As 2007 comes to an end, Chris Daughtry can look back and be confident in his clout as a successful artist. Daughtry finished a paltry fourth place in American Idol’s fifth season but has gone on to be one of the most successful Idol contestants alongside Carrie Underwood. Daughtry’s 2007 self-titled album spent 14 weeks in the #1 position on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart. With 2007 sales ending up at 2.287 million copies, Daughtry has been declared the top selling artist of 2007. This American Idol flunky sure has come a long ways. 2008 will likely see similar success as Daughtry and his band hit the road with legend Bon Jovi. Tour dates are listed, and tickets can be purchased, from Ticketmaster.
Season four winner Carrie Underwood has also had a great year. Her sophomore release, Carnival Ride, has reached over 2 million copies sold making it double platinum in less than two months. Underwood’s debut release, Some Hearts, has certified sales of over six million copies. Underwood’s success has not gone unnoticed; she’s been tapped to perform at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve 2008 on ABC. Underwood also has a tour planned for 2008; touring alongside Keith Urban the tour will kick off on January 31 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Tour information can be found on The Official Carrie Underwood Site.
Chris Sligh was a guest on the Fox News live desk this morning and sounded off on Sanjaya Malakaramong other things. He was first asked about his performance last week and he said “sometimes the judges have their opinion….sometimes I wonder if they were listening to the same thing that I was listening to” then he went on to explain how several professional drummers called him and told him that he was completely on beat contrary to watch the judges, and everyone else in America, heard. I feel like he’s still trying to defend his getting voted off instead of accepting it and moving on.
He was also asked what he thought about Sanjaya and the fact that Simon Cowell said he would quit if Sanjaya wins. The ever-cordial Chris said “I think that obviously Sanjaya is one step closer, I honestly think that of the nine people left honestly any one of them could win…I think that Sanjaya absolutely could win it.” What a frightening thought.
You can watch the entire Chris Sligh interview yourself over on the Fox News website.
I’ll be darned if the news surrounding Sanjaya Malakar doesn’t just get weirder and weirder. The latest to jump on the Malakar bandwagon isn’t some tweenager from Middle America, oh no that would be predictable. In a most unpredictable fashion, the newest Malakar fan is none other than KFC. Yes, the KFC that was once Kentucky Fried Chicken until they had to remove the word “Kentucky” from their name because it was trademarked by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. So what is KFC’s interest in Malakar, well its specific to his hair. KFC has offered Malakar a lifetime supply of their KFC Famous Bowls if he cuts his hair in the rather outdated bowl cut style.
Here is the letter that KFC published to Malakar:
“Congratulations on catching America’s ears…and eyes. Over the past month, you’ve wowed the world with your original performances. And, your ever-changing hairdos have made you almost as famous as KFC® Original Recipe® Chicken and Colonel Sanders himself.
On behalf of Kentucky Fried Chicken®, I want to serve up to you a tasty offer. If you don a bowl hairdo during one of your next nationally televised performances, KFC will grant you a free lifetime supply of KFC Famous Bowls®. We’re sure America will be as ‘bowled-over’ by your take on this classic look as they are by our KFC Famous Bowls.
From wavy to Mohawk to now the classic bowl – who knows, your bowl cut could start a trend as big as KFC Famous Bowls, which consumers ranked as THE most memorable new product of 2006.
In addition to free KFC Famous Bowls for life – if you sport a bowl cut, KFC will cut a check in your name to Colonel’s Scholars, a charity providing young people with much needed college scholarships. We’re confident that helping students afford college is something that even the toughest of judges would stand and applaud.” - Your Fan, Gregg Dedrick, President of KFC.
For once I’m nearly speechless; I don’t really know what else to say.
Ousted American Idol contestant, and part-time nude model, Alaina Alexander has signed with the public relations agency of M. Loring Communications, LLC. Mona Loring of M. Loring Communications says about Alexander ““I don’t think Alaina got a fair chance on American Idol. I think it is very possible that she lost votes because of her Dixie Chicks song choice—it was too controversial for the masses. Regardless, I know for a fact that the future holds some great opportunities for her. She is working on a new album and going out on auditions for TV and film.”
Alexander has her head screwed on right and seems to have a bit of business sense. Once she was voted off of the show she kind of slid off into oblivion until she posted some sexy photographs on her MySpace page. TMZ.com published the link and her site received hundreds of thousands of views in just one day. Her name was instantly back out there. Now she’s hired a public relations firm and has an *agent* we should definitely expect to see more from Ms. Alexander. If you’re interested in contacting her agent, she can be reached at (805) 231-3182 or contact@monaloring.com.
Ousted American Idol contestant Alaina Alexander saw what Antonella Barba’s sexy pictures did for her popularity and has decided to put up some revealing pictures of her own. Now these are not in the typical Barba fashion of prancing around in a national monument showing us her best wet t-shirt moves but these were done in much better taste. In my opinion the pictures are fantastic! Alexander is a beautiful, and smart, girl. The pictures are all posted up on Alaina Alexander’s MySpace Page.
