Idol Headlines for 07/06/09
The Tour Opens – Live from Portland
For millions, or tens of millions who watch American Idol only on television the Idols Live tour is an afterthought to the game. The journey from audition to finale is a complete arc, with from which each year one or maybe two emerge alive to continue straight to the very last stage – pop super-stardom.
But for the stars of American Idol, the past is merely prologue and life began today in Portland, Oregon when free of the competition, of being pitted against each other, of the judges cold glares and Angel of Death Seacrest’s icy embrace, it is at last just about the music and performing for an audience. And a fantastically vast audience, filling the Trailblazers arena with uncontainable enthusiasm.
Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Adam Lambert, Kris Allen Hit the Stage Again as American Idols Live Tour Kicks Off in Portland
Goth kids, soccer moms and diehard Idol junkies ‘†including one superfan with Clay Aiken’s autograph tattooed on her shoulder ‘†packed Portland, Oregon’s Rose Garden last night for the inaugural performance of American Idol’s summer tour.
The two biggest stars of the show ‘†winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert ‘†embraced what endeared them to millions of fans throughout Season Eight. ‘Glambert’ was out in full force, with tight pants, his otherworldly wail and a tribute to the original rock androgyne, David Bowie. Wrapped in a plaid shirt and a pair of jeans, Allen kept it simple and real, embracing the stripped-down soul sound that elevated him from dark horse to worthy champion.
American Idol’s Top 10 Live Tour kicks off in Portland, Oregon, stops in Los Angeles on July 16
The 50-city Idols Live tour kicked off on Sunday at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. Each finalist got a solo set, from 10th place finisher Michael Sarver to winner Kris Allen.
The three-hour concert was a combination between songs from the tv series and material picked for the tour. The set boasts a 42- by 18 foot video-screen backdrop as well as four smaller screens, each receiving separate signals.
Allison Iraheta, please work with Stevie Nicks, Johnette Napolitano. (For real!)
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog item encouraging Adam Lambert to collaborate with Madonna on his debut album, and in the interest of equal time (and equal love) I’ve been pondering dream collaborators for American Idol season 8 colleagues Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen. We’ll get to Kris later this week, but for now, let’s mull Allison, one of the most exciting female rock voices to score a major-label deal in recent memory.
Pop music review: Disney Channel star Demi Lovato thrills crowd at Superpages.com Center
The 2008 American Idol runner-up, wearing a red-white-and-blue-checked shirt that evoked a patriotic-farmboy feel, displayed exactly why he vaulted so high in the Idol stratosphere. His pure, strong pipes were in perfect form throughout the set, which included his hit “Crush,” as well as an a cappella version of “Como La Flor,” which he sang as a tribute to the late singer Selena.
The audience jumped and screamed for the squeaky-clean Archuleta, who seems to have found a perfect home within the Disney universe. No, he doesn’t have a sitcom, but he was on that other hit show way back when. That, judging by the fans’ reaction, seems to make up for it.
Kellie Pickler: traditional country music on the upswing
More traditional country music seems to be on the upswing as of late, and I have to give a very big, very thankful shout-out to American Idol, for introducing all of us to Kellie Pickler . Staying true to her fans and the music near and dear to her heart, Kellie rockets onto the scene with the disc bearing her name, and she establishes herself as a possible future player in any radio-friendly marketplace. This is one GREAT spin!
From stolen album to stolen hearts … This Idol’s in heaven
WE WERE supposed to be talking about his spotlight role in “Grease” (opening tomorrow at the Academy of Music), or maybe his current album, “The Distance,” or maybe his tell-some memoir, “Heart Full of Soul,” which recounts the guy’s rise from a humble Alabama childhood to the Season Five winner on “American Idol.”
But the morning I caught up with Taylor Hicks was a sad one. Michael Jackson had died the night before, and the shock hadn’t worn off. First, we had to grieve.
L.A. braces for a crush of mourners for Jackson memorial
LOS ANGELES ‘†Legions of Michael Jackson fans learned Sunday whether they had been granted one of the 8,750 pairs of free tickets for the pop superstar’s memorial service Tuesday. The event is expected to tie the downtown area into a knot of fans, traffic, celebrities and media outlets.
Organizers urged those who did not receive the lottery-drawn tickets to stay away from the downtown Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre next door, which will host the event; a police perimeter will be set up for blocks around the venues. Officials recommended that fans Ԡwho filed 1.6 million requests for tickets on the Web Ԡwatch the service on TV.
