I don’t know if this ex-Idol business is all it’s cracked up to be.
With reports of slashed ticket prices for the current Christmas tour, featuring Diana DeGarmo, David Hernandez, Kimberley Locke and Chikezie, Idol Chatter reporting that the new Christmas CD featuring Idol also-rans like Vonzell Solomon and Jasmine Trias unable to move even 100 units its first week, and the cancellation of this concert, will the folks who put these projects together eventually come to the conclusion that outside of the die-hard fan bases, there is little interest in Idol losers once their TV time is over?
A thought to ponder.
In the meantime, I found some photos and You Tube performances of the Christmas tour, currently wending its way through towns and mid-sized cities, to mostly nice reviews. Watch the group perform a Christmas Medley in El Paso, TX, after the jump. There are more videos of the concert from Kaoschick98 HERE. The photos are from last night’s show in Easton PA.
Photos and Video after the JUMP…
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Christmas Medley
I don’t know about anyone else’s experience, but even if people followed idol and even voted is no guarantee that they have an attention span for even the top people. People have a short attention span for a tv program, but it takes a lot more effort to go out and buy the CD. I have two sisters, one a DA fan, one a fan of both DA and Cook, plus one sister-in-law who was a Cook fan. They all bought music from their favs during the season, but they still haven’t bought the new albums!! It really is amazing that the David’s are doing as well as they are IMO.
I agree with LK08 and MJ. The public has a short-attention span. Unless you put out an album fast and/or have a strong fanbase, the public moves on. They have already turned their attention to the next crop of contestants. Part of the reason Jennifer Hudson’s success has been remarkable, and I’d say possible, is because she initially found success in film. I guarantee you more people paid attention when she released her album because she was in Dreamgirls and won an oscar. That is not to say she’s not talented. She is. Mucho. But it takes more than talent.
And, unfortunately, one of the idiosyncrasies of idol is that the public tends to think of those that don’t win as “losers” and not worth their time. I’ve come to see this particular aspect of idol troubling. But I admit that is my own hang-up. There have been exceptions, but they have either gone a different direction first (Hudson) or had strong enough bases to get a good lift off on the radio and the charts (Daughtry, Archuleta).
Idol really is a strange breed. I agree that viewers have short attention spans and move on quickly. If you don’t make some sort of mark by the time the new season starts, you’re pretty much toast. Not saying you have to be a Clarkson or Underwood, but you have to do something to capture attention before people totally forget about you. This also goes to show you that it doesn’t even matter if you come in 2nd or 3rd vs. 10th or 12th.
I suppose for the ones that have hardcore fanbases it’s a little different. Not that hardcore fanbases make a career nor does that mean these people will keep these fanbases forever, but at least those Idols might have a little more wiggle room. Or at the very least, these are the ones that usually have an it factor that might give them a leg up in the first place.
I also agree Hudson was an exception to the rule. I agree her story was successful because she was cast in Dreamgirls and stole the show and her fame went from there. If she had simply released an album first, her story would be way different.
Slashed ticket prices or not this seems like a fun show.
I’d say it’s different for each person. Typically, you do have to strike while the iron is hot, but that doesn’t always work either. Diana DeGarmo is extraordinarily talented and put out a major-label pop album not long after her stint on Idol, yet she didn’t get very far with it. Now she’s basically starting over in country music. She did have a successful run on Broadway, but unless you live near NYC, that doesn’t exactly bring tons of new fans. I wish her the best in country as I know from her demos I have heard thus far, I will certainly be wanting her CD.
I think what happens with the fanbases is they latch onto somebody and when they don’t become successful they replace that idol with a new one. I’ve lost count of how many people are all “OMG11!!!! I love (fill in the blank) and will be a fan 4EVER!!1111″ one season and then next season are doing it over somebody else and acting like the other one never existed. It’s the teen idol phenomenom but you’ve got everyone from teenagers to grandmas doing it. This years Joanna Pacitti “fans for life” were last years Carly Smithson fans who might have once been Katharine McPhee fans and so on. Some of Clay Aiken’s prominent former Claymates have now latched onto DA or DC or Castro. It’s just a very disposable industry.
