Carly Smithson and We Are the Fallen: Blame Constantine Maroulis

I love Carly and am very excited about this project but she seems to be coming out of the box a little defensive about Idol and her musical past in this interview. Hopefully it’s just because it’s the annoying yahoo interviewer, but Carly just seems super stressed, I hope with time she’ll calm down and enjoy this. I think this is a fantastic opportunity for her and I am really excited to hear more of the music they make!

uhh.. so she’s saying that she was singing blow your mind or whatever it’s called at 14?! she did know what the song was about right? there’s just something about carly that i just don’t like- like how she’s so defensive about her first record and such. She just always has someone else to blame.

Is it just me or does Carly seem a bit haughty in this interview?
I’m a bit turned off by her demeanor. Then again, I wasn’t really a fan during her Idol run either, however, she at least seemed friendly and outgoing then.
I guess when you’re not singing to “kids” or pandering for votes, you get to be bitchy.

Her comment about Adam didn’t make much sense. Being himself during Idol didn’t seem to hurt his popularity.

Okay, the take on Constantine had me laughing, that’s for sure.

Her comment about Adam didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make much sense. Being himself during Idol didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to hurt his popularity.

I didn’t quite get it either, but I am assuming she meant Adam’s Rolling Stone article revelation? Don’t know, but I am guessing that sort of thing cannot be done while on a family show. Or maybe not. Carly did seem a bit defensive at times here.

Carly is so bad ass and so not family friendly… yo!! (but not really)

Her comment about Adam didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make much sense. Being himself during Idol didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to hurt his popularity.

She meant that he had to kind of water himself down on the show to appeal to the voters. His KISS outfit, for instance, would have turned voters off had that been the first time they saw him.

I just think the defensive thing was a misunderstanding on her part. She thought the interviewer was questioning her change in style from Ultimate High to now. She’s taken alot of heat for that record, so I really see her frustration when people question her about it.

Carly was 17, not 14, when she made that record. Not that I think that she should still be attacked for, or defensive about, a record made that long ago, but she kept saying 14, 14 14 and I wondered if she’d gone through a chronometric disturbance on the Starship Enterprise.

I listened to the song a couple of times. It’s actually pretty good. Reminds me a bit of “Goin’ Nowhere” from Evanescence’s “Fallen,” but I guess that’s not surprising.

I liked Carly a lot on Idol and always felt that Simon was unfairly harsh towards her. I wish her luck with this new endeavor.

thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s just something about carly that i just donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t like- like how sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s so defensive about her first record and such. She just always has someone else to blame.

AC you took the words right off my keyboard. That os exactly how I feel. This is the second interview I see of hers, and I just can’t bring myself to like her, or her voice. For some reason she is really rubbing me the wrong way. And the defensiveness.. She didn’t even wait to hear the rest of the question before she jumped in to defend her vocals. To me, she came across as obstinate and insecure.

LOLz about Constantine! That was really funny.

With respect to Carly and defensiveness, I see what you all are saying. I think, unfortunately, Carly wasn’t reading where Lindsay was going with her question and didn’t seem to let her finish before reacting and responding. Lindsay was going in a favorable direction, it seemed to me, and Carly missed the cue and got a little prickly, in my view.

That said, I totally get it, as that record has been a thorn in Carly’s side for awhile and the tact often taken by the media is to harp on how much $$ went into its production and distribution (all of which is disputed by Carly) and how badly it tanked. Anywho, yeah, that exchange highlighted again what I believe doomed Carly’s Idol run, at least in part — her insecurities.

I’m excited about this new band, and the opportunity for her. I hope she finds success, happiness, and perhaps, herself. And I hope she finds a way to let the rest of the chit go!

ETA: Well, I see while typing, a number of peeps were seeing the same thing I was. Sorry for the repetition!

AC, she has said time and time again that “I’m Gonna Blow Your Mind” wasn’t about what you’re referring to. And Gregg Alexander, the songwriter, also has never said that the song intended to serve as a double entendre. That’s just misinformation that has been propagated over and over online.

And MJ and Sybil – she was 17 when the record came out, but was working with Steve Dorff on her album a few years beforehand. Indeed, much of the sound Dorff wanted ended up not making the final cut – but the album was certainly not started and completed all when she was 17 years old.

