David Cook
A.I. Winner seeing major spin increases at Top 40 with new single “Light Onâ€. Adds this week: KRBE, WBZW, WWWQ, WQAL, WQAl, KMXV, CKEY. Spin Leaders: KMXV, WBMX, WWWQ. Top 10 single on iTunes after one day. Multiple TV appearances mid November. Video filming now; impacting end of October. Tons of press on deck, including Blender and RS, leading up to CD release on 11/18. Mgmt: Simon Fuller and Iain Pirie/19 Ent.
“Idol” Finalist Robinson Will Star in Syracuse Godspell
“American Idol” contestant Anwar Robinson will “Save the People” in Syracuse Stage’s upcoming production of the biblical pop musical Godspell.
Robinson, who also toured as Collins in the 2007 NETworks non-equity tour of Rent, will play Jesus in the Stephen Schwartz musical that will run Nov. 25-Dec. 28 under the direction of Syracuse Stage associate artistic director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj.
Ask David Archuleta a Question!
After winning millions of fans on American Idol and its tour, season 7 runner-up David Archuleta isn’t slowing down. He’s already released his first music video for his song “Crush” and will make his acting debut on Nickelodeon’s iCarly. PEOPLE is sitting down with the 16-year-old before he releases his self-titled debut album next month, but first we want to hear from you. Who’s his real-life crush? What’s it like growing up in Utah? Is there a rivalry with Idol winner David Cook? Send us your question for Archuleta and it could be featured in an upcoming issue of PEOPLE!
More Headlines after the JUMP…
David Archuleta To Guest Star On Nickelodeon’s ‘iCarly’
Archie will guest star in an episode titled “The iCarly Effect,†which finds him winning the fictional “America Sings†TV contest after he receives a huge spike in votes due to an iCarly Web cast.
According to Nickelodeon, there’s drama from every angle in the episode as the “America Sings†runner up, Wade King, scores a spot on Carly’s show after telling her a sob story. But after Carly and her friends realize King is rude and arrogant, they help show their fictional TV world that Archuleta is not only the true star, but also a nice guy to boot.
“Idol” finalist at Cuppy’s
“American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook will present an acoustic show at Cuppy’s Coffee, Smoothies & Catering, 6416 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg, from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight.
Listen to BOB 94.9 (WBRT) during the afternoon show to win a pair of tickets or stop by the restaurant to register for a pair.
Country girl Underwood riding high
Carrie Underwood has gone from Checotah, Okla., to the top of the country charts, and Friday she’ll be in the Sears Centre.
The show is bound to be big, with the “American Idol” winner’s powerful voice, a long line of hits with hooks and a parade of costume changes. If country band Little Big Town weren’t opening for her, they’d go to the show anyway.
That’s what Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town says in a call from the road. Her band is the anti-Underwood, building a sound around flawless four-part harmonies instead of a solo singer. Yet she knows a good thing when she hears it.
Kellie Pickler Takes Your Text
With her sophomore album now in stores, Kellie Pickler is launching a text campaign that will bring one lucky winner a free acoustic concert.
Con”text”ants can text the word PICKLER to 66937 through midnight Oct. 13. One randomly selected person will host the concert for no more than 100 people.
“It is great for the fans because it doesn’t cost the winner anything,” Kellie says. “All we ask is that you feed us!”
Kellie has used a text campaign to dole out a concert in the past. She had high-school students in three different cities compete for a show, and more than two million text messages were sent.
Off-Broadway gets a taste of Sunset Strip in ‘Rock of Ages’
Talk about escapism in the nick of time: as the financial world ruptures and jobs on Wall Street fall through the cracks, New York theatergoers can fling away cares and spend a couple of hours on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, circa 1986.
The off-Broadway show is “Rock of Ages,” and stars Constantine Maroulis, who got lots of face time on “American Idol” in 2005. He plays an aspiring heavy metal idol in the jukebox musical, which premiered early in 2006 in a Hollywood Boulevard dance club, inviting audiences to hold butane lighters aloft and shout along on an assortment of familiar, catchy, head-banging refrains while reliving the glory days of the L.A.-spawned “hair band” scene.
Jennifer Hudson Talks About David ‘Punk’ Otunga: He’s ‘Nice And Thick — I Love It!’