ETA:
Lambert, Iraheta Get Pumped for American Idols Live’s First Gig
Kris Allen looked visibly uncomfortable in the hours leading up to the American Idol tour’s kick-off show in Portland, Oregon. But it wasn’t because of nerves. ‘I just really have to pee,’ he said, hoping for a well-deserved break in the midst of a series of interviews. (Read our report from the Idols tour’s first show here.)
The Idol winner and his nine companions were feeling more pumped than apprehensive about the show. After all, they’re playing for fans now. ‘You don’t have the whole judge thing, the cameras aren’t in your face,’ Allen said. ‘You’re just playing for the crowd and you can feed off that energy.’ ‘You’re nervous on the show because you have these four guys who are going to tell me how much I suck in front of so many friggin’ people,’ added Allison Iraheta, the season’s youngest Idol. ‘With the tour, I know there are a lot of people out there who voted for me.’
EXCLUSIVE: American Idol Judge Kara DioGuardi About To Marry In Seaside Wedding
American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is getting married at any moment to her Maine man, contractor Mike McCuddy, in a beautiful seaside wedding in Bar Harbor, California and RadarOnline.com has the exclusive!
A source in the tony village tells RadarOnline.com, ‘Kara had her rehearsal dinner Sunday night in a private restaurant on the grounds of the Bar Harbor Club and the wedding will be there tomorrow!’
RadarOnline.com confirmed that her dad, former New York state Rep. Joseph DioGuardi, was staying at the nearby Harborside Hotel & Spa with members of her family and other guests.
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244 Responses to “Idol Headlines for 07/06/09”
I can’t get through all the comments trying to limit the definition of “art.” I tried…
Thank you, Kirsten. For me, you captured the problem with trying to limit and categorize “art.” Art and artistry defies limiting definition. Part of the reason why it does is its inherent subjectivity — its very nature. I don’t know why we even try.
For most of us, we know it when we see/hear/feel/taste/etc it. The problem here, it seems to me, is that folks want to apply the artistic label as a compliment and withhold it to diminish. So, inevitably a battle ensues. I’ll even take it a step farther and say that, for me, the very fact of the debate means those being debated are indeed artists.
On this “musical artist” thing, it doesn’t take much knowledge of the Beatles to know that George Martin deserves massive credit for the body of work that carries “The Beatles” label, especially in the later years when the band members weren’t even talking to each other and Martin was doing cutting edge production work on some fairly pedestrian little ditties to produce the bulk of the stuff on albums like Sargeant Peppers, and the white album, and Abbey Road.
One of the many things (besides drugs and hating each other) that killed the Beatles is that nothing they were recording in their last several years could even be played live.
I think that’s a great point, one to be emphasized. Being able to accompany yourself adds much more flexibility to your performance.
Interestingly, I never saw Christina as being in Britney’s shadow. I never followed their feud (or sales) closely though. I thought, until recently, they were both pretty big stars that were doing about the same.
I think it was a little of both. In the sense that because they were all black singers out of the soul/gospel tradition, they got lumped together in the public mind and sounded the same to people who don’t listen to R&B. As opposed to someone like the aforementioned Christina Aguilera, who is for all intents and purposes a soul/gospel type singer but is never perceived or labeled as such because she looks white. That said, I think it is kinda normal for singers all sharing a genre to be lumped together by those who do not listen to that genre. For instance, I don’t think Daughtry and Cook are anything alike, but if you don’t listen to that stuff then they may sound the same to you.
I just read through most of these posts and this one makes the most sense to me. I think this person hit the nail on the head with her statement that it takes the “it” factor for someone to really make it in the business. It’s the same as when you fall in love. There’s something about that person that attracts you to them and the same thing happens with performers. There’s something about them that draws you to them. I believe Kris got a tremendous amount of votes due to being young and cute. The tweens know how to power vote like no one else but in the end will not be there for Kris to make him succcessful. He needs the “it” factor to succeed and I don’t believe he has it. Adam, on the other hand, imho, does have the “it” factor and it will be to his adavantage in succeeding in this business. You might ask why he didn’t win since he does have the “it” factor, imho. I would say this is mostly due to homophobia, again imho. From personal experience in my family, my daughter wanted to vote for Kris because he’s cute, my husband did not like Adam because he’s gay, and I adore Adam because he sings like an angel and has the “it” factor, imho. He draws me in like no one ever has before. Like the poster said above, Kris will have to bring his game up if he wants to get better reviews from these concerts because it’s not going to be a pretty picture for Kris if reviews are going to be making excuses for why his set is not exciting the audience.
