Finale Themes
Are you wondering what the musical themes will be for next week’s Top 2? Nigel Lythgoe took to Twitter to make the announcement. The first song will be chosen by the contestants themselves as a reprise of their favorite tune they’ve already performed on the show. Another will be chosen by Simon Fuller, the creator of American Idol. And the final song will be their individual winner’s single. Speaking of the finale, last year’s winner Scotty McCreery will stop by to perform (most likely to sing the season 11 exit song).
Season 12 Audition Stops
Last night, Ryan Seacrest announced three of the audition stops for next season. Auditions will be held in Los Angeles, CA, on June 7, Newark, NJ, on June 23 and Chicago, IL, on July 12. Additional cities will be announced next week. Anybody planning on giving it a shot this year?
First Listen: Kris Allen’s Thank You Camellia
Season 8 is coming back to the forefront as both the winner and runner-up have albums out this month, Adam Lambert’s having been released just this past week. And now Kris Allen’s sophomore album, Thank You Camellia, drops next week on May 22. Ahead of the release, his label is allowing us to stream the entire album (standard version) for free on his website.
A Deluxe Edition and Fan Edition will be available as well, featuring two additional songs, a remix of “The Vision of Love” and a second disc full of five acoustic numbers. Speaking of acoustic, take a listen to this new rendition of his song “Better With You.”
Haley Reinhart, Crystal Bowersox, Danny Gokey, Megan Joy
Last year’s third place finisher, Haley Reinhart, was the dark horse pretty much the entire way through. And now us Haley fans are gearing up for the release of her debut album, Listen Up!, in stores and online May 22. But iTunes has released 90 second previews of each song, including her single, “Free.”
Outside of the two major label releases above, three former finalists are set to release independent albums and EPs. Crystal Bowersox’s EP, Once Upon a Time, will be out on May 29, consisting of five songs that she wrote before she appeared on American Idol: “Mama,” “Get Me Out,” “Slut,” “Outta My Mind” and “Baby.” You can listen to 30 second previews of each song on Amazon.
Danny Gokey’s sticking with the country genre that he started on his debut with this new EP called Love Again, which includes six songs and a remix, available to buy on CD Baby, where you can also listen to 30 second previews of each of these songs.
And finally, Megan Joy’s debut album is truly an independent release: She spent the past several months raising money to be able to produce this self-titled album. And before buying it for yourself, you can listen to listen to all nine tracks, courtesy of Bandcamp:
<a href=”https://meganjoy.bandcamp.com/album/megan-joy”>Megan Joy by Megan Joy</a>
The Top Idol Music Downloads
Not only did Carrie Underwood‘s new album, Blown Away, debut at #1 this week, but many of her new (and old) songs (individually) are selling like crazy as well. Here are the latest sales numbers for individual tracks, from USA Today, which includes Carrie, Kelly Clarkson and David Cook selling the most within the Idol circle:
Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” — 68,000 downloads (Total Downloads: 3.114 million)
Carrie Underwood‘s “Good Girl” — 50,000 downloads (Total: 825,000)
Carrie Underwood‘s “Blown Away” — 41,000 downloads (Total: 107,000)
David Cook’s “The Last Song I’ll Write for You” — 15,000 downloads (debut)
Kelly Clarkson’s “Mr. Know It All” — 9,000 downloads (Total: 1.474 million)
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