But to the rest of the world, Jennifer Hudson’s fiancé is, of course, “Punk†— a.k.a. David Otunga, the former “I Love New York 2″ contestant.
Many were surprised when the pair’s engagement was announced last month. After all, it’s not often you see a contestant from such a show getting hitched to an Oscar-winning actress. However, Hudson is keeping the whole thing in perspective. “I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone off an experience [like the show],†she told MTV News.
Music Review: Mandisa, “It’s Christmas”
It’s Christmas — with lots of rhythm and soul, and American Idol Mandisa gets the party started with an energetic and upbeat “That’s What Christmas Means to Me.”
Admittedly, it’s tough to get into the Christmas spirit when you’re still stocking up on your trick-or-treat candy and picking out a pumpkin to carve, but I’m already on my fourth such holiday album this year, and Mandisa’s is certainly proving worth a listen. Following her vocal workout on “That’s What Christmas Means to Me,” the singer moves into a mostly traditional rendition of “Feliz Navidad,” with an interesting segue into a bridge of “Joy to the World” in midsteam.
Beatbox the night away with ‘American Idol’ star
On the sixth season of the popular reality show, “American Idol,” finalist Blake Lewis rocked the studio crowd and millions more via television screens with a novel musical approach: beatboxing.
Lewis says it emanates from his days of listening to hip hop electronic music.
“I was a junior in high school and saw these accapella groups doing it and my eyes lit up,” says Lewis, who finished on ‘Idol’ as a runner up to champ Jordin Sparks. “I thought, ‘Wow, you can get paid to do that?’ I had been doing that kind of thing my whole life. But honestly, I’m an all right beatboxer. There are at least 500 others way better than me.”
Local radio station concert showcases tons of talent
Finally, it was time for the big stars to come out. First up was Sparks who, by far, was the most personal with the fans. After singing “One Step at a Time,†Sparks took a second to greet everyone, and said that she wanted to see every single person on their feet, moving to the music. After singing the song “Just for the Record,†she announced how inspired she was by Alicia Keys, and went right into a cover of Keys’ song “Fallin’.†Sparks also covered the Stevie Wonder hit “Superstition.†During the song, the band took over and played for about 30 seconds as she danced around the stage, trying to rally the crowd.
‘American Idol’ star to play in area Thursday
TULSA — “American Idol†favorite and gold-selling album country music artist Josh Gracin will perform hits such as “Nothin’ to Lose†at 7 p.m. Thursday at Osage Event Center.
Gracin is the only male solo country artist in recent years to release a debut album with three consecutive Top 5 country hits. Josh Gracin sold more than 750,000 copies and the first three singles, “I Want to Live,†“Nothin’ to Lose†and “Stay with Me (Brass Bed),†all reached Top 5 on the Billboard charts in 2004.
Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson blend 2 worlds, 2 voices
If the tour combination of country entertainer Reba McEntire and “American Idol” groundbreaker Kelly Clarkson seems almost as weird as that time Garth Brooks tried to pretend he was a grunge singer, you wouldn’t know it listening to the ladies.
In a taped video interview provided by management, McEntire and Clarkson sound giddy about gigging together. (Neither singer was made available for a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman.)
Redefining ‘out’ Is People’s Clay Aiken cover the death knell of the public proclaiming of gayness?
Time was, you weren’t officially out (especially if you were a celebrity) until you declared it in public. You had to stand before a microphone and say, “Yes, I’m gay,†or “Yes, I’m a lesbian.â€
Or you had to speak to Barbara Walters. Or become a spokesperson for a gay organization. Or you had to give an exclusive magazine interview, where you declared — as Ellen DeGeneres did in 1997 — something like “Yep, I’m gay.â€
Clay Aiken did exactly that late last month with his People magazine interview. The cover line? “Yes, I’m gay.â€
Replay for local ‘Idol’ contestant
Not all “American Idol” contestants from yesteryear are disposable. Some get recycled.
“American Idol Rewind,” a syndicated edition of “Idol” airing on TV Guide Network, is bringing back the auditions from the singing show’s third season from 2004 that feature Lindsey Kulp of Towamencin (referred to as “Lansdale” on the program).
