Kelly Clarkson has had a fabulous time lately. The singer got engaged last year, sang at President Obama’s inauguration, totally live we might add, and now, has been named as Forbes’ top-earning American Idol contestant.
The magazine compiled earnings for all Idol alum from May 2011 to May 2012, and the original Idol champ came out on top for taking home $8 million.
Here are the top 11 Idol money makers for the same time period: Continue reading
Scotty McCreery fell off the stage during a concert Friday night while opening for Brad Paisley in Bethel, N.Y.
Last season’s American Idol winner Scotty McCreery received another honor Monday night as the American Country Awards named him the New Artist of the Year.
It was a bad day for American Idol season 10 contestants on Thanksgiving Day 2011.
“It’s all about how you finish,” said announcer Joe Buck during the Thanksgiving NFL game between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers.
And no, Buck was not talking about the Packers winning despite a sluggish first half. He was talking about American Idol season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina who flubbed while singing the National Anthem at the start of her performance but who finished strong on an extremely powerful note.
During her rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, Alaina went totally silent after singing “What so proudly we hailed, through the twi…” Yet, somehow, she gathered herself and finished the song, picking up at “Whose broad stripes and bright stars…,” never looking back. She finished by flashing her famous smile as millions watched around the world.
Alaina was not the only Idol from her season who had a rough day in front of a live televised audience on Thanksgiving Day. Season 10 Idol winner Scotty McCreery was also caught on camera making a mistake – He started way too late on a lip-synced song during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Watch Lauren’s performance below:
American Idol winner Scotty McCreery‘s debut album, Clear as Day, sold 197,000 copies in its first week–placing it atop the Billboard Top 200 chart.
Congratulations Scotty!
“My head is just spinning,” Scotty says.
He continued, “It started out kind of low: They said 100,000 maybe. Then every day I saw the numbers climbing. It’s wild: It wasn’t a year ago that I was a normal cat, and now I’m number one on Billboard. It’s insane, it really is.”
The only other Idol winner to debut at number one was Ruben Studdard who accomplished the feat in 2003.
American Idol winner Scotty McCreery Tweeted a huge announcement yesterday: “The Love You This Big video will premiere on CMT August 9th. Y’all be sure to tune in.”
The video is “a summertime barbecue, kinda like a community thing on the Fourth of July,” McCreery recently told Access Hollywood.
THR is reporting that Haley Reinhart, who came in third place on American Idol last season, has signed a deal with Interscope Records. Interscope is part of the Universal Music Group and is also home to other season ten Idol alums Pia Toscano, winner Scotty McCreery, and runner-up Lauren Alaina.
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| Lauren and me 🙂 |
American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina is quickly becoming an established artist. Like My Mother Does, her debut single, has already sold 121,204 digital downloads and entered Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart at No. 20.
The sales mark the highest debut for a second place finalist in six years. The number 1 runner up is Clay Aiken’s This Is The Night / Bridge over Troubled Water which sold 393,000. Bo Bice’s Inside Your Heaven / Vehicle has a total of 121,423 downloads and Adam Lambert’s debut single Mad World sold 114,763.
In case you’re wondering, Idol winner Scotty McCreery sold 171,000 downloads of his debut I love You This Big —A song which debuted at No. 32 on Billboard’s Nielsen BDS-based Hot Country Songs chart. THAT may not sound so impressive until you also take into account this little fact: NO new artist’s first single has debuted that high since Jan. 20, 1990.
Congrats Alaina and Scotty.
Scotty McCreery fans, rejoice! An unreleased track sung by our latest American Idol, and called Out of Summertime, has leaked online and has created lots of buzz that perhaps maybe, this banjo-fueled tune will be the sophomore follow up to McCreery’s first hit single, I Love You This Big.
