September 2007 News Archive (Page 3)

Season two American Idol finalist Kimberley Locke hates to be bored.

"The busier I am, the better I am. I think and function better and get a lot more accomplished when I have a thousand things to do as opposed to two," the 29-year-old said in a phone interview with Michigan Live.

Locke, who finished third in 2003 behind runner-up Clay Aiken and winner Ruben Studdard, hasn't allowed the show to be her career's crowning jewel.

The contemporary pop/R&B singer-songwriter and aspiring actress has commanded success on the charts and diversified her projects.

"I think you move on from that because your career is so much bigger than American Idol at the end of the day. American Idol is huge, but you can't sit around and think about it all the time. Because really, I have no connection to (Idol). They didn't sign me," she said.

Locke said she's tried to take advantage of the "many opportunities" after the show, including becoming a plus-size model for fashion retailer Lane Bryant. She also opened her own restaurant - Croton Creek Steakhouse & Wine Bar, in Croton Falls, N.Y. - with friends in January.

Locke also spent time on TV this year as a participant on VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club 5." Her verbal wrangles with "Saved by the Bell" star and comedian Dustin Diamond caught the attention of many viewers.

"There was a lot of drama on the show ... but other than that, it was a very positive experience," she said. "I got a Jenny Craig endorsement deal ... from being a part of that show."

Locke's sophomore album, "Based on a True Story," which dropped May 1, is enjoying success. The first single "Change" is a top 10 Billboard AC hit. Her new single, a remake of Freda Payne's "Band of Gold," also is finding popularity.

Her music brings her and her band to Grand Rapids, MI tonight to perform before the fireworks at Celebration on the Grand. She will sign autographs and meet with fans after her performance.

According to an article in USA Today, at the halfway point of the 2007 American Idols Live tour, ticket turnstiles are, to an alarming extent, standing idle.

Reports of attendance and gross receipts for the first 30 of the 57 shows scheduled for the tour, as recorded by Billboard Boxscore, show this year's crop of 10 Idol finalists is falling short of last year's concert performance.

• No sellouts were reported for the first 30 shows, and only one topped the 93% of capacity mark. (That was the show in Glendale, Ariz., Idol winner Jordin Sparks' home turf.) Of the 2006 tour's first 30 shows, 17 were sellouts and another 10 exceeded 93% of capacity.

• Nearly half (14) of the shows were below 60% of capacity. (Lowest was 38.9% in Birmingham, Ala., hometown of 2006 winner Taylor Hicks and 2003 champ Ruben Studdard.) In 2006, the lowest-capacity figure in the first 30 shows was 89.3%.

• The 2006 tour was the most successful to date, but 2005's was a lot healthier than the current version. Of the first 29 dates of 2005, 11 were sellouts and four more topped 93%.

So why is interest declining? Representatives from tour promoter AEG Live declined to comment, but Gary Bongiovanni, editor of touring trade publication and website Pollstar, said:

"There are always intangibles that motivate people to see something live, and maybe there was something about last year's tour that people wanted to see vs. the acts this year."

That may be an understatement. According to former Variety music editor Don Waller, who served as a USA Today American Idol commentator over the past two seasons, this year's lineup is "not a compelling group of acts. There was no must-see live performer and not a lot of diversity."

He says last season's top four — Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry — were much more of an attraction than the leading finalists this year. He also believes there was less of a buzz this year.

"I don't think people were that enthused. It was, 'Oh, here's the Idol tour again.' It was bad casting."

Another possible culprit, cited by both Waller and Bongiovanni: rising ticket prices. Idol 2006 tour prices averaged $53.27; they rose 13% to an average of $60.45 for the current tour. In 2005, the average price was $44.47.

"Percentage-wise, that is a pretty healthy jump in the average ticket price," Bongiovanni says. "In the first six months of the year, the average price for the top 100 touring acts had only gone up 50 cents. Maybe the ticket price was creeping up a little too high for that audience."

Bucky Covington will co-headline the Raisin' the Bar tour with rising country act Jason Michael Carroll, along with support band Cole Deggs & The Lonesome.

The 19-date tour starts Oct. 25 in Corpus Christi, Texas, and ends December 8 in Baltimore.

The dates and locations are:

Oct. 25, Corpus Christi, Texas
Oct. 26, San Antonio
Oct. 27, Katy, Texas
Oct. 28, Tulsa, Okla.
Nov. 1, Minneapolis
Nov. 2, W. Des Moines, Iowa
Nov. 3, Menasha, Wisc.
Nov. 9, Milwaukee
Nov. 10, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Nov. 16, Raleigh, N.C.
Nov. 17, Nashville
Nov. 23, Charlotte
Nov. 24, Greenville, S.C.
Nov. 30, Kansas City, Mo.
Dec. 1, Fort Worth
Dec. 5, Clifton Park, N.Y.
Dec. 6, Burgettstown, Pa.
Dec. 7, Allentown, Pa.
Dec. 8, Baltimore

Carrie Underwood and her new single, So Small, enjoyed an impressive debut on the Soundscan singles chart in the U.S. this week, coming in at #6.

