Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
Tuning In
Ailing Paula vents
Paula Abdul, who on Thursday said she is “deeply hurt” that a phone call with her reps was leaked to the press, opened up to People.com about how she’s doing.
“Look at me, I’m OK, really I am,” the “American Idol” judge, 44, said.
“I’m doing just fine and don’t have to explain myself to anyone. It hurts. The leak, that’s illegal. That was a private conversation. That was a violation of my privacy and totally illegal.”
The phone call was first reported by the New York Post…
Martina Helps Nbc Light Up July 4th
Star to perform at Macy’s fireworks celebration
Martina McBride joins NBC’s celebration of the nation’s 231st birthday extravaganza performing along with ‘American Idol’ winner Jordin Sparks, American Idol contestants Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle on the live broadcast of the “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular.”
The show will air on Wednesday, July 4th, 9-10 p.m. EST (all time zones).
American Idol News Still Centers On Sanjaya Malakar
Even though the American Idol 6 finale aired over a week ago, the show continues to make headlines. However, most of the headlines tend to center around a contestant who was eliminated from the competition several weeks ago. In his tenure on American Idol, Sanjaya Malakar attracted some of the most devoted fans and some of the most devoted critics in the history of the show….
‘American Idol’ parent company to go private in $1.3 billion deal
…Sillerman said he isn’t worried by a recent ratings dip for “American Idol.” The nation’s most popular TV show accounted for 32 percent of CKX’s revenue last year.
But Tuesday shows this year were down 14 percent for the target 18-to-49 age group, and Wednesday shows were off 7 percent.
Fuller has “some ideas and tricks up his sleeve to make the show better,” Sillerman said, although he declined to say what they are.
Clinton won’t mix Iraq with faith and an American Idol
…The reason she won’t be debating Iraq at the Wednesday event sponsored by John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Financial Times newspaper?
“We have a prescheduled event,” Clinton’s spokesman, Phil Singer, explained. In addition, she is only attending “a handful” of forums other than the debates that are sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, according to Singer.
The Wednesday conflict involves a downtown Washington fundraiser that features former American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee and pop singer-songwriter Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds.
Robert Guttman, director of the Johns Hopkins school sponsoring the debate, said he offered to delay the start to as late as 9 p.m. in order to accommodate Clinton’s 5-7 p.m. fundraiser.
The school is a little more than a mile from the Clinton fundraiser…
Live and Let Shill
Hey, Paul McCartney! You’re worth a bazillion dollars and the world is celebrating the 40th anniversary of your old band’s Sgt. Pepper’s masterwork — what are you going to do now? “I’m going on Home Shopping Network!” appears to be McCartney’s ecstatic answer….
… After seeing his old music ruined by American Idol and Cirque du Soleil, you’d think the good Knight might be a little extra aware of preserving his legacy and image.
Up next in Paul’s promotional regimen: Mass e-mail spam blasts!
SITCOM MAY BE ON SPRINGER’S HORIZON
…Springer says the summer TV competition will feature a Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District singer, whom NBC later identified as Robert Hatcher, who made it to the Hollywood round on this year’s “American Idol.”…
‘Idol’ judge attacks American rival
Idol judge likes Canuck show over its parent to the south
…He says Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson don’t know a thing about finding unique talent and this season’s finalists proved that.
“No matter what kind of props anybody wants to give Melinda Doolittle when it came down to it in America, they had a Justin Timberlake knock-off, who looks like he’s 40, and Jordin Sparks who is just a professional pageant kid … who knows so little about artistry,” says the Canadian Idol judge.
“And the fact that that Blake (Lewis) kid had the audacity to use the word artist in describing what his music is, is ridiculous — it’s just generic, knock-off, imitative crap. Our show is about anything except that.” …
Leslie Hunt sings to fans in Batavia, St. Charles
Clad in a polka-dotted mini-dress, Leslie Hunt sang her heart out for her fans in Batavia Sunday night.
As one of the top female performers on this season’s American Idol, the talented songstress from St. Charles gave two weekend performances.
Hunt sang on Saturday evening in St. Charles for a Salute Our Troops fundraiser held in the RE/MAX parking lot….
CBS unveils a funny ‘Creature’
…In the news
…We kept hearing that Paul McCartney might pop up on “American Idol” this past season, but he says the series is “too cheesy,” according to the New York Daily News. Apparently McCartney has conveniently forgotten some of his colorful past…
OBESITY CAMPAIGNER’S ‘DEATH THREATS’ OVER SPARKS REMARKS
An obesity campaigner who criticised AMERICAN IDOL winner JORDIN SPARKS’ weight has received death threats over her remarks. MeMe Roth, of the National Action Against Obesity group in the U.S., admits she has been the victim of hate-mail ever since her appearance on a TV show, with fans of the star “calling for my death”……..
