Idol Bits and Pieces: Matt Giraud, Michael Sarver, David Archuleta and More

mj I just have to say, you’re the bomb!!!!!

Speaking of Archie and the assisted living home. The lady who was tweeting about it has posted one of the videos she took. She’ll post the rest tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. She ended up going to Archie’s concert at BYU and had a blast!

http://vimeo.com/7992374

BTW, MJ. The Idol Chatter blog link takes you back to Matt’s picture with the kids. lol

I love Michael’s song! Beautiful melody and a great hook. I can see it getting a lot of airplay. I hope he does well. Besides having a really nice voice, he’s such a nice person.

oh my god! i never expected to fall in love with a song by michael sarver. wow its soooo beautiful and though the lyrics are bit cliche, i love the feel of the song. really happy for him

Thanks, MJ! It is great to see news about some other folks getting its own thread.

I listened to Michael’s song and, while I can’t say I love the lyrics, it’s pretty and he sounds really good.

Go Matt! Go Kris!

Do we really know how many copies they’ve sold worldwide, mj? I’m curious to see how well they do outside the US.

And also Carnival Ride has passed 3 million mark last week, should be 3x platinum now, no?

amiroamor
12/05/2009 at 6:25 am

Do we really know how many copies they’ve sold worldwide, mj? I’m curious to see how well they do outside the US.

kelly has done about 24 million ww, i think, carrie about 14. so in terms of international sales, that’s about 13 million for kelly, 4 million for carrie, which isn’t surprising considering pop music exports alot better than does country music.

I never heard him sound this good on Idol or on the tour!!
Way to go Michael!!! You were always one of the nicest guys…..just a really great human. I’ll be thrilled to add this to my playlist. Keep them coming Mr.
Sarver.
I wish Idol would dedicate a couple weeks to contestants having a choice, between, any cover, or their own original song. I think this would bring
a layer that would lower the feel of the kareoke vibe that has hampered
the respect that the AI gets

^^ That’s the thing, I’ve seen Kelly’s sold 20 million and Carrie 15 million worldwide, and these figures keep changing but I haven’t seen any lists from any sources to prove that. But I agree that pop is a lot more popular than country globally.

The video of David at the assisted living made me tear up at six in the morning. My mom was in assisted living for a while — Alzheimers — and music was the thing she hung on to the longest. Great of David to do that.

Wikipedia says Kelly sold more than 22.3 million albums worldwide.

I don’t think Carrie sold 4 or 5 millions outside of the USA. I would say 2 million max. Probably less.

I really like Michael’s song! Not much into country music, but that sounds really good. I hope it does well for him and he can have a great career!

I found this

http://www.carriefans.com/carrie-underwood-chart-talk/133976-carrie-underwood-complete-global-charts-history.html

Don’t know how to interpret those numbers though. Haha

The Miracle Near State Street last night was great. Kris Allen was the second act. Unlike a lot of prima dona performers, he ran out with his band, they all took their seats and the music started. First was Heartless. Awesome. A kind of combination of the CD version and his original. Absolutely loved it. The Auditorium Theater is huge and the sound extraordinary. He sounded just great and looked adorable as always. He was not wearing plaid last night. White shirt of some sort and a gray sweater over the top, jeans. He played a couple of my favorites from the debut album including All Right With Me which he co wrote with the guy from the Fray who also played last night. Then they did a great version of Man in the Mirror with four guitars across and a drummer. It had Kris’s stamp all over it and was a really interesting take on the song. Since that was the performance that made me a fan to start with, I was really happy to hear that one. He ended with Live Like You’re Dying. He had great audience reaction throughout. The only problem the entire night was just not enough Kris Allen. Five songs and it was on to Cobie Callait. She sounded beautiful, interesting voice, and her guitarist that sang backup with her and also sounded great. She just sang way too many songs all sounded way too much alike. My daughter went with me but had to be to work by 11:00 PM out in the suburbs so we had to leave right at the start of the Fray. It was Alright with Me though because I went primarily to see Kris anyway. Wish I had known he was out in the audience. I would love to have gotten an autograph. It was a huge crowd though and I didn’t see him at all. He was charming and sounded fantastic. It was worth every penny of the ticket price and benefited LaRabida Children’s Home, so all that great music for a good cause. I have some pictures I can send to MJ.

