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Archive for May, 2007

Preview of Kelly Clarkson’s “My December”

Published by mj May 31st, 2007 in American Idol, Record News and Kelly Clarkson. 17 Comments

AOL Music has posted previews of three additional songs from Kelly Clarkson’s upcoming Album “My December”–”Sober,” ”Maybe,” and “Can I Have A Kiss.”  Kelly’s album is scheduled to drop June 26.  you can listen here at AOL.com. 

I’ll be back later with a mini-review.  thanks kirsten…

ETA:  I didn’t realize these were just snippets when I posted them.  I can’t really critique a song without listening to the whole thing.  I will say, that I loved Kelly singing “Up to the Mountain” with Jeff Beck, and hope that she grows a harder edge as her career progresses.

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Melinda Doolittle on Live with Regis and Kelly

Published by mj May 31st, 2007 in American Idol, Video, Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. 24 Comments

I tried to record Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis on the Today show this morning, and my channel didn’t change correctly.  I got them on TRL instead.  Oh well.  The Today Show clips are up on the Today Show web site–Jordin sings “This is My Now” and Blake sings “She Will Be Loved” with his own loops as backup.  Pretty cool.

I did manage to get Melinda Doolittle singing on Live With Regis and Kelly.  Enjoy.

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Idol Headlines for 05/31/07

Published by Lisa B May 31st, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 82 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/31/07′

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Recording contracts 101

Published by Nevada May 30th, 2007 in American Idol. 12 Comments

Here’s a link to an excellent primer on recording contracts.

From the Future of Music Coalition, a “Major Label Contract Critique,” which includes a lovely download in PDF which you can save to your hard drive, print out, read it and weep  and contemplate at your leisure. 

 FMC | Major Label Contract Critique

Ah, cross-collateralization, controlled composition clauses, reserves and returns — yes, Virginia, vendors CAN return CDs — it doesn’t get much better than this…

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Blake Lewis on Live with Regis and Kelly

Published by mj May 30th, 2007 in American Idol, Video and Blake Lewis. 43 Comments

Blake Lewis performs on Live with Regis and Kelly:

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Idol Sales News - Week Ending 05/27/07

Published by Kirsten May 30th, 2007 in American Idol, Charts and Record News. 38 Comments

Idol Related Sales Numbers after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Idol Sales News - Week Ending 05/27/07′

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Idol Headlines for 05/30/07

Published by Lisa B May 30th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 47 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/30/07′

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Jordin Sparks on Live With Regis and Kelly

Published by mj May 29th, 2007 in American Idol, Video and Jordin Sparks. 13 Comments

Idols will be making the media rounds this week.  I have what I know listed on my Idol Appearances page. “Live with Regis and Kelly” will be featuring Idols all this week. Jordin Sparks today (watch video below), Blake Lewis tomorrow, Melinda Doolittle on Thursday and Fantasia on Friday. On Thursday, Blake and Jordin appear on the Today Show summer concert series.

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Idol Headlines for 05/29/07

Published by Lisa B May 29th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 21 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/29/07′

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Blake Lewis Post-Idol Interviews

Published by mj May 29th, 2007 in American Idol, News and Blake Lewis. 11 Comments

Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis did post-finale interviews with the press on Friday.  You can download the audio of the entire satellite interview from Starry Constellation magazine.  Here is the Blake Lewis downloadable interview.

Blake says that he didn’t look at the competition as winning or losing–that he tried to go out and perform well each day.  However, Blake says that “In a sense, I’m kind of glad I didn’t win for contractual reasons…I honestly didn’t care about winning or losing.  I call myself a winner just by getting into the Top 10.”

Read Highlights after the jump, including what he plans to perform on the tour.

Continue reading ‘Blake Lewis Post-Idol Interviews’

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Jordin Sparks Post-Idol Interviews

Published by mj May 29th, 2007 in American Idol, News and Jordin Sparks. 1 Comment

Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis did post-finale interviews with the press on Friday.  You can download the audio of the entire satellite interview from Starry Constellation magazine.  Here is the Jordin Sparks downloadable interview.