Mocking Constantine is always welcome and well-deserved, so if for nothing else, the lulz of this interview about him, were well worth it.

como on people
she was there to talk about her new band ,and the women bring something obout a life ago ,something that on idol was really bad for her ,and the 14 years thing ,i remenber that her first record she wasnt 17 but the record label didint like becouse it was to dark for someone so young ,they wanted somthing more pop and then they started recording ultim…. high ,but the wall record deal thing started on age 14 or 15

I think it’s best to stop viewing Carly through the Idol prism. This is going to be by far the most un-Idol-colored major project from anyone whose ever come off the show. In fact, I’m not sure there is any other major act that has an Idol connection that isn’t tainted by that connection in some way.

So what I mean by this is it’s better to stop evaluating her in terms of having some quest to find her musical identity, what perceptions were about her while she was on the show, how she feels about whatever artistic constraints she had put upon her during her season, how she feels about what place she came in on the show, and any “excuses” she might make about that. THIS is who she is, and I’d say venture to say this is truly who she was during the period she was on American Idol.

She was never cut out to be a solo artist. She’s a rock frontwoman. There are different avenues she could have taken while heading in that direction, and the route she’s gone is the goth-rock one. She should slide into the niche quite well.

Carly wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t reading where Lindsay was going with her question and didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to let her finish before reacting and…

For me (for you, for me), it wasn’t just during that question that I got the haughty vibe—I felt it throughout the interview. I also found the way she was sitting (obviously uncomfortable since she kept tugging at her feet) and the hair arranging, annoying. I would be more inclined to believe that the Carly we saw on Idol is more true to who she is than this “persona” she’s trying to pass off as natural.

Something else occured to me as I (painfully) rewatched. Since she supposedly turned down post-idol offers to do “idol” type music because that just isn’t “her”, what would she have done had she won?

Helll nah I wonder how cons gonna feel when he sees this shyt that was funny as hellz. I knew one day somebody would have the balls to say it and he totally did! I waited dam near four years for somebody else to see it but all bs aside he cant really help that he looks like that his eyes are just too dam big lolz. For the record no one cares about carly smithson she can never replace their original singer anyway. Long live original evanescence!!!

All I can say is just WOW with all the haughtiness Carly has. It’s really off putting if you ask me. I understand that an artist wants to grow after AI but I think it’s in bad taste to for her to knock a show that gave her the national exposure that this show did. I do wish her well though.

The part about Constantine….priceless. :lol_tb:

I don’t know if it’s haughtiness so much as discomfort/self-consciousness….the hair flipping, nose wiping, uncomfortable leg positioning….she just never seems at ease in her own skin. Kinda makes the viewer uncomfortable watching her.

I adore Carly, but this “tough chick,” “too cool for school” attitude is so booooring. What a walking cliche! I mean, this is the same woman who was seen cuddling (in a motherly way) with Lil’ David Archuleta in photo after photo back in 2008! In fact, David referred to her his second momma. I think, frankly, she did not enjoy the comparisons to someone like a Celine Dion (comparisons which were quite apt, btw, in terms of vocal clarity, tone and range), and so she’s been struggling to get the music industry to view her in an out-of-the-box kinda (rocker) way for 10 years now. I’m sure it’s been frustrating. Good for her to have found her musical home. At last.

I think they all came off as a little ‘too cool for school”, as if they couldn’t be bothered and they didn’t like the interviewer. It was just awkward to watch.

Thar said, nothing matters but the music. I think this style fits her and I hope they do well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPmfNcrmfuU

carly on cnn today

I wish Carly well. She has gone from a potential child star to a second-chance favorite of the Idol brass who never clicked with the audience to a replacement for an iconic lead vocalist of an established band — an interesting career trajectory. Unless she can contain or correct them, I would expect the negative qualities that worked against her on AI may cause problems within her new band — a lack of humility, a forced and somewhat awkward public personality, and a palpable neediness that made the Idol audience uncomfortable. I hope she finds the success she has sought for over decade.

Carly always makes me more appreciative of David Archuleta. Although I am not an Archie fan, he too was a potential child star and then second-chance favorite of the Idol brass — and yet he remained humble and endearing at a still young age. Most of all, I hope Carly finds that peace within herself.

Carlu comes across so different from when she was on the show.
Too cool for school now then? Hmmm. I really did not expect that.
Carly seemed so sweet to me, but I guess I was wrong.

She acts a bit bitter regarding her lack of success after Idol. I wish her luck now.

CNN interview is soooo much better.

I agree, however, just as boring.
Oh, and she looks like the Mona Lisa.

