Before I get to the interview, I glanced through the auditions and I think we’ve seen about 21 of the top 36, assuming JoesPlaceBlog got it right again (and I think Votefortheworst.com should get some credit, too.) That seems to be pretty typical on a percentage basis for “Idol.” Of the other 15, I hope we see them all or most in some way shape or form during the Hollywood rounds starting next Tuesday.

And “Idol” ratings Thursday night were better than I expected. I figured the numbers would be at least 20 percent below Wednesday but they only dropped about 10 percent to 24.2 million. That’s impressive considering this is not a normal “Idol” night. In past years, Hollywood tends to see numbers fall a bit. Maybe that will reverse itself this time around if the “drama” is as much as they are promising.

Above: Bo Bice in Iraq last year.

Anyway, it’s been awhile since I’ve talked with former Atlantan and season four runner up Bo Bice. I last saw him in the fall of 2007 when “See …

Continue reading 1/30: Bo Bice interview »

Wow. Color me brain dead! I came back from the Thrashers game last night and completely forgot about blogging about “Idol” til this morning. Sheesh!

(By the way, if you want to be spoiled, JoesPlace blog says it now has the top 36.)

Overall, this was a decent episode with a couple of interesting candidates. They did spend more time than in the past this season on the nutcases. Jackie and wannabe naked Melinda are the most memorable of the good ones. Ashley, Kendall and Kenny all sounded good but we only got small snippets.

We know only a few hundred people show up in Puerto Rico (and very little talent) vs thousands in New York, but the editors try really hard to make them comparable.

Over the house, we actually heard nine Hollywood-bound singers out of 35. That’s easily the lowest percentage so far. Nine got golden ticket from Puerto Rico and 26 in New York City. The final tally over eight cities: 151. We heard about 60 of them, right?

Adeola Adegoke from Bronx gave up …

Continue reading 1/29: Idol audition recap #7 New York City, Puerto Rico »

Go Kelly Clarkson! Her hot single “My Life Would Suck Without You” is set to jump to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, up from 97. That’s the biggest jump in Billboard history. After just 10 days, the song is already No. 17 on top 40 airplay, according to Mediabase 24/7. And it sold 280,000 digital downloads, a huge number.

You can watch the video here because I can’t embed though I wish I could!

Chris Sligh’s co-written song “Here Comes Goodbye” by Rascal Flatts is arleady at No. 31 on the country charts. It technically was shipped to radio this past Tuesday.

Season six’s Phil Stacey, who released a country album on Lyric Street that barely sold and was quickly dropped, has signed with Reunion Records, a Christian part of Provident Label Group, under the Sony Music Entertainment Inc. umbrella, according to his own MySpace page. He is blogging about Idol for the LA Times here.

-”Idol” on Tuesday pulled in about 25.2 million viewers. The comparable episode last year drew 28.2 …

Continue reading 1/29: Kelly Clarkson jumps from 97 to No. 1! Ratings up over year ago for first time. Phil Stacey goes Christian, »

We get to visit Salt Lake City, home to David Archuleta. And the talent is there! At least we saw three or four potential top 12ers. There were 13 people who made it through overall. We saw seven of them (I amended this because I heard Jarrett Burns actually made it). That’s not a lot at all, only one more than San Francisco. That places us at 51 out of 113 after six cities. San Juan and New York tomorrow! Yes, a Thursday episode…

But I’m counting the hours to Tuesday and Hollywood! Woohoo!

David Osmond, the son of one of the famous Osmond brothers, clearly has it going on with his take on “Something Within Me” by Take 6. He also has MS and was recently in a wheelchair, a great back story. “You are so used to singing songs with harmonies,” Paula said. “You need to think of yourself as a solo artist.” Simon noted: “If you think you can be contemporary, that would be a massive mistake.” They were kind of tough on the Osmond. Of course, he goes through.

The next gal, Tara …

Continue reading 1/28: American Idol audition recap #6 Salt Lake City »

Kelly Clarkson’s marketing folks have teamed up with AT&T to offer a sneak peek of her new video for her quickly rising single “My Life Would Suck Without You” during the Salt Lake City auditions tonight. After the show, the video will be available online at www.att.net and on AT&T phones by texting KELLY to 8008.

Oddly, I found news about six season five contestants in one day. That was the best year, wasn’t it? (It was certainly my best year for page views on this blog. Ahh… those were the days!)

-Katharine McPhee has signed with Verve, a prestigious record label, according to Billboard magazine.

“The album she is working on will show many new sides to her talents as an interpreter and a songwriter, and show everyone just how special she is,” Verve Music Group president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff says.