Highlights after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Jordin Sparks Post-Idol Interviews’

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Monday Mediabase Update

Published by Kirsten May 28th, 2007 in American Idol and Charts. 24 Comments

Via Kirsten…a snapshot of Idols’ singles radio play culled from Mediabase charts as of this morning.  Find out where your favorite Idol stands on the radio after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Monday Mediabase Update’

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Idol Headlines for the 05/28/07

Published by Lisa B May 28th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 37 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for the 05/28/07′

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Billboard Update 06/02/07

Published by mj May 27th, 2007 in American Idol, Charts, Record News, Ace Young, Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, Bo Bice, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Lewis and Constantine Maroulis. 11 Comments

Here is your Idol Billboard Update. Better late than never.

The Highlights:

  • Elliott Yamin’s appearance on the Top 3 Results show to sing his single “Wait For You” paid off in a big way.  His album Elliott Yamin climbed from #67 to #20 on the Billboard 200.  It also climbed back to the #1 spot on the Independent Albums Chart, from #49 to #20 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, and re-entered the Top Digital Albums chart at #14. The single, “Wait For You” climbed from #80 to #31 on the Billboard Hot 100, entered the Hot 100 Airplay at #72, climbed from #45 to #23 on the Pop 100 and from #28 to #24 on the Pop 100 Airplay.  The single also entered the Hot Digital Tracks and Hot Digital Songs charts at #19 and #26 respectively.
  • As Clive announced on the American Idol Finale, Carrie Underwood’s album “Some Hearts” has gone 6x platinum.  The album has shipped 6 million units.  Good for Carrie.  The album charts at #8 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top Country Albums chart.
  • Daughtry’s single “Home” continues to climb the charts, from #13 to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #26 to #21 on the Hot 100 Airplay, #11 to #7 on the Pop 100,  #12 to #9 on the Pop 100 Airplay,  #7 to #4 on the Hot Adult Top 40, #10 to #4 on the Hot Digital Songs, and #7 to #3 on the Hot Digital Tracks chart. Daughtry’s appearance on the finale could bump the single into the #1 position on key charts next week.
  • Reba McEntire’s duet with Kelly Clarkson “Because of You” enters the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart at #42.  Her single “Never Again” is stalling on the charts.  Her appearance on the Idol finale should give her a bump next week.
  • Fantasia, who is currently winning rave reviews on Broadway in the “The Color Purple” also has a single out that’s currently climbing the charts.  “When I See You” has climbed from #71 to #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, from #46 to #36 on the Hot 100 Airplay, from #14 to #8 on the Hot R&B Hip Hop Singles and Tracks chart and from #14 to #8 on the Hot R&B Hip Hop Airplay chart.
  • Maroon 5’s “This Love,” sung by Blake Lewis on Top 3 night, has re-entered the Hot Digital Tracks and Hot Digital Songs charts, both at #41.  Maroon 5’s album “Songs About Jane” re-enters the Top Pop Catalog chart at #5.

More numbers from Idol Chatter

Check after the jump for Idol Record News! Continue reading ‘Billboard Update 06/02/07′

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Idol Headlines for 05/27/07

Published by Lisa B May 27th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 89 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/27/07′

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Finale Recap

Published by mj May 26th, 2007 in American Idol, Recaps, Taylor Hicks, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard, Kelly Clarkson, S6 Finals, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, Chris Sligh, Chris Richardson, Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Stephanie Edwards, Jordin Sparks, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Phil Stacey, Brandon Rogers, Blake Lewis, Nigel Lythgoe, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson. 75 Comments

Jordin Sparks looked exactly as I pictured her in the moment of her Idol victory.  Her win was certainly no surprise after Tuesday’s show, where Blake proved to be no match for Jordin’s prowess for power-emoting treacly lyrics.  Personally? I think it’s as it should be. Jordin is the perfect winner. Too bad the show ran so long we could not get some extended moments of Jordin revelling in her triumph with her fellow Idols.  The confetti machine appeared to be on the fritz, too.  Damn.