Wow Carly did seem defensive and came across really strange in that interview. I did enjoy all the busts on Connie though – LOL.

edit: dial back the defensiveness

Between the rawker poses and the the whole attitude, that was really an unpleasant interview. Kind of like the YouTube floating around of their performance.

She does come accross awkward on the interview but I don’t think she is denying whatever she did on Idol, she says that she had to show a more PC part of her personality and as a performer as well, just like Adam did (he never did a Crawl Thru Fire type of performance on the show).

What I love about Carly and will always love is that gorgeous and distinctive voice of hers with the beautifull irish accent, she’s also a true performer on the stage as she proved last year on the tour.
Her personality and style wasn’t suited for the AI audience and her first record deal was a very bad experience for her, this gig is great and it does have potential for major success.

I also think it’s great for AI because it’s a complete new direction for an AI alumni and makes the show look more hip and young.

For me (for you, for me), it wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t just during that question that I got the haughty vibeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I felt it throughout the interview. I also found the way she was sitting (obviously uncomfortable since she kept tugging at her feet) and the hair arranging, annoying. I would be more inclined to believe that the Carly we saw on Idol is more true to who she is than this à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“personaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trying to pass off as natural.

She was definitely trying to affect an aloof “rock” persona to go along with her bandmates, but then again her bandmates are the types who are predispositioned to hate everything about Idol to its core. And yet they were there being interviewed by Yahoo’s “Idol reviewer”, so that probably affected the band’s overall bearing, and Carly wanted to seem like she fit in with them at that moment.

Honestly, she probably wants to get as far away as possible from American Idol, and can you blame her? The only thing the show can do for her at this point is to offer the band the chance to perform on a results show. That’s a big opportunity, but it doesn’t provide so much benefit to them that it’s worth her acting like she’s in any way associated with AI as an artist.

Something else occured to me as I (painfully) rewatched. Since she supposedly turned down post-idol offers to do à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  type music because that just isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“herà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , what would she have done had she won?

Yep exactly. I think she is again lying about the many record deals she got offered after AI… like she has lied about so many things before.

noctem, I completely agree.

I’m really excited about this new band, and the more I think about it, the more excited I get. Right up my rocker girl alley….

So what I mean by this is ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s better to stop evaluating her in terms of having some quest to find her musical identity, what perceptions were about her while she was on the show, how she feels about whatever artistic constraints she had put upon her during her season, how she feels about what place she came in on the show, and any à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“excusesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  she might make about that. THIS is who she is, and Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d say venture to say this is truly who she was during the period she was on American Idol.

I don’t think much has changed since she’s been off the show. So, no, as far as I can see, she still doesn’t know who she is.

The only difference is that here, she’s replaced Simon Cowell with a quartet of cool rawker guys who she’ll look to for validation and a path to define herself.

I’m still not seeing a self-possessed artist here.

As an Evanescence fan, I’m actually excited and curious to see how this is going to play out. Carly’s definitely a rock chick. I don’t know why it took her so long to figure out something which was fairly obvious.

About ‘getting away from American Idol’ – bad move. I think Daughtry, Cook (the ones coming out of the gate as rockers) had it right, and now Kris Allen & Adam Lambert following their example. You were part of the show= fact. So have a sense of humour about it, but also appreciate it for the enormous exposure it gives (and will continue to give). She has name recognition and a lot of fans including in the media (*cough, Rushfield, cough*) and in the music biz who wouldn’t have heard of her if not for Idol. And that couldn’t hurt this “new” band. It might even bring in new ‘left-field’ fans who would check them out not just coz they’re a new rock band but because of Carly. And stick around.

The AI audience always gets a bum rap LOL. What’s wrong with liking both old school balladeers and hard goth-rock?! They can’t mix? Which moron made up that rule?! Hee.

To Carly: relax, and have a ball with this. Don’t forget to crack silly jokes under that ton of black on white gothic makeup you’ll be carting around on tour. If you guys are lucky, you can tap into the vampiric twilight mania that’s plaguing the tween set right now!

Know what? I never really cared for Carly, the person, on Idol though I did download a few of her performances because she did well in the recording studio. Now that she’s in Evanescence Reloaded (and lo and behold, it seems that I’m a nominal fan of the band because the Fallen album is on my iTunes (when did I do that?)), I’m just gonna deal with her the same way I did with Amy Lee. Not give a single thought about what she’s got to say or do outside of when she sings to me on the radio.

Still wish her the best of luck though. These kids chose a pretty tough path for themselves career-wise and it’s always nice when they see some level of success.