So I wonder if the question is now whether Alexander will be getting offers from pornographic video producers to host their videos like Barba did. What about Playboy Magazine? Will Hugh Hefner find talent in Alexander where America didn’t? I’m not sure why these pictures were put up but I’ll tell you what, she’s one smart girl. Her name has faded from the spotlight since her dismissal from the show and guess what – she’s one of the hottest blogged American Idol topics today. I couldn’t read all the stories and pass on it myself. So what do you think – will this get Alaina Alexander the extra oomph she needs to get noticed in the entertainment industry? I think time will be the judge of that.
American Idol fans have undoubtedly heard of it – Vote For The Worst. This site was started in 2004 to support voting for the candidates who are more entertaining, regardless of their talent level. The reason for this is “During the initial auditions, the producers of Idol only let certain people through. Many good people are turned away and many bad singers are kept around to see Simon, Paula, and Randy so that America will be entertained.” Well, entertained we are. It’s no surprise that there is a preliminary round of judging and some of the most horrible talent we’ve seen is told that they’re talented so they’re absolutely surprised to hear the negative feedback from the judges. VFTW just wants to “give back” to the American Idol producers.
This year VFTW’s poster child is none other than Sanjaya Malakar. VFTW celebrated Malakar making the top 10 because that means he’s going to be on the American Idol tour. VFTW has a pretty large following and while they haven’t assured Malakar a win this season they have certainly pushed him farther in the competition than he’d have gone without them. Check out some of the hate mail VFTW is getting; some people take their American Idol very serious and VFTW is quite upsetting to them. What do you think of VFTW?
Paula Abdul sat down with TV Guide magazine for an interview and of course her relationship with Simon Cowell came up. On air the two seem to bicker and often take pot shots at each other. It’s hard to tell if this is just playful banter or if they are seriously jabbing at each other. This past week Abdul set the record straight saying “Simon and I actually get along great. We have cultivated a fun relationship. He’s actually become a really good friend.” Well that’s good to know; she likened their relationship to a brother-sister type relationship as Cowell jabs at her while she’s trying to formulate her critiques.
In the interview she was also asked how she rates her performance as a judge this season and she feels “like this is my best so far.” Wow, that’s a far cry from what the fan base has said this year. She received more critique for her off-the-wall behavior this season than any seasons past. I know next year will trump this year. Aside from the odd behavior she basically says the same things – she’s the bubblegum judge as I call her. She won’t tell it like it is. I know Cowell is there for that but if I have to hear Abdul say “how lovely” someone looks one more time I will pull my hair out.
Tomorrow night the top eleven perform. Rumor has it that this week is “British Invasion” week – this should be interesting indeed.
Hello American Idol fans. Just a quick note to let you know that I am on a Spring Break vacation and will be back to my regularly scheduled blogging on Sunday! Sad to see Brandon Rogers go but for once I was right. 
Simon Cowell has threatened to quit American Idol if Sanjaya Malakar is the ultimate winner in season six. Never one for mincing words he simply said “He’s not going to win. I won’t be back if he does!” Now I know Cowell is harsh but wow that was really harsh. Sure Malakar isn’t the best voice in the competition but he’s a nice kid and deserves a little respect in my opinion. That was downright rude and disrespectful; I don’t know why I’d expect anything less from Cowell.
In other American Idol top twelve news, MTV News is reporting that Cowell is hoping for a “battle of the divas” with the top three being Melinda Doolittle, Lakisha Jones, and Stephanie Edwards. Who does he pick of those three to win? It’s not surprising that he’s chosen Melinda Doolittle to edge out the other two. I don’t think the final three will be women, the teenage girls of America will get sores on their text messaging fingers ensuring that at least one of the boys make it in. I do think the final two will be female though. I guess I’ll just have to check back in a bit and see if I was right with this guess. Hey, I’ve been known to be wrong before.
After Thursday night’s performance on American Idol the ‘net is abuzz with questions regarding Carrie Underwood’s weight. She has definitely lost weight but is it too much? If the TV “adds ten pounds” like the old adage goes then she’s absolutely underweight. Her arms were like sticks with skin on them, absolutely no fat. Now I’m no doctor but she just didn’t look healthy and the majority of sites out there reporting on the topic agree. You can compare the photos for yourself, big difference there!
In other Idol news people across the United States are now trying to guess who the “cocky SOB” is in the male camp. The most commonly mentioned names are Chris Sligh, Chris Richardson, and Blake Lewis. You already know that my guess is Chris Richardson but I could see why Chris Sligh or Blake Lewis would think so as well. Blake Lewis is getting the best overall review from the judges, has a unique look, and is multi-talented on the microphone. If I found out he’s the “cocky” one I’m going to be disappointed as he seems like he’s relatively laid back. Chris Sligh; yeah I could see him being cocky. Hopefully someone spills the beans!!