Obesity expert takes heat from Sparks fans
…MeMe Roth of the National Action Against Obesity tells The Scoop that there have been “hate posts calling for my death” ever since she went on Fox TV and said that Sparks is overweight. “When I look at Jordin I see diabetes, I see heart disease, I see high cholesterol,” Roth said. “That’s what’s so sad about this — she is not the vision of health — she is the vision of ‘unhealth.’”
Roth says she stands by her words — but did not call Sparks “obese” or say some of the other things that irate posters have attributed to her. Roth says that some have misconstrued her words because of Fox’s “sensationalized setup.” …
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Good Morning, Lisa B. I find it interesting that this year, a trio of finalists seem to be making the rounds together. Jordin, Blake and Melinda seem to be making a lot of appearances together (Macy’s fireworks, mentioned above, for example). Next year, I expect the top 4 to make the rounds.
ROM Crystal opens to public with a flourish
Among the more out-there sightings in all of this, however? Or at least the most unexpected? Well, besides the repeated sightings of Eric Benet, Halle Berry’s ex, who was hanging out backstage on Saturday night with Prince’s ex, the Toronto-raised Manuela Testolini Nelson? The two are now a couple, and even though that was a bit strange, what was stranger still was the appearance of the most spiritual and fabulous of American Idols, Clay Aiken.
If you blinked, you woulda missed him, but he was, indeed, there for a few split-secs!
Aiken, my spies report, flew in to Toronto on Saturday morning with uberproducer David Foster, after having conquered Vancouver during the West Coast’s visit of The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Idol checked out the staging, watched the rehearsals with Foster and at the same time fit in a meeting with Mark Shekter, who was exec-producing the concert at the ROM on Saturday night.
“He also talked to Jann Arden,” my source reports, adding that he ran for the airport just as soon as he could that afternoon.
I haven’t seen any other appearances of the 3 of them, Jersey. Jordin and Blake did the Today show together but the rest of the time appeared on shows alone. I do hope that Melinda gets some press since she really should have been in the finals although I can’t complain since my guy Blake benefits from the extra appearances.
I really have to wonder if Paula really does have Addison’s Disease. It could explain a lot.
You’re right..Last week it appeared as if all three were doing press junket. It seems aif everytine I flipped to one of the local channels there was Melinda. I knew Jordin and Balke were doing their press but was surprised to see Melinda receiving just as much air-time in the same week as the first and second place finisher. I commented on it last week.
Usually, only the first and second place finisher do press junket in the same week. The third place finisher usually get their chance a week or two after.
Ah yes. American Idol uber-fans - garnering the attention of the press and pundits alike. Felony you say? Pffft.
Fuller has “some ideas and tricks up his sleeve to make the show better,” Sillerman said, although he declined to say what they are.
AI will never be “up to par” as in the past. They will take away the “realness” . The judges/celebs and contestants be more scripted and they will leave it up to producers to find the stand-out contestant and shove him/her down the publics’ throats. Whoaaa ! am I negative today or what??? Ewww, sorry!!
When the winner of the season of American Idol is ignored, dissed and otherwise alienated in wide open view of everyone they should realize that is going to leave a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people. Hence, the lower ratings this year. You don’t even have to be a Hicks fan to be disgusted at such behavior. Fuller and Lythgoe should have accepted that there is a sector of people in this country that would like an option for different music to be available for their listening pleasure instead of trying to belittle the fans and pretend that Season 5 never happened. We may not be the “CD-buyingest” group of fans but we sure knew what to do to win the title and that should have been honored as such.
I think MeMe Roth is either fixated on weight or she’s blind.
Jordin is a very healthy size, height and weight, and this person who has never seen her family medical history or records and has no posted credentials other than she might have started an organization — is diagnosing high blood pressure, diabete’s, and heart attacks. And we should listen to her?
I do agree that she shouldn’t be getting death threats but….wait –she’s treatening Jordin with ….death?
Latest news on the Kat front: She has looked at a lot of movie roles and the only one she can mention so far is an Adam Sandler movie.
Nice spin. “isn’t worried”. Heh. He and Fuller should be pacing the floors at the ratings drop.
Maybe they should be focused on putting thru only genuinely talented auditioners in the future.
