American Idol Blog

11/26: David Cook sells 280K in first week, Michael Johns in Atlanta Dec. 13

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:13:49 GMT

David Cook moved 280,000 copies, behind Nickelback (#2, 326K) and Beyonce (#1, 482K), according to Billboard.

That’s not half bad considering album sales are down 32% year over year and is far better than the 119K Jordin Sparks opened a year ago. She has moved 956K so far and more than 4 million downloads. It’ll be interesting to see how Cook does. He’ll need a couple of big radio hits to approach her numbers. I’m not sure the first single “Light On” will do it for him.

MJ’s Big Blog lists the seven winners and their first-week numbers:

Ruben - “Soulful” (Dec 9, 2003) - 416,569 (# 1)
Carrie - “Some Hearts” (November 15, 2005) - 314,549 (# 2)
Taylor - “Taylor Hicks” (Dec 12, 2006) - 298,199 (# 2)
Kelly - “Thankful” (April 15, 2003) - 297,000 (# 1)
David - “David Cook” (Nov 18, 2008) - 280,000 (#3)
Fantasia - “Free Yourself” (November 23, 2004) - 239,389 (#8)
Jordin - “Jordin Sparks” (November 20, 2007) - 119,119 (#10)

And out of all first-week releases, David comes in seventh. The list at MJ provides the first-week numbers for 37 debut albums

-I received this email from a promoter about a Michael Johns appearance on December 13 at Gwinnett Arena:

My name is Trevor Short and I received your contact info from my
friend Jeff Batton. I am the promoter of the Infinite Energy Atlanta
Slam on Saturday, Dec. 13th at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. This
tennis event features some of the worlds best including US open
champions the Bryan Brothers and American James Blake. Most recently
we received a commitment from American Idol Singer Michael Johns to
perform live at our event in between the matches. The event will kick
off at 7:00 Pm with doors open at 5:30 and then following the first
match between Bob and Mike Bryan and Luke and Murphy Jensen we will
take intermission and have the chance to enjoy a performance by
Michael Johns.

*Tickets ($29.75 to $200) are available here. and more event info are available at AtlantaSlam.com.

Johns, as fans may know, came to the United States from Australia as a teen-ager to play tennis at a small college in Southern Georgia but he abandoned that dream for music in Atlanta.

-And any surprise that Brooke Burke won “Dancing With the Stars”? She earned it and became the third female to take it home.

11/25: Ford sticks with "Idol," Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol, vol. 2 is out, early Hollywood semifinalists

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:28:12 GMT

Despite the troubles at the Big Three, the strongest of the trio is remaining a major sponsor of “American Idol” as the show enters its eighth season next year, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

Ford spent nearly $78 million on advertising with “Idol” last season and $328.5 million over the entire series.

-If you’re into “Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol,” the new one came out last week.

Here’s a rather negative review.

This is nearly the exact same game I reviewed in March except 40 new crappy cover songs have been brought in to replace the last 40 crappy covers that were in the first title, downloaded songs are now a different color on the selection screen, three new venues have been added, and the new Karaoke mode allows you to sing without scores. Beyond those changes, we’re dealing with a basic rehash. Just like before, you’ll pick a song and take it into one of a handful of modes, but the gist is that you’ll need to recite the lyrics as they scroll by the bottom of the screen while you sing on key and in time to get the on-screen arrow to cover the pitch and timing bars. Pick an American Idol mode over a straight singing session, and your performance will be critiqued by Randy, Paula, and Simon.

You can buy it for $45 a change at Amazon.. It’s available for Wii, Playstation 3 and the XBox.

Among the 40 songs include “Pinball Wizard,” “Seven Army Machine,” “Mr. Brightside,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Eye of the Tiger,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Maggie May.”

Here’s an interview with David Cook from USA Today.

Newfound fame “is the most awkward thing,” he says. “When people look at me as a rock star, it seems humorous to me. I look at myself as a goober.”

In the next breath, when envisioning his ideal future, he says emphatically: “I just want to be an important artist. I don’t want to be a flash in the pan. I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. When people talk about this period in music, I want my name to be brought up.”

-The New York Post has posted some of the possible semifinalists who are in the top 100 from Hollywood Week.

There’s David Osmond, a nephew of Donny & Marie. There’s Jason Castro’s bro Michael. Anna Kaelin, the daughter of David Archuleta’s voice coach, is reportedly there, too. There’s also a husband-wife team.

11/24: Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry win 2008 AMA awards

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:44:46 GMT

It was a good night for the “Idol” brethren.

At the American Music Awards, Jordin Sparks won Adult Contemporary artist of the year (beating Daughtry) and Carrie Underwood took home best country album. And Daughtry took home best pop/rock group. Congrats all!