Biggest complaint about last night’s mostly entertaining finale?  More Idols, please.  Really, did we need to hear Gwen Stefani pimp lip sync sing her new single from an undisclosed location?  I would have rather had another medley from the kids.  Last year’s finale was so good, because it was filled with appearances from the performers who make Idol what it is–the KIDS.  In fact, Prince was the only guest last year to appear WITHOUT also performing with the Top 12.  This year, there were five solo performances from guest stars.

Having said that, I enjoyed performances from Tony Bennett and Green Day anyway.  The aforementioned Gwen, and Bette Midler–not so much.  Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Joe Perry of Aerosmith were not only entertaining, but they all played nicely with the kids.

“It’s the night we’ve all been waiting for.  Who will take the title?  The beatboxer from Seattle, or the sweetheart from Arizona. The world is watching…This is American Idol!  For the last time this year…sniff. Continue reading ‘Finale Recap’

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The Idols on Larry King Live

Published by mj May 26th, 2007 in American Idol, Video, Chris Sligh, Chris Richardson, Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Jordin Sparks, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Phil Stacey, Sanjaya Malakar and Blake Lewis. 29 Comments

Jordin Sparks

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More Interviews:

I’m just listening to these through now.  Apparently, according to Phil Stacey, they were told that Chris Richardson came in 5th and Phil came in 6th….

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Idol Headlines for 05/26/07

Published by Lisa B May 26th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 26 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/26/07′

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Idol Headlines for 05/25/07

Published by Lisa B May 25th, 2007 in American Idol and Headlines. 83 Comments

Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 05/25/07′

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Cliffs Notes Summary of the Finale and Other Odds and Ends

Published by mj May 24th, 2007 in American Idol, News and Jordin Sparks. 44 Comments

A couple of things…

While I struggle to finish my recap, here’s my Cliff’s Notes summary of last night’s finale…

Too much time given to pointless “special guests” (Green Day and Tony Bennett get a pass) at the expense of the Top 12.  Last year, all the guest stars, except Prince, performed with the contestants.  It gave each Idol ample time to perform one last time on the Idol stage.  Boo to the person who deprived 4th place finisher Lakisha Jones of her Idol duet.  Props to the producers for bringing back all the former winning Idols they could.  It was cool to see them all together on one stage.

Congratulations to Jordin Sparks.  I’m sure she’ll wear the mantle of American Idol gratefully and proudly. She’ll probably also sell many many units of her Idol CD, making the old man Clive Davis very very happy.  He sure loves his units, as he made very clear last night.

Speaking of Clive. Talk about bringing the show to a grinding, screeching halt. Nothing would have pleased me more than if a trap door had opened and swallowed him up during his tedious gloat-fest.  Now THAT woulda been Good Tee Vee.

Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis Performance mp3s-Now Available for Download 

While the bottom 10 Idols’ performance singles are no longer available at americanidol.com, you can purchase Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis’s mp3s there until June 20th. 

For you pod people, the downloads are also available at iTunes.

But here’s the deal–both Jordin and Blake have 10 songs available.  Five of them are bundled in an EP (including Jordin’s craptacular coronation single, “This Is My Now.”)  The other 5 are available as singles. I’m not quite getting the logic here. It seems rather random.

Season 6 Finale Ratings Down 19%

I’ll be posting a ratings wrap up as soon as I have final numbers.  In the meantime, it is interesting to note that Season 6’s finale ratings dropped 19% from Season 5’s ratings.  29 million people watched last night’s finale, according to preliminary data by Nielsen Media Research.  That’s versus last year’s 36.4 million.  Wednesday’s numbers were the lowest 18-49 numbers since its original cycle in 2002 and the lowest viewership since the third season.

The preliminary numbers do not include the viewers who tuned in after the 10 pm cutoff.  The show ran about 9 minutes long.

However, the voting totals were up 17% from last year–from a total of 63.4 million votes last year to 74 million votes this year.

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