Idol Headlines For 05/23/09
What We Learned From Season Eight of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
American Idol producers heralded Season Eight as a time of change: there would be a new judge in Kara DioGuardi, a new arbitrary rule with the Judgesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Save, a new set featuring a giant white staircase for gallant entrances and a newly articulate Paula Abdul. But the seasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s biggest surprise was breakout star Adam Lambert, who despite losing the competition to Kris Allen, made a name for himself as a glam-rock sex god ready for prime-time. And after five months of slavish devotion to Idol in our weekly recaps, weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve acquired a few new kernels of wisdom:
Gokey’s ‘Idol’ homecoming at Riverside Tuesday
Danny Gokey, the second runner-up on the latest season of “American Idol,” will be welcomed home to Milwaukee at a free public event Tuesday, May 26, at the Riverside Theater.
Gokey’s homecoming is a prelude to a 50-city “Idol” tour that kicks off July 5. The tour includes a stop in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center Aug. 28.
Doors to the Riverside will open at 6:30 p.m. for the 8 p.m. event. Members of Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s church choir, including friend and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ contestant Jamar
Idol Chatter: Why Is Kris Allen’s Margin of Victory Being Kept Secret?
American Idol has often à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ though not always à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ publicly revealed by how much a champion won. To cite a few examples, Kelly Clarkson in Season 1 claimed 58 percent of the vote to best Justin Guarini, Ruben Studdard squeaked past Clay Aiken by a slim 1,250-vote margin, and David Cook’s beat David Archuleta by some 12 million ballots.
Details on how exactly the just-wrapped Season 8 shook out, however, remain a mystery.
Even your new American Idol, Kris Allen, who came from behind to top Adam Lambert, claims to be in the dark about who seized what portion of the “nearly 100 million votes.”
Let Alexis Grace tour! A call to urgent action
Even with the season now over, the outrageous premature dismissal of the fabulous Alexis Grace still burns. It is hard to recall ever in “Idol” history, so much injustice being delivered upon one so talented so early in the season.
Of course, we know who is to blame for this; the tween girls of America may still be giddy from their triumph this week, but they have blood on their hands that will not soon be washed away. The ghosts of Carly Smithson, Melinda Doolittle, Allison Iraheta and Alexis Grace will haunt them well into their high school years.
What Kind Of Post-’Idol’ Career Will Kris Allen Have?
The lights on the “American Idol” stage have gone dark. Season-eight champ Kris Allen shall be judged no more … at least for a while. When his debut album arrives at some point in the future, the fair-minded appraisals and vicious condemnations will begin anew.
The decision for Allen and his label will be what type of album he records. Will he stick to the acoustic guitar, singer/songwriter persona he seemed to favor during the show? Will he go in a country direction, as indicated by Wednesday night’s performance alongside Keith Urban? What’s the best bet to ensure Allen has a long, lucrative career? MTV News spoke with some leading producers in the music industry to get their takes on what makes Allen special, what type of record he should make and what artists out their have a comparable sound.
Kris Allen, Yet Another Pentecostal Singer
What does Kris Allen, American Idol winner, share in common with Toni Braxton, D’Angelo, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and a host of other famous singers? All were raised in Pentecostal churches.
In a surprise upset on Wednesday night’s finale, Kris Allen received more of the 100 million votes than did his rival, Adam Lambert. Kris and the third place finisher, Danny Gokey, are both Pentecostal.
Kris is a worship leader at New Life, a Pentecostal church in Greater Little Rock, Arkansas. He has done missionary work in Burma, Morocco, Mozambique and several other countries. He married his longtime girlfriend in the fall of last year.
David Cook Song Enough to Open My Mind
My daughter is graduating tonight. I wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t tell you from what grade because if I say à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“college,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ I just sound old, and if I say à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“kindergarten,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ I just sound ridiculous.
But she is old enough to have taken it upon herself to make a video for the class. It will be shown after tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ceremony. And it has about 150 pictures of her and her classmates from the past 10 years. Very, very touching stuff.
