Jan 31 2009
Kelly Clarkson Breaks Billboard Hot 100 Record - Again - Go Kelly
Kelly Clarkson set the record for the largest jump to No. 1. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart when her American Idol victory song A Moment Like This jumped 52-1 on the chart in October 2002.
Kelly makes history again this week with My Life Would Suck Without You zooming 97-1 which is the largest leap in the chart’s 50-year history. The new single sold 280,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability.
The achievement is doubly interesting as it just beats the previous holder - and another of our favourites - Britney Spears’ 96-1 jump for Womanizer.
My Life … introduces Kelly’s new album All I Ever Wanted which is due for release on March 17.
To prove her commitment, Adeola Adegoke gave up her job. The judges were honest when saying her voice was not good enough, and took pity on her situation. To such an extent that Simon Cowell even spoke with her boss to get Adeola’s job back.
In contrast, Jessika Baier (photo 1) already pays her way from taking part in 700 singing contests so far, and has been successful enough to pay for travel, her car, her guitar and to follow her dream. Singing I Surrender by Celine Dion was a big risk and failed to impress.The constructive criticism from the judges seemed to be ignored, and by quite a few others as well. This season of Idol again proves how tough the music business can be.
Singing I’m Yours by Jason Mraz was not quite enough to convince the judges that 27-year-old Jackie Tohn (photo 3) should progress, so then this “unpredictable and surprising” (Paula) contestant sang country style to gain the votes. “I liked the husky tone” (Randy) and “I want to hear what else you can do” (Kara) led to the sun screen crashing down behind the judges. Suddenly there were 4 votes for Jackie. What next?
Bringing along her little brother proved an advantage for 16-year-old Monique Garcia Torres (photo 4) and singing You Can’t Hurry Love showed a strong and sweet voice. But the attempt at I Turn To You by Christina Aguilera gave some judges a concern. Randy and Kara thought Monique should wait another year. Paula said yes, however, and Simon was so impressed by the confidence of the 10-year-old brother he used his casting vote for a Hollywood ticket.
When Patricia Lewis Roman (photo 5) sang I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the judges were unsure. Their advice was not to sing such a huge song as you are always going to come off second best. Then she sang something sweeter and got the votes.
Salt Lake City is home of the Osmonds and, perhaps no surprise, there is a new generation of singers on the rise, including David Osmond who decided to audition for American Idol. If that doesn’t prove the power and importance of Idol then I don’t know what else could.
As it happens, David (photo 1) has a good voice and received the votes necessary to get to the next stage in Hollywood.
A good luck rabbit - life-size - just about caused Simon to explode, when Greg the Rabbit (photo 3 with Simon Cowell) supported Chris Kirkham. Neither the rabbit nor Chris got the votes. It was looking like David Archuleta was the exception to the rule for Salt Lake.
Fortunately, the girls were the stars of yet another audition show. Frankie Jordan (photo 4) has a smooth jazzy style to her vocals and received 4 “Yes” votes. Megan Corkrey was certain Idol was another crossroads in her life - especially as the audition took place on her 23rd birthday. With another jazzy voice and a great range, the votes were positive. Go the girls !!
Simon said Megan (photo 5) was one of his favourite auditions, and Kara “loved the glow” so another 4 strong Yes votes. And then along came 16-year-old Taylor Vaifanua with a tropical island background - just the sunny style to woo the judges, and she did.
This episode’s heart-warming story concerned 17-year-old Rose Flack (photo 6) who lost her dad when she was 13, and then lost her mom 2 years later. The death of both parents was a great shock, but Rose found some inner strength to carry on, along with help from the Bye family. Choosing to sing I Feel The Earth Move by Carole King was also brave, but the judges again responded well to a jazzy vocal.
Randy Jackson’s namesake town laid on a police escort and a few auditions were fun in Jacksonville, Florida, including bringing your dog along for support. Sharon Wilbur (photo 1) has a good voice, and squeaked through, along with her pet Sasha. And Kara received a big surprise - a kiss from Paula!
Miss Florida Latina USA, also known as Julissa Veloz (photo 2), intrigued the judges and has a huge voice. She received the ‘fun’ vote and will proceed to Hollywood. Julissa seemed the best of day one. The audition went sour for Darin Darnell, but was a strong lesson for all contestants - the music business is tough and if you get nervous or upset then it’s not for you.
Naomi Sykes (photo 3) brought a friend along, Samantha, who sat on Randy’s lap (photo 4), so Paula sat on Simon’s to extend the love-in. Meanwhile, back to Naomi, her version of Minnie Ripperton’s Loving You was not good. So day one was, overall, not good.
Although Anne Marie Boskovich (photo 5) has a great voice and is very attractive, Simon wanted to see her come back in as a star, not a nervous singer who lacked self-confidence. She took the advice.
Changes to shoes, hair and make-up all went well, and a golden ticket to Hollywood followed. Anne Marie had another surprise and astonished the judges when she sang a section of a song that Kara had once sung live in Nashville a few years ago.
In usual fashion, the British media has over-hyped the talents of its sports stars. So no surprise that adult players in the Australian Open were beaten far earlier in the tournament than all the commentators and journalists were saying. Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon - and it’s the girls.
Also doing well and keeping pace in the rounds with Laura is Heather Watson, another so-called Brit except she is from Guernsey in the Channel Islands but never mind.
In fact, there was a tie for Best Actress and the other nominees were perhaps the strongest for a few years:
The selection for Best Song is interesting to us with the inclusion of Miley Cyrus as we may see a lot more from this aspiring songwriter (oh, and singer and actress):
Favorite Female Singer - Carrie Underwood
Favorite Female Movie Star - Reese Witherspoon
Ciara’s new single Never Ever has a riff from If You Don’t Know Me By Now (made famous by Simply Red) and a funky video to suit. As a song, it is okay, yet as a video it will probably receive plenty of airplay.
Reality TV shows are no strangers to semi-clothed potential stars, with the Fame Academy and Star Academy franchise being very successful with ‘promoting’ newcomers, especially in countries like France and Italy.
Dance music does not have many attractive female DJs, songwriters or producers. So, like with Rudenko, the marketing is often very modern and revealing, capitalizing on the hot summers of Ibiza and the minimal clothes of the thousands of dance fans.
No. 3 seed Dinara Safina struggled in her second set against Cornet, just 19 for two days, and also looked in trouble in the third when down 2-5. Yet, as we know from Wimbledon last year, Safina can fight back from extreme situations. Safina is not a careful player, and goes for strong shots no matter what the score. In the end she won 6-2 2-6 7-5 courtesy of that nail-biting 59-minute final set.
The other promising star from France, Marion Bartoli, has been nipping around a top 10 place for a couple of years and, win or lose, she always impresses with her determination. At 5 ft 7, Marion is a ’shorty’ in the modern game and yet she powered through No. 1 seed Jelena Jankovic with a straight sets win 6-1 6-4. That was the end of Serbian hopes this year. Bartoli has been a semi-finalist at the US Open and a popular runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon final. Her next match, against No. 7 seed Zvonareva could also be a thrilling encounter.
Just in case you were in any doubt that Miley Cyrus is a force to be reckoned with as an adult rock star, she has answered some critics on her video blog.