June 2007 News Archive (Page 3)

Ruben Studdard isn't the only one getting ready for a new album.

Constantine Maroulis, the sixth place finisher on the fourth season of American Idol, has been biding his time. The typical route for Idol finalists is to record and release an album as soon after the show as humanly possible, allowing them to ride the wave of fame that the show bestowed unto them.

But this often leads to a rushed and mediocre release; Constantine had other ideas. Instead, the Brooklyn-born rocker of Greek descent has taken a couple of years to find his voice and craft an album of which he can truly be proud.

The album entitled “Constantine” will hit stores on August 7. The first single from the album, "Everybody Loves" is currently available for download on iTunes.

After finishing in sixth place on American Idol in 2005, Maroulis, known for his rocker sensibilities and brooding style, took some time to do side projects before recording his debut album.

In the summer of 2006, he joined the cast of the Broadway musical version of “The Wedding Singer,” playing the role of Sammy. Earlier this year, Constantine joined the cast of the off-Broadway musical “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” for an exclusive six-week run.

On May 15, Constantine began his day time acting career when he signed a thirteen week contract to appear on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, on which he plays Constantine Perros, a singer/rock star and record producer.

Ruben Studdard sang in gospel choirs as a child. He also graduated from Alabama A&M University with a voice studies degree in 2000.

But the 28-year-old couldn't break into the music industry until he auditioned for a certain reality competition series in 2002.

"I tell you what - the one thing I can say is that I tried my whole life to be a professional singer and nothing ever worked until American Idol came around," Ruden told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "I'm appreciative of everything they've ever done for me, and I will always sing their praises."

While American Idol may have launched Studdard's career into pop stardom he proved that he could also remain faithful to his roots, as his 2004 gospel album "I Need an Angel" was certified gold after selling more than 500,000 copies since its release.

"The gospel album started off being a Christmas album and [RCA chairman and producer Clive Davis] said, 'You grew up in the church and gospel is something you really love,'" Studdard said. "Plus, Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway, my favorite singers, have all done gospel albums. I got a chance to pay tribute to some singers that I grew up listening to, and because of it, everyone thought I turned into a gospel artist."

Studdard characterized those thoughts as a "misconception" and backed that up with 2006's "The Return," an R&B album that may have only sold 226,000 copies since its October release, but definitely has a more soulful sound than Idol fans are used to hearing from him.

"[With 'The Return'] I knew I wanted to come out with something everyone would love," Studdard said. "The album took so many directions. I worked on it for two years, so you can imagine how many directions you could go. But it turned out exactly the way I wanted."

Studdard said he plans on starting to work on his fourth album in July and his sights set on recording a duet with a fellow Idol winner.

"I really want to do a duet with [Idol 3 champ Fantasia Barrino] on this next album," Studdard said. "We met while she was on [Idol] and have been friends ever since. I'm hoping this next album will be more soulful than all the ones I've ever done."

This is far from a good sign for Kelly Clarkson and her fans: her summer tour has been re-scheduled.

"Plans for Kelly Clarkson's summer tour have been shelved for now as the singer and her team re-evaluate her show's size and scope – a decision made even more difficult by the impending release of her album, My December," Paul Freundlich said in a statement.

Similarly, LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino admitted: "[T]icket sales have not been what we anticipated and we came to the realization that we had bit off more than we could chew."

Fortunately, ticket holders can get refunds at the point of purchase and will be notified of future concert dates once they are scheduled. But this isn't what Clarkson and her followers wish to hear. She can't sell out a stadium?!?

The new dates may well take place at smaller venues than originally planned.

Gregg Perloff, CEO of Another Planet Entertainment, said: "The day when [Kelly] will play in sold-out arenas is, no doubt, coming, but for now her fans should look forward to seeing her in a more intimate concert environment."

This has been a tumultuous week for the 2002 American Idol winner, who on Tuesday parted with her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of the Los Angeles-based company The Firm.

My December – the first album she co-produced and wrote entirely – is set for release June 25, but it has already made headlines, thanks to a well-publicized clash between Clarkson and her label chief, Clive Davis.

Among other things, Clarkson complained that label execs asked her to cover a Lindsay Lohan song.

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for this review of the first single released by Mandisa...

Mandisa still had enough fans left to propel "Only the World" straight to the top of Billboard's singles sales chart this week. (Though not nearly enough to get her comparable spots on the more important Hot 100 and Hot 100 Airplay charts.)

