Kelly Clarkson’s duet with Georgian Jason Aldean has reached top 10 on the country chart with “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”

It’s her second country hit. She dueted a countrified version of “Because of You” with her buddy Reba McEntire in 2007.

Jennifer Hudson has a new single, “Where You At” charting on the R&B charts. More stats here at Idol Chatter.

-I’m speaking to Clay Aiken at 2:15 p.m. today for his upcoming concert here at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Any questions? Email me at rho@ajc.com.

He sang the National Anthem at the NHL All Star Game in Raleigh, N.C., his hometown. I’ve never heard him sing it before and wow, it’s good.

Continue reading A second top 10 country hit for Kelly Clarkson with ‘Don’t You Wanna Stay’ »

[RATINGS UPDATE BEFORE WE GO TO THE MAIN STORY: "Idol" Wednesday drew 25.2 mil Wednesday, down 5% from yr ago and last week's opener. 18-49 figure of 9.2 was down 9% from year ago. Last night, the show drew 23.2 million, down 3 percent from last week's opening Thursday salvo, with a 7.6 18-49, down from 7.8 last week and 9.9 for comparable episode last year. Last year, the second night was on Wednesday as opposed to the more competitive Thursday. Overall, that's solid week over week retention.]

The incredible pimping of Lauren Alaina Thursday (and to a degree, Chris Medina Wednesday) is always fascinating to me because it never really works – at least in terms of leading to victory. Danny Gokey is a classic case and widely debated to this day.

First impressions of most eventual winners almost always focused on voice, not on back story. And twice, the initial auditions weren’t even shown. Let’s go into the wayback machine and check out those auditions:

Season one: We know …

Continue reading Pimping 2011: is this reverse psychology? A look at past winners’ auditions »

Nashville – at least what they presented us – was  a major disappointment tonight.

Even the most hyped gal of the competition (see Nigel’s Tweet to the right), Lauren Alaina, hardly convinced me she was “the one,” as the judges were cooing. It’s too early to tell.

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But of the 10 people who made it through that we saw tonight, four are on the spoiler top 40 at Joe’s Place.

Again, Ryan Seacrest did not say how many made it through to Hollywood. I wonder if the producers realized people are quickly getting that these judges are being much easier than any Simon-led group but don’t want to make it any more obvious.

Here’s my recap:

Darius Thomas from Nashville hits a shrieking high note to open the hour. Interestingly, one of the …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ recap with Nashville auditions: hype and reality do not match »

Crystal Bowersox goofs with her husband Brian Walker at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Jan. 26, 2011. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Crystal Bowersox visited sick kids at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Wednesday and was wowed by Ryan Seacrest’s new “Voice” media studio there.

“This little radio studio here is better than some of the stations I’ve been to!” she said. “Ryan Seacrest is an angel for doing this for the kids.” (I’ll post an edited version of the video interview later today.)

She sang four songs for the children, some who were able to sit in the studio with her while others followed via a close-circuit radio and TV system set up at the hospital. (Seacrest opened the studio in November.)

Bowersox also answered questions about “Idol,” her diabetes and her career from the kids and Dunwoody High School students interning there. She retold the story about how Seacrest gave her a pep talk when she was homesick and wanted to quit. (Seacrest’s …

Continue reading Sitting down with Crystal Bowersox »

American Idol hopefuls wait in line outside the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Monday July 19, 2010 to register for auditions for the show’s 10th season. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mike De Sisti)

Chris Medina, this is your moment. He concluded the two hours with a captivating “Breakeven” that made me forget everything that went on before. The heart-rending storyline and Steven Tyler’s words to his girlfriend caused many a tear to shed across the nation tonight.

“Idol” judges and Nigel Lythgoe have been touting Milwaukee and the city was given two hours. (Most only get one.) Did the home known for “Happy Days” and cheese live up to expectations? We heard 12 singers make it to Hollywood. Most were pretty good. I especially liked the two babies, Scott McCreery and Thia Megia, and that teacher Scott Dangerfield. (Oddly, “Idol” sent a teaser of a gal who sang a Whitney Houston song I really liked but she did not appear tonight.)

SEMI SPOILER ALERT: Six of the 12 people …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ recap with auditions in Milwaukee: youth and tears prevail »

A crowd of about 10,000 people wraps around the Bridgestone Arena as contestants wait in line early Thursday morning, July 15, 2010 to sign up for the American Idol 10th season auditions that will take place on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Christopher Berkey)

Nashville auditions are set for Thursday from 8 to 9 p.m.

Fox sent us some Nashville teasers this afternoon. Enjoy!

