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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2007 > October > 22
Monday, October 22, 2007
10/23: So You Think You Can Dance tour
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before I get to a brief recap of the “So You Think You Can Dance” tour at Gwinnett Arena Monday night, here’s a spot you can sample the new Carrie Underwood and both her and Bo Bice’s new CDs here. Thanks, MJs Big Blog for finding these. It’ll be interesting to see how many CDs Bo will be able to sell when he’s only selling it at Wal-Mart. I’m certain Carrie will sell at least 300,000 copies, probably closer to 400,000.
The tour at the Gwinnett Arena was a satisfying greatest-dances reprise from the show, a quick two-hours and a half that seemed to go by faster than the “Idol” tour last month. And the dancers fit the personalities we got to know over the summer. Sara, my favorite B-girl, was confident and just plain hot. Lauren was boisterously sweet. Winner Sabra exuded flair and confidence. Neil received the most squeals from the crowd and didn’t disappoint with his acrobatic moves. Pascha was charming, Dominic, a flirty jokester and Danny, technically amazing but emotionally distant. A few backups got to perform, too, including Jesus and break dancer Hok, as well as amazingly sexy couples dancer Anya and unmemorable Shauna, who covered for an injured Lacey adequately but not exceptionally.
The tour producers didn’t mess with most of the best dances, such as the robot hip-hop dance with Lauren and Pascha, Lauren and Neal’s “Angel and Devil” and the “Sweet Dreams” table dance with Sabra and Neil.
Here’s a video from the Philly stop of that “Sweet Dreams” dance:
I would have liked to have seen more extensive solos than the 30-second “dance for your life” bits mostly taken from the show, too. There were a few cool group dances, including one from the “Lion King.” And the video clips meshed seamlessly between dances. (A review of the season which included that Kennesaw robot dancer got huge cheers.)
The audience was heavily female, slightly younger than the “Idol” crowd a month ago. It was also slightly smaller, the small top balcony areas empty. But I’d say it was still at least 7,000 people, a very solid audience number.
I’ll post something more extensive info later today with photos I took from about 30 feet away from an inadequate camera and link to our pro Robb Cohen’s much better shots.
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10/22: Kellie Pickler at Philips
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I checked in Friday evening for Kellie Pickler’s opening set at the Rascal Flatts concert at Philips Arena just to see how she’s matured and improved on stage over the past year.
She sounded a little raspier than normal. Her voice lacks the depth of Carrie Underwood but it still provides plenty of texture and warmth. Plus, she still has charm in spades. Though much of what she said during the show sounded like stuff she spouts every concert, she did crack at one point, “I forgot to brush my teeth. Nobody should get too close to me!”
I sat about 50 feet away and with no video cameras offering closeups, I couldn’t get a take on her makeup. But from my distance, she looked good. She had a blond bob she’s worn for awhile now, a pink tank top that showed off her new pups without being tawdry, tight blue jeans and those signature red high heels.
Her seven-song set included six cuts from her “Small Town Girl” CD and one new song. (No covers!)
1- “Gotta Keep Moving”
2- “The Best Day of Your Life” - This is a song she and Taylor Swift co-wrote while touring with Brad Paisley over the summer. She said it was targeted at past bad boyfriends whose lives will only go downhill after breaking it off with her. It’s actually a pretty good tune.
3- “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind” - This is her third single off her CD and it was spun 11 times last week on Kicks. It’s got that honky-tonk flavor and should have no problem becoming her third top 30 hit. Kellie does lack that edgy grime that Gretchen Wilson could shellack on this tune and give it an extra kick. But it’s a solid song.
4- “Didn’t Know How Much I Loved You” - She said this is her favorite cut off her album. It’s a decent ballad.
5- “Small Town Girl” - This was the first song she ever wrote about Albermarle, N.C.
6- “I Wonder” - A truly touching tune about her estranged relationship with her mom that still works after multiple hearings.
7- “Red High Heels” -The song that kickstarted her CD a year ago and gave her her first top 15 hit on the country charts.
Amazingly, Kellie is the third-best selling artist so far from season five. Here are the eight finalists who have released CDs and their sales.
1- Daughtry 3.19 million - His third single is chugging along to another top 10 so I expect sales to easily exceed 3.5 million by year’s end.
2- Taylor 696K This one is going to strugle even to hit 700K at this point.
3- Kellie 637K - If that third single becomes even a modest hit, she has a chance to exceed Taylor’s total.
4- Elliott 422K His second single is “One Word.” “Wait For You” was a big surprise hit and we’ll see if he can strike gold again. He just received a “gold” designation, which means 500K delivered.
5- Kat 358K I get the impression no more singles are forthcoming on this CD so she’s not going to get much more in sales.
6- Bucky 285K He has a second single “It’s Good To Be Us” out after his first one “A Different World” made it to the top 10.
7- Mandisa 53K
8- Paris 20K
These are all Nielsen Soundscan sales estimates. The total sales for all eight season five finalists are 5.66 million, a majority from Daughtry alone.