I have nothing against Diana and I consider Broadway successful, so it’s not like she’s out doing nothing, but I wasn’t surprised her pop album didn’t take off. If anything I think she was a hard marketing sell because she was really young, but came off far older than her years. I never got the impression she inspired much of the tween/teem demographic, but at the same time she was too young to really capture the older folks. She was stuck in this weird limbo. Plus personally I suppose I just never thought there was anything all that unique about Diana.
I do wish her the best though. Also Chikezie and David H. K. Locke can go jump in a lake—courtesty of Michael Johns.
I think the former contestants and winners that are successful outside of Idol (be it in their particular genre, or overall mega-successful) are the ones that would have been successful if they had gotten the same record deal without Idol–AI was really just a means to get that deal, and not some sort of indicator of success based on their ultimate ranking on the show.
Carrie, Kelly, Cook, Daughtry, Archuleta, Kellie Pickler, Jennifer Hudson, etc.–all of them are marketable in their own way, with or without an “AI boost.” Even Clay is marketable in a Josh Groban-type way. But you have contestants like Chikezie (who I love, btw, so this is not meant as a diss), that I think would be difficult to market in the mainstream (even R&B) at this point in time. Maybe in the subgenre of soul or in adult contemporary, but mainstream R&B is made up with a lot of younger-skewing male artists, and Chikezie is a bit old-school. When Simon used to talk about the “X factor” way back before he actually named a show that, I think he was referring to traits that particular contestants have that would allow them to be ultra-successful in the music industry right at that moment. Some have it, most don’t.
It’s true that the Idol fans have a very short attention span. Also, I think for many people Idol really is just a TV show - You can go crazy over someone during the run of the show, but like a TV character, when they’re no longer on your TV screen, they don’t matter.
The fans who stick with an Idol until his/her CD is out, go buy it and keep supporting them after the show is done, is a different case, I think, but those fans all on their own can’t make a person’s career. They’re just the starting point.
The people who leave the show early and don’t capitalize on it very very quickly (I think even now is probably a little late for most of the Season 7 contestants) are probably no better off than the average aspiring musician. The difference for them will be getting good management and financial backing - like any artist who wants to make it.
Being on Idol in itself will get you nowhere.
Kim Locke has a niche among the gay community and for her Christmas music. She’ll always have a career.
David H and Chikezie seem like nice guys and what they are doing now is probably better than what they were doing a year ago so that’s far from being a failure.
I think Diana’s pretty marketable. She just needed to find her niche. Everything I’ve seen on her says she was great on Broadway. What is she now? 21? I can’t call somebody who is 21 and has already been an AI runner up and on Broadway a failure. I just don’t think anybody on AI knew what to do with a 16 year old with an adult voice way back in season 3. They’ve caught on a bit more now with Jordin and Archie.
I think it’s fair to say that this isn’t exactly a great economy right now for launching tours like this. Especially with 50 dollar tickets. So I’m not going to hate on them just because the shows haven’t sold out.
I only say this because of what she said about Jason: Check out Kim Locke in that profile shot of her and Diana. Whoa.
Actually, I think Diana DeGarmo will have a career for years to come. She did great in Hairspray. She’ll always be a performer, but maybe not a recording artist.
I feel for Chikezie because i agree that he doesn’t have the it factor, even though he’s really very talented. I think he’s got a great clean voice and really impressive range. But he picks poorly (R&B–so dreary on him). He needs a niche very quickly b/f everyone forgets about him.
I think that people coming out of idol who don’t write and arrange music well and play instruments really should go directly to stage musicals. It’s the best outlet for them because it’s basically what they did so well on AI. There are few avenues of success for people who just sing well without more.