That was painful to watch. Carly came across very bitter and as others have said the band mates seemed to think they were ‘too cool for school’, how ridiculous. Idol has a massive fan base and to sit there and be so derogatory about the show and act so much better doesn’t sit well with me or many other fans I suspect. Get your album out and sell millions before you start acting so smug is what I suggest. I was curious and would have downloaded them until NOW-I have no desire to feed their egos now…

mj you really dont like carly

About à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹getting away from American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ – bad move. I think Daughtry, Cook (the ones coming out of the gate as rockers) had it right, and now Kris Allen & Adam Lambert following their example.

All of the above are signed with 19. Of course, they don’t want to distance themselves from Idol. Idol offers them the chance to have pimpage out the wazoo for their music. But, like I said, the only thing Idol can do for Carly is to invite her band to perform on one of their results shows.

Now I do think that the vibe Carly projected in this interview may be off-putting to some general AI fans. But, she has to walk a careful line because the old Evanescence fans who may be interested in this project are likely to be VERY skeptical that it’s being fronted from someone who competed on American Idol.

Bottom line: Carly’s small, residual fanbase from Idol isn’t going to leave her. They would have supported her solo project, and now they’ll support this. Those folks combined with old Evanescence fans will form the base for this band along with whatever new fans they can attract. They’re not trying to appeal to the Idol audience at large.

Theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re not trying to appeal to the Idol audience at large.

That is unfortunate and short sited. I’m an “Idol” fan, not a Carly fan but I do like to follow up with what past contestants are doing. Strange as it may seem, I’m not a ‘music’ fan either, so what I like comes from Idol and what the contestants do after the show. If they intrest me I follow them and buy their material, if they turn on Idol and what it is, forget it, I have no use for them. I could be the minority here but I think there are many like me out there that have spending power.

wow. I’m really not liking Carly here. She comes off as overly defensive and just plain rude to the interviewer. Didn’t like the other band members either – just a bunch of people trying to prove they are “cooler” than someone else. And how many times did she actually say “14″ when defending her first album. Funny.

LOL at this interview. I thought the guys were hilarious. I think they were being truthful about not having seen the show before. Regarding Carly, I don’t think she was being defensive about her time on the show, as much as she was being cautious because of the person doing the interview – Lindsey Parker. Congratulations to Carly! I think she has an awesome voice and this seems like a perfect fit for her.

Carly is defensive about her first album and I don’t blame her because she has taken so much crap about it over the years, starting with that fact-challenged Wall Street Journal story and continuing through the witch hunt from VFTW (and others [eye move accusingly about the room] ) during her Idol run. And all “it” really means is that even as a kid she had enough singing talent to make a label want to sign her, which is kind of silly to get defensive about but what ta’ hey.

The label, basically, any label in the history of music, isn’t about to hand a fourteen year old child (and that is the age that she was when she signed her deal on her kitchen table in Ireland) a six-figure bonus and let them discover their musical direction for themselves. So they hired a bunch of “old hands” Steven Dorff and eventually Gregg Alexander & Danielle Brisebois to guide her through the process.

What actually ended up on the Ultimate High album was recorded when she was sixteen and seventeen years old though and then held until her eighteen birthday. The first aborted effort was nine songs produced by Steve Dorff over six months when she was fifteen that was mostly ballads, a direction that was eventually shelved, and the only thing that ended up on the album from that was All Kinds of People. Her voice really hasn’t changed that much from those days, so I’d say she was wrong there.

I suspect the whole “distancing themselves from Idol” is more about attempting to position themselves in the marketplace. Carly (and the guys in the band) know that being an Idol alum is a net positive, just for the name awareness and exposure it brings, but I suspect that publicly embracing Idol isn’t in the cards for We Are The Fallen.

CRB, as usual making a heck of a lot of sense.

I find the “distancing herself from Idol” view to be interesting. In the few interviews I’ve heard/read from her since the Idol tour, I’ve heard her say nothing but good things about the show. In fact, she called Idol “awesome” and said she “loved everyone that creates it” in the interview above and I heard no overt “shunning” of the show. But in the end, 19 chose not to pick her up, and she’s trying to move on with her career – I’m not sure she should have to spell out her affinity for Idol every time she’s interviewed. On the same token, I would think she’s well aware of what kind of exposure the show brought her.

And as for her demeanor during the interview, it might be worth noting that Lindsey Parker has written scathing criticisms of Carly as recently as the beginning of Season 8 when comparing Joanna Pacitti’s situation to Carly’s. Having that in mind, I can see how Carly may have been a bit wary when Parker started bringing up the past, but I think she answered Parker’s questions with grace given the situation.

