Today’s Idol headlines after the jump…
Meet Your Neighbor: Idol Camper Chad Buettner
Chad Buettner is back in school but still thinking about the incredible experience he had over the summer at Idol Camp, which is hosted by “American Idol.” The Huntington Beach Wave caught up with Buettner to talk about his unique experience………
Idol Also-Ran Clark Probably Cell-Bound
Corey Clark keeps returning to the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The erstwhile American Idol finalist is facing up to two years in jail after pleading guilty last week in Arizona to felony aggravated harassment involving domestic violence for trespassing on his father-in-law’s property, where his estranged wife was staying at the time…………
Sparks leads star lineup at 1st Phooson concert
American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is scheduled to appear in Casa Grande today as emcee of the first Phooson concert, which will star Latin pop singer Enrique Iglesias, rapper Fabolous and rising R&B star Ne-Yo……
Detroit rockers the Muggs might be on new Fox show
The rumors have been confirmed! Sort of! Detroit rock trio the Muggs Thursday night sent out an email saying the band was one of 12 acts picked for the new Fox TV show, “The Next Great American Band.” Modeled after “American Idol,” the show will pit groups from all over the country against each other in televised musical competitions.
The Detroit rock scene has been buzzing in recent weeks with word that the Muggs were chosen, but Fox was unwilling to confirm the participation — and has still yet to announce the official lineup. But there are Muggs references all over the show’s message board at the Fox web site……….
‘American Idol’ Season Three Finalist Jon Peter Lewis Teams Up With Authentic Records
Jon Peter Lewis, the first singer to bring rock ‘n’ soul to “American Idol,” is joining forces with the independent roots rock label Authentic Records.
Jon will promote his debut record, “Stories From Hollywood,” which features the hit title track and infectious singles “If I Go Away,” “Turn to Grey” and his latest, “Boy Next Door,” on tours with veteran Authentic artists such as the Nadas and the Josh Davis Band. The label will also distribute the album, which Lewis self-released on his birthday, November 7, 2006.
“I’m a big fan of the Authentic roster and I can’t wait to get out and meet their fans,” Lewis said. “It’s really a good fit and I look forward to a great relationship.”
“We are thrilled to be working with Jon,” Authentic co-founder Jason Walsmith added. “Honestly, I never even saw him on ‘American Idol.’ I just heard his record and loved his voice and his songwriting.”…….
Broughton event is a special one for senator
…Jenna has a fan in Clay
Clay Aiken was spotted at a Jenna Bush book signing.
According to a piece in The New Yorker, the former “American Idol” singer and current UNICEF ambassador “was hiding in a corner” at a launch party for Bush’s book, “Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope.”
He was impressed with the book, which tells the story of an HIV-infected teenager in Latin America.
“I read it on the plane to Afghanistan,” he said of the book. “I was quite impressed. I remember thinking she must have had a ghostwriter, but she didn’t. She did it herself.”
‘American Idol’ Finalist and Hickory Records Artist Elliott Yamin to Serve as a Global Ambassador for Inspired by Diabetes Campaign to Help Children with Diabetes
Rising pop artist encourages people affected by diabetes to enter global contest supporting children in developing nations and camp scholarships for kids with diabetes in the US……….
Pop and Rock Listings
…KELLY CLARKSON (Sunday through Tuesday) After all the excitement of earlier this year — the record company disagreements, the canceled tour, the split with management, the somber new album (“My December”) that seemed to please dedicated fans without tempting undedicated ones — Ms. Clarkson, the original “American Idol,” finally comes to town, giving her devotees three nights to show her how much they (still!) love her. At 8 p.m., Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street, (212) 307-7171, beacontheaternyc.com; sold out…
Rush & Molloy
….”American Idol” judge Randy Jackson will be honored with the “Music of the Heart” award at tomorrow night’s 10th anniversary celebration for the Lili Claire Foundation, which treats children with neurogenic disorders. Former “Friend” Matthew Perry will play host…
Related Posts
Pop Geek Jonathan Coulton Succeeds by Giving Music Away
…For starters, he’s given away lots of his music. But, much like Radiohead, he also offers it for sale on his site and through “pick your price” music service SongSlide. Coulton is part of a growing trend in which artists — like recent headline-grabbers Radiohead, Trent Reznor, Oasis and Jamiroquai — sidestep major labels’ traditional marketing and distribution methods to get their music into fans’ hands over the internet…
Wired.com
Birmingham Reader’s Choice Award Winners
BEST LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD
Taylor Hicks
Runners-up:
Bo Jackson,
Alan Hunter
Jay Barker
Ruben Studdard
….
BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
Condoleezza Rice
Runners-up:
Courteney Cox
Fannie Flagg
Rebecca Luker
Louise Fletcher
…..