I found this

http://www.carriefans.com/carrie-underwood-chart-talk/133976-carrie-underwood-complete-global-charts-history.html

Don’t know how to interpret those numbers though. Haha

Well, I guess I was right. Carrie’s international sales aren’t really great. Just look at her 1st week sale numbers for all three albums.

* Carrie Underwood ‘“ 10,539,000
* Kelly Clarkson ‘“ 10,428,000
* Daughtry ‘“ 5,356,000
* Clay Aiken ‘“ 4,910,000
* Ruben Studdard ‘“ 2,532,000

Ruben gets no respect these days, but he sold a boatload of records’ ¦

Wow…. why are people always dissing Ruben?? He’s the 5th highest selling Idol!! lol

Looking at these numbers though, Idols dont’ sell nearly as much as artists who come up the “regular” route. Its still really good though!

Well, I guess I was right. Carrie’s international sales aren’t really great. Just look at her 1st week sale numbers for all three albums.

Isn’t country music just an American thing?

http://vimeo.com/7992374

Archie is perfect for this. He’s an old soul himself. It’s wonderful that he went there to sing. People often forget about older folks living in nursing homes and assisted living places — especially during the non-holiday periods.

David is all heart!! He reminds us that there are others out there who are less fortunate and lonely! Thank you David for being so selfless and giving of your time and attention! There’s so much we have to be thankful to! You represent American Idol with honor and pride!

Almost 70% of Kelly’s total sales came from one album. To use a sports analogy, that’s like giving a player the status of best ever for their career on the basis of one season’s performance. Carrie is far more consistent. In my estimation, she’s already eclipsed Kelly and is leaving her far behind in her wake.

It doesn’t matter where the sales came from Kelly is still WAY ahead. Carrie has been more consistent because shes had consistent support, something Kelly hasn’t had.

Isn’t country music just an American thing?

Yeah, mostly.

A few weeks ago the biggest Slovenian news website posted an article about Carrie and her rumored move to her boyfriend in Canada. The comments under the article were: Carrie Who?
I heard ‘Before he cheats’ on second channel of our national radio a few months ago, but that was probably just random and BHC is Carrie’s biggest hit.

Kelly is very well known all around the world, followed by Daughtry and Jordin Sparks. ‘My Life Would Suck Without You” appeared on Slovenian radio charts soon after it was released in USA. I was really surprised to see it climb our charts so quickly.

That video of Archie was just too sweet. I hope the Xmas album does well and he gets some good TV promo. Not being represented by 19 has denied him some great opportunities (although it probably puts alot more $ into the family coffers.)

I still think he’s an adorable kid and if he can do more adult songs (like the Spanish song posted a while back) I’ll be back on line buying his music.

I think I read he’ll be performing on LKL? Anyone know if that’s true?

Kris’s LLWD was down one spot to #10 on this weeks VH1 Video countdown.

absolutely gorgeous… try this spanish christmas carol ”riu riu chiu” on for size jpfan… david is just a killer singer, of anything…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93guxCTvbM

I think David Archuleta has sung to seniors before. At the end of the video when he tells the audience about his brother and sisters and their ages and about his pets — those are EXACTLY the questions that I got asked repeatedly when I did volunteer work at a seniors’ nursing home while in high school.

David is all heart!! He reminds us that there are others out there who are less fortunate and lonely! Thank you David for being so selfless and giving of your time and attention! There’s so much we have to be thankful to! You represent American Idol with honor and pride!

It was very selfless indeed of David to entertain those elderly folks when really he should have been saving his voice for the concert that he was performing at later that day.

I think I read he’ll be performing on LKL? Anyone know if that’s true?

Yes, it’s true. David himself announced it via twitter:

DavidArchie: Performing this morning for a Larry King taping. Just met Anthony Hopkins! 10:17 AM Dec 2nd from txt

DavidArchie: Finished with the taping at Larry King. I’ll let you know when it airs! Should be during Christmas week.
11:37 AM Dec 2nd from txt

…. and my favorite song on the christmas cd… pat-a-pan…. so excited to be seeing him and hearing him on the 15th in baltimore…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbifoi4DAZ4&feature=related

I think David Archuleta has sung to seniors before. At the end of the video when he tells the audience about his brother and sisters and their ages and about his pets ‘” those are EXACTLY the questions that I got asked repeatedly when I did volunteer work at a seniors’ nursing home while in high school.

