American Idol: Top 24 Betting Odds Released Overseas With David Archuleta Favored
The first betting odds for American Idol Season 7 have emerged ironically - not from a gambling website that caters to the American public - but rather the Irish bookmaker, Paddy Power. The betting option ranks among its top 15 novelty bets.
Most of the US-facing bookmakers have shied away from posting odds on American Idol the first week following qualifications for the top 24 contestants. Some - like Bodog - have advised that they will not be putting up odds on either the winner or elimination betting until the final 12 contestants are left standing. Bodog currently offers various betting props on the show including who will be the first guest mentor. Last year’s runner up, Blake Lewis, had been listed as the favorite.
Bombs away! ‘Idol’ shows who’s cannon fodder
The top 24. The big double-dozen. The first serious goal of any “American Idol” contestant. Reaching the Maximum Kiefer means that a singer will finally get the chance to strut his or her stuff not only on stage, but in front of the viewing (and voting) audience.
But some shouldn’t get too comfortable. And that’s at least partly by design. The semifinalists represent the judges’ chosen cast of characters who will make the audience cheer, boo and generally pay attention for the next three months. In so doing, Randy, Paula and Simon want to set up an endgame.
The New ‘American Idol’ Controversy
“American Idol” isn’t just for amateurs anymore. According to USA Today, there are a number of contestants in this season’s final 24 who’ve had recording contracts in the not-so-distant past.
KRISTY LEE COOK was once signed with BRITNEY SPEARS’ production company, MICHAEL JOHNS’ band signed with MADONNA’s Maverick label, until they were dropped. And CARLY SMITHSON recorded with MCA. Her debut album made $2 million, but she was dropped for poor sales.
“American Idol” Top 24 pre-season rankings
So “American Idol” has finally reached the point in the season where it becomes more about music and less about making fun of people, the point where everyone left can sing, more or less. Now, I my doubts that this is the most talented season ever, especially since Ryan Seacrest seems to be saying it every five minutes like clockwork, but the Top 24 does have a bunch of singers who have some potential.
But before we get to the pre-season rankings, let’s pause to remember Josiah Leming, the emo boy who lived in his car who cried a lot. Even though he didn’t make the Top 24 – probably because of his a capella, Bright Eyes-ian version of “Stand By Me,” – I’m gonna bet he gets a record deal (a good one, not a William Hung one) before the season’s over. His songs were good, his voice was good and he was interesting. And if the judges couldn’t figure out that he’s exactly what the show needed, it may go a ways at explaining why ratings are down this season. OK, rant over, on to the pre-season rankings before tomorrow night’s first round…
Carly Smithson interview
At the Wall Street Journal, I worked in Atlanta with a colleague named Jennifer Ordonez. Now at Newsweek, she eventually moved to Los Angeles to cover entertainment and in 2002, wrote a memorable page one story about the screwy economics of the record industry using Dublin native Carly Hennessy as an example. Two numbers stood out: MCA Records spent an estimated $2.2 million on Hennessy including recording production living expenses, a video, a mall tour, imaging, and radio promotion. The teen-ager sold 17,000 singles and just 378 copies of her album three months into its release when the story came out.
Fast forward six years and we now have Carly Smithson, a possible favorite to win “American Idol.” I got a few minutes with her on the phone Friday because she lived in Marietta for two years with her eventual boyfriend from 2003 to 2005.
‘Idol’ Backers Call For Local Support
LaToya London. Tamyra Gray. Chris Daughtry.
Any loyal “American Idol” viewer recognizes these names as contestants voted off the show too early for their talent, great singers who put on stellar performances but did not get the telephone votes they needed to advance to the next round.
That is not going to happen to Syesha Mercado, a graduate of Sarasota’s Booker High who was named Wednesday to the top 24 “American Idol” finalists this season, if her family, friends and mentors have their say.
As the show enters its first week of using phone and text votes rather than judges’ opinions to winnow the field, supporters of Mercado, 21, are already hard at work building networks and campaigns to bring out the vote.
tbo.com
‘American Idol’ contestant has family ties in Beckley
When Robbie Carrico takes the stage tonight as one of the 24 “American Idol” finalists, the 26-year-old will more than likely be introduced as one of the show’s three Florida finalists.
But during this afternoon’s announcements at Hollywood Elementary School, students will be reminded to watch one of their own attempt to take the Idol crown.
Born in Raleigh General Hospital in 1981, Carrico, son of Mullens High School graduates Rob and Dianne Carrico, resided in Beckley until the early 1990s. He attended grade school at Hollywood.