Good for her! I suspect she’ll be doing more standards than pop. That better fits her style. As an actress, she was okay in “The House Bunny” though she’s hardly the next Amy …

Continue reading 1/28: Katharine McPhee gets another shot with a record label, Kelly Clarkson’s single previewed on “Idol” tonight »

I went to a party tonight in which the public relations coordinator promised celebs. There were none (unless you count the singer Monica) before I left at 9 p.m.

Anyway, Jacksonville was not quite as entertaining as Louisville but was far better than San Francisco. And it was slightly less fruitful too with 16 total tickets to Hollywood. We heard only six of them and none of them looks like the next Kelly Clarkson — yet. After five cities, we have 100 people through, a bit fewer than typical. We’ve seen 45 of them so far. (Mike S counted 44. I may have miscounted somewhere.)

First up: Joshua Ulloa from Beverly Hills, Fla. has a great voice but throws in silly sound effects a la Blake Lewis with more personality. I actually like this guy. He’s like Dustin Diamond meets Justin Guarini. Simon said it was “gimmicky and corny, like out of Inspector Gadget.” “I like the crazy and wild. At least it was entertaining,” Randy said. He’s on his way!

Jacksonville’s Sharon Wilbur brought …

Continue reading 1/27: Idol audition city #5 Jacksonville recap »

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Just had my car broken into last night (the price of living in town and leaving that suction cup GPS holder on the windshield practically yelping “Break in and steal me!”). Also took the Sirius satellite. Ugh. So I’m here at the auto glass place.

Note I’ve added a new poll on the left. Enjoy!

I finally got around to see the debut of “Gone Country 3,” which debuted last Saturday on CMT at 8 p.m. (The show had been airing on Fridays. I can’t say placing it on Saturdays is a promotion. Viewership is usually even lower on Saturdays but competition is lax.)

Ever charming season one runner up Justin Guarini is one of …

Continue reading 1/27: CMT’s “Gone Country 3″ with Justin Guarini, poll question of the day »

Before I get to the interview, I do want to thank the publicist Michael Cilnis for setting up the talks with Anthony, Bo Bice (coming later this week), Nadia Turner and Vonzell Solomon. And he wants me to promote “American Idol Rewind” (season four) starting this weekend. You can catch it locally on MyATL Atlanta at 6 p.m. Saturdays and 9 p.m. on TV Guide Channel Sundays.

So there you go. Now onto the interview:

You may remember Fedorov as the Ukranian native with the tracheotomy as a child. He turned things around and became a singer. As a teen, he came on the show with a reputation as a balladeer and ended up finishing fourth, ahead of Scott Savol and Constantine.

Since the show ended, he has popped up on a couple of reality shows (including “Fear Factor” with season two’s Carmen Rasmussen). He has also performed on an off-Broadway production of “The Fantasticks.” He also toured on the “Simply Ballroom” dance tour with Debbie Reynolds last year. That’s pretty much what …

Continue reading 1/26: Anthony Fedorov interview »

I meant to post this yesterday but I was starting to get ill and went home to sleep to try to fend off the cold. I feel much better this morning so I can finish this!

David Cook’s college tour takes him no closer to Atlanta than Macon April 8.

For those of you who had hoped for tidy 30-minute results shows, Fox is ignoring you. The Benjamins beckon, meaning one-hour results shows and for you DVR users, a happy excuse to fast forward. That hard working MJ has the entire schedule listed here.

I finally caught up with Chris Sligh Wednesday, the from-the-hip season six contestant who actually reads this blog. (Yes, he is still the only one I know who does. He even made a comment about my Nadia Turner interview last week.)

Sligh got great news last week when he found out Rascal Flatts was using his co-written song “Here Comes Goodbye” as its first single. It’s already getting some airplay on country radio. Rascal Flatts is one of a handful of country acts virtually guaranteed a …

Continue reading 1/23: Chris Sligh Interview, one-hour results shows forthcoming »

After last night’s Dullsville in San Fran, we’re here to see if Louisville can be a pick me up. (And yes, I’ll be blogging “Lost” tonight, too!)

My conclusion: Yes! Louisville! Can! The producers gave the city two days (as opposed to one for San Francisco.). In one hour, we heard 10 of 19 contestants who go to Hollywood. That’s a good ratio!

To start off, Tiffany Shedd, the blonde with too much eyeliner, corrupts Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” She leaves all bitter, like the typical deluded bad singers.

You know the next gal is going to be good because they can’t torture us twice in a row. Joanna Pacitti, a gorgeous 23 unemployed gal, came to L.A. at age 16 to get that lucky break but it’s been tough for her over the years. Kara recognizes her, knew she had been signed to a major label before. It’s nice to see “Idol” actually reference this so openly. She does Pat Benatar’s “We Belong.” She isn’t quite as desperate as Carly Smithson or as dull as Brooke White, last year’s female label …

Continue reading 1/21: Idol audition city #4 Louisville »