed on this one - Last Name is an exceptionally good song and I think people are just taking a while to wake up and realize it.
So with the Idols floundering and struggling to make their presence known on the charts that leaves the top spots wide open for other artists who don't need the American Idol Bump at all. There have been some pretty significant chart and sales achievements over the past few weeks. On the Billboard Albums chart Lil' Wayne and Coldplay posted the biggest one week sales with their latest releases. Lil' Wayne managed to sell over a million copies of his album in just one week while Coldplay sold over 700,000.
On the Billboard HOT 100, the same two artists - Lil' Wayne and Coldplay - have been resting comfortably at #1 with their hits Lollipop and Viva La Vida.
So there is still music to be bought even if it doesn't appear on American idol? Who knew...
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The American Idol BUMP!
What is the American Idol bump? It's been happening for years now. It's when an artist appears on American Idol and then the next week they see a huge increase in sales and airplay resulting in an impressive bump on the Billboard charts.
One of the most significant examples happened during season five when Shakira showed up during a results show to perform her latest single Hips Don't Lie. It was somewhat unexpected because she wasn't serving as a mentor and seemed to have no connectioin to the show. The song had been out for a few weeks and wasn't really showing much chart action. Next thing you know, after the American Idol exposure, the song leaped to the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100.
There were quite a few examples of the American Idol bump this season. Natasha Bedingfield managed to make it into the top 10 with her single Pocketful of Sunshine after performing it on the show. Leona Lewis has extended her stay quite a few extra weeks in the top 5 with her song Bleeding Love after a solid appearance. The most significant bump has to belong to mentor Neil Diamond. After over 40 years in the recording industry his work with the American Idol finalists lead him to have his first #1 Album EVER!
Mariah Carey has also had the best one week sales of any album so far in 2008 for E=MC2 and it just happened to occur the week after her appearance with the Idol contestants.
Meanwhile, this week David Cook's The Time of My Life has dropped from #3 to #9 this week.
One of the most significant examples happened during season five when Shakira showed up during a results show to perform her latest single Hips Don't Lie. It was somewhat unexpected because she wasn't serving as a mentor and seemed to have no connectioin to the show. The song had been out for a few weeks and wasn't really showing much chart action. Next thing you know, after the American Idol exposure, the song leaped to the #1 position on the Billboard HOT 100.
There were quite a few examples of the American Idol bump this season. Natasha Bedingfield managed to make it into the top 10 with her single Pocketful of Sunshine after performing it on the show. Leona Lewis has extended her stay quite a few extra weeks in the top 5 with her song Bleeding Love after a solid appearance. The most significant bump has to belong to mentor Neil Diamond. After over 40 years in the recording industry his work with the American Idol finalists lead him to have his first #1 Album EVER!
Mariah Carey has also had the best one week sales of any album so far in 2008 for E=MC2 and it just happened to occur the week after her appearance with the Idol contestants.
Meanwhile, this week David Cook's The Time of My Life has dropped from #3 to #9 this week.
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