December 2007 News Archive

As we get set to start the path toward a new American Idol in two weeks, let's look back at last year's two finalists.

How have Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis fared on the charts?

Jordin Sparks
Album sales: Her eponymous debut disc has sold 283,000 copies since Nov. 20, after starting with the lowest sales by far for an Idol winner.
Track downloads: 1 million (567,000 for the single Tattoo).
Radio airplay: Tattoo is No. 14 on the national all-format airplay chart, No. 8 in the top 40 format.
Creative control: Jordan co-wrote one song on her album, par for the course for Idols, whose strong point is usually singing, not writing or producing.
Promotional activities: Set to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.

Blake Lewis
Album sales: Audio Day Dream has sold 156,000 copies since Dec. 4, a middling pace for an Idol runner-up.
Track downloads: 505,000 (34,000 for single Break Anotha).
Radio airplay: Break Anotha hasn't hit the national chart but is close to entering the top 40 format chart.
Creative control: Blake co-wrote all but one of the songs on his album, an unprecedented degree of involvement for an American Idol.

Former American Idol finalist and UNICEF ambassador Clay Aiken spent Christmas with his mother and brother visiting flood victims in southeast Mexico.

UNICEF said Aiken participated in a gift exchange and sing-along with more than 300 children and their families at a camp erected for flood victims in the city of Ostuacan Tuesday. This comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with Aiken's work and attitude.

Aiken, his mother and brother (a Marine on leave from Iraq) will also be part of a UNICEF delegation scheduled to visit the state of Tabasco this week.

"The situation in Chiapas and Tabasco has really become a forgotten emergency," Aiken said in a statement. "Telling the story of these brave people, especially the children, to a U.S. audience is the reason that I am here. Sharing this experience with my family during this time of year makes it even more special."

Carrie Underwood and Chace Crawford appear to be much more than a fling.

"His whole family loves her," a friend of the couple told Us Weekly. "They are really perfect for each other."

Just how close is this couple? After the American Idol winner spent Thanksgiving with the Gossip Girl star at his parents' home in Dallas, she joined his relatives on part of her Christmas vacation, too.

"They spent Christmas together and had a wonderful time," a source reported.

Underwood, meanwhile, has no regrets about her July split from Tony Romo, the tabloid also said.

"She thanks her lucky stars she isn't with Tony anymore!" said a source. "She thinks it's a joke he's with Jessica Simpson and sees him as a player. Carrie and Chace call him 'the player' and Jessica 'the ditz.'"

It's hard to argue with those assessments, isn't it?

Consider these slight American Idol spoilers, but it's just a detailed look at this season's schedule:

• The show premiers with a two-night, four-hour event on Tuesday, January 15, and Wednesday, January 16.

• The early audition episodes will be the focus of the four-hour premiere. They'll continue through hour-long episodes that will air on January 22, 23, 29, and 30, as well as February 5 and 6.

• On Tuesday, February 12, the Hollywood Round begin.s It'll kick off with a two-hour episode, followed by a one-hour episode the following night revealing the Top 24.

• The Top 12 males and the Top 12 females will perform in two-hour episodes airing on Tuesday, February 19 and Wednesday, February 20. This begins the viewer voting, so you can expect the elimination of two men and two women on February 21.

• The male performers will then lay claim to Tuesdays, with the Top 10 singing during a 90-minute episode on February 26, followed by the Top 8 battling on March 4.

• Wednesdays will be ladies' night, with the Top 10 competing on February 27, and the Top 8 attempting to out-belt each other on March 5. Eliminations will take place on Thursdays at 8 p.m., culminating in the reveal of the Top 12 overall on March 6.

• The performances of the Top 12 will begin on Tuesday, March 11, with a two-hour episode. The first single elimination of the season will take place the following night.

Amazingly, the report of a Jessica Sierra sex tape is NOT the most disturbing news this month about the former American Idol finalist.

According to celebrity gossip sites TMZ.com and TheHollywoodGossip.com, Sierra is - gulp - pregnant!

Sources told TMZ that the father is a "rapper" and Jessica is happy over the news.

Oh, and She's currently in the infirmary in the Falkenburg Road Jail in Florida on a "pregnancy diet."

We don't even know what to say about this news. Who do you think the father is?

Reportedly, this is a picture of Jessica Sierra pregnant. We're stunned by such a development.

Jordin Sparks' debut album didn't sell particularly well.

But this American Idol champion can find comfort in the fact that she's doing a lot better than a past winner: Ruben Studdard has been dropped from J Records.

Studdard's first CD, Soulful, released in 2003, went platinum. His 2004 gospel follow up, I Need An Angel, also fared well. But sales of his 2006 project The Return have been unable to match his previous success, moving barely 235,000 copies.

We'll keep you updated on what this means for the future of The Velvet Teddy Bear.

Forget seeing Carrie Underwood in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

You can check out Chris Sligh in Westerly, Rhode Island on the same night!

The season six American Idol finalist will headline the alcohol-free First Night Westerly celebration, by singing at least one song at the local Y-M-C-A. The party will also feature face painting, mimes and a karate demo.

Tickets cost $10 before December 25, but jump up to a $14 after Christmas. Buy now!

LaKisha Jones begins her run in Broadway's The Color Purple today.

Jones, who began singing in her church choir, has now full circle as she joins the show. She'll portray the role of Sofia during her engagement.

The Color Purple currently stars former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino as Celie. She'll conclude her extended run Jan. 6, 2008.

The debut album from Blake Lewis dropped at number-10 on The Billboard 200 album sales chart after selling 98,000 copies during its initial week of release.

It's not a terrible showing for "Audio Day Dream," but the figures were lower than fifth-season American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee's self-titled debut, which sold 116,000 copies and dropped at number-two on the same chart.

Fourth-season runner-up Bo Bice debuted at number-four on The Billboard 200 in December 2005 with "The Real Thing," which sold 227,000 copies in its first week.

However, Blake's debut numbers were higher than those of original American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini. His self-titled debut moved only 54,000 copies in its first week of release in June 2003; while Diana DeGarmo saw her CD,"Blue Skies," move just 47,000 in its first week of sales.

American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe recently dished a bit on the upcoming season of American Idol.

Last season, he admitted, the show was chock full of big names such as Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani. But Lythgoe told reporters “we got carried away with the mentors,” and the focus will shift to the contestants this season.

“We will spend more time talking to the kids about their lives, what they want from this competition,” he said.

Of course, there will still be guest judges this year. But Britney Spears won't be one of them.

“Britney, at this moment in time, I don’t think is well enough to do anything,” he said. “I think she needs looking after. I think she needs to pull herself together.”

With ratings slipping a bit last year, Lythgoe said he has no illusions that the show will go on forever.

“I’m not that stupid,” he said. “I do think that it will dip in the ratings. That’s for other people to worry about. I just worry about making the best show I can make while I’m employed by that show."