David Cook Tried Not To Cry During ‘American Idol’ Finale Performance
On Wednesday night, a year after he was crowned the American Idol, David Cook performed on the season-eight finale, when Kris Allen was named this year’s champion. During his performance, Cook paid tribute to his late brother Adam with the song “Permanent.”
“For the finale this year, I was floored that they would allow me to have that platform,” he told MTV News. “There’s so many great artists out there that could have had that moment. The fact that they had me come back and perform ‘Permanent,’ something that was important to me, the charity and everything, to continue to give me that platform [was great].”
Did Adam Lambert Lose to Kris or Homophobia?
Adam Lambert doesn’t seem bitter that he was upset by Kris Allen on “American Idol” — but his fans sure are, with many of them claiming “middle America” or “rednecks” or “right-wing Christians” hated Adam because of his sexuality and that’s why he lost.
Is that true? If people thought Adam Lambert was straight, would he be the “American Idol” champion today instead of Kris Allen?
My gut feel, based on blogging about “Idol” all season and deleting literally hundeds of hate speech comments off this blog — almost all directed at Adam — is that yeah, homophobia did make some people vote for Kris.
Concert review: Jennifer Hudson delivers soulful, sassy show at Nokia Theatre
GRAND PRAIRIE à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Jennifer Hudson has an amazing voice. That’s the good news. That’s also the bad news.
It’s bad only in the sense that she could damage it if she isn’t careful. Remember that her concert Thursday night at Nokia Theatre had to be rescheduled twice because she strained her vocal cords during this tour.
And onstage, Hudson doesn’t hold back. Before an enthusiastic crowd that also seemed to enjoy trek mate Robin Thicke’s earlier set, J-Hud was full throttle from the get-go. Almost immediately she let loose an avalanche of lung power during “We Gon’ Fight” and “You Pulled Me Through,” two uplifting manifestos.
Jordin Sparks Questions ‘Purity Ring,’ Admits Moving On Steph Jones
Jordin Sparks stood up for the Jonas Brothers at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, proudly touting her purity ring. Today, the former “No Air” singer says she’s concerned about her feelings for singer/songwriter Steph Jones and where their relationship is going..
“We don’t know whether or not to go further or to just keep the friendship,” Sparks shared with PEOPLE at this week’s BMI Pop Awards.
“It’s crazy, we’ve got the feelings but we don’t know whether or not to say it out loud.”
Elliott Yamin Comes Home to Innsbrook
Richmond native Elliott Yamin is right about a few things: nothing is guaranteed so living every day like it could be your last is key, the love of a parent is unconditional and housebreaking a puppy is completely annoying. He was wrong, however, about one thing: his 2009 Idol-winner prediction:
I spoke to Elliott at his new home in L.A. last week.
Elliott Yamin Interview
“Adam Lambert is going to win. That’s my pick. Absolutely. He’s great, he’s gonna take it.”
I think it’s safe to say Mr. Lambert – like Elliott, another Idol ‘non-winner’ – won’t have a problem finding the success he deserves.
Pink hates ‘Idol’ and other misinterpretations
The 13 final American Idol contestants performed Pink’s song “So What?” as a group on the finale show Wednesday. Pink posted the message above to her Twitter account the next day. The day after that, dozens of celeb rags couldn’t resist butchering the context to make neat headlines like “Pink: ‘American Idol’ Finalists ‘Butchered’ My Song,” “Pink Hated The Top 13 On American Idol Singing ‘So What,’ ” and “Tweet of the Day: Pink’s Not Impressed.”
What’s strange is that every one of these publications is working from the exact same tiny amount of source material: 140 poorly punctuated characters that SatTatt thinks pretty clearly mean that Pink did not watch the “Idol” finale but that one of her friends thought they didn’t do a good job with her song.