After reflecting on this, I think I can agree to the term “vocal artist”. I just think there needs to be a separate term like “music artist” or something else to denote those who contribute to the process of making music on more than one level.
It’s kind of like differentiating between whether a basketball player is simply a great scorer or if they can also rebound, play defense, and make passes to their teammates for easy baskets. The more things you can do, the more “valuable” you are, and I think this should be acknowledged when we talk about the different kinds of artists in music, and multi-threat “artists” should be designated some sort of “extra credit” that reflects that.
Unfortunately, in the realm of popular music, they usually aren’t. We live in a world where an insane talent like Jack White of the Raconteurs is far from being a household name, but Rihanna who sings and dances and… is pretty, I guess, is one….
Michael Jackson did not write “P.Y.T.”, “Thriller” or “Human Nature”, three of the songs identified with the Thriller album, however, he did pen “Billie Jean”, “Beat It”, “Want to Be Startin Somethin” and (with Paul McCartney) “The Girl Is Mine”. So different aspects of his talents were represented on the album certainly.
I think there is a huge difference between signers who interpret the songs they are presenting and those who just “show up and sing”. I don’t think anyone would argue that folks from the last group are artists. But, as an actress, I understand that someone who takes the written word and musical chords – whether written by themselves or someone else – and interprets them in such a way as to create a song which will move an audience an artist. Artists make their mediums come alive.
David Cook often cited Frank Sinatra’s method of learning and internalizing the lyrics to a song as his guidepost to performing a cover version of a song while on AI. I would not be the least bit surprised to learn Cook employs the same method while performing his own tunes as well.
This is another point of confusion for me. All of the reviews I’ve seen of the Portland show have been enthusiastic for Kris and the critics had nice things to say about him, except that one from Oregon Live who was clearly an unobjective Adam fan. So I don’t really understand this argument that Kris needs to start becoming more exciting or he’s going to get awful reviews…because that hasn’t happened at all so far.
Not that this needs to be said because it’s fairly obvious, but the styles of music of Adam and Kris are completely different. Adam is naturally high-energy and more energetic. Kris’ music isn’t the type that’s going to have people shrieking and “exciting” the audience in the same way. Just because the music is more mellow doesn’t mean it’s less enjoyable for them, though. We’ve heard a lot from people who went to the show and reported that the crowd reacted extremely positively to Kris anyway.
I agree with this. I don’t think the gay issue is solely the reason Adam lost. I will say, that it did have an impact on his popularity with some viewers. My boss, who I thought was one of the most liberal, openminded guys you’d hope to meet, said when we talked about the contestants and the popular thought was it would be Danny and Adam in the finals. I said, it will be the church-leader widower vs the gay guy. His first reaction was, I’d vote for the church guy before I’d ever vote for the gay guy. When asked why, he said that he was just “so tired” of all the gay stuff, perez hilton and the beauty queen. He’s not the only one I heard express that opinion. Not hate against Adam per se, just not the willingness to appreciate or care about his talent or to go the extra mile to vote.
I think Adam is polarizing. I also think his talent is amazing. I think Kris is not as talented a singer as Adam, but his ability to play instruments brings admiration from many. I don’t think he’s an amazing instrumentalist, at least I didn’t see that on the show, so to get the OTT praise for his ability to play the guitar and piano I don’t get. I thought he was somewhat predictable in the same way some people said Adam was. With Kris, I figured every week we’d either get an acoustic guitar arrangement of his chosen song or he’d play the piano. With Adam, I knew I’d either get rocking Adam or ballad Adam. Just different strokes. They are BOTH artists, but at the end of the day, Kris probably appealed to more VOTING audience members than Adam did and that’s the primary reason that Adam didn’t win.
Either way, the show’s over. Adam will have to face the issues that his performance style AND sexual orientation bring him and Kris will have to face the issues his performance style brings him. Different artists, different performance styles and different challenges. I wish them both the best.
While I agree with the argument in which this sentence was written, I would like to point out that Nat “King” Cole wrote many of his own songs as well as arranged (and re-arranged) them for different orchestras and groups with which he performed. He conducted a jazz band before becoming known as a singer and could play the piano and guitar. So I think all sides here would put him squarely in the “artist” category.