’Idol’ makes it harder for voices to be heard By Ayla Brown
The “American Idol” judges have chosen their Top 24 for season seven. As a former contestant, I remember all the challenges I faced during Hollywood Week: the grueling group auditions, the late-night practice sessions, the fight for the last spot near the mirror to do your makeup, the lack of food for hungry contestants.
That was two years ago, and though some things have stayed the same, I see a drastic change in the direction “Idol” is taking this year. When I competed in season five, for instance, the only accompaniment we had in our Hollywood Week auditions was a piano. This year contestants were backed up by piano, guitar, bass and full drum set - they might as well have been opening up for Celine Dion. Only time will tell whether this is a step forward or a step back.
Boston Herald
OSU student competes on American Idol, reaches top 50
Simon says, “Kyle Ensley goes onto the next round of the competition.”
But sadly, the rules to this popular children’s game don’t apply when playing “American Idol.”
Ensley, an international business and political science junior, made it to the top 50 of the popular FOX series.
Murray teen has chops, looks to be ‘Idol’
In David Archuleta, we have a Utah “American Idol” contestant who I bet money will make the final 12. He’s an whole-package crooner more vocally attractive than Utah’s season-two contestant Carmen Rasmusen ever was during her run (and whose vibrato is still ringing my ears).
But this pint-sized 17-year-old from Murray, who is now among the 24 semifinalists, has the tools and the talent. He appears to be a charming kid, self-effacing but confident, with a voice that has power and control. He’s also got the looks that will make every teen girl get teary-eyed. As his vocal coach, Dean Kaelin told me, Archuleta goes straight for that “High School Musical” crowd.
Pair of Valley singers make way to semifinal round
We’ve survived another bloodletting of the tone deaf that is the American Idol general-audition and Hollywood rounds. Now, it’s on the to the semifinals, where 24 young singers may grow on us, make us hate ourselves for loving them earlier in the competition and/or provide fertile investigative-reporting grounds for The SmokingGun.com.
This year, Arizona (Home! Of! Last year’s! Winner! Jordin! Sparks!) has two chances to reclaim Idol gold with Brooke White and David Hernandez. White, from Mesa, is cute, talented and not afraid to rock a horizontal-striped shirt. Hernandez is from Glendale and may have something to prove to Simon, who told him his inclusion in the top 24 was not the judges’ unanimous choice.
Anthony Fedorov and Vonzell Solomon on “Simply Ballroom”
Currently playing to sold-out audiences in the UK, SIMPLY BALLROOM is now making its North American debut starring Celebrity Host, DEBBIE REYNOLDS and AMERICAN IDOL finalists VONZELL SOLOMON and ANTHONY FEDOROV and a cast of world-class dance champions. A lavish production full of glitz, glamour and breathtaking performances! From the perfection of the Waltz to the passion of the Tango to the power of the Paso Doble, this beautifully staged and orchestrated production has it all!
Justin Guarini Stars in Racing Film
Season one runner-up Justin Guarini is putting the petal to the metal for his next film, Fast Girl, from Allumination FilmWorks, currently out on DVD. Find out what the movie is about below.
For Alex Johnstone (fast-rising star Mircea Monroe, All Souls Day, “Drive,” “Scrubs”), racing is in her blood. It was her father’s life – and it ultimately caused his death. But her dream is to follow in his footsteps, and become a top driver. Her Uncle Bill (Dwier Brown, The Guardian, Gettysburg, the Academy Award®-nominate Field of Dreams), the owner of the local speedway, is equally determined not to lose his niece the way he lost his brother.
Beauty
Mandisa Brings the House Down.
St. Jude Dream Home campaign kicks off Friday
Franklin-based Southern Land Co. is kicking off its 2008 St. Jude Dream Home campaign with a party hosted by Amy Grant and Vince Gill and staring Melinda Doolittle on Friday.
The party starts at 7 p.m. at the Factory in Franklin and is free and open to the public. Gill and Grant will likely sing, but Doolittle, an American Idol finalist and Belmont alum, will be the evening’s entertainment.
The party serves as a fund raiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, an internationally recognized children’s hospital, which is a pioneer in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other diseases.
Weekend Wrapup
I watched the God-awful NBA All-Star Celebrity Challenge. Please remind me to never ever care about Taylor Hicks again. I laughed so hard when I saw that he was in this game that I almost spilled my bee…diet Coke. He actually hustled more than almost any other player in the game, but Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather was the Nelly of this game. Every trip down the floor, he jump-stopped just inside the foul line and shot a jumper. Every time he missed.
Five from Carolinas seek votes in CMT Music Awards
Five stars from the Carolinas are seeking votes for the 2008 CMT Music Awards, country music’s only fan-voted major award show, according to press releases from the cable network.