Another idea, one vote per person. They and the cell phone providers are boosting each others profits. Communications providers bilk enuff $$ out of us as it is :(
They’re gonna have to get back to the basics to stay on top of the ratings game.
Here is a review of the new singles.
This Is My Now” - Jordin Sparks/Blake Lewis
The retail universe has dramatically changed from one year ago, where “American Idol” victory songs were carefully controlled by physical release - all but ensuring their debut at the top of The Billboard Hot 100. Because of hastily recorded studio versions of weekly performances this year, all tracks are available for download, including “This Is My Now,” the chosen melodic champ for winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis, which bows on the Hot 100 at Nos. 15 and 18, respectively.
While mainstream press reviews for the melodramatic ballad have been unkind - and so far, airplay seems scant - Sparks soars like an eagle with a consummate performance, while Lewis flaps his wings hard with an admittedly misfit tune. Meanwhile, the intriguing historic query remains to be seen: Do radio and a weary audience care about propelling TV`s No. 1 reality pageant into another chart-topper?
Good question.
http://music.monstersandcritics.com/reviews/article_1313337.php/Single_Reviews_Smashing_Pumpkins_Chris_Rice_Jordin_Sparks_Blake_Lewis_Korn_Lil_Boosie_
I totally agree with the limited voting ability. Taylor may not have won with the limited voting and that’s okay. I still love what he does. The problem is they allowed the voting to occur as it did and he did win, fair and square. He should have been treated with respect as the winner, even if they wanted someone else. And I believe that is the biggest reason for the drop in ratings.
This should probably be in the Mediabase thread but with so many idols on such a variety of charts, I’m sensing “idol fatigue.” I think it’ll be harder for Season 6 people to get their music heard. People are maxing out on all the idol music. In the past only the winner got the sales/radio play now it’s a free for all.
I think Taylor is being treated on par with the rest of the idols that aren’t selling multiplatinum every other day.
You might be onto something. “This is My Now” has yet to crack the top 40 on any format, but in previous years, the coronation song did better on airplay just because of it being an Idol coronation song (TIMN is no worse or better a song than previous coronation songs). It is currently losing spins.
DIMYP was at #17 at this point last year on AC (and peaked a little bit higher)
I don’t know where previous songs were at this point, but here is where they peaked:
“A Moment Like This” peaked at 27 on Pop and 4 on AC
“Flying Without Wings” peaked at 13 on R&B and 27 on AC
“I Believe” peaked at 1 on the Hot 100 Airplay (that’s what wiki says)
“Inside Your Heaven” peaked at 14 on AC and 59 on Country
Any idol releasing this fall is going to have to compete with Carrie’s new release (and possibly, Bo’s…word on the street is that he’s signed with Carnival Records owned by Frank Lidell)
I love Taylor’s music. But, I think he would have won AI last year even with limited voting. He just caught fire with music lovers everywhere :) He had it all, the voice, the charisma…a true entertainer.
His post-AI career is just starting. Can’t wait to hear the sophomore CD.
But This is my Now hasn’t been released as a single yet so you really can’t compare to previous seasons. Someone linked a Billboard article the other day that suggested that both TIMN and Blake’s YGLABN will be released as singles by their record companies.
I think there’s only going to be AI overload in the ones with similar genres and even then maybe not so much. Carrie selling so well hasn’t seemed to hurt Kellie or Bucky. I doubt Chris selling so well is going to hurt Kelly or Bo and vice versa. I think that just because you’re an AI fan it doesn’t mean that you’re buying everyone’s albums. I’ve only ever bought 3 myself.
MeMe Roth really bugs me although agree she shouldn’t receive death threats. Jordin is far from obese and probably is at a healthy or close to a healthy weight for her size and even so it’s none of the woman’s business.
According to an interview in Birmingham a few days ago, that new CD will start moving into action after the summer tour. I suspect we will not see a new album tho until at least summer ‘08 at the earliest.
Do you happen to know where “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and “My Destiny” peaked, I’d just be interested in knowing.
Thanks.
thanks griz.
I’ve been reading with interest at another board the direction the new CD may take, and it sounds good! Nothing against Serlectic (sp) who produced the freshman CD, but I hoping that the next producer can bring something different to the table. A fatter, more raw and live sound.
“This is My Now” has been released as a single. It did very well last week on iTunes. If anything, it was the previous years that were hampered. Typically, the singles did not go for sale until June (e.g. June 13th last year for DIMYP and June 27th for SOTR/MD). Yet, despite not having any single for sale at this point, idol coronation songs have gotten more airplay at this point.