Sorry. I thought I was being very careful to say that it wasn’t “all” about *any* factor, but that these factors played a part.
I happen to believe that *one* reason F, J, and L had overlapping fanbases was because they were all black, and there are some people to whom black singers just plain don’t appeal,. That wouldn’t have mattered if there hadn’t been *three* black singers — but in my opinion *one* thing (among several things) that happened that night was that they split the vote of people who were willing to vote for a black woman. To me, that point is made by the fact that they were all pretty good that week and by the fact that Jasmine didn’t end up down there, even though she was a soul-y-pop girl singer too (and more like LaToya in style than Fantasia was, to me).
I would never argue that race or antigay prejudice or even beauty plays a predominant role in those votes.
However, it just seems ridiculous to me, as well as willfully blind to the facts of human nature, to argue that it doesn’t play any role, as people repeatedly do when they say things like “His being gay had *nothing* to do with it!” or “Race had *nothing* to do with it!” All those factors clearly play in to the votes because of the simple fact that humans are voting.
I think the fact that it upsets people so much when somebody says that these things are *a* factor — and that everybody always accuses one of saying that they’re the *only* factor — is probably proof that it’s so, actually. We’re scared to death to think that people are like this, because maybe that means we’re like this. Well, we’re people, so we probably are, at least sometimes, is my opinion.
As for Ruben and Clay. Well, that was a fight between a black guy and a closeted — but kinda obvious, nevertheless — gay guy (who were both very talented). In a lot of people’s subconscious minds, the black guy wins that one.
Huh? Didn’t really watch that season, but I thought those two were friends?
The problem I have with this is that if three white singers ended up in the bottom three (which has happened) nobody seems to suggest that it’s some kind of racism.
I know that racism exists in the United States as does homophobia, but it seems to me that American Idol voters have demonstrated that they seem to be colour blind (And I’m not even an AI voter, so I’m not patting myself on the back). African-American singers have won 25% of the time and 12.5% of the time a mixed-race contestant has won. If some people vote against African-American singers, I reason that there must be some people who are pre-disposed to vote for African-American singers to even it out. It is not only European-American singers that go further in this competition than conventional wisdom thinks they should.
I loved George Huff during that season and thought Jennifer Hudson had a “b!tchy! attitude so I didn’t like her. I thought LaToya was great and appreciated Fantasia’s skills, but didn’t always like her best. So, I feel confident that my dislike of Jennifer isn’t because she was African-American. I extend the same courtesy to others. I like to think that most people aren’t malicious. Maybe that’s because I’m naive and don’t like to face reality. Certainly, there are malicious people, but I think most people just like to be entertained.
There are lots of things that contribute to people being in the bottom 3 and I think it has more to do with their song choice that week than anything (the three in the top group all picked extremely well known Manilow songs while only Jennifer did in the bottom 3. Meanwhile, she was the top vote getter two weeks before). And, with only one person who wasn’t a visible minority in the Top 7 (Jennifer, LaToya, Fantasia and George are African-American, Jasmine is Asian-American and Diana is Hispanic (IIRC)), it’s not all that shocking to me that the bottom 3 were all visible minorities. If anything, I think that season goes to show how colour-blind AI voters can be.
AI producers/judges? That’s another story.
Is there racism? Yes. Is it a major factor in AI voting? I just don’t think so.
One voting result during one week in 8 seasons seems more like an exception to the rule/anomaly than powerful evidence, to me. YMMV.
In my opinion, what caused the results of the voting does not tell us anything. Unless it will be a one vote-one person policy, the AI voting system will continue to stir controversy. This is the reason why some AI winners are still being questioned. But we know this will be impossible since AI needs AT&T power texting to generate thier income.
I don’t agree. People shouldn’t get automatically get artistic extra credit just because they can check off more boxes in terms of areas of ability; it’s what you bring to those areas that matters. Being able to do more than one thing is very impressive, but: if you have one person who’s a good singer and a good instrumentalist, and one person who’s a great singer and a great performer and interpreter of songs, then (while I would definitely admire the person who could do two things) that second person is going to be more impressive and a greater artist to me and to a lot of people. If you are more impressed by the first person because they can do more than one thing, then that’s fine’â€we all look for different things in our artists’â€but I definitely disagree that the first person is objectively a greater artist.
