Life is good for Chris Daughtry.
Not only does he possess the number-one album on the charts right now - he gets to hang out with a Grammy Award winner.
Here's Daughtry with Carrie Underwood, the latest American Idol champ to earn a pair of Grammy gold trophies. The future couldn't be brighter for both these stars.
Fourth-place American Idol finisher Chris Daughtry proved Sunday night to be a formidable concert draw. His band, simply known as Daughtry, played at a sold-out Slim's in San Francisco a few hours after the Super Bowl - an extremely difficult feat by anyone's measure.
Like the Indianapolis Colts, Daughtry put on a show that certainly connected with his exuberant fans. Artistically speaking, however, the singer still has a long way to go before he can be thought of as anything other than just the lucky beneficiary of all that television exposure.
As past Idol winners can attest, it's not how contestants do on TV that matters most. The competition begins when the show's season ends, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
The real chance for victory occurs when the alumni try their luck on the record charts. Just ask Ruben Studdard, the Season 2 champ who to this day fights comparisons to runner-up Clay Aiken, who has registered the more successful recording career.
Known as the rocker, Daughtry placed behind Elliott Yamin, Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks on last season's American Idol. That was a shocker to many, since he was widely considered to be the clear front-runner.
Yet, America had its say on the show, which is decided by votes from viewers, and Hicks was crowned the 2006 champ.
Now, the public is voting once again -- with its dollars -- and the winner appears to be Daughtry.
The 27-year-old North Carolina native is a major hit with record buyers. The self-titled debut CD from his band was released in November and went on to top the album charts. It's moved more than 1.3 million copies to date -- becoming one of the fastest debuts from any American Idol contestant to reach platinum certification.
"Daughtry'' sits at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Conversely, Taylor Hicks' eponymous debut, which was released less than two months ago, is down at No. 63.
Just like on Idol, the singer came across in concert more like someone trying to be a rock star than someone who actually is a rock star. And, without a doubt, he's trying too hard.
Opening with the new album's overwrought "Crashed,'' the vocalist filled the show with a staggering number of rock 'n' roll cliches - far more than should be allowed in a single 50-minute set.
He hit each number as if he were still trying to garner favor from the three-headed tribunal of Simon, Paula and Randy. He combined tired theatrics, such as continually hugging himself to illustrate just how much the lyrics meant to him, with an over-the-top, gut-wrenchingly earnest delivery that was straight out of Rock Star 101.
And it worked for him, at least in the crowd's eyes. His lightweight take on watered-down grunge rock, which seems modeled after that of Rob Thomas, had the crowd singing along at top volume to "Used To'' and "What I Want.''
"By looking out at the crowd, I can tell that most of you have the album,'' the star remarked early in the show. "You probably know the words better than I do.''
From there, Daughtry and the crowd continued to share vocals through the guitar-drenched rocker "Gone'' and the punchy power-ballad ``Breakdown.''
One of the night's better moments occurred when the singer played a solo acoustic-guitar version of a yet-unrecorded tune. The number - possibly called "My Hands'' - was penned with Thomas and should make Daughtry's next album.
The celeb had one surprise up his sleeve - a rendition of "Sunday Bloody Sunday.'' This American Idol vet, of course, is no stranger to cover material, and he delivered an admirable take on the U2 classic.
Daughtry closed his main set with the gooey-sweet original "Home'' and then returned for a two-song encore that included current radio hit "It's Not Over.''
In all, it was a moderately successful showing - just good enough to keep this critic interested until the next round.
Chris Daughtry wishes we would forget his shocking elimination from last year's American Idol, a contest he was widely favored to win. It's kind of a touchy subject.
"You hear one of two things: 'You were robbed' or 'you shoulda won,'" he says about attention from sympathetic fans, who continue to offer unsolicited condolences and pep talks about his controversial departure.
"I'm just gonna be real: I hate hearing it," he says. "It makes you feel like they're stuck in that moment from where you were on the show. You want them to kinda break out of that and follow you where you're at now, and see that things are fantastic and there's nothing to be upset about. Get over it, you know, because I'm doing alright."
