Idol Headlines for 12/20/09
Simon Fuller set to take helm at CKX
According to sources and analysts close to the Nasdaq-listed group, the board of directors is understood to be gearing up to ask Mr Fuller to take over the helm, as the division he presently runs, 19 Entertainment, generates the majority of the company’s profits.
Mr Fuller is understood to be speaking to the the CKX board of directors ‘“ of which he is a member ‘“ about the move, which will catapult him to the helm of the company that bought 19 Entertainment, his talent company, for £64.5m, plus share options, in 2005. A source familiar with the situation said: “Fuller will sell his stock, once he has finished negotiating his new package with the board, and then will take over the CKX business within the next year.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Adam Lambert and Tiger Woods: A Tale of Two American Idol Scandals
Adam Lambert and Tiger Woods. One’s career trajectory is on the way up. The other’s appears on the way down — or certainly stuck in a deep, sand trap.
What do they share in common beyond celebrity? Among other things, the double-edged power of the persona or public image; the perils of image management turning on you like a hydra-headed viper; the merciless maw of celebrity gossip, and the media’s penchant for cheerleading ’schadenfreude’, that timeless and timely German term meaning to take pleasure from someone else’s misfortune.
Schadenfreude is something at which the news and entertainment media are so deft at exploiting to grab audiences all the while laying off on them the motivation for media saturation or piously laying on the “need to know rationale.”
Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding provided something for everyone
Valley-based rock star Alice Cooper and his wife, Sheryl, tweaked the program of the ninth edition of their Christmas Pudding charity concert, making it more friendly for families and people who couldn’t stay for the entire four-hour-plus proceedings.
Sets by contest winners the Jeff Hunt Band, Micah Beverly and Buskin Cuffs also were well-received, as was “American Idol” veteran Scott MacIntyre.
Steph Jones is The Little Drummer Boy
Jordin Sparks makes a special cameo appearance in musician pal Steph Jones’ new music video for his own rendition of the Christmas classic ‘The Little Drummer Boy.’
The vid was just shot on December 8 and also features B.Scott.
As for what inspired the video, Steph says, ‘Think [director] Tim Burton meets Nightmare Before Elm Street meets The Nutcracker!’
David Archuleta’s Christmas show brings wonderment — holiday’s and his
It was an astonishing sight: teen and ‘tween girls shrieking at and cheering someone singing traditional Christmas songs Friday at Stroudsburg’s Sherman Theater.
But this was an astonishing concert. ‘American Idol’ runner-up David Archuleta sang so well in his holiday show ‘“ a little more than half of which was Christmas material ‘“ that he drew five standing ovations over his 17 songs in 90 minutes and often prompted spontaneous cheers and clapping mid-song.
Time to Rage Against the Corporate Pop Machine
Every now and then, Daily Mirror columnist Brian Reade has something valuable to say, and his most recent column is one such example.
First, a little history. Here in Britain, a massive campaign is underway to declare Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” the No. 1 Christmas single. Currently, that little ditty is neck-and-neck with X-Factor winner Joe McElderry’s current single “The Climb.”
Like every other thing that X-Factor (and Britain’s Got Talent / America’s Got Talent) has produced, the music is syrupy and has got a bigger corporate stamp on it than Microsoft, another meaningless mass-produced bit of balladry for the masses. And that’s my problem with it.
Christmas Number 1: who will be top of the festive pops?
The season’s musical turkeys have fallen from contention, and with just five days to Christmas, squeaky-clean Joe McElderry, the winner of television talent show The X Factor, is slugging it out at the top of the charts with Rage Against the Machine, a raucous American rock outfit notorious “for rebelling against structures”.
Could any contest be more enticingly poised? Joe is packaged as the new Cliff Richard, an 18-year-old, cherub-faced, Diet Coke-drinking Geordie sent forth to defend the nation’s musical honour against the anarchic Ragers, whose foul-mouthed repartee last week forced the BBC to take them off the air.