Jason Michael Carroll (Franklinton), Eric Church (Granite Falls), Bucky Covington (Rockingham), Kellie Pickler (Albemarle) and Josh Turner (Hannah, S.C.) are among the first-round finalists.
Look Back at Composing The Color Purple
The Color Purple will have played more than 900 regular performances by the time it is scheduled to close February 24, 2008 on Broadway, having first opened in New York in late 2005. As the lights go down for the Oprah Winfrey backed production on Broadway, the first North American Tour is currently playing in Los Angeles before heading out to cities including Tempe, Detroit and Atlanta through 2009.
On Broadway, The Color Purple recouped its entire $11 million investment in its first year and earned eleven Tony Award nominations, picking up one award for Best Actress in a Musical. The Broadway production stars Chaka Khan as Sofia, BeBe Winans as Harpo, LaKisha Jones as the Church Soloist at all evening performances and Sofia at all matinee performances, Montego Glover as Nettie, Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery, Alton Fitzgerald White as Mister, Krisha Marcano as Squeak and Zonya Love as Celie.
Carrie Underwood returns to arena as a more seasoned performer
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Carrie Underwood fulfilled Simon Cowell’s prophecy of becoming the most successful “American Idol” ever just three years ago. And in that short time, not only has she won Grammy awards and produced two platinum-selling albums, she has also grown into a more self-assured performer.
Underwood brought that confidence and exuberance to the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on Monday in a sold-out show promoting her latest album “Carnival Ride.” With four costume changes and 15 songs, Underwood, who also played guitar on several tunes, was a more seasoned performer than when she first graced the Wachovia Arena stage in summer 2005 on the “American Idols” tour. She showed off her slimmer physique in four outfit changes, ranging from pants to gown to short shorts. Her long blond hair was layered around her face in loose waves that bounced as she moved across the stage encouraging the audience to sing-along and clap their hands to the beat.
Related Posts
Anyone else really disappointed at the level of “scandal” this year? I really miss the good ole days where a contestant who made it into the top 24 was really overage! had a police record! forgot to go to court! Had to “suddenly” drop out of the competition!
All of this failed once, try again stuff is dull in comparison (to me). Is this really the best they can do? Sigh…I miss the good ole days….
eta: I want my spoilers and I want them NOW!….ummmmm….pretty please :-)
To MJ: Is your RSS feed working? I’m trying to add it to my site and it states the feed is broken.
Mandisa: Yep, girlfriend is heavy and I’m sorry about my bias, but singers really need to try and curve their weight or go Starr Jones to lose it. I cannot imagine that weight aids in the singing and the ability to move around the stage.
Ayala’s comment is interesting because yes, they did include practically a full orchestra with the singers this time and it would be better to just have a piano accompaniment; honestly…that way you can really hear the singer….Jen-Hud states that when she does a private event she only has a piano or one instrument accompaniment because she wants her voice to be heard.
So glad that Vonzell hung in there and has a real prominent role now; ditto Anthony, that cutie pie.
Chicago-Sally-
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‘American Idol’ Castoff Josiah Leming Speaks: ‘I Don’t Have Any Regrets’
Josiah Leming wants you to know a few things. He’s not just the kid who sleeps in his car and cries at the drop of a hat. He doesn’t consider himself to be particularly emo, nor does he think he sings with a British accent, as he has been accused of doing. He has no regrets about any of the choices he made on “American Idol,” not even his rather, uh, unique take on Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” that got him booted from the show.
And he’s incredibly aware that the fame all of the above has brought him might not last too much longer.
MTV
LOL at him saying: “They wanted to film me in a Ford Sync too, but I was like, ‘I haven’t been living in one of those,’ ” he laughed…I wonder if that’s true. I wouldn’t put it past them.
He says he’s sold $15K in music through myspace. Good for him.
From the MTV article:
“I actually wanted to do ‘Take Me Out’ by Franz Ferdinand, something a bit cooler and more my style. But for whatever reason, that didn’t work out — they couldn’t get the clearance or whatever — so I was kind of stuck with ‘Stand by Me,’ ” he said. “I didn’t know the song, so I was trying to make it my own, and I focused more on the words than the melody. And that’s why it was kind of all messed up. As it was happening, I definitely knew it was going downhill, but if it’s going to go bad, let it go bad. I’d definitely rather be the person who had a train wreck and crashed but at least tried something different, rather than be the girl who sang ‘Amazing Grace’ three times and made it into the top 24. I want to take chances.”
BWAH!
LOL, Joshiah. Even he’s picking on Kristy Lee Cook!
Here is a preview of Josiah on Ellen (from the Ellen site) including him singing one of his original songs:
Josiah on Ellen Preview
So, is Joshiah still living in his car, or has he returned home ?
