Today Idol headlines after the jump ¦
Underwood’s second album a step down – but it’ll still sell
She loves Jesus and Jack Daniel’s, the Rolling Stones and Rascal Flatts. She’s the farmgirl-next-door from the great state of Oklahoma; she’s the legs-aplenty champ from American Idol. She sings for the single city gals; she sympathizes with the house fraus. She plays state fairs and stadiums, working multiculti crowds with a politician’s precision and a bombshell smile.
Country star Carrie Underwood is all things to all people, which is one heck of a trick for a 24-year-old. Seriously, Willie Mays didn’t cover the bases like Underwood does. As a result, the blond looker is one of the bestselling musicians of the past three years, her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, having sold more than 6 million copies. Hit singles ranged from religious plea Jesus, Take the Wheel to besotted revenge fantasy Before He Cheats. Each song had just enough butter-knife edge to separate them from the other pop-country dreck………
Clarkson: A Little Bitter, a Little Better
Screaming at no-good ex-boyfriends for 90 minutes every night has taken its toll on Kelly Clarkson’s voice. But the extra rasp fit her set of scorned-lover anthems at DAR Constitution Hall Wednesday night.
“This is my ‘My December’ tour, for my ‘controversial’ new album, ” she said, referring to the very public feud with her record label. “It’s really not that controversial. You’ll see.”
She was right. The new songs didn’t have the melodies, hooks or sparkle to inspire anything other than tame foot-tapping and obligatory applause. But her catalogue of pop singles recorded since her 2002 “American Idol” win more than compensated for her newer, weaker material……..
Television
…Stuff to watch or record
The Next Great American Band: Boy, did the premiere of this American Idol spinoff tank last week, placing 91st overall in the Nielsen Media Research’s rankings — not exactly Idol numbers. It’s too bad, because the thing is actually surprisingly entertaining — but it’s hard to wrap your Fridays around two-hour audience-participation stuff like this. Twelve bands perform tonight. Only 10 will return next week…
Sitting on top of the charts
Let the career of Chris Daughtry be a lesson in credibility, and in the tastes of American Idol audiences. Rocking too hard for Simon Cowell means you should be right at home at the top of the adult contemporary charts.
Daughtry certainly is. He’s riding high on the success of his single “Home” and can’t be losing much sleep about turning down the job as the lead singer of Fuel, despite professing a love for the band. We have a theory about that decision, and it involves a roomful of record company executives shaking their heads. Let’s face it: If your frontman has ever inspired Paula Abdul to tears, you’re not a hard rock band anymore.
Daughtry brings his soulful swagger to Hard Rock Live Dec. 18.
An uneventful ‘Ride’
Bland as she is, Carrie Underwood can pick fitting album titles.
Her sophomore effort, “Carnival Ride, ” aptly sums up the last two years of her life — being plucked from Oklahoma obscurity by “American Idol” and catapulted into the spotlight, selling millions of records, winning a staggering number of industry awards and becoming a veritable Nashville icon almost overnight.
The 24-year-old vocalist popped out a string of popular but mediocre singles from her multiplatinum 2005 debut “Some Hearts, ” and the fans are eagerly anticipating this second album. While Underwood’s publicity folk are touting the record as evidence of her growth and maturity (she’s co-written four songs!), “Carnival Ride” is a pretty empty display for Underwood’s vocal firepower. And boy, is there plenty of firepower — you get a hint of it in lead single “So Small, ” where the singer belts the chorus with such ferocity that you fear for the blood vessels in her head. The young folks eat up that kind of hair-ruffling bombast with glee, pointing toward Underwood’s ability to generate and sustain hernia-inducing notes as a sign of greatness……….
First night, crowds light
….A petting zoo, rides, racing pigs, an animal magic show and performances by Savannah’s own “American Idol” runner-up Stephanie Edwards are bound to entertain children and adults alike this weekend and through Nov. 4.
Denver gets ready to Rock for Game 3
….Meanwhile, …American Idol songbird Carrie Underwood will Take The Wheel and sing the national anthem prior to Game 3 at Coors…..
Underwood at best on ‹Ride
….The most impressive thing about this record is the change in the Underwood persona. On Some Hearts, she was a singer; here, she a performer (basically, the opposite of what happened to Van Halen in 1985). The album plays like she was able to completely ignore the pressure of having to follow up a six-time platinum record. Basically, there is no sophomore slump here. That is not to say that she cannot sing anymore. She is simply the new Shania, although her voice can belt out songs with the best of them instead of the Shania talk-singing a là ¡ Bob Dylan. And it is a compelling voice at that ‘ she has got pipes that arguably equate her to Christina Aguilera……
“Pop And Rock Stars Have “Gone Country””
….In other entertainment news, …American Idol alum Elliot Yamin was in town Thursday, to shoot a music video and to play a show at Rocketown Friday.
One of his managers lives in Nashville, and it seems to be rubbing off on……Yamin.