Rage Against The Machine Promises Free Concert If They Beat Simon Cowell
With just a few hours remaining before the winner is decided at the close of today’s sales, Rage Against The Machine has announced it will play a huge free concert in the U.K. to celebrate a victory as the clock ticks on the historic people’s campaign to beat Simon Cowell for Britain’s No. 1 Christmas single to raise money and awareness for homelessness.
If the unprecedented grassroots movement to topple Cowell’s X-Factor monopoly is successful and the band’s single, “KILLING IN THE NAME” finishes No. 1 on the Christmas Week UK pop charts over Cowell protg Joe McElderry’s “The Climb,” the group vows to return to U.K. shores sometime in 2010 for the massive “thank you” gig ‘ ¦. and invite 2nd Place finisher and X-Factor impressario Simon Cowell to MC the show!
Posted in 265 Responses to “Idol Headlines for 12/20/09”
I agree!
These days I don’t think it is common for anyone new to move a ton of albums off one single. That really doesn’t happen until the second or third single anymore. And yeah, No Air was HHHUUUGGEEEE. I don’t know what would have happened for Jordin without that song.
I bet Jive will be happy with Gold for Kris with a couple of strong singles. That would be enough to make him a decent tour draw.
New thread for Danny’s single.
True, except for Kris isn’t a new artist. He did win American Idol. Traditionally, the winner and runner-up have pretty good album sales numbers.
One of the reasons I would love for Kris’s album to sell well is that he has so many good songs on there.
I hope he is able to have more than two singles, because there are quite a few good ones to spin. CSA, AWM, BWCU, BIB, even The Truth.
There are also some that probably wouldn’t be great singles, but are so good, I’d hate for others to miss out. IIO, Red Guitar, INTK. Any of the above that don’t get released as singles.
Even the songs I haven’t mentioned are so sweet to listen to.
LOL, and yeah I’m a fan. Sorry, got a little carried away and must go to bed.
I still say going from #121 to #38 to holding at #61, 4 days later is a heck of a jump! I would say that is some pretty nice momentum.
cookcricket–I loved your last post–and I totally agree with your assessments of those songs!
This appears to be the year of the reality show winners to come from the University of Central Arkansas
UCAmagazine
# WooHoo! UCA is home to American Idol Kris Allen, and now, Survivor Samoa winner Natalie White! about 3 hours ago from web
Hmm.. I should move there. Must have good Feng Shui!
I think Alison should get a boyfriend and trash a few hotel rooms and she’ll be good.
I have to be somewhere early today, but I wanted to continue with my Season 9 Auditionee Advent Calendar (credit for the spoilers goes to VFTW):
Number 2: Michael Castro
Age: 22
Hometown: Texas
Audition City : ??
Michael Castro Music
MySpace
Fan Site I found
Younger brother of S7 4th place finisher, Jason Castro (Jason has said Michael is the better singer). Michael also auditioned in S8 and made it to the rooms episode. Can he go all the way? Will having a relative who was a popular contestant hurt or hinder? Will he automatically pick up Jason’s fan base or will he alienate people who think that he has an unfair advantage? Will his brother releasing an album about the same time help or hurt Michael? Will it help or hurt his brother being able to move albums? Will he even make it to the voting rounds?
Sure, at least through Christmas. But he clearly has run through his idol fanbase, so the usual rules now apply. All I’m saying is that LLWD is not likely to have more than a minimal effect on his album sales from here on out, even if it is doing well on the charts.
Good post, girlygirl. I like your ideas too for what might happen next.
I don’t know, the song being a top 40, potentially even top 20 or higher, hit, will definitely help, and a 2nd hit single to follow it up could continue to improve his album sales. Seems like his prospects are on the upswing, depending on the 2nd single.
It will be better than nothing, but I’m not expecting he will sail into the top 20 albums or anything like that. But the single will sell well it seems, and it will get him to his next song. I think things look good for Kris too, I was just responding to peeps who seemed to feel like this song should be making his album sell a lot more at this point. The advantage of LLWD will kick in in January, IMO… it will help keep him on the BB200 (because the little album sales it does generate will be enough at that time, probably to keep him at least on the top half), and if the next song does well album sales should really start moving at that point.