Billboard All-Time American Idol Top 24
Billboard calculates the all-time American Idol Top 24, using a combination of album sales, individual song sales and radio play counts (as of April 17). The Top 5? 5. David Cook 4. Jordin Sparks 3. Chris Daughtry 2. Carrie Underwood 1. Kelly Clarkson. It’s an interesting list…
Idol track sales: Guests do well, Adam Lambert tops ‘Idol’ alums
As it did for album sales, Shania Twain’s mentoring turn on American Idol yielded a bonanza of track downloads. Twain’s biggest selling track last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, was You’re Still the One — the song Lee DeWyze covered — but several of her songs wound up with quadruple-digit percentage increases. And all of the performers on last week’s results show — Rascal Flatts, Shakira, Lady Antebelllum and Sons of Sylvia — saw the songs they performed increase in sales as well.
Adam Lambert continued to have the top-selling Idol track, as Whataya Want From Me topped 52, 000 for the week. Carrie Underwood’s Undo It saw a week-over-week increase of 23 percent. And keep an eye on Before He Cheats: It looks to be three to four weeks away from reaching the three-million sales plateau.
‘Idol’s’ Top 5 talk Sinatra night
“We’re all friends here, ” Big Mike said wearing only his gray boxer-briefs. That’s how the Top 5 finalist greeted the media after Tuesday night’s show. Perhaps relieved that the stress of performance was behind him, he was clearly looking to let it all hang out. Fortunately, someone encouraged him to throw on a pair of track pants so we could all get down to business: rehashing Sinatra night. Read on for a post-show chat with the last five standing…
Casey: I might not be here next week. It’s just a reality. We all have to live with it. I could go, I could’ve went last week and the week before that, so every week we get is a blessing. Honestly, out of all of us, I absolutely deserve to go home tomorrow, if you’re going to base it on this performance. I mean all these guys really killed it. I was really shocked. And what they said was dead on the mark — I am not a guy who’s gonna ever go out there and do something like that without my guitar, so I did the best I could.
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
Forget artistry, ‘Idol’ is all about niches now
As anyone with a computer on which to bang out their disapproval can tell you, there’s been a decided lack of magic this season on “American Idol.”
The contestants are lackluster to the point where Crystal Bowersox, the rootsy, whiskey-voiced singer — who in previous seasons would have been escorted out the door by the top 10 — is considered the front-runner. The judges are varying degrees of useless: too nonsensical, too timid, too enthusiastically clinical, too already out the door. And Ryan Seacrest … oy, don’t get me started on him.
‘American Idol’ puts Shania Twain back on the charts
Who was the big winner when it came to American Idol and album sales last week? That’s easy: Shania Twain, whose Greatest Hits album jumped back onto The Billboard 200 at No. 68, selling 7, 000 copies — a 251 percent increase over the previous week. Results-shows performers Shakira and Rascal Flatts also saw week-over-week increases, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Lady Antebellum saw a slight dip in weekly sales but the group’s Need You Now remained the second-best-selling album in the country.
As for Idol alumnae, Carrie Underwood remained the top seller (No. 25 on The Billboard 200) with Play On. Also staying in The Billboard 200: Adam Lambert (No. 61), Daughtry (No. 96), Danny Gokey (No. 133) and Jason Castro (No. 137).
Siobhan Magnus looks back on her time in ‘La-La Land’
During her “American Idol” run, Siobhan Magnus had a reputation for octave-defying notes and unapologetic retorts. As we got to know the Barnstable, Mass., native, we also learned of her love of horror movies, Hole and Hanson, but there’s much more to this sixth-place finisher than meets the eye … or ear, or nose. Yes, Siobhan gives some sensory answers to our “La-La Land” questionnaire (her first impression of our fair city: “Smells like pee”), along with an illustration fitting of her always imaginative mind, after the jump …
Between paint sales, Mt. Prospect store is Lee DeWyze central
Painter Pete Church leaned an elbow on a gallon of paint and admitted that Crystal Bowersox “is pretty good.”
“No way, ” manager Mike Binek fired back from the other side of the Mount Prospect Paint store. “Bowersox isn’t going to win.”
Here, Lee DeWyze is the only contestant who matters.
Youngest ‘Idol’ contestant hails from rural Pa.
PHILADELPHIA — On “American Idol, ” Aaron Kelly, who has battled through laryngitis and tonsillitis, has been praised for his good manners and gentlemanly attitude.
And the 17-year-old high school student is also the youngest contestant.
“I always said that I was Southern-raised. … ‘Yes, sir, ‘ ‘yes, ma’am’ – that’s how my mom had taught me, ” Kelley said in an interview with The Morning Call of Allentown. “I’m having a ball right now. … It’s a ton of fun and it’s a great learning experience.”
The pint-sized singer with a flair for country music was born in the Gulf Coast town of Sarasota, Fla., and lived in Florida before moving to Sonestown, in northern Pennsylvania, about five years ago.
Allison Iraheta warned about ‘balut’
“Kris told me, ‘Balut is…it’s a…baby bird inside an egg. You eat it.’ He didn’t tell me what kind of bird. Now when David saw my expression, he said, ‘No, it’s good’ – but I wasn’t sure if he was just messing with me, ” said Allison, laughing.