A conversation with ‘Dance’ winner Joshua Versatile performer wants to branch into singing.
For months, he was simply “Joshua.” So it’s time for an introduction: Meet Joshua Allen, winner of the fourth season of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
You might be surprised, however, to find out just what Allen wants to be known for in terms of a professional career.
“Overall, I want to be a recording artist,” he says in a phone interview. “I want to be singer.”
Catching Up with ‘So You Think You Can Dance’s’ Season 4 On Tour!
The So You Think You Can Dance season four tour hit Los Angeles last night and if you know how obsessed I am with the show, it’ll come as no surprise that I was front and center at the Nokia Theater watching my favorite numbers — Chelsie Hightower and Mark’s “Bleeding Love,” Katee and Joshua’s “No Air,” Katee and Joshua’s Bollywood dance and Katee and Twitch’s Door routine (uh, yeah, I’m a Katee fan) — performed up close. But I wasn’t alone. The loudest audience members in L.A. were no doubt judge Nigel Lythgoe and choreographer Adam Shankman who gave standing ovations like nobody’s business, God bless ‘em. Also spotted screaming in the crowd? Choreographers Tabitha & Napoleon, Tyce Diorio, season three stars Anya, Pasha, Lacey and Lauren, and season four’s Kourtni Lind.
Helio Castroneves indicted on tax evasion charges
Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and TV ” Dancing With the Stars” champion, was indicted Thursday on tax evasion and tax fraud charges, accused of using offshore accounts to hide millions of dollars in income from the Internal Revenue Service.
The 33-year-old driver is charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Meanwhile, no one has noticed that Anwar is going to play Jesus in “Godspell.” Good for him! He seemed like a nice guy, it’s a very good role (not just because it’s Jesus, but because it really is the lead in an otherwise ensemble show) and I think it’s nice when former Idol castoffs prove there IS life after Idol.
Anwar is awesome. He was doing broadway before idol, no? I always just really liked him…
Sorry, but have to ask (newbie here) which season is Anwar from? I only started watching after the Top 12 this year.
LOL, I think I used to get the Alloy catalog in the mail, a looong time ago.
This is much more fun than the above discussion, which just encourages fanwars.
Here we get to find out that David is blogging at alloy.com (haven’t found it yet), and that if you’ve been talking to someone online that says they’re David, he’s “pretty sure” it’s not him. Heh.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to his sister Claudia.
Anwar is from season 4.
I love when Archie rambles. ” You may want to remove them from your list… unless you’ve become friends with them or something.” LOLOL
Bed head FTW!! I bet that was Brooke’s house that he filmed in! *is a nosy snoop*
http://www.alloy.com/5/108/8090/1/ref/archive/5/56/
alloy blog :)
Here’s something to think about. The sales of Light On are keeping right up there with Nickleback. (I looked it up and supposedly Nickleback’s contract with LiveNation is in the $50-$70 million dollar range.) So there is Light On, which isn’t receiving much airplay because the impact date is not until October 13, keeping right up with the big boys (even if I’m not particularly fond of these big boys). Sounds good to me.
Stop gifiting music, people can get it for free and ilegal. Why bother wasting money? Gifiting is such an awful thing. Those web nerds should give you instructions to download Kazaa, Emule, Limewire, torrent sites… those are cool. But gifiting and buying music? That’s so 20th century. Tsk!
And reply to fans requests? Since when? Why do you care about fans?
So, I’ve always heard complains from many fans and idols saying they didn’t have support from the labels, and now RCA puts a litlte banner on Itunes (as opposed to the large banner Archie got and no one called desperate) and OMG! look at that promotion! Desperate!
Oh, and I’ve got amazon mails for Coldplay. Should I believe Coldplay are desperate too? I mean, they’re Coldplay, and everyone knows how they can Not sell albuns.
Both Itunes and Amazon usually send mails… but seems that people only discovered that this week.
IMO, RCA is more interested in having the single up there around November than now and they’re saving promotion for that. The difference between RCA and Jive is that RCA wants their artists to sell CD’s, Jive wants their artists to be the thing of the moment and buy singles. Hence Jive pushing more for the singles.
Light On went for sales with only a week of airplay, if they really wanted it to arrive with a bang wouldn’t they let it grow on radio before beeing on sale? Crush had more time to build radio audience.
