Blake Lewis Owes the IRS $124,798 in Federal Taxes

Why would he buy a house that expensive? *dumb*

Exactly PJ. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. With ballon payments.

Well, Blake did think he was going to sell millions and millions of CDs. I think the douche was genuinely stunned to fail as badly as he did.

What the hell happened to Team Plaid? Did it get closed down when everybody moved on to David Cook? LOL

My first thought was “Wow, he made a lot of money in 2007!” That’s a lot of money in federal taxes. I didn’t realize the Idols made so much money right out of the gate. Most musicians (even those signed to major labels) will tell you that it takes forever to start seeing the dough roll in!

Niall, I was a founding member of Team Plaid. I think it got violated when MJs had all those problems with peeps attacking her site. We just didn’t notice right away. We were only posting every month or so anyway. We mentioned it to MJ in chat, but there were more important issues happening at the time.

I still like Blake and support his music, but running a fansite… not so much. Have to say… buying a house that pricey was a bonehead move.

ETA: I didn’t move on to David Cook. JSYK.

Season 8 idols … take notes! Don’t plunge into purchasing a mansion … learn lessons.

why would he buy that??? weird.

All I know is that is alot of federal tax dollars. Imho it wasn’t how hasty he was in purchasing a pricey house, but how much money did he make that year? Damn!

The AIers make over six figures for the tour. He probably also got a signing bonus from J/Arista. He easily could have made over 500,000 for the year with personal appearances. That sometimes fools the AIers into believing they are rolling in the dough permanently, especially if, like Blake, they are sort of arrogant about their prospects.

I remember thinking when I first heard about the house that I could see him running into problems making the mortgage payment if he overestimated his future income. So far he doesn’t seem to have defaulted on the mortgage but that might not be far behind.

Both he and Fantasia should be used as examples to new AI contestants so they sock their $ away rather than spend it foolishly before their career is solidly established post AI.

yeesh, don’t these kids have decent accountants? or managers? some things never change, and owing the IRS if you’re an entertainer seems to be one of them…

To me, it’s that he chose to buy a house that was so pricey. Plus, it’s not worth what he paid now. Couldn’t he have bought one in the 250 range? He’s a single guy. Just saying.

Lewis, 28, who bought a $1.25 million spread north of Seattle, Wash., last year

Was this before or after his album tanked? If it was before, I can see where he was coming from. But still, not smart. Adam– I know you REALLY want to buy a house, and it is a buyer’s market, but prices are still falling. Buy something moderate and then upgrade if your career is still looking great after the second album. Please.

Couldn’t he have bought one in the 250 range?

He lives in the Seattle area. Those don’t exist. The average house in King County (where Seattle is located) was above $400,000 last year. And Seattle is the major city in that area. The nicer neighborhoods have median house prices of $600,000-$700,000. I doubt he was looking to buy a run down house in a cheap neighborhood.

Of course, 1.25 mil was still excessive, but he lives in a really expensive location. Maybe he should’ve just waited on buying a house.

Wow. Maybe he really did think he was going to sell 5 million albums.

BTW, did he really say that? lol

How could he afford the house? Didn’t he get dropped by his record company?

Adam’“ I know you REALLY want to buy a house, and it is a buyer’s market, but prices are still falling. Buy something moderate and then upgrade if your career is still looking great after the second album. Please.

hmm, that sounds like good advice with the way the real estate market is today. I remember Adam saying the one thing he wanted for sure was a house. I wonder if Adam would buy his house around L.A. or San Diego? The good parts of San Diego are just as expensive as many of the ritzy parts around L.A.

Did Adam ever buy his home? Does anyone know? Because that was one of his dreams to do with his first check, buy himself a house.

Allison would probably look for something around L.A. since that is her hometown, or maybe expand her families home.

The thing with Kris is that if wants a home around Little Rock I believe the prices are lower in that area. I also remember a radio station asking what Kris was going to do with his money and said if he was going to buy a car. Kris replied “I got a car.”. The radio host said “but don’t you want an EXPENSIVE CAR?” Kris then said “AI gave me a car…FORD FOCUS”, like why would I need an expensive car. I laughed.

I hope Blake and Fantasia tax problems are a lesson to Adam, Allison and Kris, and the rest of the season 8 contestants.

Save your money, plan financially sound, AND PAY THOSE TAXES…on time if you can.

I can tell you that the David A. and David C. made a reported (approx.) 1.4 and 2.0 million, respectively, during their first 7 mos or so. And they actually sold records and singles galore…and toured extensively (like 50 plus gigs in addition to the Idol tour). But I seriously doubt that Blake made that much. I’d have to think it was half that of Archuleta at best. And then he was dropped, right? So for him to go and spend 1.25M on a house was insane.