‘So You Think You Can Dance’ recap: Mile High Groove
It never fails. For three months, I cover American Idol for this website, a truly fun gig that nonetheless turns me into a hollow shell of a man, especially by the time I reach the back-to-back near-all-nighters required while reporting the Tuesday and Wednesday night two-part Idol finale extravaganza. So I always trudge into the Thursday night season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance bone tired, and the notion of weathering yet another near-all-nighter to recap yet another televised performance competition show fills me with cold, unforgiving dread.
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25 Responses to “Idol Headlines For 05/23/09”
My gut feel, based on blogging about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ all season and deleting literally hundeds of hate speech comments off this blog à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ almost all directed at Adam à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ is that yeah, homophobia did make some people vote for Kris.
Newsday
Adam being or not being gay, had nothing to do with me voting for Kris.
I like Kris’ voice better than Adam’s.
I would not have even bothered to vote for Kris except for the fact that Simon pimped Adam so much. Saying to vote for Adam and that he is the winner. So therefore, I voted for Kris.
Adam will be pimped just like daughtry was pimped. It doesn’t matter who wins. It matters which one is pimped by the Idol PTB.
An Elliott-Colbie duet? That would be interesting.
From the Philippine Star (thanks to Cookista miakka)…
Two Davids and a Goliath of a concert
MANILA, Philippines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Just as American Idol is a jump-off point for its star-seeking contestants, the David Cook and David Archuleta concert held in Mall of Asia on May 16 was a laudable feat for first-time concert producer Ronald Singson. With a fantastical setup of fireworks, spectacular stage-play, and a pumped à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹nà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ packed crowd that just couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get enough, Singsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Fearless Productions showed absolutely no fear by presenting such a bold extravaganza. It was certainly an event that had thrills and theatrics we havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seen in Manila in a while. Suffice it to say, the David à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹nà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ David concert delivered a performance of supremacy, not just by its lead acts but through the events organization of Singson.
Judging by the looks of exhilaration on the faces of the two Davids, they were more than pleased with the outcome of the concert; enough for David Cook to descend upon the audience and get everyone from hot-and-bothered tweens to yipping middle-aged women to try to grab at the last Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s winner. It was an absolute surprise for the audience, characterizing the high-spirited bonanza that was the double-David concert. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“It was awesome! And I think I have boy-and-man crushes on both Davids,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ says Jeremy, an audience member dragged to the show by his girlfriend à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ and now, an apparent fan boy. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t experienced a concert that went as smoothly as it did in a while. Great light show, great crowd, and okay, I might have enjoyed the music as well.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬
Reposting the accompanying pic, as well…
the Manila crowd
That crowd pic is insane!
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/?autoplay=true&mediaKey=e7cf845e-b5c4-484b-8cbb-ac5ce66b740e
I didn’t see this in any of the other threads – Kris singing NB on Ellen.
It’s actually really good. Gokey help me, I’m actually really liking this song now, and I never even liked TOML (as much as I flove DC.)
I think that the vote totals might being kept a secret because Kris won by a pretty big margin and TPTB doesn’t want that information to get out. Because they hyped Adam so much this year. They had no problem with saying that DC beat Archie by 12 million votes last year, because they ended up coming around to Cook’s side and wanted him to win.
So they were proud that won by such a huge amount of votes. But I think it’s possible that they don’t the vote totals to get out because Kris might have won over Adam by a large amount of votes.
I thought it was interesting that Ryan said that he didn’t know the vote totals, I think that normally he does know that sort of thing.
I have read so many post finale articles and yet no one really is addressing many of the relevant issues. Most articles are a continuation of instigating strong emotional reactions as to the outcome of the show and still attempting to pit one contestant’s supporters against the other.
The premise of AI, in bringing to the public talented individuals and providing them exposure, is a good one but this has almost turned into a feeling that I am sitting in some roman arena and we are watching the gladiators compete and the thumbs up or down is the final decision. I don’t care to see ANY of these individuals bloodied and bruised by hateful comments in an attempt to destroy their character and persona just for entertainment purposes and so that corporate entities (Fox network and AT&T especially),can make a bundle.