During Jordin Sparks’ presenting portion, she said, “I’ll stick to the script this time. I promise!” At the MTV Music Awards, she made a bit of a stir when the host mocked the Jonas Brothers promise rings and she defended them. David Archuleta looked really short presenting next to Shailene Woodley, star of ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

What’s with that eye patch, Rihanna? And earlier, that godawful dress? Great performances by Ne-Yo, Sarah McLachlan (with Pink!) and Christina Aguilera.

Karen Crandall Durden takes a shot of David Cook at the CD release party at Hard Rock Cafe in New York City last week.

-My friend Karen Crandall Durden, who came to the “Idol” concert in August with me, missed David Cook by minutes when he stopped by the Michael Johns post-concert party. But she made up for it in New York last week. She gave me her rundown of her trip to see (no, not stalk!) David. Here’s her take on the trip with photos:

As a David Cook fan who just barely missed meeting him in Atlanta at the AI Tour, I trekked up to New York City to support David for the release of his new album. Did I mention that I got to meet him this time?!? Monday’s mission was to see David perform on Good Morning America. By the time I got to the ABC studio at 5am, there was already a line about 20 people deep and the line only continued to grow leading up to the 7am hour. Luckily, with my reservation in hand, I didn’t have a problem getting in. Before the show, David & band rehearsed while we were still outside the studio.

After the rehearsal, he waved to me (!) and actually came up to the window to see some folks next to me that knew his mom, Beth, who was also in the studio.
It wasn’t until sometime after 8am that David & band actually came into the studio - everyone was going crazy when they arrived. After playing little bits of ‘Mr. Sensitive’ and ‘Heroes’ during the commercial break lead-ins and singing with Stephen Colbert, it was time to turn the ‘Light On.’ ‘Light On’ was awesome live and seeing the band perform made me even more excited to score a wristband for the following night’s album release concert.

ABOVE: Karen caught David looking at her camera.

After the show, David taped a promo for the ABC station in Kansas City and he & the band signed autographs and took pictures with the crowd. One touching moment was when he was presented framed letters from the fundraising effort ‘Cook Fans Conquering Cancer’. Mostly over the summer months during the AI ‘tewer’, fans raised almost $30,000 in honor of David for the American Cancer Society. He got pretty choked up. I got pretty close to him but he was being pulled in a lot of different directions so wasn’t able to get in the Atlanta shout-out then.

On Monday evening, I caught about 2 hours of shut-eye before heading out to Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Oh, the things people do for David Cook! If you were one of the first few hundred people that bought the album when the store opened at 8am that morning, you got a wristband to attend a private concert at the Hard Rock Café that evening by David & band. I thought that if I showed up at 1:15 am that I’d be one of the first in line. Yeah, right! When I arrived with about 5 layers on and wrapped in a hotel blanket, I was probably 50th in line.

Even though we were out on the sidewalk for about 7 hours, it was a blast! Fans had speakers and were playing the album all night. I didn’t feel so bad when even the northerners were complaining about how cold it was. Around 7am, someone from RCA, aka ‘Donut Dude’, showed up with boxes and boxes of donuts that David sent to us. So sweet! After we gorged ourselves on the donuts, some fans started passing them out to surprised New Yorkers on their way to work who thought all of us were crazy for camping out on the sidewalks. Shortly after the store opened, I got my CD and wristband!

The concert that night was amazing! I was left pretty speechless, actually - these guys sound like they’ve been playing together for years. David was a total pro on stage but also was extremely gracious and thankful. They played a number of songs off the album - my fave is ‘Lie.’ They also did a cover of ‘Little Lies’ by Fleetwood Mac to switch things up a bit in the encore. Afterwards, David signed CDs for every single person at the concert. He must have been exhausted but was a trooper.

ABOVE: Karen admires her signed CD.

When I finally met him, I was afraid I would just freeze up but he was so friendly. So here’s finally the ATL shout-out…I told him that all of his fans in Atlanta loved him and about how I narrowly missed meeting him at Michael Johns’ after-party during the tour and he was like ‘awww.’ I also told him that we’d all see him at the Q100 concert on December 15 (are you reading this Q? I desperately need a ticket!). Then I kept repeating ‘we love you’ over and over - I finally had to move on and almost left my CD at the table I was so happy. I got to shake his hand!! We are definitely in for a treat when he comes to ATL on December 15. After a few sleep-deprived and cold days in NYC, it was totally worth it to be able to see David perform on the day his album dropped - it was something I’ll never forget!