@tinydance, Adam hasn’t had five minutes to himself to even begin looking, from all accounts. And he has said he will still live in Hollywood, so likely the hills, which even a modest home can’t be had for much less than seven figures. It is a buyers market, but I hope he hangs back for just a few to see what happens. My gut: what he can afford in six/eight months might be vastly different than now. Or it could go the other way (see Blake). He should rent for awhile; or buy an investment property (still a little scary these days). He’ll likely be touring most of next year. By then, he’ll know how his album has sold and he can find his dream home.

Sorry about this, Blake, but good God, isn’t that the first thing anyone thinks of when they come into money? A. Taxes; B. Get financial help.

They must make some nice change for the tour plus appearance fees, etc. because his income must have been 500k for him to owe that much.

I’m shocked he bought a house for that much last year. Wasn’t he already dropped by 19 by then? I don’t follow Blake that closely but I surprised he can still support a house that expensive.

Elliott bought a big expensive house in LA last year. But he made alot more $ than Blake from his first album. Sadly, the second has tanked so I’m wondering how the mortgage payments get paid in the future. Although lucky for Elliott, his model gf is getting some excellent gigs lately.

Jeez, even Daughtry only spent 600K or so on the first house he bought. And people thought he was nuts spending that much.

Someone in the mainstream press should definitely jump on the realities of the Idol financial picture for the aid of future kids. There’s always gonna be a Blake who’s *convinced* he’s gonna sell five million, but maybe the general public would get a more realistic idea.

The only *guaranteed* money for even a winner or runner up is that first year when they make $250-500,000 for sure from the show, summer tour and special appearances.

BUT THEN: and it’s a big but, everything after that is either
a) an advance, which will have to be deducted later from actual earnings
b) or revenue from album, singles and tours.

If your album tanks hard, your income will obviously be very little in the year following Idol and you will not be making another record (with the same label, at least).

Given that the albums aren’t even released until November, it’s extremely unlikely that much, if any, of the profits from even a hit album reaches an AI winner/runner up in the *actual tax year* of their show.

Davids Cook and Archuleta were fortunate (in comparison to some other seasons) in that they both had a pre-album platinum single in the summer/fall following their season, which often is not the case.

Even so, the cost of producing each Idol album, plus profit cuts for the label (RCA, Jive, etc) and the artist management (19E or other agent) all come out of album sales before the singer gets his or her final cut.

Most Idol winner/runners up, including huge hits like Daughtry, didn’t even start earning real money from their album until after the New Year, when their album sales stack up and they go on tour.

Basically, from an adult financial point of view, your best advice would be to keep living like a middle class person until *well* into the year after being the winner/runner up. Till you see if your record clears at least a few key hurdles–album selling at least gold, one or more platinum singles. Which would not make you enormous, but probably assured of a second record.

Now, from a middle class point of view, the winner and runner-up still have a pretty sweet deal *even if their album fails.* Most of us would love to suddenly have a year of income that high, even if it wasn’t repeated. Put that money in a conservative place, or at most, make a down payment on modest house. Gives you security while you go about the business of earning a living in the long term.

But I guess the year of living in the Idol glare, with the limos and cameras, and being in proximity to those few Idols who really have become multimillionaires (not to mention the judges and Ryan) is terribly confusing.

Damn. Did he simply fail to pay any taxes that year? Dear Idol contestants: Once you make the tour, please hire a CPA immediately to ensure that you pay your taxes.

Wow, Blake made enough money to owe the IRS that much? And as far as I’m concerned his success has been limited. Am I wrong? I guess when he bought the house he thought he was going big time; that’s a lot of house for a kid with an uncertain future. Hope our current Idols aren’t so rash.

Awwwww that’s too bad:( I always liked Blake

A lot of the Idols do private gigs where they get paid a pretty penny. We have no idea how many and how much.

Jeez, even Daughtry only spent 600K or so on the first house he bought. And people thought he was nuts spending that much.

Well, Taylor Hicks bought a lakefront property in Alabama and as far as I know doesn’t even live in it. The man probably doesn’t have a place to call home.

jpfan – Doesn’t Elliott stand in a better position to make a lot more money off of his album than the idols who are signed to deals with major labels? And he sold more albums than Blake I think.

I remember an article a few years back that said he has like a 50% stake in Hickory Records or something. That’s probably completely wrong though.

Other than the AI tour did Blake even do any touring his on his own? With zero hit songs and an album that failed to sell gold I’m trying to figure out he could manage to maintain a home that expensive.