We're not sure, however, why anyone other than a diehard Fandisa would give this more than a couple spins. It's got a sweet, sunny melody, and Mandisa's voice rings out clear and on-key throughout. But those motivational lyrics ("It's only the world I'm living in/It's only today I've been given/There ain't no way I'm giving in") sound like they come from a rejected Hallmark card, and the half-hearted rhythm guitar licks and bobbing bassline provide approximately 95 percent less funk than, say, Maroon 5's last single.

As Mandisa herself puts it in the first verse, "nothin' new here's/What I do here."

American Idols past and present make up 7% (or 14) of the top 200 digital songs. Thanks to USA Today for this report of last week's ranking versus this week's:

• 12-7 last week Kelly Clarkson/Never Again (58,000; 512,000 total): This underperforming single has probably done best in the download realm; half a million is a solid total. Radio has not been so fond of it, and it's been on the decline for a few weeks now, even before the album emerges.

• 15-8  Daughtry/Home (49,000; 718,000 total): Drops 24% and out of the top 10.

• 18-17  Carrie Underwood/Before He Cheats (45,000; 1.43 million total): The Carrie song that even people who hate country like; also, the Carrie song that even people who don't know American Idol like. There's something about bashing a car with a baseball bat that must appeal to all Americans.

• 29-25  Elliott Yamin/Wait for You (32,000; 213,000 total): Elliott sells 2% more downloads than the previous week, but takes an unlucky downward chart bounce.

• 39-9  Blake Lewis/You Give Love a Bad Name (25,000; 156,000 total): In the last three chart weeks, Jordin's This Is My Now won the first showdown with Blake, 74,000 to 70,000 and No. 9 to No. 11. Blake flipped the switch last week, winning the sales battle 60,000 to 54,000 and the chart war 9 to 14. This week they both nosedive, though Blake is still outselling Jordin.

• 49-14  Jordin Sparks/This Is My Now (20,000; 148,000 total): Drops 63% from last week (Blake dropped 58%, by the way). We wonder when (or if) they'll release it as a single in traditional trophy song fashion. It would certainly be able to outsell Mandisa.

• 112-124  Bucky Covington/Different World (8,600; 74,000 total): Finally, an upward-moving Idol track.

• 123-138  Fantasia Barrino/When I See U (8,100; 65,000 total): Fairly modest sales considering its radio success. But it's still trending upward.

• 143-102  Katharine McPhee/Over It (7,200; 441,000 total): Severe (30%) drop in downloads, but the song is still well ahead of the album.

• 151-166  Kellie Pickler/I Wonder (6,900; 81,000 total): Slight (2%) gain in sales

Kellie Pickler and Canadian hockey player Jordin Tootoo have a lot in common. Most importantly?

"We're each other's biggest fans," the former American Idol singer says.

Pickler the Nashville Predators right wing met after they bought condos in the same Nashville complex, where Tootoo spotted Pickler and asked for her phone number.

Pickler tells People magazine they were friends at first, but the relationship had turned romantic by spring.

"We're from real different places, but they're both small towns so we're a lot alike too," she says (she's from Albemarle, N.C.; he grew up in Rankin Inlet, a small town in Nunavut in Canada's Northwest Territories).

Now, she says, "We let each other shine in our moments and are so proud of each other. I go to games and I'm the fan in the Predators jersey, screaming my head off. He comes to my concert with a Pickler t-shirt and he does the same."

Awwww. It's like another athlete/Idol couple, we assume: Tony Romo and Carrie Underwood.

Fittingly, Kellie and Jordin's first date was to a hockey game, a sport about as foreign to Pickler as Tootoo's native tongue, Inuktikut. (The first player of Inuit descent to play in the NHL, Tootoo is also fluent in English.)

"We had a little communication problem at first," Pickler says with a laugh. "And I had never been to a hockey game – we didn't have hockey in Albemarle. I had no idea what was going on, but I loved it anyway. It's so fast and exciting!"

On Thursday, Pickler will take a break from Brad Paisley's "Bonfires and Amplifiers" tour and travel way north of the border to spend a week with Tootoo and his family.

"I'm just so excited about seeing where he is from," she tells People. "It will be a totally different culture and I'm fascinated by other cultures. I have no idea what to expect. I know they do a lot of hunting and fishing and they eat what they kill. It's not like there's a Subway down the street. It's also been snowing up there, so I'm going to learn to drive a snowmobile. If it's anything like 4-wheelin', I'm set!"