Here's a look at the top 20:

1. SOULJA BOY - CRANK THAT
2. KANYE WEST - STRONGER
3. NICKELBACK - ROCKSTAR
4. TIMBALAND - THE WAY I ARE
5. FERGIE - BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
6. CARRIE UNDERWOOD - SO SMALL
7. SEAN KINGSTON - BEAUTIFUL GIRLS
8. SEAN KINGSTON - ME LOVE
9. PLAIN WHITE T’S - HEY THERE DELILAH
10. JONAS BROTHERS - S.O.S.
11. RIHANNA - SHUT UP AND DRIVE
12. AKON - SORRY, BLAME IT ON ME
13. CHRIS HURRICANE - BAY BAY
14. T-PAIN - BARTENDER
15. 50 CENT - AYO TECHNOLOGY
16. RIHANNA - UMBRELLA
17. BOYS LIKE GIRLS - GREAT ESCAPE
18. COLBIE CAILLAT - BUBBLY
19. PINK - WHO KNEW
20. SHOP BOYZ - PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR

Last month, Chris Daughtry made his first concert stop in Canada. A newspaper up north caught up with this American Idol finalist for the following interview...

Q: Your album has been a phenomenal seller. Were you prepared for this?
Daughtry: No, not at all. We hoped it would do well considering the exposure I already had on TV. It's definitely far surpassed anything we hoped it would do.

Q: I understand it was the largest-selling rock debut CD in Soundscan history.
Daughtry: That's what they tell me.

Q: That's pretty impressive.
Daughtry: You can't really prepare for it. It's definitely not something that I ever thought was a possibility.

Q: Your song "Home" has kind of become an anthem. When you perform it, you must have people sing along.
Daughtry: It's crazy. When I wrote that song, I never thought it was anything special. It was one of the songs that came out really fast. I wrote it in like five or 10 minutes. A year and a half or two years later, it's one of the most over-played songs ... in a good way. When we played it live at first, the album was out but the song hadn't really broken big on radio. Now when we play that song, the place just lights up like a Christmas tree. It's amazing. Everybody's singing and you can hear them and it's a pretty good feeling.

Q: The world came to know you through a little show called American Idol. You're from Lasker, N.C., and I'm guessing it's a smaller type of town.
Daughtry: It's a population of like a 100 people.

Q: What was Lasker like while you were on the show?
Daughtry: Oh, my gosh! It's one of those towns where everybody knows everybody and we couldn't keep my grandmother off the radio. That's a big no-no when you're on the show and she kept going to the newspaper and going to the radio station and it was like, if I ever told them anything that was going on, it was in the public the next day. We got called out on that a few times from the show and I'd be like, "Look, if I tell you something, you can't go telling everybody because you're family." She got the whole town kind of in a frenzy.

When I got off the show, it was supposed to be a little private thing for family, and I was going to do a little private acoustic show. But my Grandma goes to the paper and it ends up being a five- state draw and we had to take it down the street at the private school football field and it was probably like three or four thousand people showed up. It was supposed to be about 50.

Q: Your time on American Idol came to a surprising end. Were you impressed and surprised by the outpouring of shock and support that you had at the time?
Daughtry: Oh yeah. Initially, I thought that my style wouldn't be accepted very well on the show. I thought it would at least get me some exposure and I could get some more gigs but it ended up taking a total different direction than I expected.

American Idol is more than just a little bit country.

Three past finalists were nominated for Country Music Awards last week, with Carrie Underwood leading the way.

The season four champion was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Before He Cheats." Moreover, "Before He Cheats" is up for Song of the Year.

This is the second year in a row Underwood has received multiple CMA nominations. Last year, "Jesus Take the Wheel" was nominated for Music Video of the Year and Single of the Year, but failed to win either award. This talent did take home Female Vocalist of the Year honors as well as the Horizon Award, given to up-and-coming country stars.

Kellie Pickler, meanwhile, will have a chance to be the second former Idol finalist in a row to win the Horizon Award, as the fifth-season fifth-place finisher was nominated for it this year.

Lastly, Kely Clarkson was also nominated for a 2007 CMA. Her duet of "Because of You" with friend Reba McIntyre was nominated for Musical Event of the Year.

Not even the forces of nature can stop an American Idol star; at least they couldn’t stop Bucky Covington and the Nashville Stars on Friday in South Carolina.

Thousands of fans came out, brushing off the rain and ignoring the distant rumble of thunder, to catch a glimpse of the former American Idol star and the Nashville Stars on stage at the William A. Floyd Amphitheater in Anderson.

Melissa Campbell of Anderson said she decided to brave the elements simply because of boredom.

“We really had nothing else to do tonight,” Mrs. Campbell said. “I’m just upset that they made us wait so long to finally get in.”

Elizabeth and Herb Elhers of Anderson said they also had the opportunity to see Covington on American Idol.

“I really thought Bucky was a pretty good singer,” Mrs. Ehlers said. “He got really far in the competition, but I thought he was good enough to make it to the final pair.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ehlers said before the concert Friday that they planned on braving the storm as long as the lightning remained at a distance.

“I really hope after this show Bucky moves on to something bigger and better,” Mrs. Ehlers said. “He deserves it.”