Definitely. He apparently has had plenty of practice according to what he said in an interview with Vail Daily :

‘Christmas music is something I’ve been involved with since I was a little kid,’  Archuleta told the Vail Daily during an interview this week. ‘We used to sing in hospitals and retirement homes. It’s always been a fun, special time for music with my family.’ 

I agree, jpfan, that not being managed by 19M has kept Archuleta off some holiday specials (notice how Carrie Underwood has David Cook on her Christmas special and I look forward to seeing it but who better to be on that special in addition but Archuleta with his Christmas cd? – but he is not 19M and they are – likewise that big event in NYC with Kris and Adam and Cook – why no Archuleta? Not 19M (jmho).
He is managed, however by Irving Azoff’s management company, which is, however a major player in the industry. Just wish it was Azoff himself who was getting more holiday events for David because someone is certainly slacking off in that dept. (Larry King and the Today show coming up really close to Christmas is great but he needs more and sooner. Even so, he’s been hovering around #20 on Itunes for a couple weeks and is currently at #16. David seems to be his own best sales rep – great voice, charisma, and 2 years of non-stop hard work and touring keeps him moving in the right direction toward a life-long music career.

Hear, hear, cmom. Would’ve loved to have seen David A. on something bigger and sooner. Would’ve loved to have seen him on Carrie’s Christmas special or JHud’s or Oprah’s or Ellen’s or …

As for Carrie and Cook — their friendship makes sense to me — they both have ties to Oklahoma and aren’t they near the same age? Perhaps Cook’s appearance on her special is all RCA/19m or perhaps in part because of their friendship.

And yes, David is selling that Christmas album well despite the lack of much promo.

Has anyone seen video of Kris’s jingle ball performance in Chicago last night?

Diane

Not yet. It sounds like the people who got video didn’t get very good quality — the security about taking video was very tight at last night’s show.

Also wondering if anyone took video of Allison’s concert last night? I didn’t se any tweets about that at all.

ShariG, thanks for the great synopsis of the jingle ball…I had seen plenty of tweets talking about how it was “the best day of my life,” etc., so I really wanna hear something! Was the crowd as crazy as in Sacramento?

girlygirl…I know security was tight, but we usually get some crumbs, ya know?!

There were some hilarious tweets last night from the Miracle Near State Street concert. People spazzing out left and right around Kris!

musikfreak19

#Omg kris was awesome!!! so presh, so nice when we met him b4 the show. he even mentioned it during his set. ngl, we all flailed when he did! about 14 hours ago from txt

#btw kris called cale sexy and he spoke in a fake girly voice and called andrew’s hair cute and pretty. about 7 hours ago from web

#i told kris to drink a shot of whiskey b/c it’s good for the voice. he kinda thought that might be a bad idea. jesus was nice & kinda presh. about 7 hours ago from web

lambertftw

#I told @Krisallen that he wasn’t a big deal, lmao. He is so presh omg. about 6 hours ago from web

#@oatmealcookieee he sadfaced lmfao about 6 hours ago from web in reply to oatmealcookieee

#Oh I also hit Kris lololol about 6 hours ago from web

likeatumbleweed

#@lambertftw told kris he wasn’t a big deal and then laughed at him and swatted his arm all buddy-buddy. (it’s on video) she’s such a douche. about 6 hours ago from web

ShariG

Thanks for the recap. Glad you had a great time. Please send the photos!

Can’t Stay Away from Chicago! Drums are kinda loud..lol!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3rjIfc9N8

Talking about simply pushing forward with a music career and just for fun, here is Archuleta around age 12 in a song he co-wrote telling us the way it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z8A9WemHYk

I really like this song by Michael. I actually enjoyed him on the tour, as well. I wish him the best. He’s a great guy.

As to David A., kudos! The one thing that nursing home and assisted living residents love the most is their music. They can always relate.

Allison from JingleBall concert last night

Cry Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr1olj-7lto&feature=player_embedded

FIBOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqJddtUNclY&feature=player_embedded

The person who put CSA up on YouTube has more videos that she is going to upload — AWM, the Heartless mashup and LLWD. Again, the quality isn’t the best, but who cares, right? Still fun to see.

absolutely gorgeous’ ¦ try this spanish christmas carol ‘ riu riu chiu’  on for size jpfan’ ¦ david is just a killer singer, of anything’ ¦

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93guxCTvbM

That is a beautiful performance by a truly gifted professional, DAVID ARCHULETA. Thanks, ggdoorsfan.

ETA: He looks so nice in that video, cool outfit.