Sorry, mj, I am new at posting here and am still trying to understand the rules. I thought my last sentence was innocuous, but apparently it was not. I can be taught!
I don’t have a dog in this fight. Although, now that you mention Coldplay, I’m ridiculously in love with that new single of theirs. Must be the bells. I’m a sucker for church bells (hangs head in shame). That is one lame-ass video, though. I’ve never followed Coldplay before. Is the lead singer an ex-mime or something? That’s the only way that video makes sense.
I do not believe that is Jive’s strategy. I don’t think Barry from Jive would have replaced Clive from RCA if the shareholders believed it to be true either.
2m has an interesting article over on Pulse I’m itching to post, but I can’t find the source (2m is very reliable, though). It’s a 3/4 report on the industry touching on some topics that have been briefly mentioned here today. Here are some excerpted factoids until I can get a real link:
Total Albums/TEA (track-equivalent albums - 10 digital tracks equal an album) during first 9 months 2008: 377.4 million
Total Albums/TEA 2007 first three quarters: 398.6 million
Total Albums/TEA 2006 first three quarters: 435 million
Drops 2007-2008: 5.3% (2006-2007 Drop was 9.1%)
Digital albums/TEA: 128.6 million
Which is up 24.3% from last year and accounts for 33.6% of all albums.
2008:
Digital Track Sales (Jan-Mar): 281.4 million
Digital Track Sales (Apr-Jun): 261.3 million
Digital Track Sales (Jul-Sep): 253.1 million
(3rd quarter always has the lowest sales of the year)
Digital track sales are up 30%
Digital albums (excluding TEAs) up 32% (47.3 million total)
11 albums have sold 1 million units so far this year
Viva la Vida sold 548,000 digital albums (only 4 albums sold more than 200K digitaly so far this year. Only 2 did that last year during the same period). Rock on you crazy ex-mime!
34 digital tracks have sold 1 million units in nine months
6 sold 2 million units in nine months (I believe No Air is one of them)
1 sold 3 million units (Leona’s “Bleeding Love”).
Sales of rock albums showed the least decrease from last year (down 4% to 99.6 million from 103.7 million)
Country is down 16.6% (30.9 million units)
R&B down 18.3% (55 million units)
(lots of other genres not mentioned).
Universal Music Group: 31.9% of market share (was 32.2%)
Sony (BMG is now gone): 24.3% (was 24.9%)
Warner: 21% (was 20.2%)
Independents: 13.6% (was 13%)
EMI: 9.2% (was 9.7%)
BAHAHAHAHA, that was my favorite part from the vlog too! Nothing like a little Archie ramble to lighten the mood. Aww, the Alloy blog has a picture of Cook putting his trilby on Archie’s hat. Thanks for the links, guys! LOVE Archie. Love DC. Peace, love happiness, puppies, all around, and may we all only gift singles if we want, and only to those who want it.
OK, Listen up people:
Thanks. I just want the conversation to stay on topic, I don’t want people to begin discussing what and what is not appropriate to discuss here.
This is for everybody: Please keep your remarks focused on the topic, don’t comment about the topic. Also don’t lecture your fellow posters–don’t tell them what to say or how to say it. That’s my job. ha ha. :)
Also, this is for Leome: I deleted your post at first, but Kirsten responded to you so I took it out of moderation. Please cut the sarcasm and rude behavior when you address your fellow posters. Again, don’t question the motives of your fellow posters. If the tone of your next post doesn’t change, I’ll definitely be deleting it.
Speaking of promotion… Cook has been replaced on Mediabase’s homepage with…
http://www.mediabase.com/WebLogon/WebLogon.asp
Crush made the call-out scores ranking for the first time today at #8, meaning it was the 8th highest rated song by listeners on the top 40. It hasn’t made the list prior because only songs that are 60% familiar or greater can make it. It’s at 62%. Being on the call-out list is a very good thing. It’s radio station’s primary means of deciding what songs are worth playing. And, since the massive Archie picture also says over 600K sold, it means he sold at least 34K so far this week. That’s a big old “duh” though.
Still not fond of the picture.
Wow I guess Archie is being promoted that is good.
