Moonbeam said:

But not for her singing talent. These people at least have to be able to sing before they become famous singers.
[Edited 5/23/07 17:47pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

do you mean singing songs that are already popular? because lots of singers have become stars singing other peoples' music

NDRU said:

I didn't realize something that obvious needed clarification. Yes, that is what I meant.
Michael Bublé is certainly NOT the market standard role model for a record label artist. He's the exception.
When all is said and done, its still nothing more than a national karaoke contest with an opinion poll attached to it. Its impact however, is something else.
What individuals do with the exposure afterwards is on them.
The music industry has a general distaste for American Idol. There are huge power struggles between the conglomerates these days. Its an industry-eat-industry world.

Raze said:

Those people have to sell themselves out before they are famous, singing songs they really don't care about and genre-hopping like the fame-whores they are.

Moonbeam said:

And that's different from the girl from the soap opera?


So to you, Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Patrick Swayze and Don Johnson have more credibility than people that got music careers because they could sing?

if you look just at album sales--it's hit or miss. but there are lots of ways to measure success:

Jennifer Hudson--golden globe, Oscar
Fantasia, Tamyra Gray, Latoya Hudson, Diana DeGarmo--all on Broadway
Josh Gracin, Kelly Pickler--gold country cd's
Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Bucky Covington--top 10 album debuts


soooo...considerng that most of these people were struggling singers, i'd say it meant something to them

10: joash gracin
Even though he was a fourth-place finalist during season two, the former Marine's debut country album was certified gold, and there's talk he'll replace the lead singer of the country group Lonestar.

9. Tamyra Gray
post-'Idol' road wasn't an easy one. Her debut album was a commercial flop, but she's had better luck on Broadway, playing the lead role in 'Bombay Dreams' and now starring in 'Rent.'
amyra Gray

8.kimberly caldwell

After getting the boot during season two, Caldwell was smart to leave the singing alone and cash in on her good looks and big mouth. She's now a TV personality, hosting 'Reality Chat' and 'Idol Tonight' for the TV Guide Channel.

7. kimberly locke
She was the best female singer in season two and her single, '8th World Wonder,' proved it. The singer-turned-plus-size-model was a spokesperson for Lane Bryant but can now be seen on VH1's 'Celebrity Fit Club.'

6. katherine mcphee
After America chose Taylor Hicks, she did the talk show circuit, went public about her battle with bulimia and scored a hair care endorsement in the process. McPhee's self-titled debut album hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts.

5. Elliott Yamin

After America chose Taylor Hicks, she did the talk show circuit, went public about her battle with bulimia and scored a hair care endorsement in the process. McPhee's self-titled debut album hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts.

4.kellie pickler

She capitalized on calamari and cashed in on her down-home country charm. Pickler has since co-hosted 'The View,' toured with Brad Paisely and released an album, which was certified gold.


3. jennifer hudson
Who would've ever thought a once-forgotten 'Idol' castoff would win an Oscar?! Leave it to J. Hud to steal the 'Dreamgirls' spotlight from Beyonce. She's got a slew of movies in the works and an upcoming album.

2. clay aiken

Aiken's boyish charm and awful hair had millions of little girls swooning. Though scandals about his lovelife and a run-in with Kelly Ripa have dimmed his starpower, he's still the top-selling non-'Idol' (for now at least).


1. chris daughtryDaughtry's season five ouster was the biggest upset of the season, but he turned the loss into a win by forming his own band and releasing an album, which sold a whopping 304,000 units its first week.
[Edited 5/22/07 8:05am]

Raze said:

They do. Idol is the complete bane of the industry.

I'm the first to say, as a musician/singer, I was appalled at the idea of a show like this. It makes a mockery of the whole entertainment business. But my feelings have calmed down and I'm starting to see what American Idol really was after all; A T.V. Show.
But Lets forget the fact that the Producers stick the old ball & chain on the winners; Feeding them the (do you wanna?) Golden Parachute.
Lets forget the fact they they are whoring singers like pretentious musical pimps they are.
Lets talk about 3 things: Talent, Ratings, and Sales.
Now I know it's a cliche to say that Kelly Clarkson was the only successful person to come out of the series, but its the truth. Additionally the more she distanced herself from the show the more successful she became. The success she had is even more amazing compared to how the other Idols have been.
American idol was viewed by 18.69 million people throughout season one and her first album Thankful sold 2,500,000.
Her success didn't stop though, her sophomore album, which ran away from the idol mystique, Breakaway sold 5,700,000. She still stands as the only Idol who's had a plus success rate after their freshman album.
Rumor has it that she is also skilled with a pen as well as a voice; Beginning to write her own pop hits, but i digress.
Lets move on to good old ,Kentucky friend Chicken, eating Ruben, his first album, with the atrocious single Sorry 2004,Soulful was successful selling 1,780,823., His second sold I Need An Angel, sold 437,114, His third, The Return,Sold 220,359
Moving on...
Fantasia...
First album ,Free Yourself, Sold 1,687,346, Second, Fantasia (which sold at Walmart for 9.99) Sold 372,583
Taylor Hicks
premier album sold 646,500