Thanks ShariG for your review of Kris’ show. Awaiting the pic!

girlygirl
12/05/2009 at 12:21 pm
The person who put CSA up on YouTube has more videos that she is going to upload ‘” AWM, the Heartless mashup and LLWD. Again, the quality isn’t the best, but who cares, right? Still fun to see.

That’s what I thought. If so, she’s slow!! =) IA!!

ShariG, thanks for your recap! Looking forward to the pictures!!!

Wikipedia says Kelly sold more than 22.3 million albums worldwide.

I don’t think Carrie sold 4 or 5 millions outside of the USA. I would say 2 million max. Probably less.

Im pretty sure she has sold over 2 million worldwide for just Some Hearts. Also, people have to remember Carrie is still one album behind Kelly. Carrie is also starting to be marketed worldwide, so the next few years should be very interesting. My prediction is by the end of her career Carrie will have sold more worldwide than Kelly.

Thanks for the videos on David A.

He is so sweet to visit the assisted living especially on a performance day and nobody could have known if the lady was not there to visit her grandma. Does David care about press and attention when he does something like this? Heck. No. He has always done this for others before the idol and now his status has changed after the idol. He tries to stay grounded and uses his music for good causes.

Some artists take advantage of getting spotlight by doing something outrageous and become the talk of talk selling own name. It’s a matter of your decision in every moment on how you live your life.

Thanks, ggdoorsfan. I like the contemporary sound of the classic Pat A Pan with the band. His lowest voice at the end is really low and rich. His vocal coach said his voice will get richer as he matures and I can see it’s progressing.

His vocal coach said his voice will get richer as he matures and I can see it’s progressing.

I was just wondering about this the other day. I haven’t heard anything DA has done since “Crush.” Has his voice changed at all?

Kelly and Carrie comparison?

Does it matter who sells more? The country genre can’t compete with pop. Carrie is lucky to choose country where fans tend to buy albums rather than singles. I was disappointed at Carrie’s singing when I watched her idol season because she was all over the place, shouty and off pitch.

Kelly is real. Carrie is the industry made star with her Barbie look although I always thought Carrie’s stylists are one of the best in the business. If Carrie and Kelly were in the same genre, Kelly would have knocked off Carrie vocally. Well. Good for Carrie. She picked the country.

Another video from Chicago last night — Alright with Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxA-Tfg2GDI

I was disappointed at Carrie’s singing when I watched her idol season because she was all over the place, shouty and off pitch.

Haha, okay if you say so.

I don’t know why this keeps coming up, but Country artists are not the only artists that sell cds, Kelly had that monster pop cd, and if you look at the top ten albums every week very few of them are ever country. I think this effort to try and discredit Carrie’s success because of her genre is pretty lame.

Im pretty sure she has sold over 2 million worldwide for just Some Hearts. Also, people have to remember Carrie is still one album behind Kelly. Carrie is also starting to be marketed worldwide, so the next few years should be very interesting. My prediction is by the end of her career Carrie will have sold more worldwide than Kelly.

Okey, I found this article on About.com.

Kelly – 23 million worldwide
Carrie – 14 million worldwide

According to Wikipedia, Carrie sold 300-400 thousand copies of Some Hearts in Canada (3x platinum). I’m sure she sold some more outside of USA and Canada, but probably not millions. Country is not that popular outside of North America.
Carrie sold 3 million copies of Carnival Ride in USA. I doubt that CR was internationally more successful than SH.

And Kelly is planning to release her 5th album next year? Carrie won’t beat her in worldwide sales anytime soon.

Kelly is real. Carrie is the industry made star with her Barbie look although I always thought Carrie’s stylists are one of the best in the business. If Carrie and Kelly were in the same genre, Kelly would have knocked off Carrie vocally. Well. Good for Carrie. She picked the country.

HAHA. The best joke I’ve heard in years!

According to Wikipedia, Carrie sold 300-400 thousand copies of Some Hearts in Canada (3x platinum). I’m sure she sold some more outside of USA and Canada, but probably not millions.

Well she did, because she has sold over 9 million copies of Some Hearts worldwide and only 6.8 million of that was in the united states.

And Kelly is planning to release her 5th album next year? Carrie won’t beat her in worldwide sales anytime soon.

Yes she is but Kelly has yet to have an album be as big as her Break Away album, while Carrie keeps going platinum several times over.