And radio stations do not have to wait until official add dates. They can play anything that has been released. Idol makes the coronation songs available for radio stations to electronically download and play right after the finale. That’s why some stations are playing it now.
The BB article was talking about a physical single CD. They may yet do that, but it seems like they have decided to go with the slightly longer EP this year (mini-album). I don’t see the relation to air play.
Last week, Rihanna still managed to sell 277K downloads and receive massive airplay without a physical single, so it can be done. Her massive airplay even pre-dated her single being available for sale on iTunes. That’s pretty typical. Of course, she isn’t selling a crapastic Idol coronation song.
I’m not saying this year sucks. I’m just saying that jpfan may be onto something with the “Idol fatigue” concept when it comes to airplay. Idol singles used to get a certain amount of airplay just because they were Idol singles (they weren’t GREAT songs either…Idol coronation songs are infamous for being carpy).
I hate to see the ideas Simon Fuller has since he is one that has dissed last year’s winner. Whether he sold well or not, by past idols numbers, he sold a heck of a lot more then most artists do these days. Check out some of the big names who did not debut near what he did. The fact is, as a matter of integrity and being professional, the show shouldve treated the winner with respect. Failing to introduce him in any manner as last years winner on the finale and all the dissing thrown his way was disrespectful to him and those that voted for him. We now have a show so full of itself it is “showing off” its power by showcasing some big named stars, we have judges more interested in talking then watching the idols perform but critiquing them anyway, producers scripting every burp and cough anyone utters on the show, and commercials that are occasionally interrupted to let one of the idols sing. Some that quit viewing this year will tune in next year hoping its been “fixed”, if not, they will change channels again and more will follow. Its harder to get people back then keep them tuned in. Just as in any business, one dissatisfied customer tells ten people, a satisfied one tells three. Ya gotta keep them because winning them back never gives you a hundred precent result.
Sorry, I don’t recall that. I checked wiki, and they didn’t have that information. I’m not sure where else to check. They did get airplay, but I did not keep records back then (MJs archive’s do sometimes mention airplay reports. That’s where I got the DIMYP chart position from last year…I remembered her posting it. She didn’t seem to start doing the big reports she does now until this year). Foxes on Idol might have something.
LOL! If I recall correctly, MJ posted in a recap there were like 67 commercials during one show this season. Unfreakingbelievable.
You know, I was wondering about “Idol fatigue” last season when Kellie, Ruben, Clay, Daughtry, Taylor and Fantasia all had releases within a few months period. Then there was Kat, Elliott, Buckey, Paris, Kim and…?
I think it will be interesting to see what happens this season, with Kelly C., Leona Lewis, J-Hud, Jordin, Blake and Ace. Plus any other Idols who may put out albums.
Do i make you proud went #17 for illeagally selling before the june 13th date and stayed at #1 for 9 weeks on BB singles chart
somewhere over the rainbow/my destiny got as high as #2 on BB and is still selling very well i year later
Blake’s single, YGLABN, was available for sale on AI’s website after he performed it the first time. That’s when I bought it. I wonder how many others bought it then. His current sales might have been higher but for that.
Any idol releasing this fall is going to have to compete with Carrie’s new release (and possibly, Bo’s…word on the street is that he’s signed with Carnival Records owned by Frank Lidell)
As reported on mj’s, Bo is recording with producer Frank Liddell.
I sure hope he’s signed with the Carnival Music Group, as well.
I found the following comment by Frank Liddell (hubby of Lee Ann Womack) to be quite telling. This is exactly what Mr. Bice needs:
“I like music that is reflective of the people who are making it,” explains Liddell. “I believe that artists should speak for themselves. I like to leave the music alone, let it develop on its own. I want these artists to grow into who they are. And I know it will resonate with other people.”
http://carnivalrecording.com/about.php
Sounds like Bo will finally get his “real” voice heard!
IMHO Ms. McPhee is making another bad career move by getting involved in a political fund raiser. Neutral is the best position to take because that way you won’t risk losing sales .
I can see some of Simon Fuller’s ideas now;
*Bring back Daughtry every week to push more units.
*More commercials ( the audience doesn’t need to see that much of the idol contestants , TPTB will pick the idol anyway).
*Eliminate voting ( It’s only TPTB opinions that count anyway)
* Bring on more of the fading stars in Clive’s stable to revive their careers and sell some units.
* Why bother with contestants at all , TPTB can just turn the show into an infomercial for Clives recording artists.
* Convince the audience that seasons 1 thru 6 never happened then even if the season is lame, people won’t compare it to past years.