Not only are we the spectators but we as the “audience” are manipulated in participating in this bloody scheme. We cheer for some of those who are handed the sword, or those who have one hand tied behind their back to level the playing field and ultimately we will still pay homage to Caesar and the final outcome will most surely be what is deemed by him.
I wish all of the contestants, who have had the fortitude and courage to undertake such a venture, the very best and would hope the public would speak out and seek a better way of discovering and promoting our talented individuals. No one should have to go thru this to achieve their dream and we should respect them for their talents and what they wish to share with us.
Vote totals for this year…
Kris’ fans want to know the number so that they can gloat just like DC fans did last year.
Adam’s fans don’t want to know so that they can feel assurred that the decision was close.
Personally, I don’t give a crap. 1 vote or 50 million, doesn’t change the outcome. I would have liked Adam to win because a million dollar guaranteed contract is a BIG deal and because of the win Kris has a bit more capital to play with for advertising and promotion and all the stuff associated with putting out an album.
But I think Adam is a risk taker and will be fine with putting any eventual royalties on the line and sacrificing financially to get into the game. He will have to dig deeper into his pocket than Kris will but they will both, hopefully, come out ahead financially in the end.
Tess, I don’t think the guaranteed contract from winning is the be-all-and-end-all. Taylor Hicks had that and look what happened. By all reports of those who have attended his concerts, Taylor is pretty fantastic live but his debut major label CD was frankly kinda milquetoast bland (imo) – not as good as his pre-Idol music – and the label didn’t put much effort into getting him radio play. When the contract period was up, whether one believes the label dropped him or it was a mutual decision not to renew the option (as he said in the Newsweek roundtable article), Taylor could see the lack of enthusiasm from the label so it was probably better for him to go back to doing things on his own.
OTOH, you can see what might happen if labels are super supportive of artists, listen to them, promote them and actually collaborate with them. e.g. Kellie Pickler (6th place; country), Chris Daughtry (4th place; mainstream pop-rock, Nickelback-style), David Archuleta (2nd place; teen pop)
Archie has a new 32-page hardbound book available for preorder at Amazon.ca. The publish date is June 2009. According to Snarky Archies, it’s part of The Robbie Reader series.
You can preorder it HERE.
I don’t think sparing Adam’s feelings would be the reason for keeping to vote tally quiet. Instead, if it was a blow out, than TPTB would be stuck having to deal with the Arkansas voting controversy, the christian right voting block issue and the social acceptance issue. That’s alot of issues for one reality tv show.
I think Adam and Kris’s musical styles are so different that it isn’t unexpected that Kris could beat Adam because his style is more mainstream. But with Adam leading in on-line polls, etc, and from the snippet from ITUNES in the middle of the season, when Adam was outselling Kris, you would expect the race to be a squeeker (just as DI predicted). To have a blow out suggests other factors in play. So since most people believe Kris could have won without any of the above mentioned issues, (although by a narrow margin) I think it is in AI’s interest to just give it a rest.
Hey, mj, did you ever show Michael Johns’s performance on Ellen this week? He did a great job. Maybe it got lost in all the finale hullaballoo? That Michael, his timing is always a little off!
Michael Johns on Ellen – 5.21.2009
Not sure if this was posted somewhere already….way too much to keep up with the last few days….it’s a papparazzi video from outside the afterparty. There’s some pretty good stuff but it’s long. I’ve been a defender of Danny all along because I thought he was getting a harsh deal but even I have to admit that he is quite douchish here. Seems like Megan drained the limo bar on the way there…haha
VIDEO
Oh and must add that Chris Daughtry looks amazing!! Hotter every time I see him!!
errr wasnt sure where to put this since it seems there two news threads today???