…One of these days, Im going to make a country Chanukah record, Yamin said. …I think it a perfect match. ….
Live Wire
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Kelly Clarkson, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St. $42 at 312-559-1212 or www.ticketmaster.com.
After a tumultuous summer of label-bashing, management-dumping and tour-canceling, Clarkson is on a modest tour of sizable theaters (instead of the arenas proposed for the axed summer tour). Reaction thus far has been as mixed as the reviews for …My December, with many claiming that the first American Idol is better at posing as a rock star than actually performing like one. Perhaps by next week, shell have found her groove.
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Clarkson hits the mark
…Wednesday night at DAR Constitution Hall, the tenacious Texan illustrated why she isn’t going to disappear until she feels like it. First, there’s that voice, bell clear, always on target and staggeringly big. Then there’s her winning personality, a combination of confidence and charisma, tempered with girl-next-door sweetness and a slight Southern drawl. She makes eye contact with fans and frequently waves at her audience, striking a careful balance between impressing and connecting.
So her new tunes are a little morose, perhaps even bitter. So her pipes and small-town-girl charms seem better suited for power ballads and spunky pop tunes. Miss Clarkson is finding her way as an artist, and Wednesday’s crowd of teenaged girls, college coeds and older couples showed their support of this journey in the form of ear-piercing shrieks and thunderous applause….
Time to vote for the NGAB
The Next Great American Band debuted last Friday night, but smart viewers knew that the audition episodes are freak show TV, so the time to start watching is now, when the field has been narrowed down to 12 groups.
No matter what style of music gets your toes tapping, NGAB has it all – bluegrass, country, R & B, heavy metal, pop, funk, and classic rock. Tonight’s episode finds each band performing an original song as well as a Bob Dylan cover, and next week features the songs of David Bowie.
The live band element gives the show an energy that American Idol has been sorely lacking, and having a genuine rock star in Goo Goo Dolls Johnny Rzeznik gives it a sense of legitimacy. Tune in tonight, pick a favorite, and then start voting!
Carrie Underwood a controversial choice for national anthem
….It an interesting decision.
Dick and Charlie Monfort, the Rockies general partnership, are active in the beef industry. Their grandfather, Warren Monfort, and father, Ken Monfort, created Greeley-based Monfort Inc., which was one of the largest meat-packing companies in the world. It is now a part of Swift Co.
Underwood, meanwhile, was voted “world sexiest vegetarian, ” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in 2007, the second time she has been selected for the award. She also is a supporter of the Humane Society of the United States, which has taken stands against the beef industry, rodeo and hunting.
She recently deleted a link to the HSUS Web site from her official Web site.
Rockies officials said they were not consulted on the decisions about who would sing the national anthem. “Major League Baseball told us who the singers would be, ” said Jay Alves, Rockies vice president of communications.
Fox is televising the World Series and is believed to have been involved in the decision-making process. Underwood is a former winner of the Fox show American Idol….
Covington, Carroll head for Cowboys
Bucky Covington and Jason Michael Carroll, a pair of hot new pistols on the country music scene, Friday night will make Cowboys Dance Hall the second stop on their “Raisin’ the Bar” tour……….
He’s not Garth, but even Garth digs show
….How much does it mean to have Brooks’ blessing? “It’s a wonderful thing, ” Fairchild said.
“A Night With Garth and Friends” arrives at Leon Springs Dance Hall Friday night. One of those friends is none other than homegrown “American Idol” Season 6 contestant Haley Scarnato….
“Garden City’s Singing Idol”
….”Hands down – for voice, stage presence and overall style!” That was the consensus of the judges who included celebrity judge Kevin Covais, one of the finalists in television’s”American Idol” this past season;….
Report: Katharine McPhee and Nick Cokas to get married in February
Katharine McPhee will reportedly be hearing Greek wedding bells in a few months.
The American Idol fifth-season runner-up and Nick Cokas, her 42-year-old alleged fiance, are planning to wed in February at a Beverly Hills, CA estate, according to a report in Us Weekly’s October 29 issue……
KELLY CLARKSON: Five things you might not have known
Five things you might not have known about … Kelly Clarkson
1 It was a long, low-wage road to …American Idol: Clarkson was acknowledged for her singing talents at a young age, but growing up with a single mother left no money for voice training. Instead, Clarkson mowed lawns, took movie tickets and held down jobs at Subway, Starbucks and Papa John ‘ she later worked as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner saleswoman……….
Who Is OneRepublic? And Why Do They Have the #4 Song in the Country Before They’ve Released Their Debut Album?
….The five-member OneRepublic was formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2003. Tedder, who produced a couple of songs on the album, largely produced by Greg Wells (Deftones, Mika, Pink), boasts writing, producing and/or singing credits for Paul Oakenfold’s Grammy nominated A Lively Mind, Jennifer Lopez, Leona Lewis, Ashley Tisdale, Natasha Bedingfield, Baby Bash, 2Pac, Chris Cornell, Blake Lewis….
