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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2006 > May > 31
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
6/1: Encores CD debuts at no. 3
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
American Idol’s Season 5 Encores CD debuted at No. 3 behind the “High School Musical” soundtrack and the Dixie Chicks’ latest. It sold 154,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the most of any of the compilations to date, yet again solidifying the popularity of the franchise.
Then again, 154,000 is barely 1/2 of 1 percent of the typical no. of viewers of “Idol’ any given week. I think most folks are waiting for the releases of particular favorite artists. This is merely a souvenir for those who like souvenirs. And if you like only one or two tracks and you download, you can save yourself some money and just buy those off iTunes.
Here’s the link
6/1: Kat, Taylor singles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The new Taylor Hicks CD single “Do I Make You Proudâ€? with “Takin’ it to the Streetsâ€? will be out June 13. It’s been in the top 10 on Amazon.com the past few days. Runner-up Katharine McPhee’s “My Destinyâ€? with “Somewhere Over the Rainbowâ€? will be out June 27 and sales trail far behind. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was ranked #35 vs. #5 for Taylor’s single.
5/31: Should Idol change age limit?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My Idol colleague Donna Reynolds at www.foxesonidol.com suggests they raise the age to 18 so folks like Lisa Tucker and Paris Bennett can mature and be even better a couple years down the road. I agree that Paris, given two or three years, could have won it all. She just wasn’t quite ready.
How about the upper end age limit? Should there even be one? As Donna notes, the producers can cut out anybody remotely geriatric from the pool before they even reach the three judges. Even co-producer Nigel Lythgoe last week suggested raising the age from 28 to 30, a nod to Taylor Hicks, who was on the upper end of the age limit.
I wouldn’t have anything against making it 18 to 30 instead of 16 to 28.
How about an “original music” night like Nashville Star requiring contestants to write something? Should that be a requirement to be “American Idol”? I’m not too keen on that. That’s not a general requirement to be a pop star in this day and age. And it might result in some pretty BAD songs.
Another suggestion Donna made: how about letting them play instruments, at least during the results show, as they allowed Anwar, Carrie and Bo last year? That doesn’t bug me.
Other ideas sound cool: a songwriting contest for the eventual Idol winner so we don’t end up with the crap they fed us this year.
And how about holding performance shows in other cities? Logistically difficult but it could give folks in other cities a chance to see the show.