There is too much good music out there to worry about Carly and what’s she’s doing these days. I didn’t really like her on the show and I sense she still has an attitude.

There is so much great music to come from Carly to worry about too many others these days. I loved her on the show and I sense she still has everything it takes to succeed in this business.

I love Carly and am very excited about this project but she seems to be coming out of the box a little defensive about Idol and her musical past in this interview. Hopefully ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s just because ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the annoying yahoo interviewer, but Carly just seems super stressed,

I think Carly’s extremely talented, but weren’t these attitude issues, tension, wanting to please too much, freaking out and blaming other people and fibbing about stuff the things that pretty much messed her up on the show? (and for all I know, before the show?) … For example, I’ve heard enough of her singing to believe that she clearly has the goods to hit high notes, loud notes, rocker notes, all kinds of notes without screaming or looking like her throat is so tight it’s going to burst. But then so often that’s exactly what she ends up doing — which I blame on tension that causes her to just forget her technique.

HOnestly, I think she needs a lot of sessions with a good psychotherapist before she gets too far in a career because it seems to me that she gets in her own way all the time. And it’s a shame, because she’s very very talented, in my opinion.

(Plus, I disagree with her about dissing her first album — I think it is a very *good* pop album. Now, I know she doesn’t want to sing pop. But other people have changed genres without having to dis everything they did before — Heck, Dylan did it when he started rocking out. I don’t think they did her wrong with that album at all — the songs are good and they showcase the fact that she’s *capable* of excellent, flexible vocals. She ought to be proud to have that album on her resume and just say that, now that she’s grown up, she wants to go in a different musical direction. But, there again, you have the emotional/psychosocial issues that get in her way, I guess.)

Yeah, it’s too bad Carly was SO damn defensive in this interview!

Lindsey was actually saying Carly NEVER sounded like a pop singer, even when she was a teenage Carly Hennessey. That she always had a voice more suited for rock music, but Carly didn’t really listen to what Lyndsey was saying because she was trying to pre-empt what she thought was going to be a criticism.

That or Carly isn’t terribly bright, a thought that has crossed my mind in the past. Lindsey was throwing her softball questions and Carly was swinging and missing completely.

She really needs to start watching interviews of David Cook, Kelly Clarkson, Adam and Kris and LEARN how to handle the PR side of stuff. She’s not skilled enough with the clever repartee to pull off what her bandmates were able to do here, but she must learn how to respond to criticism in a disarming way, to let stuff roll off her back and display some confidence.

I still like her, though, and am a big fan of her voice, but I STILL have no idea who the hell the Real Carly is! :blink_tb:

You were part of the show= fact. So have a sense of humour about it, but also appreciate it for the enormous exposure it gives (and will continue to give). She has name recognition and a lot of fans including in the media (*cough, Rushfield, cough*) and in the music biz who wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have heard of her if not for Idol.

Egggactly.

In fact, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not sure there is any other major act that has an Idol connection that isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t tainted by that connection in some way.

Wait, now doing the “Steel Dragon” thing from Rock Star bestows magic credibility? Every season of the show there’s been some variation of “so and so sounds just like (former pop star) they should totally take over (former hit band lacking their original star).” Carly’s just the first to actually take it up, because past singers have always preferred to take a shot at making it on their own.

The Fallen/We Are The Failed or however they’re morphing their name, are not a major act. They’re some guys from a major act that broke up, without the rights to their original name or hits, plus Carly Smithson, known only to the public as an Idol contestant.

Still Carly has a cool voice, and is lovely, and can be very appealing when she’s not nervous. Good luck to her and the band, they wrote some good stuff five years ago, and maybe this will give them the new start they need.

The band started a YouTube channel and put up a really good sounding “EDITED MASTER” of the live press conference performance. Here is the link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PV2-YOqFSE

It sounds better than the studio mp3 that they gave out, less chanting in the intro & exit and ‘work’ done on the vocals, imo.

Just to clarify, Carly’s album was released just after her 18th birthday. However, she was signed at 14 and began recording it. Because of disagreements between Carly and the record company on the sound of the album, the album took much longer than usual to be produced.

As for Carly’s “attitude” in this interview, keep in mind that Lyndsey Parker was very unkind to Carly in her blog during Idol last year…

p.s. Carly is very proud of her Idol experience and is full of good things to say about the show and the people that work on it