He's doing more than alright. Daughtry, who was voted off American Idol a few weeks before its finale, is having another moment in the spotlight - one he hopes will last long after the Fox talent contest crowns its final winner.
His band, called Daughtry, saw their self-titled debut album, released in November on Sony BMG's RCA label, jump to No. 1 last week. The disc has sold nearly 1.3 million copies on the shoulders of its single, It's Not Over.
The 27-year-old father of two was a musician based in McLeansville, N.C., when he decided to heed his wife's advice and audition for Idol, which has turned out hitmakers like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. He needed the exposure to "get to that next level," he says.
Along came Idol, overnight celebrity and a "massive amount of rabid fans." He made Paula Abdul blush - OK, all you need is to be young and male to do that - and won over viewers with impassioned, rock-infused covers of songs ranging from Elvis numbers to pop ballads.
Unlike stars like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, who signed record deals before they were boldfaced names, Daughtry was discovered first by American Idol judges and then by voting viewers. They "feel responsible" for his success, he says.
That's why they stop him on the street to say "You were robbed!!"
"It's the power of TV," he says. "They feel like they know you. ... And then once you REALLY get to know me, you probably wouldn't like me," he jokes, laughing heartily.
He wouldn't trade places with the gray-haired Taylor Hicks, who is a tougher sell to younger listeners. His album, released in December, has sold less than half of Daughtry's CD.
"I don't feel like I would have been able to do what I wanted to do with my career. ... I would have been a solo artist. It would have been an album that I probably would have regretted," says Daughtry, who longed to front his own band.
Click here to read the rest of this Houston Chronicle story.
American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry will perform a free concert in downtown Greensboro on March 23.
Greensboro Coliseum officials organized the show as a prelude to the NCAA women's basketball tournament games on March 24 and 26; they hope the concert helps the city's bid to host the 2012 women's Final Four.
Between 6,000 and 7,000 people are expected to attend the concert.
Daughtry, meanwhile, just achieved the top ranking on the Billboard album sales chart. It's an impressive feat for a CD that's been out for over two months already.
In an unusual, impressive feat, the Daughtry album has reached number-one on the Billboard chart - in its ninth week of release. Way to go, Chris!
The sales total is now 1.29 million. Other Idols on the chart include:
American Idol star Chris Daughtry rocks out during a New York City performance of his single "It's Not Over" on FOX's new Morning on Monday.
"It comes so fast that it's hard to you're your head around it," Daughtry said of his growing fame.
We hope you're enjoying the latest round of American Idol singers - we're rooting for Sarah Krueger so far - but here's an update on what former contestants are up to:
You've heard of running with the bulls in Spain, right? Looks like Chris Daughtry will soon be singing with them. The press release below explains:
STAMFORD, Conn. (December 27, 2006) - VERSUS and the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) today announced that Chris Daughtry, lead singer of the chart-topping rock group, Daughtry and American Idol finalist, will be performing Saturday, January 6, at the VERSUS Invitational presented by Ampâd Mobile from Madison Square Garden.
The VERSUS Invitational kicks off the 2007 season of the PBR Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler and this special performance will take place during intermission at the event, which begins at 2 p.m. ET. Daughtryâs performance will be part of the exclusive VERSUS telecast on January 6 at 7:30 p.m.
âDaughtry is an exciting addition to the VERSUS Invitational and a great cross-over platform for the network,â said Bill Bergofin, Senior Vice President of Marketing at VERSUS. âMusic is an important aspect of the sports experience and the groupâs album is currently at the top of Billboard's rock chart."
Daughtry, a North Carolina native, rose to stardom on the last season of American Idol. Since releasing the self-titled album in November of 2006, it has risen to the top of the rock charts. In addition to performing at the event, VERSUS.com will feature exclusive footage from Daughtryâs performance and other never-before-seen footage.
We'll have a longer post later this week on all the latest American Idol album sales, but we wanted to post the first-week numbers for Chris Daughtry's album: 304,000.
