big whoppa

So many people coming to the defense of past Idol contestants and their success or lack of success...

Yamin's teeth were huge. It was a mouthful of chiclets.

chowderhead

here is the record sales for AI contestants who finished 3rd-12th

They don't have last year's results which would include Chris Daughtry who went platinum and is ranked 1st among people who didn't come in first or second.
Kellie Pickler's album I believe went gold.

If I did my math correctly. The order is
Daughtry
Gracin
Pickler
Locke
William Hung!
Gray


William Hung beat out everyone but 4 in five seasons of all the contestants who didn't finish first or second.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

something about melinda just didn't sit right with me - she's a good singer, but i never really looked forward to her performances, and i found them to be boring.

i'm glad that blake and jordin made it...they're my two favorites for this season.

Goldberg74

big whoppa

I'll go with the After.

RUSF18

His front two teeth are perfect squares.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

and according to your link, hung sold 194k. According to wiki, elliott yamin sold 202k.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliott_yamin

big whoppa

But compare that to the before shot, I'd have to choose the after.

big whoppa

Gold for albums is 500k. His sales in the article are at 180K. The Idol album, Season 5: Encores is at 311K.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

doh, i misread it. sales of his album are 202,660. i thought it was 500k too, but wiki's link shows the encores album as certified gold? oh well.

creekdipper

Since this is a modeling contest, the finals should have been between Chris Richardson & one of the prettier girls who got the boot early in the competition (not LongLegs...er, Haley...she was a few pounds overweight, which obviously disqualifies her).

It's a travesty to have the finals between Amazon Girl & Frat Boy, Jr. The former, while occasionally impressive, is sometimes shrill, often loses her timing, & hits too many flat notes, and the latter spits/burps/coughs to cover up his lack of vocal range. But, of course, this isn't a singing competition...as evidenced by the numerous no-talent posters who think they're being clever by calling Melinda "Shrek" (how original...oh, how witty). I haven't seen anybody mention how gracious her exit was. After Phil Stacy's classy final performance, I thought hers was the best (oops...forgot...that was "Nosferatu", not Phil).

Jordin has lots of potential at only 17, but her lack of experience betrays her at times. Can't see her handling an entire concert right now...needs a patient manager who can surround her with a solid group of supporting musicians & backup singers to carry her. Blake is a likeable, goofy kind of guy with very limited appeal. I predict he'll have a Taylor Hicks-like career...selling out local venues for a while until the next season rolls around.

Melinda can have a long career despite her personality 'deficiencies' (too bad that being a nice, quiet, unassuming person without diva-like attitude is considered a deficiency). I guess I am at the age when I fail to be impressed by the CD photos of the "singers" lounging around in lingerie than by the actual vocal performances. However, my wife & I both commented early on that some of the contestants didn't have the mass commercial appeal of an "Idol" due to their physical appearance. To us, the term "American Idol" denotes more Frankie Avalon than Guy Clark...and maybe the judges should take that into account (Boy, you sure can sing...but you're just so dang homely!) when making their initial selections. Personally, I'm glad that some talented people get their shot at a real career that can last for decades (think Koko Taylor vs. Nancy Sinatra). We would not see Jordin Sparks (at this point in her 'career') or Blake the Frat Legacy for free, but we would pay to hear Melinda since she has demonstrated consistency in a wide range of genres (as the judges...who obviously have no familiarity with the music industry at all, despite having made millions of dollars in the field...pointed out).

All three of them did better than the overhyped Maroon-5 in their boring, repetitious, ridiculous "hit" (almost as bad as the grating performance from Robin Thicke). Why not just program a formula into a computer & let it spit out an endless loop of inanities??? And...if appearance is so important...how much creepier can you get than the lead singer, who looked as if he was going to reach for his heroin kit at any moment????

Haven't seen too much written about it, but we have found it very enlightening to see how bland (or even just plain bad) the performances by most of the guest "artists" have been. My theory is that they screw up so as to bolster the confidence of the contestants ("Hey, if you think you're bad, look at me/us...and we're a SUCCESS!!!).

GuessWho

Just remember, the original version of the show is titled POP IDOL.


Melinda may be a better singer, but they're ultimately looking for pop stars--with music videos, magazine covers, late night talk shows, etc.

Josh H

Exactly. And they've said repeatedly over the years that it wasn't just a singing competition (i.e. in tryouts last year with Simon telling Taylor he was a great singer but didn't have the looks to be the next American Idol--guess that proves singing can still win out though).

naughty

I don't know what's more outrageous. You suggesting that Daughtry's sales are on par with Carrie Underwood. Or you suggesting Daughtry's sales far exceed Fantasia's.

mphtrilogy

I'm not a Fantasia fan at all, but the reviews for her debut in The Color Purple are fantastic.

Good luck to her.

NY TIMES:
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Published: May 18, 2007
As someone who has remained immune to the addictive attractions of “American Idol,” I was steeling myself to greet the arrival of Fantasia on Broadway with the kind of hand wringing that proud partisans of the theatah often reserve for despised interlopers from television and pop. O the outrage! O the crass commercialism! O the lack of discipline and proper vocal training!

Fantasia as Celie, who survives and thrives after a life of bad treatment.
If you are confused already — Another Disney show on Broadway? How on earth can they do “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”? — you are probably one of the few Americans unindoctrinated into the cult of “Idol.” But Disney has not created a stage version of the classic animated movie “Fantasia.” Instead a more fully animated Fantasia — the young woman who bested Jennifer Hudson in Season 3 of the singing-contest series on Fox — is now starring in “The Color Purple,” the Broadway adaptation of the Alice Walker novel produced and promoted by Oprah Winfrey.