When told that it’s a baby duck, Allison muttered good-naturedly, “It won’t change [how I feel] about eating it. No, thanks, baby ducky won’t convince me. I mean, I can handle diarrhea, but not while performing!”
Idols in the Nashville Flood: Phil Stacey
Like so many families, Phil Stacey’s was scattered all over town this past weekend when the storms hit Middle Tennessee.
“We had one daughter staying with a family from church and the other with grandparents, ” Phil says. Getting the family back together required driving from one end of Nashville to the other, “so we saw a lot of what was happening.”
The Secret to Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Oscar-Winning’ Smile
When Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for her debut performance as Effie White in “Dreamgirls, ” the star flashed a smile that was punctuated by a gap in her front teeth.
And according to Hudson’s cosmetic dentist, New York’s Dr. Debra Glassman, she wanted a perfect smile to match her bright, new trophy.
“The joke was, she won an Oscar, and she wanted an Oscar-winning smile, ” Glassman tells StyleList. “There was pressure after her Oscar win, but the real pressure to do something about her teeth came when she signed a cosmetic contract, ” adds Glassman.
Cameron gets a yes from Cowell
Tory leader David Cameron has won a big-name celebrity endorsement with TV talent supremo Simon Cowell declaring the Tory leader was “the prime minister Britain needs at this time”.
The multi-millionaire entrepreneur, writing in The Sun newspaper, said he believed Mr Cameron had the “substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times”.
His public endorsement will come as a disappointment to Prime Minister Gordon Brown who has often talked about his fondness for Cowell shows such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
But Cowell, while recognising Mr Brown was “very sincere”, expressed doubts that the Labour leader still had the energy needed for the “huge task” facing whoever wins on May 6.
‘American Idol’: ‘Glee’s’ Lea Michele wants to mentor
Is “American Idol” doing a Broadway or a movie night theme yet this season? Because if they are, “Glee” star Lea Michele wants to mentor.
Hollywood Life heard from an “Ellen DeGeneres Show” insider that Lea Michele was talking about mentoring for “American Idol” backstage before she taped her “Ellen” appearance. “She said that it would be easy because they’re on the same network and a movie or Broadway night would be perfect for her, ” says the insider.
‘Dancing”s Maksim: Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s Critique of Erin Andrews Was ‘Stupid’
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Erin Andrews’ pro partner on “Dancing with the Stars, ” is sounding off on Twitter about comments made by “The View”‘s Elisabeth Hasselbeck regarding Andrews’ wardrobe choices during the competition.
Tuesday morning on “The View, ” Hasselbeck criticized Andrews for wearing revealing “DWTS” outfits after the ESPN reporter was infamously stalked by a convicted peeping tom.
Hasselbeck said, “I think in light of what happened and as a legal [matter] — and as inexcusable as it was for that horrific guy to go in and try to peep on her in her hotel room … I mean, in some way if I’m him, I’m like, ‘Man! I just could’ve waited 12 weeks and seen this — a little bit less — without the prison time!'”
Erin Andrews should cover herself up, or so says Elisabeth Hasselbeck
ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has been competing well so far on Dancing With The Stars. She is one of the final six “stars” remaining on the ballroom dancing competition, at least until another is eliminated Tuesday night during the ABC show.
Tuesday morning, on another ABC show, The View, one of the hosts, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, took it upon herself to suggest that Andrews should reconsider her wardrobe choices. (Andrews is wearing pretty much what every other female dancer wears on the show, which is not a particularly large amount of clothing but which is enough to be shown on prime time network television.)
‘Dancing’ Survivors Lament Loss of Pam Anderson
Buxom ‘Baywatch’ star Pamela Anderson was given the boot on Tuesday’s ‘Dancing With the Stars, ‘ and her fellow contestants are more than a little bummed.
“The show’s losing a lot of sexiness, ” NFL star Chad Ochocinco told E! News after the elimination show.
Erin Andrews called her “one of the greatest people on the cast, ” adding, “She was just always so nice and it was refreshing to be able to tell people, when they asked what it was like to be around her, that she was cool.”
‘Glee’ Star Lea Michele Tells Ellen She Almost Ran Into Jon Bon Jovi
When it comes to covering pop tunes, Lea Michele is a pro. But when it comes to driving, the “Glee” star is in need of some help. It turns out Michele, known adoringly to Gleeks as Rachel Berry, is a terrible driver — or so she said on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Tuesday (May 4) during her appearance to promote the sold-out “Glee” tour.
‘Glee’ recap: Every Now and Then I Fall Apart
There’s been a self-congratulatory quality to the first few episodes of Glee since the Great Hiatus. In some ways, that’s okay: the creators have certainly earned a victory lap or two. But I prefer Glee when it finds a way to work emotionally messiness and high-concept weirdness in with all the big-hearted balladeering. ?
?A Madonna episode? Sure, fun stuff. But an episode that combines a mystery, a mega-meta riff on modern celebrity, a purposefully-awful series of songs, not one but two high-concept retro music videos, and some realistic forward motion on various romantic plotlines? Now we’re talking! Last night, you could actually hear the psychic nuclear explosion sweeping the nation as ”Run Joey Run” suddenly became the awesomest song ever. Now this is the Glee I fell in tormented love with. ?