Chikezie might want to consider Broadway or touring musicals. He’s got charisma and a strong voice. I don’t see him standing out in R&B. But he is very talented and seems very nice.
Degarmo might finally break through in country music. I heard her original song while looking through the holiday videos. It seems like the type of song country fans love, all patriotic and stuff.
I don’t think most people are hating on these people. I just think that if they can’t sustain great sales because they don’t have that huge fanbase and the “it” factor, no one in the industry will give them a chance. Sad, but you have to bring in money to get promoted.
I like the idea that success can be measured in different ways. Someone who sets out to be a singer and makes a living at it certainly is a success in my book. I don’t think the industry or the media sees it that way, unfortunately.
I also agree that for most people, AI is a TV show. I was struck by my family over Thanksgiving, for example. They were huge, huge supporters of one of the contestants from this past season. But their interest has now waned and they eagerly await the coming season. In other words, the show itself is the thing for them, not the music or what comes after. And don’t think the producers aren’t aware that that is more common than not.
Regarding contestants like Hernandez and Chikezie, if people didn’t care about them during the show (they couldn’t even build a fanbase) why would they care after the show? I think they have great voices and all, but that is not enough to sell songs and sell tickets. Besides the winner, and in a few cases the runner up, people won’t remember the rest of the group one month after the show. It’s just TV.
I would never pay to see those 4, and I would never buy a CD with songs by people I don’t even remember. And I would say I’m like what one would call an hardcore AI fan. But show is over and people forget them.
Unless those concerts and album have really low costs producing, I don’t see how they make money out of it and why they’d keep doing it.
I would love to see some kind of TV documentary telling us what happened to all those contestants who were on Idol, just to see where they ended up to, how they took diferent paths, what worked better, what didn’t work…
Some end up on TV or Broadway, which is not that bad, at least it’s a way to keep your name out there, somehow and gives a chance to try to strike again.
Chikezie is doing “Ain’t Misbehavin” a touring show. I saw it advertised in my area this year.
Oops that’s Ruben Studdard, not Chikezie.
I read an article where Georg Huff said he’d made over $100,000 every year since he was on Idol and that was more than he could make doing anything else so he was happy. Sucess to some means having a job that you love and it supports you. I’m sure most of the Idol contestants are better off finacially than they were before even tho they are not “stars” IMO.
They are all talented, but I think David H. has impressed me the most for this tour.
I love these little after-Idol tours. A couple of years ago, Ruben took a group out on tour, mostly in Texas, if I recall correctly. Anyway, I went to the show at the Beaumont TX Civic Center. Good show, and they were only singing with backing tracks and guitars.
It was only a week after Anthony Fedorov’s brother passed away. Whoa - I had no idea Anthony was so talented. Big surprise. Especially in Spanish. Why isn’t this guy a huge Spanish-language star? I brought my co-worker, male Hispanic. He was quite impressed with Anthony.
Justin Guarini was the stand-out for me. He was totally “on”, just wonderful. For some reason, Ruben let Justin close the show that night. And close it he did, like a star. A person couldn’t help but feel good, watching Justin dancing and enjoying himself so much.
I will support any future post-season shows. I definitely got my money’s worth out of the one I saw with Ruben headlining. Ruben is a cute dancer.
I think this assessment certainly holds merit, but from what I know of Kelly Clarkson, she was pounding the pavement out in LA pretty hard trying to get a record deal and had no luck before Idol. Perhaps it has something to do with novelty of the show being so new, so there was more excitement behind the star that would come from it. I mean I think she has the X factor in spades and she certainly showed it on the show. The show allowed fans to get see her personality beyond just hearing her great voice. I think that really gave her the boost she needed. And I think that is what the show was intended to do but somehow has gotten lost as more seasons go by. So the longer the show stays on the air, the harder it seems it is for people to capitalize the way Kelly and few others have.