Well, if you read the MTV article, you will see that he is now living at home.
Why do I feel like Josiah’s agent today? LOL. I’m just glad that one of the auditioners is having some measure of success. The show makes major coin out of these kids and the only thing they (the auditioners) get is some exposure. So, I thinks it great the few times that exposure actually yields some results.
Plus, I think Josiah has some real talent.
Can’t wait for tonight to see what other talent the three stooges have uncovered.
I like “To Run”. I would laugh my face off if it became a big hit.
I’m way more excited about Josiah’s appearances today than I am about the Top 12. I love the Kristy Lee comment, too. I gather that she will not be getting Josiah’s vote. The day he was booted, he had more plays on his myspace than Carrie, Chris D. Kelly C., and Jordin combined (180,000!) and as of yesterday, he was still getting more plays than any of them individually on a daily basis. Yeah, it might not last too much longer, but I think he’s probably glad that he doesn’t have to sing a 60s song tonight. They probably would have made him sing Stand By Me again.
He’s supposed to be performing in studio on Access Hollywood tonight, so yeah, once again, he’ll have more airtime than the rest of the Top 24 this week. Way to go Nigel.
That makes one of us. But then again if Kirsten is his agent, he’s got it made.
Aww, go Josiah! Loved the comment. Happy for him. I downloaded his stuff, but still haven’t had time to listen.
I want Kristy Lee Cook to crash and burn. I’m not down with her singing “Amazing Grace” three times and then stripper dancing for her goofy dance.
Josiah didn’t make that much of an impression on me on the show but that Mtv interview was really good and I loved the song he sang on Ellen. His vocals seemed rough to me but that song was really good!
Hee on the Kristy slam because I do not like her Sam I Am! *is a poet*
LOVED the appearance on Ellen. “To Run” was awesome.
I also like how his MTV piece was written– it was honest and without any of the I-deserve-to-be-a-star pretention that I see so often in Idol. It got me to look past some of his diva behavior in Hollywood and remember how I felt about him when I first saw his audition. I hope the doors will open for him.
Edited… found the link to the video of Josiah at MTV upthread. Nice interview!
Also, his performance on Ellen was touching. This kid’s got mad talent, even if he’s not right for American Idol.
Here is a link to the cast of Dancing With the Stars which starts next month. (Hoping the link works)…
Dancing With the Stars 2008
I didn’t see this posted anywhere yet. The Today Show ran a segment this morning about the American Idol “ringers” that made it through this season. They focused first on Carly but also mentioned Michael Johns and David A. Afterwards, Meredith Viera made the comment that she liked it better when it was just amateurs.
I don’t know if Nigel was serious about the majority of voters not being aware of this stuff or if he’s just giving it his usual spin. Either way, I have to think they’re happy about the buzz this is creating for the show.
I’m sorry- but whoever posted those odds on who is going to win clearly doesn’t watch the show…Alina as the female fav? not so much imo…and they have incorrect info on her by failing to mention they showed her audition in addition to the 5 sec clip of her being put through to the top 24. and i also cant believe they have chezike that high…i hate when newspeople who dont watch the show (and ren’t obssessed like me) write about the show….grrrrr..the rest of the list (except david a. and michael j.) seems way off.
p.s.- who can really tell whos going to win at this point anywaays?? forgot to throw that in…
Chicago-sally
Feb 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Mandisa: Yep, girlfriend is heavy and I’m sorry about my bias, but singers really need to try and curve their weight or go Starr Jones to lose it. I cannot imagine that weight aids in the singing and the ability to move around the stage.
Ever heard of Mahalia Jackson? Aretha Franklin? (Aretha didn’t need to move…just stand there and open her mouth! Seriously, I do believe in some singers size does make a differenc–a better one.)
Ever heard of opera? Ever heard that it’s not over until the fat lady sings?
I have no idea why some opera singers are often quite large, but some of those guys are in such good physical shape they can sing for hours (think of the Wagnerian operas…especially the Ring Cycle…total playing time is 15 hours)
Okay, I looked it up. According to this and that article, the more fatty tissues that surrounds the layrnx, the better the resonance (which yields a better the sound). It may also be related to the power of the diaphragm and the larger the body the more powerful the diaphragm. So at least these two reasons would seem to indicate that plumper people might be better singers.
Andy Childs (of Sixwire) concert alert, and spooky story:
I was scanning my workplace E-Bulletin Board this afternoon, saw this notice:
I said Hmmm… I wonder how I can get some tickets to that.
From Google, I learned this:
But I could find nothing about buying tickets.
Within the half-hour, I get a phone call from said Professional Firefighters, offering to sell me the tickets. And I never answer those calls. I guess that’s how they sell them.