11/21: Phil Stacey loses label deal, Clay Aiken, too?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:47:02 GMT

Season six finalist Phil Stacey, according to billboard.biz, has lost his deal with Lyric Street Records after his debut album sold just 36,000 albums and didn’t generate any hit singles. I’m personally surprised Lyric Street even took a chance on Phil because Phil, however a nice guy, did not seem to be a future Kenny Chesney or Brad Paisley or even Daryl Worley or Josh Gracin.

And hmmm. Clay Aiken is no longer on the RCA Records roster. He’s on other parts of the site such as this one.. So it’s unclear. His last album has sold fewer than 200,000 copies. RCA dropping him would not be a shocker. I left a message with the label to see if they will say anything.

-How about this for unusual? Kristy Lee Cook is begging to get her single “15 Minutes of Shame” a few more minutes on the charts:

My single is in a bad spot right now the high 20’s which is a bad spot to be cause it can jump down to 30’s and back up when new songs come out.. So LETS GET THIS SINGLE UP THE CHARTS!!! Work everyone you know to request my single and lets see if we can get it up by MONDAY :O) What do you think? Can we all do it? Stations all over the US doesn’t have to be your state.. let me know ya’all !!! GOD BLESS, Your the best fans!

-And in one of those stupid surveys that companies do to show how uninformed the American public is about important facts, 56 percent of Americans know Paula Abdul is a jduge while only 21 percent know “government of the people, by the people, for the people” came from Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

This type of survey showing our lack of civics knowledge comes out every so often..

— Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of government.

— Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S.

— 54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.

11/20: Is the recession hurting reality TV? Daughtry on "CSI: NY"

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:57:07 GMT

Scott Collins, the TV writer at the L.A. Times, poses an interesting theory, which has yet to be tested: do people prefer scripted TV vs. reality TV during times of woe?

He brings up a bunch of shows that have seen their ratings slip off this year while only scripted shows seem to have seen their ratings go up.

His examples:”Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” is down nearly 50% among 18 to 49 year olds and among all viewers, it has dropped 35% year over year. “Deal or No Deal” is down 29%. “Dancing With the Stars” is down a more modest 9 percent (and given the age of the show, that’s really not unusual). “Survivor” is down 10%, which given that it’s the 17th incarnation, isn’t bad either. He didn’t mention it but “America’s Next Top Model” is down at least 20% year over year, too.

Shows that are up this year? “NCIS,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Gossip Girl” and “30 Rock,” to name a few.

The evidence in my mind is dubious. I suspect most of these shows are simply getting old. (“5th Grader” is the only one that is relatively young.) But it is true that new concepts for reality TV have been scarce lately, especially on broadcast TV.

It’s interesting that CBS is doing especially well nowadays. Perhaps that older demographic is looking for comfort in shows such as “The Mentalist” and “NCIS.” And I’m glad “Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother” are doing so well.

I digress. I’m just wondering how much of a hit “American Idol” will take come January. Ratings dropped off some 10 percent last year. I suspect the show will lose another 10 percent this year but perhaps more if the cast isn’t that interesting. But even if “Idol” loses 20%, it’d still be the No. 1 show by a wide margin. In the fall, not a single show is averaging even 20 million viewers a week.

What’s your prediction on ratings for “Idol” this January? Last year, it was around 27-28 million after averaging 30 million plus seasons five and six. I think it will fall to 23-24 million season eight.

Last night, I helped out with a Boys & Girls Club cook off as a “celebrity” cook. Five families from around the country were flown in to compete for a trip to Disney and a year’s supply of Kimberly-Clark products. One of the judges? Ruben Studdard’s mom Emily! She was at the opening for “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” for her son. She said she plans to go to every show when it arrives in his hometown of Birmingham in February. She also helped my team, the Archers, win. Thank you Emily!

-Chris Daughtry was an actor last night on the 100th episode of “CSI: NY.” He plays Mac Taylor, one of several who are there to be protected because a serial killer is killing Mac Taylors.

-First-day sales at hitsdailydouble.com are projecting that David Cook is battling for #2 with Nickelback behind Beyonce in first week sales. Cook is looking to sell 300K the first week. David Archuleta sold about 180K last week, a bit below projections. Taylor Swift sold about 600K.

11/19: It's "Ain't Misbehavin' " with Frenchie Davis, Ruben Studdard & Trenyce

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:37:29 GMT

ABOVE: Frenchie Davis with Tarn Harris, a reporter at the Atlanta Daily World.

At Fox Theatre last night, I caught opening night of the national tour of “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ,” which was a popular musical revue on Broadway 30 years ago starring Nell Carter.

Since there is no plotline, this musical relies on, well, the music and the performers. And the three “Idol” alums aquit themselves well. We have to give Ruben Studdard a bit of a learning curve break since this is the first time he’s ever done anything like this. His voice, of course, is incredible. His dance steps? He isn’t going to win “Dancing With the Stars” but he doesn’t trip over himself either. His charm? Always there and then some, especially when he gives the audience that impish grin. His best work came in the second half, especially with the jokey tune “Your Feet’s Too Big.”