Really, trying to create a clear-cut list of qualifications to be an artist is never going to work. Artistry is not purely objective.
That comparison seems artificial’â€when I’m talking about great singers and interpreters of songs, I’m not talking about Rihanna and other bubblegum pop stars who sing catchy songs prettily. I’m talking about people who make their songs come alive, like (here they come again) Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, etc.
So am I. But great singers don’t just ’show up and sing’ ’â€they bring nuances and colors and interpretive choices to songs that are often just as important as the music itself. That’s a tremendous skill, as is being able to write good music. But lumping all singers, no matter how brilliantly gifted, into the category of ’show up and sing’ doesn’t make sense to me given what goes into being a great singer, and what great singers can bring to music.
As others have said, art is often based on something intangible. It doesn’t make sense to me to get concerned about divvying artists up into minute categories and trying to decide which ones are better.
Weighing in on the artist/non-artist debate: the American Heritage Dictionary says an artist is “1. One who practices any of the fine arts, esp. painting, sculpture, or music 2. One whose work shows skill.” IMO all of these kids shows artistry in their own way.
Also weighing in on the comparison debate: If you think the comparisons are bad now, wait until the albums drop in the fall (i.e. David vs David). Get your thick skins on because it will really get ugly.
brief thoughts on the singer as artist discussion: I once watched a DVD commentary which showed Renee Fleming (opera singer) discussing her part with the composer/conductor of the orchestral piece being rehearsed. It was amazing how she could look at the written music and discuss at which measures she should be taking breaths. She knew that music inside and out, even though “all” she had to do was stand in the studio and sing.
and I was surprised to hear David Cook referring to “Time of My Life”’s time signature in a discussion about the song. Why do I assume rock musicians don’t read music?
Anyway, whether they read music of not, really good singers “know” music, inside and out.
I find comments like this very sad. I feel people put a label on the idols and they can’t see beyond that label. Kris is the “musician” idol so of course he is an arranger of songs. My guess is he got ideas from listening to different versions of songs, combining them with his own original ideas to make them his own, just like Cook and Adam. Adam is the “Broadway guy” so of course he can’t be a true artist, even if he does the same thing.
I don’t even know where to post; it seems people are posting here and there. In any case, I was reading a comment from someone at the Portland show, and she said Adam was not at the signing as long as the others because the media wanted to talk to him. Also she said the person who was with him wouldn’t let people take pictures of him.
So can anyone from the Portland show verify this?
I must have been missing AI episodes. It is not over yet? Or did Season 9 start already?
Since we are such sticklers for accuracy and details here are some word definitions:
From dictionary.com:
music
‘“noun 1. an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
2. the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.
3. musical work or compositions for singing or playing.
4. the written or printed score of a musical composition.
5. such scores collectively.
6. any sweet, pleasing, or harmonious sounds or sound: the music of the waves.
7. appreciation of or responsiveness to musical sounds or harmonies: Music was in his very soul.
8. Fox Hunting. the cry of the hounds.
artist
‘“noun 1. a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
2. a person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.
3. a person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc.: a commercial artist.
4. a person who works in one of the performing arts, as an actor, musician, or singer; a public performer: a mime artist; an artist of the dance.
5. a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill.
6. a person who is expert at trickery or deceit: He’s an artist with cards.
7. Obsolete. an artisan.
muician
‘“noun 1. a person who makes music a profession, esp. as a performer of music.
2. any person, whether professional or not, skilled in music.
From merriam-webster.com
mu ·sic
1 a : the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity b : vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony
2 a : an agreeable sound : euphony b : musical quality
3 : a musical accompaniment
4 : the score of a musical composition set down on paper
5 : a distinctive type or category of music
art ·ist
1 a obsolete : one skilled or versed in learned arts b archaic : physician c archaic : artisan 1
2 a : one who professes and practices an imaginative art b : a person skilled in one of the fine arts
3 : a skilled performer; especially : artiste
4 : one who is adept at something
mu ·si ·cian
: a composer, conductor, or performer of music; especially : instrumentalist
Seems to me pure singers are not excluded from the holy position of “musical artist”. Imposition of a personal interpretation of the term “musical artist” that excludes pure singers on others who consider a pure singer also a muscial artist and telling them such a person is not a musical artist feels akin to Simon pimping Adam to the voters. It induces gag reflex.