Ouch. Sounds like Blake got caught up in the home buying frenzy a couple years back. Just on a ridiculously large scale. I don’t care what area you live in, no one needs to buy to the tune of $1.25M.

OT since it came up regarding Adam, it’s actually not a buyer’s market anymore in SoCali…all those foreclosures that should be in the market bringing prices down are being sat on by the banks and they are creating an artificially low supply of homes for sale to keep prices up. Something I learned last night x_x At the same time, i don’t think the bottom’s hit either. So lol, yeah, S8 Idols, get a good financial advisor and sit a while before buying in LA…guess Kris was smart to hang on to that place in AR after all

I live in Seattle. Truth be told, $1.2 mil is a modest amount of $$ for a house IN the city, assuming he was looking for something in a nicer neighborhood with some degree of privacy or security.

It’s hard to compare real estate prices city to city. I previously lived in Texas and my house was twice as nice for HALF the price!

Now, he could of looked for more of a “regular joe” kind of place and found something for $800k–that would have been the frugal and more conservative decision. But he likely wanted something semi-celebrities could afford. And now that his star has fallen, sadly, he needs to be looking at regular joe houses or move to another city.

But he likely wanted something semi-celebrities could afford. And now that his star has fallen, sadly, he needs to be looking at regular joe houses or move to another city.

“Regular joe” is a good way to phrase it. Until one of these performers knows what the first three to six months of sales on their album look like, it’s safer to assume you are a regular joe who just had a really good year. If your album *is* going to go platinum or better, you won’t lose anything by holding tight to your wallet for a few quarters till you know where you are for sure.

It’s not that long kids! Sigh.

my guess why Blake purchased such a large house was to accommodate a recording studio. Hopefully with the release of his 2nd album which is schedule for October 2009 , success will follow and then hopefully “uncle Sam’ can ( WILL) take its share.

It seems to be commonplace in America nowadays, so many buying homes out of their reach, dependant on future earnings, without a crystal ball I have no idea how they even think like that! It totally boggles my mind.

Looks like AI Idols are no exception.

It makes me :frown_tb: sometimes too!

I wonder if there will be this many comments posted about him when his album comes out. Seems like people are only interested in talking about Blake Lewis when the news is bad. He works hard and is persistent in his career so hopefully he’ll overcome this too.

It’s so weird…Blake was my favorite that season but ever since..eh…

I just don’t get why he couldn’t buy a swanky 2-bedroom condo with a great view for like $400K. You don’t need to go and buy a whole house…

If you are from an area that is over-expensive, like Seattle, you can always find a place outside of Seattle in eastern Washington or central Washington.

Elliott made at least 1 million (and probably much more) from his first album. The beauty of being an indie are the profits if you hit it big. Sadly, his second album has gone nowhere. So I don’t see any more millions coming in. But Elliott did buy his own million dollar home in LA last year.

But at least Elliott knew he’d made a mint before he bought the house. Blake seems to have spent $ he never had and never will have. And unlike Elliott, he doesn’t have a gf pulling in some nice change.

I wish Blake well but he’s not exactly the most grounded guy around.

I wonder if there will be this many comments posted about him when his album comes out. Seems like people are only interested in talking about Blake Lewis when the news is bad.

Well that is because the news usually IS bad. Blake shoots himself in the foot on a regular basis.

And the next bad news I anticipate will be the absolute tanking of his second album. Probably followed a few months later by news that he’s selling his 1.25 million dollar house. A measly 35-50 comments on mjs is likely to follow…

The thing is, Blake had gotten second on American Idol! AI catapulted him to the level that at one point he was thought to be a national celebrity in the making. Coming from that… it’s not too hard to see where he was coming from, wanting a really nice house.

That is called believing your own hype. Finishing second on a reality show when prior runner ups hadn’t done well just means you have a chance to succeed. He should have waited for tangible results before going hog wild. I can’t verify if this is true but I heard most of Diana’s tour earnings and private performance $ went into a savings account or trust type thing that she can now fall back on when she goes through a slow period. Interesting that a 17 year old girl showed more common sense than Blake. Apparently Jordin and David, too. Bo Bice also seems to have fiscally restrained himself. Basically it was another boneheaded move by Blake.

Not too long ago I read that Elliott netted $4-$5 million for his first album. Nice piece of change. Fred Croshal said he actually handed Elliott one check for $1 million. Wow. Elliott’s accountants probably encouraged him to buy some property for tax purposes and all that stuff.

Elliott does have a 50-50 deal, and he used money he earned from AI to finance himself.

Smart guy if you ask me!