Idol Chit-Chat
This is your place to discuss all things "American Idol." The performances, the judges, the past contestants — it’s all right here.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year's Eve Viewing Reminders

Just a reminder that Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta will be performing on “Billboard New Year’s Eve Live” tonight…

The special will air tonight (New Year’s Eve) beginning at 11 p.m. on FOX…

And of course you can catch Ryan Seacrest on “Dick Clarks’s New Year’s Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010” beginning at 11:30 p.m. on ABC. Ryan will also be part of the primetime special at 10 p.m…

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Wrapping up the Year on the Charts...

The Billboard year-end charts are usually covered with Idols, but the pickings are a little slim this year…

On the Hot 100 Artists chart, it’s Kelly Clarkson who ranks as the top Idol at #14. Carrie Underwood comes in next at #50, followed by Daughtry at #56, Jordin Sparks at #57, David Cook at #66 and Kellie Pickler at #96.

So which Idol had the highest ranking on the year-end Billboard 200 album chart? Kelly right? Wrong. It’s David Cook who comes in at #13 with “David Cook” (Yeah I was surprised too.). Kelly is next with “All I Ever Wanted” at #33. Daughtry’s “Leave This Town” comes in at #37. Archie’s “David Archuleta” is at #59. Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” is at #60 and her “Play On” is at #73 (“Play On” should rank much higher on the 2010 chart.).

The top Idol song of the year (from the Hot 100 chart) is—no surprise—Kelly’s “My Life Would Suck Without U” at #23. Jordin’s “Battlefield” is at #57, followed by Daughtry’s “No Surprise” at #63, Kelly’s “I Do Not Hook Up” at #91, and Kelly’s “Already Gone” at #95.

Photo Credit: Mike Ruiz/RCA

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Is Simon Leaving "Idol" After All?

The rumors of Simon Cowell leaving “Idol” after this season are getting louder as we head into what could be the wildest season of “Idol” yet…

It all started with a story in a London newspaper last week that Simon was meeting with FOX officials to talk about bringing “The X Factor,” his successful British show, to the US. Now Simon’s own brother is joining the fray with a report on his podcast that Simon will in fact leave “Idol” after this season to work on “Factor” (You can read about that here.).

You will recall that earlier this year, all signs pointed at Simon signing a huge new contract to return to the show…

Last week the “New York Post” declared this season to be the show’s last since it could not possibly carry on without Simon. And it even went so far as to say that Ryan Seacrest would probably consider moving to “Factor” with Simon.

If these reports are true after Simon’s new contract seemed like a done deal, I have to believe there’s a Paula factor here. Maybe Simon decided he couldn’t do three more years of the show without her…

Or maybe it’s her replacements he can’t do the show with…

What do you guys think? Do you think it’s a risk for Simon to leave a hit to do a new show? And could “Idol” live on without him?

Monday, December 21, 2009

Carrie Will Be "Home for the Holidays"

Carrie Underwood will join several other artists in spotlighting adoption on the “11th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill.”

The annual Christmas special combines touching stories about foster care adoption with musical performances.

Along with Carrie and Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Michael Franti and Reba McEntire will perform…

“11th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill” airs Wednesday, December 23rd at 8 p.m. on CBS…

Photo Credit: Gene McCandless/CBS

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Carrie Returning to Charleston

Carrie Underwood is set to “Play On” in Charleston this Spring…

Carrie will bring her newest tour to the Charleston Civic Center April 28, 2010. She will also hit Cincinnati, Columbus and Pikeville, KY.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 18th at 10 a.m.

Carrie’s special guests will be Craig Morgan, and no big surprise, Sons of Sylvia…

Photo Credit: Matthew Rolston/Arista Nashville

Monday, December 7, 2009

Breaking News: Adam Lambert to Hit the "Dance" Stage

This just in from FOX…

Adam Lambert will perform on the “So You Think You Can Dance” season finale Wednesday, December 16th. Adam will be performing his new single, “Whataya Want From Me.”

I’m so glad that RCA/19 has ditched the racy “For Your Entertainment” to go with the much more radio-friendly “Me.” I’d like to think they took my advice on that one…

And all the controversy really gives that chorus an extra bite...

The “Dance” finale will air for two hours beginning at 8 p.m. on December 16th…

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Carrie Promises Fun for her "Holiday Special"

Tomorrow night, FOX gives its best shot at reviving the holiday variety show with “Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special.”

Carrie will sing her hits and holiday tunes and participate in skits with David Cook, Brad Paisley, Kristin Chenoweth, Christina Applegate, Dolly Parton and more.

A few weeks ago, Carrie participated in a conference call with the media to talk about the show, although she was pretty quiet about specific details. The thing that struck me most about hearing Carrie talk is how young she sounds. You would never expect that big singing voice to come from the same person. And Carrie comes off just as down to Earth on the phone as she does on TV.

Here’s a taste of what she had to say…

On variety shows: “I just missed the variety stuff era…It’s great family programming. It was fun to tape.”

On Brad Paisley: “Brad and I have a lot of history together. He’s just a great guy. We have a lot of fun. We do a song together and he does one of his own.” Carrie explained that Brad was unable to be in LA for the taping so they do something “kind of cool” to bring two locations together.