And those hands will have to go unwrung: She’s pretty terrific. So terrific that this earnest but mechanical musical is more effective and affecting than it was when it yawned open a year and a half ago at the Broadway Theater.

Mind you, it is hardly a masterwork. Sodden with plot and stuffed with pleasant but generic pop, R&B and gospel music, the show feels like a singing version of a Reader’s Digest condensed book. But in the central role of the downtrodden Celie, whose long trudge to emotional fulfillment the musical traces, Fantasia exudes a sweetness, simplicity and honesty that gives it a core of authentic feeling.

She is, to begin with, more naturally suited to the role than LaChanze, who won a Tony for it last year. (Performers in possession of last names need not apply apparently.) Just 22 years old, Fantasia is wholly convincing as a gawky adolescent yanked from girlish daydreams into the brutal truths of life when she is impregnated by her father. Squirming with excitement and awe as she fondles the baby soon to be pulled from her arms, her big shy smile could break your heart. As Celie moves through a life of poverty and hardship, the return of that sunbeam grin is a moving testament to the innocence of heart she retains despite all the setbacks she endures.

Much is made of Celie’s unattractiveness. She is essentially sold off by her father to a brutish husband as if she were a workhorse with a lame leg. LaChanze, though a skilled singer and actress, couldn’t disguise her natural beauty and poise. Fantasia possesses her own beauty, but it is more idiosyncratic, and as Celie she moves with the uneven amble of a woman trained at a young age to debilitating drudgery and a carelessness about her looks.

Her singing is strong if hardly spectacular by the standards of soulful belters, prize or no prize. Unfortunately Celie is not given much in the way of rewarding music in the score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. This is probably a strategy designed to symbolize Celie’s status as a woman with no voice in her own destiny. But in theatrical terms it’s unsatisfying.

Poor Celie is relegated to the margins of her own musical as Elisabeth Withers-Mendes’s bawdy bad girl, Shug Avery, shimmies in the spotlight. Even when Celie at last works up the courage to leave her husband, she is perversely allowed but a few bars of music to lay down a personal manifesto. The woman’s life is misery; for God’s sake, people, at least give her a few good songs.

On the occasions when Celie lets loose, you can’t complain that an alumna of “American Idol” is despoiling the standards of Broadway musicianship with the kind of yowling histrionics the television show is famed for. That kind of high-octane note bending is already built into the climactic moments in “The Color Purple.” At least Fantasia unleashes it with a feeling of connection to the dramatic moment.

She is not the only newcomer to the cast. Ms. Withers-Mendes, elegant and sassy as Celie’s savior/ soul-sister/lover, Shug, is one of the few holdovers, along with Krisha Marcano in the minor role of Squeak. NaTasha Yvette Williams and Chaz Lamar Shepherd now play the warring spouses Sofia and Harpo with an emphasis on their status as comic relief. Darlesia Cearcy sings powerfully as Celie’s sister, Nettie. But there is virtually nothing Alton Fitzgerald White can do to enliven the role of Mister, Celie’s scowling husband, who turns repentant and noble in the final scenes. Mister is the rare fictional character who is just as boring when he’s bad as he is when he’s good.

Groucho

The defense of past Idols in this thread has almost taken it to the level of the "OMG KELLY!" days.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

it is 500k, but it is based on shipments and not sales.

creekdipper

Well, after my spirited defense of Melinda, I have to concede that you & Guess Who make the best point in favor of Blake & Jordin over her...although I still say that Chris R. & a more attractive female fit that bill better. I actually like both of the younger finalists & if I were a teenager or college kid would undoubtedly prefer them. However, I think I found Melinda's attitude refreshing & think she would do fine on the talk shows, etc. Guess I've just seen too much attitude from the recent pop stars.

The funny thing is that I thought Taylor won on personality more than great singing. Also, he trimmed down during the course of the show & got a little more "Idolish" in his clothing styles...although the gray hair could have proved his downfall.

Jordin could be a nice kid or could turn into a diva...she seems to have a slightly petulant quality when things don't go her way... while Blake...well, he's just Blake. Kind of like the goofy friend who would dance on the cafeteria table in high school. Nice guy & entertaining in the short run, but don't know...I could see him more as fronting a band rather than carrying a solo career. Especially if he insists on keeping the beatbox shtick.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

hmmm...interesting.

Struz

Who said Daughtry is on par with Carrie Underwood ?
Fantasia's has been around since 2004.
How long has Daughtry been around, 11 months ?
You're telling me Fantasia is more popular than Daughtry ?
Who's being outrageous ?

Josh H

But Chris R. and the other girls didn't sing as well as Blake and Jordin (IMO), you need to have both the look/personality to be a star and the singing/performing ability.

I was never a fan of Melinda's singing either though. Two throaty and Tina Turnerish for me most of the time.

I agree, he'd be great in a band that was pop with a bit of funk mixed in. Something like Maroon 5.

naughty

Um, you did when you when you mentioned his name alongside Carrie's.


My point exactly. She's still relevant in the music business three years later. Come and talk to me if Daughtry's still making waves in 2010.



No, I'm telling you that it's outrageous of you to suggest Fantasia's three year career is nothing compared to Daughtry's 11 month run.

RichC2

This is out of place by I found it funny:

Good ol' imdb.com, People is a great color.

TimeandTide

I stopped reading your post after that line.