BEST LOCAL MUSICIAN OR GROUP (pop)
Taylor Hicks
Runners-up:
Eric Essix
Topper Price
Ruben Studdard
Rick Carter
(These is a selected list ) CLICK ON ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST…
I found this at the American Idol news blog:
Melinda and Phil to Star in Scott Hamilton’s Celebrity Charity
On November 3, 2007, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative will host its eighth annual An Evening with Scott Hamilton and Friends, one of Cleveland’s premier and most elegant celebrity events.
An Evening with Scott Hamilton and Friends will combine outstanding figure skating talent accompanied by The Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Carl Topilow, Conductor, with Special Guest Stars American Idols Melinda Doolittle and Phil Stacey.
Following the ice show, gala guests are escorted to the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel for a black-tie evening featuring gourmet dining and dancing to live music.
Ken Barnes posted more S6 tour numbers at Idol Chatter
“8/17 Louisville: 33.8% (new low)
8/22 Pittsburgh: 81.2%
8/23 Rochester, N.Y.: 67.8%
8/24-25 Uniondale, N.Y.: 84.6% combined
8/27 Hartford: 79.8%
8/28-29: East Rutherford, N.J.: 86.0% combined
9/2: Syracuse, N.Y.: 52.9%
On the bright side, only two of those percentages fall under the tour’s previous average, which was 63.3% of capacity. The tour did well in the big New York-area venues (Uniondale/Long Island, and East Rutherford, which basically serves New York City as well as Northern New Jersey).
On the other hand, even the good New York scores are well below last year’s average for the whole tour: 96.1% of capacity. And those lows are pretty darned low — no wonder natives pronounce it “Low-ville.” (Or something close to that.)
These dates slightly improve the tour’s overall percentage, which is now up to 65.6%. But what a difference a year makes!”
Yay for JPL!!!
Yikes!!! for the tour numbers. It must have been a bit upsetting to the Idols to see so many empty seats in venues across the country.
Good for Melinda and Phil. I like both of them. Great cause. Has anyone else seen Melinda in the Zaxby’s commercials? I’m so glad that she got an endorsement deal even if it is talking about their awesome chicken. I’ve seen the commercial in Alabama and in Georgia. I don’t know if the restaurant chain is nationwide or not, but congrats to Melinda.
Elliott really is putting his words into action by working for diabetic causes. He said early in Season 5 that he wanted to help make a difference and he is following through with doing it. A lot of people will be helped.
But, but, but . . . no Idaho? I’m happy for him - maybe he can afford a haircut now. The new photo on the label’s site is a little skeery.
That’s just sad about the tour. The concert was so entertaining, but I think no contestant really grabbed the attention of the viewers like season 5’s contestants did.
Season 6 may well go down in AI history as the Hot Mess Season of the Kitchen Sink: we had gobs of distracting “mentors” (did J-Lo really need the pyrotechnics?), random themes (the first dozen or so songs that showed up on Gwen Stefani’s IPod), Idol Gives Back, completely random performances (Akon? Robin Thicke? Really?), the songwriting competition (aka, Write a Song for Jordin!), and nothing but canned mantras for the contestants (you’ve got hair; you’re only 17; you’re humble; you can beatbox; who are you? (heh, for poor Haley)).
I hope for Season 7 they don’t have random people singing for no reason (Akon, etc.) and put more thought into their theme nights. They need to focus on the back stories and try to get a wider variety of genres for the Top 24. They need to put more people through who are as close to amateur as they can find and stop putting people through who were Christina Aguilera’s back up singer.
No insult to Brandon but that doesn’t make a very good Cinderella story and that’s kind of what the show is.
Long Island sold out 2 shows and NJ sold out its one show during Seasons 2.
I’m pretty sure seasons 4 and 5 were sold out or darn close on LI.
A Radiohead update, courtesy of HDD’s Rumor Mill:
RADIOHEAD AND SHOULDERS: Internet sources are reporting that Radiohead has sold 1.2 million digital copies of In Rainbows since sales began Tuesday. The figure is four to six times the first-week sales of the band’s most recent studio albums. Hail to the Thief, released in 2003, sold 300k in its first week; Amnesiac moved 231k in 2001; and Kid A hit 207k in 2000. So far, the band has given no indication of what fans have been paying. The British music newsletter Record of the Day polled 3,000 buyers who said they paid an average of £4, or about $8. Because the band is independent, it gets to pocket it all. If Radiohead had sold its songs on iTunes, it would likely have earned less than $1.50 per album. With 1.2 million units at $8 each, the art-rockers are doing a lot better than that. (10/12p)
http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi
ETA: As impressive as it is, this model won’t work for every artist or act out there.