On doing a Christmas album: “I would love to…I love classic Christmas songs. I like doing things very traditional. There are so many things that are just perfect as they are.” However, Carrie admitted she would have to add some of herself to the songs because “if we sing songs the same way nobody would want to hear it.”

On Dolly Parton: “I get to sing with Dolly. I had never met her before this. It felt like such a special moment for me. A dream come true. When Dolly’s there, you just step back and let her have the spotlight.” Again, Carrie wouldn’t give up titles, but she said she and Dolly sing one of Dolly’s classics. “I thought we sounded really good together.”

On her favorite Christmas songs: Carrie said her favorites were “O Holy Night” (which the promos show her singing) and “Little Drummer Boy.”

On the best Christmas present she ever got. When she was seven, Carrie wanted a TV, but on Christmas morning there wasn’t a box under the tree big enough. Her mother had wrapped the remote. “It was really awesome for a 7-year-old girl.”

On what she’ll be doing for Christmas this year: “I’ll be with my family. We are together and that’s the most important thing. We’ll eat ourselves silly and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus…I’m not a picky eater. I just love food.”

On Kristin Chenoweth and Christina Applegate: “They were great. It’s easier to do it when you have people who know what they’re doing…We’re three blondes. We had fun together.” Carrie said they do a medley of songs with a 50s/60s vibe.

On David Cook: “I love him to death. We kind of rocked out for a minute. It’s one of my favorite moments from the show.” Carrie would not share what song the duo sings, but Internet reports say it’s Van Halen’s “Why Can’t This Be Love.” Carrie said when the duo sang together at the opening of the Idol Experience at Disney World, she thought, “Hey this is really good” so she wanted the opportunity to sing with him again.

On whether she still watches “Idol”: “Yes of course. I will always have the biggest love for ‘American Idol’ as a participant and a fan. I vote too.”

On her advice for “Idol” contestants post-“Idol”: “I feel like any contestant has to stay true to what people voted for. It’s really strange when they try to do something else. [The “Idol” voters] are telling us we love this person as is…You cross your fingers and say a little prayer.”

On her favorites from last season: “I really like Kris Allen. He’s from my neck of the woods. I loved Danny Gokey. I got to know him a little bit. He’s really sweet. He’s hanging out in Nashville. Hopefully he’ll be done with his stuff soon and be on his way.”

On what’s on her iPod: A lot of other Idols, The Rolling Stones, Credence Clearwater Revival, Ne-Yo. “It’s a big mess. You never know what you’re going to get when you put it on shuffle.”

Finally, Carrie was able to address the slight controversy that popped up on the Internet after the CMAs. Some people said that Carrie dissed Taylor Swift when she appeared to interrupt Brad Paisley talking about what a special night it was for Swift to compliment the job they did hosting….

“It was really hurtful. My brain would never operate that way at all. I have so much respect for the people in that room. It was such a great moment turned into trash. Stuff like that takes away everybody’s moment. It’s sad that someone turns a great moment into a tabloid headline.”

“Carrie Underwood’s An All-Star Holiday Special” airs Monday, December 7th from 8-10 p.m. on FOX…

Photos Credit: Michael Becker/FOX

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

How Did Adam Do?

As I predicted last week, it would take a lot for Adam Lambert to top Susan Boyle in the record sales department and he did not.

But he did do pretty well…

Adam sold 198,000 copies of “For Your Entertainment” to debut at #3 on the Billboard 200 behind Boyle who sold a whopping 701,000 copies and Andrea Bocelli’s Christmas CD which sold 218,000.

Considering the state of album sales these days, Adam’s total is nothing to sneeze at…

I guess the whole racy performance thing worked after all…

Photo Credit: RCA/19

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Fantasia Gets "Real"

VH1 announced today that its reality show starring Fantasia will premiere this January…

“Fantasia For Real” will follow Fantasia as she struggles to balance her career and family while recording her third album.

The 30-minute show will premiere January 11, 2010 at 10 p.m.

And if you’re thinking it’s not a coincidence the show is premiering the night before “Idol”
premieres, I’m right there with you…

I’ll have more on this as we get closer to the premiere…

Adam Spurs a Change at ABC

Adam Lambert is discovering that in the post-Janet Jackson Super Bowl age, broadcast networks take no chances…

Reuters is reporting that ABC will now have artists sign contracts that their live performances on ABC shows will resemble their rehearsal. You may remember that Adam admitted his more suggestive moves during his American Music Awards performance were “impromptu.”

Disney/ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney defended the decision to cancel Adam’s “Good Morning America” performance to Reuters, saying, “We really had to take the decision very seriously and found that his performance was very unpredictable at night and (we) didn't know what to expect in the morning.”

Adam’s AMA performance was edited for the west coast broadcast.

Though I still think it was a ratings mistake for ABC to cancel the “GMA” appearance. I can honestly see where they were coming from. I think they felt like Adam betrayed them a little…

And with the FCC looking for another network to string from a tree, ABC really had no choice…

By the way, Dick Clark Productions has done an excellent job of pulling most of the videos from YouTube and assorted sites. But if you still haven’t seen any of the performance, there are some good still shots on Billboard.com


Photo Credit: Craig Sjodin/ABC