Well perhaps, but I also think some of it has to do with the label. Jive is great at marketing these types of teen singing sensations. RCA, not so much. Had Diana signed with Jive instead, I think she would’ve had better luck. But I still think country is the genre that she should’ve aimed at all along. That’s where her voice really shines. But even then, country was still not embracing young singers the way they are now.
During this past season there was a period of time where I felt like David A. might go the way of Diana. This was during the season mind you and I didn’t get a big appreciation for Archie until after the season. I thought there were a lot of similarities between the two. But as said, Jive knew what to do with Archie and how to market him. Something Diana didn’t have. That said, I still think Diana is more of a performer than a recording artist.
I also have to agree that for most of these folks as long as they are getting more gigs and making more money than they were pre-Idol, it’s still pretty much a win/win situation for them.
Yeah, which is why I noted that the ones that have been successful would have been so without AI if they had the same record deal. They needed AI to get the record deal (some–I can argue that others might have eventually gotten a deal, regardless). Sometimes label execs just don’t get it, and pass on artists that could have made them a lot of money. AI is a means to find these people. Whether AI truly is “that show” anymore is up for debate–possibly in a thread about how too many semi-pros with past label contracts are getting passed through to Hollywood.
Before this season, I’d watched the show, but had never lifted a finger to vote for an Idol contestant, and I had bought zero Idol records and only 3 singles from any Idol contestant: Carrie’s cover of I’ll Stand By You from the original Idol Gives Back, and Kellie Pickler’s first two singles. (At some point, I’m sure I’ll succumb and buy some of Kelly’s singles, but I digress.) I suspect that a lot of viewers are like I was before this season (and probably will be again) or only slightly more active, in that they might try to register some free votes. So, the concept of going to a show of former Idols because it is a show of former Idols, I can see where that wouldn’t go far. Now, I wouldn’t be adverse to it—if, say, I’d seen that morning show where these Idols performed and I liked the performance, I would be open to going to a show. But in and of itself, an Idol show would not be a selling point for me, despite the time I’ve logged watching the show.
Ah! Yeah gotcha! Sorry…I misread your original post a bit I guess :)
^^ It’s okay, I got your point! We basically said the same thing.
Right now, there are a grand total of 82 people who were finalists on American Idol. Of them, there are only a handful I would pay to see - Bo Bice, George Huff, David Cook, Taylor Hicks - and maybe Clay. I am planning on going to see Ruben, Frenchie and Trenyce in ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ when it comes to Syracuse in the spring. Just because someone was on Idol isn’t enough of a draw for me to shell out my hard-earned cash. It’s just not.
If an Idol that I like well enough comes to town and performs free, I’ll go! Big of me, I know!
Oh, I’m trying to get an interview with Anwar Robinson who is starring in ‘Godspell’ with Syracuse Stage. I’ll go see that over the holidays as well.
Off topic a bit… my work office was recently moved and now I can get FM radio again and only a couple of stations - one being the pop/rock station. I’m catching up on all the pop songs - they must play “Crush” five times during my work day and Jordin’s “One Step at a Time” is also in regular rotation. Daughtry’s still getting play as well. Today I heard Elliott Yamin’s “Wait for You” and Kelly’s “Behind These Hazel Eyes.” It’s interesting they don’t play Cook.
The gays can keep Kimberly Locke. I used to like her until I read her quote on Jason Castro. It was a stupid thing to say that made me think a lot less of her. I don’t think I will ever buy an album from such a mean spirited person.
As for the rest, I really hope they do well. I think David H is talented though I can’t imagine what sort of music he would put out if he made an album. And Chikezie has tons of showmanship. I really enjoyed him on the Idol tour. I think he should do something that plays to those strengths. Diana Degarmo has time to do great things. She was younger than David A when she did Idol so I think that she has done all that she has in the 4-5 ears since she did the show is great. I think she has a chance in country.