in some article talking about some 100 year old lady(mae) this was mentioned. lol
It was talking aobut her being on Spike Feresten show
“The jaded studio audience that regularly attended my show only went crazy for three guests in three years,” says Feresten. “Jerry Seinfeld, David Archuleta and Mae Laborde. She’s a star.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez24-2009may24,0,5532524.column
Actually, they don’t want to say what the vote totals were because they don’t want to damage whatever legitimacy the show and the judges have. if it was a blowout, let’s say more than the 12M last year, it’s going to raise questions also of how 4 judges (who are supposed to be the arbiters of talent on the show) couldn’t fathom or didn’t see the rise of an unknown like Kris Allen. There was never any doubt of Adam’s prodigious gifts but then again, nobody was in dispute about the talent of David Archuleta.
The American people like what they like, and if you allow them to vote, they will show you who and what they like. Every year, the viewers are increasingly pushing their likes and dislikes onto the show, and the judges are increasingly becoming irrelevant. They now have turned into TV characters — The Dawg, The Loon, The Ass — and while many of us enjoy them, we hardly ever listen to them anymore. Because they don’t care enough to make this a serious endeavor. It’s not about the contestants anymore, it’s about drama, and not even the contestant’s — it’s Paula’s contract negotiations, it’s Simon’s girlfriend drama, it’s Kara’s beef with BIkini Girl.
It’s not about finding the unknown talent anymore, it’s pimping the talent they want, with nor regard for anybody else in the process. The resentment has been rising every year, I think. The people said no to Archuleta, an early favorite and the one that was pimped during the Finale, but with Season 8, it all came to a head. Not only did they recognize the obvious talent (which is why Adam has always breezed through almost every results night) but they also acknowledged the one that was hidden, or ignored in Kris Allen. Whether you like it or not, this year has been an affirmation of who or what America likes.
This is American Idol, not World Idol; even Adam Lambert achieving international stardom is up for debate.
Thanks for the heads up on the book for archie ozarka. I want that book. lol
Are they gonna put archies zero gravity on itunes? My mom said if they do she is gonna buy it for me. If you guys know when can you let me know.
Thanks
Here’s an interview with Simon Cowell. Seems he’s a real neat freak.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1185451/Im-quite-odd-I-dark-moods-Simon-Cowells-revealing–surprising–interview-ever.html
I’m an American and I like Adam. I think I would accept the above statement more if there was a limit to the number of times people can vote. The results I don’t think really represent the actual feelings of the AI audience as most people don’t power vote. That doesn’t mean Kris wouldn’t win, but that based on all of the on-line polling and Itune sales, it should have been close. And if it was close, why not reveal the results?
I thought so, too. I saw this video the other night and went, “Woah! Is that Chris? He’s looking good.”
Thanks for this. Is that MJ’s own band with him? They’re a serious-looking bunch.
Yup. you summed it up. to be honest, I don’t trust the voting. I trust election voting more and we all know how reliable that is…. LOL
Frankly, I don’t know what the big deal about the voting totals is.
If I found out today that the 300 votes I cast for Adam were the only ones in the 100M he received, it would not change my thoughts about him one whit.
After the press disaster of Arkansas/AT&T Gate and even Ryan mentioning at the beginning of the finale show that people were reporting that they couldn’t get through on the lines, I think AI knows that this could totally blow up in their faces if they throw anymore light on the subject. I think they are scared shit**** of a public relations nightmare.
Cookie has apparently brought ABMB to his US tour, too.
ABMB at Pearl Street
Silver teaser
Also, another leftover…
Cookie on Channel News Asia
I was there at Cook’s concert in Northampton MA.
Some one flew the request for Silver up on stage in a paper airplane, Cook called it an ultimatum.
ABMB gave me a huge smile. I was hoping that the band didn’t learn it for Manila just to leave it there.
He told us we were the “best damn audience” of the tour so far.
“You guys write the rules for how it’s supposed to go. Post ‘em out there.”
Scott MacIntyre posted a myspace blog about the Scott/Matt piano duet that was cut. It breaks my heart.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=126127832&blogId=490770250