Here’s a dude doing “Happy Birthday” in Italian. Don’t ask:

You probably won’t a kick out of this one:

This gal doesn’t have quite the look but she isn’t that bad vocally:

And this is a rarity: a duet!

Continue reading Teaser auditions from Nashville for Thursday’s episode »

Front of the line on July 19, 2010 at the Milwaukee auditions of "American Idol." CREDIT: AP

Fox is releasing teasers for the Milwaukee auditions tomorrow night, hoping that might inspire more curiosity among Web denizens. Here are five:

Thank goodness, this gal doesn’t try to hit the high note (at least the segment we hear here):

This drags on…. for the longest time.

This guy won’t just break even:

Josh Turner, eat your heart out:

And this gal is gutsy enough to sing Whitney Houston – and get away with it:

And Elton John continues act like a know it all about “American Idol,” if you care. He talks to MTV:

” ‘X Factor’ is going to be a huge show,” John said. “It’s going to be huge, because you can have bands on there, and that’s one thing I wanted to change, if I had been on ‘American Idol,’ ” he revealed. “Get away from the solo stuff. Let’s have bands, let’s have writers, let’s have songwriters, let’s change the format a little, and that’s why ‘X Factor’ is going to do …

Continue reading Fox releases ‘teasers’ for Wednesday’s Milwaukee auditions; Elton John spouts off again »

Anoop Desai backstage at the"Doggies on the Catwalk" fundraiser at Grady High School, Friday, January 21, 2011. CREDIT: Rodney Ho

I was backstage at  the “Doggies on the Catwalk” PAWS Atlanta fundraiser last Friday at Grady High School. In an out-of-the-blue coincidence, I ran into season eight finalist Anoop Desai.

Anoop, who has been living in Raleigh-Durham, moved to Atlanta last week to be closer to the action. (He tried out Los Angeles last year but that didn’t click.)

He said he’s going to work on some mix tapes. He has moved into the Virginia-Highland area.  He also has a raft of friends who live here, which is why I ran into him in 2009 at Variety Playhouse for an Amos Lee concert.

- The Bert Show on Q100, through Bert’s Big Adventure, each year takes a group of kids who have chronic or terminal illnesses and their families to Walt Disney World in Orlando for free.  One of the kids, Jessi Kimsey, though, came down for pneumonia and is too sick to go.  (She has …

Continue reading Anoop Desai moved to Atlanta last week; Adam Lambert gives hope to very sick local kid »

“American Idol” fell 13 percent  overall night two from the same episode a year ago to 22.9 million, according to Nielsen numbers released today.

Among 18 to 49 year olds, “Idol” fell even more: 23 percent, from a 10.1 rating to 7.8 rating. That’s still heads and shoulders higher than any other scripted show in this day and age but the show is aging fast.

Maybe they should have convinced Justin Bieber to be a judge?

Fox officials will  say a comparison to a year ago is not totally apples to apples because it’s now on a more competitive Thursday night, against the likes of CBS’s comboe of “The Big Bang Theory” (13.6 mil 4.2/12) and “#*@% my Dad Says” (10.3 mil 2.7/7) and ABC’s “Wipeout.” (8.3 mil 2.6/7 18-49) NBC’s “Community” actually did okay relatively speaking (4.8 million, 2.2/6 18-49) followed by the debut of the abysmal “Perfect Couples,” (4.2 mil 2.1/6),. I’m not sure if that’s necessarily more competitive in reality.

Jordan Dorsey was a clear highlight of Thursday …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ ratings down 13% year over year: 22.9 mil Thurs night »

New Orleans, known for its musical roots, harvested plenty of talent tonight on night two of  “American Idol.”

Ryan Seacrest said 37 made it through. We only heard seven of them. Of those, I especially liked Jordan Dorsey and Paris Tassin. And Jacee Bordeaux is Scott Savol before Savol went sour.

I’m getting used to the judges. Jennifer Lopez seemed a bit braver this time around saying no. Steven Tyler was wacky fun. And for once, even Randy Jackson showed off a couple of funny lines in (as well as his tubby stomach).

Unusual opening for night two in New Orleans: They start with stark black letters noting that Andy Patterson, had just auditioned. He’s at a piano singing “Smile” offkey and very sadly after NOT going to Hollywood, at least on “Idol’s” dime. (I also

They show Seacrest botching lines in French from season four. Gotta love the hair!

First up:  21-year-old piano teacher Jordan Dorsey (His grandma told Ryan, “You look taller on TV.” I’m sure he loves hearing …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ recap, auditions, episode 2: shake that belly! »