Adam’s tour is not contingent on US album sales — it is contingent on potential for concert ticket sales and to a lesser extent on global album sales. He is selling out the US promotional concerts and has a proven track record as a concert draw based on GNT. No reason to believe it will be any less ambitious than GNT.

Adam’s album is selling quite well in the UK — sold out everywhere on Monday — the first day. They are restocking HMV locations on Friday and many shops in London are keeping lists of people who want the album. It will make the Top 10 here but would have charted higher if you could actually buy the CD. Many fans had to purchase the CD at the Queenbert concerts because that is the only place that has them — and these sales do not count on the UK Chart.

Considering Adam’s one-off concerts are not selling nearly as well as GNT concerts, I just don’t see how he could do another tour similar to GNT. Also, GNT tour was badly planned – a huge number of small concerts. I wouldn’t want Adam to do something like 120 concerts for 1K-1.5K audience in 6 months. That’s just not rational.

Adam’s album is not doing that well. It’s down to #10 in today’s midweek report. Considering he is not getting enough radio support, he will probably fall down the chart in the coming weeks.

The reality is, single and album sales do influence touring plans. It’s all connected.

Didn’t the album just get released this week in the UK?   Where did FYE debut in the UK chart?    I don’t know if we can determine how Tresspassing will fare yet internationally.    I do think Adam could do both the Idol gig and some shows.    I agree that he probably can’t do an extensive tour in the US unless he gets a third single and it takes off.

But I think he could still tour some and do Idol.   Look at Jay Leno, he does his show every day and still does stand up in Vegas.   And don’t get me started on Ryan Seacrest and his gazillion jobs! 

The interesting thing about the Sing-Off judges, who I agree were fantastic, is that none of them are huge stars. They are all well respected in the music business and have had a level of success, but, unless you want to go off what Boyz II Men did 20 years ago, none of them sell gazillions of albums or play in front of huge crowds.

But that didn’t seem to matter as much as the fact that these were people who all knew what they were talking about and actually gave helpful critiques. 

Since the Sing-Off got cancelled, maybe Idol should think about bringing one or more of these guys over as a judge.

 All judges in the past have had their personal likes or dislikes, musically. I fail to see how you could avoid such a thing. As for the fans voting;  wouldn’t that be a concern for ANYONE who has fans? As it is, facts don’t really back up the notion that a judge’s fans vote according to their favorites. Plenty of people who have liked a specific judge or celebrity commentator have voiced disagreement.

why would Adam’s fans be any different from Tyler/Aerosmith fans or J-Lo fans or Ellen D. fans, or Mariah fans, or Fergie fans or the fans of any possible judge with an existing fan base??  No matter who is chosen as a judge there is always the chance that that judge’s fans will vote for who the judge likes and not who they really like.  And I suspect this just doesn’t happen all that often.  And if it does, so what?  People vote for all sorts of reasons — same geographic area, same religion, went to same college etc.  Virtually all of the potential judges have musical preferences w/r/t what they like.  As for Kris/Adam “fanwars”?? That stuff is limited to a small group of people on a small number of internet websites — wouldn’t effect the show one iota. 

Personally I don’t think the non bubble fans of Idol really care much about what the “judges” say or how “well” they critique any Idolette.  Idol is an entertainment show not a documentary, people don’t necessarily want to be educated they want to enjoy what is being presented and come to their own conclusions about who they like and don’t like.  And since the judges “power” is pretty much over once the show gets past the green mile its important to have judges who are just as entertaining to the majority of viewers as the contestants are….that is how the show was conceived and that is how it has moved forward.

No one will ever convince me that for 8 years Paula was a wealth of insider information…she was a dark haired “blond” who rarely, if ever, had an original thought but she was “gold” for her bimbo-isms.  Randy was a great foil for Simon’s egotism but he, also rarely, really got across any of the perceived industry knowledge that he was thought to possess.  And Simon was just there for the “shock” value and to bring the contestants down a peg…something the audience loved because many people don’t like people who get, in their opinions, to big for their britches.

I still like and will continue to like the concept of Idol.  I think the show…even as it shows its age and suspect relevancy…is nice escapism for me.  I find it entertaining to shake my head over the “judging” but I don’t and have never taken seriously anything they have said (from day one).  I find a contestant I LIKE and support them because I LIKE them.  I could care less what tweedledee and tweedledum and tweedledum the second have to say.

Whomever gets the judging roles for the show is fine with me…geesh I put up with Kara and the ever annoying Ellen.  If someone thinks the gig is good for them, well its OK with me…and, based on the uptick in popularity judges from other shows have had I don’t think the AI gig is any kind of “come down”.  Seems to me it would be a lot better gig than following the charity circuit or appearing in backwater clubs and lounges.

pj: I had no idea about the rock album with Ben Harper.  Thanks for the info.  She would be fun, but is she on their radar?  It seems all these shows are looking for is a “name” rather than good judges with personality.

Here’s more info about Natalie’s new album: 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/dixie-chicks-natalie-maines-ben-harper-pink-floyd-cover-346645

I don’t think she’s on AI’s radar either, but it’s fun to imagine what would happen if she did become part of the show. Just recently, Natalie replied to a fan:

Do I seem like somebody that could be controlled to you?

Made me LOL.

I disagree with you about Paula, Tess. Sure, she was loopy and ditzy and stuff, but underneath all that, Paula had a keen eye for talent. She often saw things in contestants (like the “it” factor) long before the other two caught on. Paula was sensitive to nuance, whereas Simon and Randy often needed to be clubbed over the head with a performance for it to register. She got a lot of flack for being too nice (and at times she was), but actually, she often told it like it is – only in a gentler way than Simon’s brutishness. I still miss her! Frankly, I miss the whole original panel because they had a rare chemistry.

 Where are your stats that Adam’s one offs aren’t selling well.  As far I can see, they ARE.  Adam has always been a strong draw for concerts as he’s got a fantastic rep as a live performer.  And the Queen gigs are just raising his profile.

And he can sell venues from 5 – 10K EASILY.  It’s not Lady Gaga money, but a great way to make a living none-the-less.

Simon is not a country fan at all, he has said publicly that he doesn’t “get” country. That didn’t stop him from saying Carrie would sell more records than any other Idol contestant nor did it stop Carrie from winning. Adam would be a great judge, but personally I don’t care who they hire. The only one I haven’t liked was Ellen. She was awful, looked like a deer in the headlights the whole time. Also, Adam publicly tweeted his love for Jessica and Joshua touting their singing ability, but if Adam’s opinion caused hoards of fans to rush to their phones (which I doubt) it was only a blip as P2 won. Nevertheless, I really don’t think Adam is going to be a judge but time will tell.

. nvm