That means Chris Daughtry album sales were second only to Jay-Z on last week on Billboard chart, and the fourth-place American Idol finisher's debut was good enough to outsell The Beatles' LOVE remix album, which sold 272,000.
That number also gives Chris the top first week so far this year for an American Idol product, topping the likes of Kellie Pickler, Clay Aiken and several other stars.
Of course, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee still have a chance to beat that mark. Regardless, it's great to see that the Daughtry band and CD are off to a great start.
It may have been for the best that Chris Daughtry didn't win American Idol. He got the 19/BMG record contract anyway, plenty of good publicity out of his unexpected ouster from the show, and seems to have gotten the green light to do just the album he wanted to -- writing or co-writing 10 of the 12 songs and going for the surname-only, quasi-solo/quasi-band, almost-mythic identity of Daughtry.
As an album, Daughtry is a very airplay friendly album of formulaic, but tuneful contemporary rock, sung with fervor and restraint and considerable skill. Here's USA Today's track-by-track insight into Chris Daughtry's much-anticipated record:
1. It's Not Over: Takes one song to establish the formula on which most of the songs are built: subdued , melodic opening into cranked-up, catchy chorus. Nothing wrong with that at all, as bands from Nirvana to Nickelback could attest.
Daughtry definitely leans more toward Nickelback than Nirvana; the good thing is he sings in a less-mannered style than Chad Kroeger, who's got the formula down pat but makes me want to punch a radio button every time we hear that overfamiliar growl. Lyrical mood: desperate to patch things up.
2. Used To: More of the same, pleasant but unexceptional. Lyrical mood: desperate to patch things up.
3. Home: More of a light-rock texture until the bridge steps up the pace, sounds very commercial. Lyrical mood: pained, regretful.
4. Over You: Jumps into its soft-centered rock chorus more quickly, the most pop-oriented track yet until it ratchets up the intensity and angst toward the end. Lyrical mood: pained, regretful, vengeful.
5. Crashed: Closest thing to Nickelback yet, very predictable, yet quite likable, as with most of these songs. Lyrical mood: obsessed.
6. Feels Like Tonight: Daughtry didn't write it, but it follows the quiet/loud formula perfectly and is perfectly pleasant. Lyrical mood: desperate to patch things up.
7. What I Want: By far the most cranked-up track so far, with an impassioned vocal to match guest guitarist Slash's fretwork. Kind of lost the tune, though. Lyrical mood: regretful but touched by paramour's loyalty.
8. Breakdown: This track stands out impressively, with the greatest contrast between its softer side (featuring Chris' nimble falsetto) and its hard-rock crunch. Lyrical mood: resentful but trying to hold something dysfunctional together (for reasons that are not apparent).
9. Gone: Once again redolent of Nickelback, with another fast jump into the catchy chorus. Good guitar break, and overall one of the stronger tracks. Lyrical mood: desperate.
10. There and Back Again: Worst track on the album, nondescript and sadly tuneless riff-rock. Lyrical mood: supportive, vaguely inspirational.
11. All These Lives: Strings, acoustic guitar, big Nickelback-esque chorus, nicely pulled off. Lyrical mood: very dark.
12. What About Now: The other non-original, co-written by ex-Evanescence guy (and Kelly Clarkson collaborator) Ben Moody, is lighter, with pop single potential, again nicely pulled off. Lyrical mood: desperate to patch things up.
The tracks tend to run together in similarity, both musically and lyrically (angst-rock lives), but it was rarely less than listenable even if it wasn't exactly distinctive or ground-breaking. It's not an album that can compete in the rarefied league of rock's titans; it's not up there with U2 or Green Day or Red Hot Chili Peppers, and probably wasn't aiming for that status anyway.
If the goal was to establish a niche within the narrower accessible hard-rock realm of Nickelback, Staind, Hinder, Seether, Fuel, Shinedown or 3 Doors Down, the Daughtry band succeeded. But he still hasn't come up with the distinctive, career-making "Kryptonite" or "Broken" or "How You Remind Me" that will stand out in the crowd. We'll see if he gets there.