The only people who reached Clarksons success were Carrie Underwood, whose freshman album Some Hearts, sold 5,434,502, And Clay Aiken, but he's starting to meet a similar fate look at the trend of his albums:
1.Measure of a Man 2.8 Million 2.Merry Christmas with Love 1.4 Million 3.A Thousand Different Ways 511,000 4. All is Well 50,000

But i'll give Clay some slack the last one was an EP
but still... these are extremely poor sales for a show who's ratings have peaked at 37.7 million viewers.

Now when it comes to talent, I'm not going to lie, they all have it.
So, somethings wrong here.
America's Idols aren't getting the Idol Numbers...
Talk amongst yourselves...

Exposure is EVERYTHING in this business.

Winning/being on that show only means that you are a boring dead ass motherfucker like everyone else on that show and in today's music scene.
.
.
[Edited 5/22/07 8:24am]

EmbattledWarrior said:

1. None of the AI winners OR first-runner-ups ARE groundbreaking to begin with.

2. Most of those same winners & runner-ups reminds me of something most of us has seen/heard before:

Kelly Clarkson ---> Pink (without the pink hair-dye)
Rueben ---> Luther Vandross (Jr.)
Clay Atkins ---> Barry Manilow (Lite)
Fantasia ---> Beyonce (Hood-Rat Edition)
Carrie Underwood ---> (a much younger) Faith Hill
Taylor Hicks ---> (the baby brother of) Michael McDonald
Katherine McPhee ---> (a white female) Mariah Carey

THIS RIGHT HERE is the real problem. The industry isn't allowing any of these artists to be anything more original!

3. And lets not forget about the controversies of Jennifer Hudson getting voted off too early in Season 3 as well as Tamyra Gray in Season 1. To blame it on racism would be too easy for some of us. But I came to a better conclusion that most of the people that had a lot of free time to call & vote (mostly white teenage girls) really don't know a damn thing about soul & The Funk, none do they understand how to identify REAL Talent!

And sadly, none of the elders are doing enough to educate these young people on their music history. I bet none of these young people have any idea that MTV & BET used to show music videos in the 1980's.
[Edited 5/24/07 16:55pm]

TonyVanDam said:

I didn't want to throw the racee card,
but did you notice that the black artist,sold the least?
and went downhill the quickest...

I didn't want to throw the racee card,
but did you notice that the black artist,sold the least?
and went downhill the quickest...

EmbattledWarrior said:

Why? The material was TRASH.....1st rate trash.

BlaqueKnight said:

To an extent, I disagree as well.

Mary J. Blige was discover right after her karaoke performance of an Anita Baker song. That performance was recorded to cassette tape & taken to Andre Harrell (then-founder of Uptown Records, currently own by Universial). And the rest is history.....


EDIT: Unless I'm wrong, I think Mary is the last artist to ever get a record deal because of karaoke.
[Edited 5/24/07 17:08pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Well, they signed her for the potential they heard in her voice, not because they wanted her to do covers, right? That was my only point in that statement.

The truth is, American Idol doesn't cater to music fans. It caters to television fans.

I find it funny how those crazy voters will spend their money voting for these people, but won't spend it buying their albums!

TonyVanDam said:

Well, they signed her for the potential they heard in her voice, not because they wanted her to do covers, right? That was my only point in that statement.

I just find it weird...
all the ratings this show gets and none of them are selling
maybe the american public arent that stupid afterall

EmbattledWarrior said:

Its not weird at all. Its the television industry trying to sell artists to the public instead of the music industry. Karaoke singers don't sell often. Outside of the two successes they have had (only one in the mainstream) they are just rolling along, playing it by the book. They only REALLY want to sell their television show (AI). Since everything is in reality show format these days, that should tell you what they really want to sell. The American public is dumb as sheep. The problem is the t.v. industry doesn't know how to sell a music artist to the public and doing it via reality shows is often ineffective. The music industry knows exactly how to do it but this is a turf war between conglomerates.