Well she did, because she has sold over 9 million copies of Some Hearts worldwide and only 6.8 million of that was in the united states.

Sorry, can’t find any certification of this. Find 6.8 Us, 400,000 Canada and no other verification of any albums sold.

I think this effort to try and discredit Carrie’s success because of her genre is pretty lame.

I don’t think anyone is holding Carrie’s genre against her. She sells like a mad women in Country Music. But unlike some Country “stars” before her she has “yet” to crossover into mainstream music. When she can sell like Shania and has major success outside of her genre then she can wear the “crown”. Shania has sold over 65 million albums worldwide to date.

Related to the above Matt story, I enjoyed this Twitter exchange between him and one of his co-writers on “I Miss You Tonight” Victoria Shaw.

victoriashawcom:
Ur only supposed to sing our song!RT @ImMattGiraud What did you sing for them??… I sang one of my new songs called 4 AM

ImMattGiraud:
@victoriashawcom I sang “I Miss You Tonight” last night at my Xmas party and EVERYONE sang along. It was like a choir. Pretty cool to see!

victoriashawcom:
It’s a dang hit boy!RT@ImMattGiraud: I sang “I Miss You Tonight” last night at my Xmas party and EVERYONE sang along. It was like a choir.

I don’t want to take away from those idols who sold all those albums, but it has steadily become a very different world in the past few years in regards to amounts of albums sold compared to when they released albums. It would be nice to compare apples to apples with the newer idols. Of course, since all of those listed have been out much longer, it is almost impossible to compare at this point.

I am a diehard, longtime Kelly Clarkson fan but Carrie deserves congratulations. She is incredibly successful and if her album sales have surpassed Kelly’s here in the US then so be it. It doesn’t diminish Kelly’s accomplishments one bit. Carrie’s a juggernaut and deserves her success.

hehe archie sang Feliz Navidad last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjT1rlvhoRA

When she can sell like Shania and has major success outside of her genre then she can wear the ‘crown’ . Shania has sold over 65 million albums worldwide to date.

It’s funny when a pop artist like Kelly is considered OMG! Sucessful! after selling 20 million cds (nothing against her, she’s me 2nd favourite idol) but Carrie has to sell 65 million just to wear the “crown”. That’s ridiculous, who would sell that much these days? Even Lady Gaga, or Taylor Swift couldn’t.

I liked Michael Sarver’s song – to me it’s sounds like it could succeed on country radio.
I think the numbers are pitching Kelly vs. Carrie fans into a fan war!

Oh, Idol, what you do to us! Only in an Idol blog would people debate the records of two artists whose main connection is past wins on a show which happened several years apart. There are hundreds of other past Idol contestants, winners or not (including my favorite runner-up) who would count themselves lucky to do as well as either of these women.

Frog! I hope David sings Feliz Navidad again on Tuesday for my show! Did he leave anything out or is this a bonus song?

Omigosh! Feliz Navidad! I absolutely love that song. The lyrics are ultra simplistic, but it always makes me happy to sing along with it on the radio. Way to go David! Great choice of song to mix things up.

Kelly Clarkson IMO needs to change her image. She has let herself go is a big reason for her not selling as much. Back in her Breakaway days she looked like a hot pop star. You can be overweight in country, jazz, opera, musical theatre but a pop star NO. IMO nothing IMO will ever top Breakaway. During the Breakaway years Kelly was the hottest thing in music an she proved herself outside of Idol. Breakaway hands down the best album ever by an Idol. It sold 13 million worldwide. Kelly made 40 million dollars in one year for Breakaway. I like Carrie alot and think she is talented. One thing that bugs me though about Carrie she does not take risks. Her biggest criticism comes from her repeating herself over and over again. Play On IMO is better then CR but she needs to be riskier and kick it up a notch. Carrie/Kelly IMO are the golden Idol standard. Kelly has done really really well with Already Gone. It’s a gorgeous song and it could spur another single on All I Ever Wanted.

There is a minor correction to the info in your article.

At the annual Gala in Raleigh last October, held for Clay Aiken’s charity The National Inclusion Project, he showed his gathered fans a beautiful new award sent recently to him by RCA. It contained the mounting of each of his four albums, and was engraved in honor of his sales reaching 6,000,000 for those albums.

It puts him back over Daughtry for the moment, and he is currently in Germany recording tracks for his next album, for release early next year.
It is always interesting and fun to watch all the Idols and their sales.