Kelly Clarkson has parted ways with her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of the Los Angeles-based company The Firm, People magazine reports.

A spokesperson for The Firm says, "Kelly Clarkson is an enormously talented artist. We are pleased to have served as her managers during her well-deserved rise to stardom and are proud of the role we played in backing her creative choices.

"We believed in Kelly from the day we met her and believe in her now. We have only the best wishes and hopes for her in the future."

The news of changes in Clarkson's team comes as she prepares for the June 26 release of her new album, My December – the first album she co-produced and wrote entirely.

Meanwhile, the industry has been buzzing about turmoil between the singer and RCA chief Clive Davis, who reportedly voiced concerns that My December didn't have a guaranteed radio hit.

Kwantinetz recently defended Clarkson, telling Entertainment Weekly: "In a time when record labels are under increased economic pressures, they get nervous when a big-selling artist like Kelly wants to take risks and evolve. The pressure they put on this young woman to compromise herself and do another version of the same record, I've never witnessed in my career.''

Even Simon Cowell weighed in, defending Clarkson for her artistic integrity and noting of My December: "It's not as commercial as her last record, but any Kelly Clarkson record at the moment is a pretty good record compared to the competition because she's an incredible artist."

Clarkson's first single from My December, "Never Again," peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard charts, a disappointment after Clarkson's No. 1 smash, 2004's "Since U Been Gone."

Sources at RCA say that, despite reports, the label plans to support Clarkson's album release and nationwide summer tour, which begins July 11. "I'm really proud of this album," Clarkson tells People. "My previous albums are great albums. But this one is very intimate."

Jordin Sparks sports a platinum band on her wedding finger - but don't expect to see the American Idol sixth-season champ walking down the aisle anytime soon.

"This isn't a wedding ring, and there's no boy anywhere," Sparks told Us in the magazine's June 18 issue.

Instead, the 17-year-old Glendale, AZ-native said she's worn the "purity ring" with the inscription "True Love Waits" since she was 13.

Sparks is the youngest American Idol winner; and while other champs and finalists are reportedly smitten by everyone from professional athletes to television news anchors, Sparks says she isn't in any rush to get involved in a romantic relationship.

"I haven't been in love yet," she said. "I am saving myself for marriage."

Due to her Christian upbringing, virginity is just one of the values that Sparks says she believes in.

"I think that [abortion] is wrong," Sparks told Us. "I'm not going to try to debate people on it; that's just my opinion... I believe what I believe."

American Idol finalist Phil Stacey says life has been non-stop since making the top ten Cleveland's hometown favorite has came back to resume his career in the navy and talked about how helpful that unit has been.

"They encouraged me to do my audition, they supported me through the whole thing, they're sending me on the tour. My first priority was to get back, and resume my post as a United States sailor," Stacey said.

Of course, Stacey's Idol days aren't over yet. The singer is about to embark on a five-month American Idol tour.

And he hopes to fulfill his dream to record an own album this year.

"I think, I write and sign honest music, music that I feel in my heart, and, I think, if you pick a Phil Stacey CD up, it'll probably be in the country music section," he noted.

Phil is grateful for all the support he's received from his many fans in the Tennessee area, especially at Lee University, where he graduated just a few years ago.

"Everywhere we go now, people want to stop us, they want to talk to us, and it just means the world, it means there was a connection made between that person and ourselves. It's just been really cool, because, we feel like we have just a huge amount of new friends."

There's a civil war among the Claymates in Claynation.

The rabid fans of Clay Aiken - who call themselves "Claymates" and say they live in "Claynation" - are at odds with each other over their former Idol. An insider told The New York Post:

"The war is between the batty members that are still clinging to their heterosexual fantasies of him and others that don't harbor such illusions."

Aiken's sexuality has been a subject of speculation ever since several men came out publicly and said they'd met him in gay chat rooms and had relations with him. Aiken has always refused to discuss his inclinations.

The Claymates' clash got so bad that the Official Fan Club at clayonline.com completely suspended its message board and noted:"Due to reports of extensive unrest and disrespect amongst members that has been carrying on for several weeks, the Official Fan Club Message Board will be shut down until further notice. Please note that should tensions continue on other areas of the fan club, severe consequences may occur."

Wow. What do you guys think? Please keep all responses clean.