‘American Idol’ tour settles with NY over child labor violations
The settlement requires 19 Touring to pay $5,000 in fines. The department had issued a total of 16 violations _ with each violation carrying a potential $1,000 fine _ against the company, which did eventually comply and got the necessary paperwork.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–americanidol-labo1012oct12,0,7451681.story
Speaking of sold out shows, if that is the benchmark:
AI1 — 5 of 30 shows were sold out, or roughly 17%
AI2 — 20 of 41 shows were sold out, or roughly 49%
AI3 — 3 of 49 shows were sold out, or roughly 6%
AI4 — 12 of 43 shows were sold out, or roughly 28%
AI5 — 20 of 59 shows were sold out, or roughly 34%
So far, AI6 has not reported even one sold out show…I believe there are 15 concerts (14 venues) for which attendance & receipts have not yet been reported.
And for a little perspective:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-10-10-summer-concerts_N.htm
The reunited Police generated the most live-music excitement this summer, playing to sellout crowds and raking in $91.3 million. The band was easily the biggest single act in a season that was light on flashy marquee acts but rife with consistent performers.
Here are 40 second clips of the songs on Carrie’s new album, Carnival Ride, being released October 23rd:
http://aristanashville.com/music/cu_carnival/
Vince Gill, sings background, on “I Told You So”.
I did more than my share helping The Police reach that $91.3 million!
How to Calculate Musical Sellouts
As Rockers Cash In, The Moby Quotient Helps to Determine The Shilling Effect
…The equation is designed to put things in perspective. If Kelly Clarkson sings for Ford, where, in the end, is the harm? Negligible artists singing on subjects that can be of less-than-pressing social import advertising silly products. One does not look to Disney pop culture puppets or artists given an imprimatur by the viewers of a Fox TV show for artistic integrity. Ms. Clarkson can sing for her supper anywhere she wants, and the world sits solidly on its foundations.
However. If you are an artist who traffics in — or has trafficked in — your outsider status; if you were a punk or a rebel or a beast whose rude yawp emerged from the underground and you are now hawking your anthems of defiance as ear candy to further the sales of a crummy telecom company, a new line of SUVs or the marvelous things General Electric is doing, well then, sir or madam artiste, expect your Moby Quotient to be somewhat higher…
Washington Post
Another article on artists & the record labels:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101201508.html?tid=informbox
“There’s a prevailing wisdom that many established acts don’t need a record label anymore,” said Bruce Flohr, an executive at Red Light Management, which represents artists such as Dave Matthews Band and Alanis Morrissette, and ATO Records, home to David Grey, Gomez and Crowded House, among others.
“This is the new frontier. This is the beginning of a new era for the music business,” Flohr said.
Let’s try a little Hez bait:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ced8o50G9kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSzhMwOk3vY
I wish I could go to Scott Hamilton’s charity gig! I enjoy watching ice skating and would love to see Phil and Melinda again. They were great on the tour.
(hopes Nevada’s Hez bait works, I miss Hez)
RSF..if you are lurking..dont forget House on USA tonight..11e/10c!
Off to hang out with Koolmomma for the evening..see you chatters tonight :)
No Hez, but you caught Boulder Soul, albeit for just a minute…have a business meeting over Happy Hour. My kind of meeting. :)
DCD:
HAve a good time at Koolmom’s…..Love from your KoolSister (remember, you said she would adopt me) :)
Just as I suspected. Those are dreadful tour numbers. Not one single sellout. And I wouldn’t place the blame squarely on the “distractions” or lack of a back story, either (the lack of unique talent, IMO, deserves some credit). Season 5 had its share of distractions, too, but the talent outshone it all.
I wish Melinda was apart of season 5’s top 12. Who would she replace? I want to say Kevin, but despite his widespread hatred, I thought that his voice was decent enough.
Cheers, Boulder. Have a Rombauer for me.
Thanks for these! “Last Name”…
I’m not sure I totally buy that coming from Carrie, hee! Anyway, on my first listen through I was so knocked out by her pipes I didn’t really notice much else. “The More Boys I Meet” sounds really cute.
Boulder, welcome to the family
DCD has always wanted a kool sister, and we could certainly use another kool daughter in the family. Of course you must beware of the Evil Bitch( the small furry one that is) She can be quite jealous.
“RSF…dont forget House on USA tonight…”
Oh $@&#.
I posted this on Ken Barnes’ blog earlier today (can’t post here from work, but I can there for some reason), and thought it was worth sharing…
The figure for the Syracuse show is a bit misleading. In 2005 and 2006, the Idols played an arena that holds 7,500 or so for concerts. I believe both years sold out.
This year, the Idols were booked at the grandstand at the NY State Fair, which has a capacity of 16,000. Thus, 52.9% capacity equals 8,464, an increase over last year’s total attendance of around 10 percent, depending on the actual 2005 and 2006 figures.
I might be worth investigating how many other locations changed to larger or different sized venues for comparison purposes.
I took the time to remind you as I said I would AND you stillll forgot!!!
As your punishment you must come chat with Lisa and I ;)