Trenyce from season two was excellent, showing great vocal restraint at times and solid dance steps.

But we have to reserve special kudos to Frenchie Davis. She really could have given Ruben a run for his money if she had stayed on “Idol” season two. Four years of “Rent” helped, too. She is a commanding presence on stage with her voice cutting deep inside. Her duet with Ruben on “Honeysuckle Rose” was hot, as was her sexy “Find Out What They Like.”

I stopped by the after-show cast party at the Georgian Terrace. Here are a few photos I snapped:

ABOVE: Trenyce with Ruben and his understudy Seth Diggs.

ABOVE: Me with Ruben.

Tracey Hardy, daughter of Nell Carter, with Trenyce.

There, I met Tracey Hardy, daughter of the late great Nell Carter who lives in Atlanta. She said the show brought back memories of her watching her mom as a child backstage. And she was deeply impressed with Davis. “I really believe my mom would have enjoyed that — though she probably would have wanted to jump on stage!” She also loved Ruben’s rendition of “Fat and Greasy.

Ruben with his Atlanta-based manager Cedric Evans.

Ruben greets Billie Allen Henderson, whose husband was the original music arranger for “Ain’t Misbehavin’ “

Billie Henderson, the widow of the man who was musical director and arranger for the first “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” flew in from New York to check it out and she left very happy. “It was marvelous, such a joy and pleasure,” she said. “It was fresh but also brought back the old values, the subtext with this wonderful cast.”

Richard Maltby, the director who directed the play on Broadway 30 years ago, said “Ruben is sensational. Every performance, he grows. He’s just beginning to find himself. At the first rehearsal, he said he wasn’t sure he could do this. But watching him, I know he can.” Maltby said when he saw Ruben in 2003 on “Idol,” he thought about doing a revival centered around Ruben. It just took five years to come to fruition! He also got “Idol” vocal c oach Debra Byrd to help out.

Frenchie said she just wanted “to do Nell Carter justice.” She was also happy to work with Ruben, noting “he’s not just the teddy bear you think he is.” She noted, “his dressing room is next to mine and there’s nothing but laughter coming from there.”

11/18: Ruben Studdard with "Ain't Misbehavin' " opens tonight at Fox

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:09:08 GMT

Ruben Studdard has plenty of experience on stage singing. But he has never done it professionally in a play. Tonight, we get to see how Studdard fares as Fats Waller in “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” at the Fox Theatre.

My colleague Wendell Brock interviewed him recently and here’s his story.:

The first thing Studdard says is that he hopes critics will be kind to him as he makes his professional stage debut. Joined by former “Idol” contestants Frenchie Davis and Trenyce Cobbins for this Fats Waller revue, the so-called Velvet Teddybear is crossing over from gospel and R&B to jazz. “Honeysuckle Rose” and “The Jitterbug Waltz” will be added to his song list, alongside hit singles “Flying Without Wings” and “Change Me.”

I’ll check out the play and the after party tonight and report on it tomorrow morning.

-David Cook’s album drops today. It’s ranked #2 on Amazon right now behind someone named Eithne NÃ BhraonÃ¡in.

More reviews:

The Sacramento Bee liked it.

Produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day) and co-written by the likes of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Collective Soul’s Ed Roland and new “AI” judge Kara DioGuardi, the 13 songs marry a formidable rock edge with undeniable pop sensibility.

The Miami Herald gives it 2.5 stars.:

If anyone hoped that David Cook, the first ”rocker” to win the title of American Idol, would make good on his promise to release a major label debut album that was truly his own brand of rock music, well the resulting David Cook isn’t it.

Call this catchy set of pop-rock tracks, like the Chris Cornell-written first single, Light On, a compromise. Cook rocks steadily in the Daughtry-like manner we expected, given the mainstream production polish provided by Rob Cavallo (Green Day). He sings well, in most instances better than he did on the show.

And he talks about his girlfriend Kimberly Caldwell* to People mag here.:

“I think she just gets that this is all nuts,” Cook told PEOPLE at the Do the Wright Thing Gala at the Hard Rock Café in New York last week. “She’s a nice break from the chaos.”

-Paula Abdul is “haunted” by the death of her stalker and won’t go to the house near where Paula Goodspeed died, according to an anonymous source. The New York Post reports. You decide.. In fact, here’s Abdul’s denial (and she has denied wanting to leave “Idol,” too.):

A rep for Abdul said, “There’s no validity to this. She’s been home since the incident happened. There’s no issue with spirits. Paula is shocked and saddened by what transpired. Her heart and prayers go out to the Goodspeed family.”