I got called to do a show in Las Vegas and it will be a four-month show. I'm not allowed to say the casino yet, but it's going to be with two "Idol" winners and a couple of finalists, and I'm just going to be hosting it.Can I bet cash money that the two former winners prepared to commit to four months in Vegas are Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard? Fantasia's touring nationally with The Color Purple, and I'd have to think Clarkson, Underwood, Sparks, Cook and Allen are way too successful to take such a step now.
Monday, March 8, 2010
AND I AM TELLING YOU I PROBABLY WILL NOT BE GOING: Beloved former Idol semifinalist (and Brookfield, Conn. native) Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell talks to his local paper about being Wendy Williams' Idol correspondent for her tv show and, more importantly for our purposes:
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Smart money says that you're right, Adam. It seems like the best use of Taylor Hicks, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a Pareto-optimal appearance of Hicks, depending in part on which casino it's at. (Flamingo's the safe bet, right?)
ReplyDeleteNo one is too successful for Vegas. Didn't two of the biggest names in showbiz spend a lot of time there?
ReplyDeleteFrank Sinatra and Elvis?
Sparks is certainly no more successful than Ruben and Hicks, hasn't sold as many albums as either of them.
David Cooks not doing much either. Could be anybody. But great for whoever is doing it. Sounds good.
Mmm. There has been a misconception that folks after Season 5 have not done well. But, unlike Hicks, both Sparks and Cook sold platinum with their debut albums, and all three of the Idol winners from Seasons 6 to 8 have had at least one single sell platinum and do well on radio, which Hicks never did.
ReplyDeleteBut the other question is who could both sell tickets and be willing to tie himself/herself down to Vegas. Four of the Idol winners have shown that they can sell a lot of tickets as a headliner---Clarkson, Underwood, Hicks, and Cook. [Hicks can't sell CDs very well, but he can sell concert tickets.] Of those four, I've got to think that Hicks is the one who'd be willing to set up in Vegas.
"One Step At A Time," "Tattoo," and "No Air" all still get a decent amount of radio play, and "No Air" (I suspect) got a sales bump from "Glee." Sparks isn't on the level of Clarkson and Underwood or the pits of Studdard/Hicks, but somewhere in between.
ReplyDeleteSounds about right, especially if you throw in her single Battlefield.
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that David Cook is doing pretty well. His tour last summer did pretty well (my friends and I couldn't get tickets when he played in my area) and I think he's writing his second album right now. Has he achieved the same level of success as Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood? No. But I wouldn't really put him at the same level as Ruben or Hicks.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking it's Hicks in Vegas.
Note to self: read all comments before commenting. If I had, I could've just typed: "What Jenn said!"
ReplyDeleteI live in rural Virginia and saw a commercial last week for a concert Rueben was giving at a church in Lynchburg, VA. Tix were going for $10-15, I think. He'd probably LOVE a Vegas gig.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's two winners, says Mitchell, so the Hicks/Studdard SoulTown Express?
ReplyDeleteSounds right. I wonder who the other two finalists will turn out to be?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be the outlier and say one of the winners is Allen. I just looked at his tour page - a lot of state fairs and amusement parks - 17 dates through Sept 2010. His album was out Sept 09. There's just not a lot of there there, and so why not cash in while he can (and why not have 19 cash in while they can).
ReplyDeleteAllen's album actually wasn't released until November 17, 2009.
ReplyDeleteI think his current tour date page is misrepresentative of his success thus far (and I believe most of last season's idols are just now planning their tours, so it's a work in progress). His current single has been riding pretty high on the charts (HAC, Pop and AC) for a couple of months, and I believe it just went platinum this week. And at some of the tour dates you mentioned, he is opening for One Republic, Daughtry and Keith Urban (one of which is a concert in Vegas in April). He also just got back from a tour in Southeast Asia.
As for earnings, I think someone here at ALOTT5MA posted some preliminary earning numbers just a week or so ago that showed he earned about $650,000 last year, and that didn't even include the summer tour.
From what I know, I think he's under the same management as Daughtry, and they seem to rely on widening audience appeal and fanbase by having their artists open for better known acts. I just don't see them setting up a 4-month Vegas gig for Allen at this point.
It seems a little early to be giving up the ghost on mainstream success for Allen. (And I do think that setting up shop in Vegas would be giving up that ghost.) His album hasn't sold a huge amount, but it's still got time to grow. And his single is getting some good radio airplay, selling well, etc. He may or may not get to keep his label contract after this album, but I don't think that they'll give up on him breaking out just yet.
ReplyDeleteI take your points and Jenn.'s below and agree with many. You're causing me to doubt my prediction, but I'll still stick with it on the off chance that what's being planned isn't a dumping ground for the friendless unpopular leavings of Idol, one set to take the stage somewhere cheesy replacing something cheesy, but rather an attempt at something larger and less awful. If so, I don't think that this is the tombstone for Allen, and perhaps they can try to insulate him from any failure if it happens.
ReplyDeleteHe can continue to make his county fair and amusement park dates while still being in Vegas much of the time. And if he's not an idiot, he knows that $650K last year (really?) is probably his peak, why not rake it in while there's some it to rake?
I actually like the guy, so I hope he does better than the average idol winner. While I watch AI most of the time, Kris' debut album is the only winner's album I've ever purchased. I'd say he's probably got about 4 to 5 songs on the album that would make really good singles, if Jive promotes him well enough. He ended up being their 3rd best-selling artist last year - which shocked even me.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh about the $650k. The article that the figures came out in actually stated that the $650k was the minimum he made last year from what they could piece together. In all likelihood, he made a fair bit more than that. I think the same article claimed most idol winners make in excess of a million their first year after Idol.
I suspect the Vegas show is probably a last ditch effort for the cast offs of Idol to make some dough, but maybe you're right in that they're reaching for something more. Wonder when we'll know who all the participants are.
I found an article about the $650K and $450 of it are an advance on his album royalties and royalties under a 3-year merchandising contract. So while he received it last year, it's possible he'll see nothing else under either contract. It's also possible that he'll see a lot more, but I'm dubious. (I guess if there's one thing that I've been successful in arguing so far, it's that I'm dubious about Allen.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we'll see when we see. I was just flying in the face of conventional wisdom, which is often conventionally correct, so I'm ready to be wrong.
Melinda Doolittle?
ReplyDeleteOh, I know you're just throwing out a guess. I wasn't trying to be all up in your face about it. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I say I laughed at your 650K (really?), I mean I literally laughed. (I had the same reaction to how much they pay the contestants).
BTW, I saw David Cook in concert last year, and really enjoyed it. If he comes your way on his next tour, I definitely recommend trying to see him.
ReplyDelete