I wonder if Jive is desperate because Crush stalled a bit on radio and had to take out a huge mediabase ad? Sorry, for the sarcasm because after all of the discussion here today it’s just funny to see the large Crush ad replace the large Cook ad. Promotion is promotion. Record labels are in it to make money. Glad that both record labels seem to be supporting the Davids whichever way they see fit.
The lead singer for Coldplay is Chris Martin, Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow (and her babydaddy). I think he’s considered pretty much of a legit artiste/rock star type. (He’s a Brit, so that helps with the persona.) I think Viva La Vida has done so well because it was featured on the iPod commercial. And it sounds a lot more pop/commercial than their previous stuff, if you ask me. I’m a sucker for strings. I chose it for my ringtone (she says, hanging head with shame at having a ringtone) but it’s just the ooooo-ooooo part. And it cracks me up every time my phone rings.
I kinda liked the video and never once considered whether he had mime training. LOL! I thought he was trying to be all David Byrne.
Go Archie!!!!! Go Crush!!!!!!
BTW, as a lurker I have failed to give my thanks to one and all, including mj, for all the lovely videos and reviews from the tour. I had a wonderful summer from these, with great pictures, lots of entertaining observations, and much laughter. Thank you!
They took out the ad because this was the first week Crush made the callout score chart.
^^Welcome IndyMuse
^^English please!!!!
LOL. Callout scores. It’s basically like RateTheMusic.com, where listeners rate songs and say whether they like them or dislike them, and whether they are sick of the song (called “heavy burn”). Only songs that are familiar to 60% of respondents qualify to make the list. The difference between RateTheMusic.com and callout scores is that the people surveyed are picked at random from various demographics. You can’t just decide to be surveyed and go take a survey.
So radio stations see the callout scores and which songs listeners are liking the most, which songs listeners hate, and which songs people are sick of. That helps them decide whether they should be playing the song more (or playing it at all).
Billboard news from LadyMadonna over at DCO:
“LO just debuted at #1 on the Top 10 Audio Streams chart logging 848,398 streams in only 2 days (the chart week ended on 9/25). ”
And look who is #3. Go Both Davids!
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/hotweb/aol_music.jsp
edited to indicate the quote.
@Soundscene
Thank you…So in my bad english , remember and excuses I´m from Latin America…so english isn´t my first language, Crush is doing well and people like it…Thats awesome…
Go Davids!!!!!!!! Go Crush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is doble awesome!!!
This place is amazing. I did not know all that. So, that is Apple’s dad? Maybe he had to name his daughter that to get the iPod commercial. I kid.
iPod commercials are like magic. They are better than Oprah and Leno. Put together. (2.35M for the song and 1.77M for the album up to this week). So, I checked out the commercial and it’s better than the video, but Chris is still a little….how shall we put it….dramatic. Fantastic song though.
So, I check it out on youtube and I did not know that Mr. Bean had an iTune ad. Who knew? LOL. And so I creep on through YouTube learning many new things.
Um…so I better have something that resembles real news for this thread. Has anybody checked out Josiah Leming’s Myspace lately? He updated it earlier this week and there are a bunch of demo songs. I like Angels Undercover. And, I see that he is friends with Coldplay so I’ve wrapped it all up in a neat bow.
I agree with those of you who said Anwar Robinson is awesome. I got the chance to see him in Rent here in Chicago and he is really good. I liked him on AI too and was sorry when he was voted off back a few years ago. He has a beautiful voice.
This is always a fun part of MJs to read. It is great to see how so many of the contestants from Idol are having successful careers in the entertainment business in one way or another. Thanks for keeping track of all of our idols.
Interscope Records sent out a Chris Cornell press release talking about Light On
Chris Cornell Pens New Single for American Idol Winner David Cook, Entitled ‘Light On’
Wow. Y’all have been busy. Ahem.
Hmmm, very interesting! Could it be that CC is using DC’s name for some promotion?
I’m not trying to start something here, I just find this very interesting! Regardless, I think it’s all good for David Cook!
But with the discussion (which I have found interesting) that’s been here, I guess I’m on the tail end of things.
Cookcricket, I am NOT going to read through all this. Just saying. :-) The last page alone tells me that it’s just too much for me right now.
Thanks Folkfan…that was a very nice interpretation of “Light On”!