'Idol' Hot 100: "Already Gone" #19 (11/21/09)

For the first time in four weeks, Carrie Underwood did not see one of her singles debut on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of Nov. 21. She did, however, witness one of the album tracks off her new disc Play On debut on the Bubbling Under chart.

The story of the week was the resiliency of Kelly Clarkson's current single "Already Gone," was it re-entered the Top 20 at #19, up two spots from the previous week. This ties the song's second-highest placement on the chart to date.

Next up was Carrie's "Cowboy Casanova," which was up considerably to #21 from #27 the previous week. Expect the hit country single to climb even higher on next week's post-CMA Awards chart. As mentioned earlier, Carrie's song "Change" made its debut on the Bubbling Under chart, coming in at #9. Adam Lambert's debut "For Your Entertainment" debuted on the same chart two spots higher at #7.

And Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying" was back on the chart at #92, three spots lower than its debut on the Hot 100 back on its Oct. 17 edition.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
19 21 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
21 27 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova"
92 -- Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying"

Bubbling Under
07 -- Adam Lambert, "For Your Entertainment"
09 -- Carrie Underwood, "Change"

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Album review: Ayla Brown's 'Ayla Brown Live!'

In her first release since 2006’s ‘Forward,’ Ayla Brown connects with veteran R&B acts The James Montgomery Blues Band and The Uptown Horns on her live album ‘Ayla Brown Live!’ The album, courtesy of Double Deal Brand Records, marks a critical step forward in Brown’s recording career.

Leaving behind the polished feeling found in the comfort of the recording studio, Brown takes to the stage with the aforementioned bands for great, raw vocal performances.

Kicking things off on the basketball-themed “Breaking Away,” which appeared on ‘Forward,’ Brown shows off her spunky side while hanging onto a few extra long notes. She is able to maintain a healthy margin in her vocal comfort zone and does not overreach at any point during the performance.

Cover songs play a major role on ‘Live!’ as Brown gives her own spin on classics like “Dancing In the Streets” and “Respect.” On the former, Brown’s vocals mesh well with the harmonica and other instruments that do not normally accompany her. As for the latter, Brown transforms into a sultry soul songstress and displays her incredible range and masterful inflections. In both cases, Brown is sure to give the bands their dues by letting them feature instrumental solos.

It is on “Some Kind of Wonderful,” however, where Brown ratchets her performing skills up to another stratosphere, as she really reaches down into the depths of her soul to deliver a sassy Christina Aguilera-like showcase, with the highlight of the track coming at its finale.

As for her cover of Macy Gray’s “Come Together,” the track was written with James Montgomery and The Uptown Horns in mind, as its funky style creates a relaxed atmosphere and its lyrics carry a positive message (“And the sun shines laughter when we live as one / And there’s peace with those who believe in love”). The album’s finale comes in the form of Brown’s take on “Absolutely Everybody,” which takes on a life of its own thanks to the brass instrumentation that surrounds her emotion-laced vocals.

The iTunes bonus track, a studio version of “Come Together,” is an ear-pleasing piece that incorporates all the strong points of the live version while allowing for a polished final product.

With a little help from veteran acts The James Montgomery Blues Band and The Uptown Horns, Ayla Brown nails her foray into live albums and keeps fans invested in her career ahead of her forthcoming studio release ‘Circles’ in April 2010.

Ayla Brown Live! can now be purchased at iTunes ($6.93).

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Poll of the week: Fans most excited for 'For Your Entertainment'

Ahead of a busy holiday release season for Idol alums, IDOL LIVE readers have selected Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment as the album they're most looking forward to.

46 votes in all were cast in favor of the eighth season runner-up's post-Idol album, good for 40% of the total take. Adam's chief competitor, both on the show and now off, Kris Allen, was able to amass 27% of the total votes cast, which turned out to be 32 in all.

The remaining three albums that were up for voting were pretty much evenly split, as Katharine McPhee's Unbroken was next with 16 votes (13%), followed by Jason Castro's self-titled album with 11 votes (9%) and Allison Iraheta's Just Like You with 10 votes (8%).

In this week's edition of the poll of the week, readers are asked which performance from an Idol they are most looking forward to at the 2009 American Music Awards. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

'Kris Allen' (Kris Allen) 32 (27%)
'Jason Castro' (Jason Castro) 11 (9%)
'Just Like You' (Allison Iraheta) 10 (8%)
'For Your Entertainment' (Adam Lambert) 46 (40%)
'Unbroken' (Katharine McPhee) 16 (13%)

Total votes: 115

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CMA Awards wrap-up: Carrie co-hosts, performs but goes home empty-handed

It wasn't as big night for Idol alums at the 2009 CMA Awards as it should have been.

Carrie Underwood co-hosted the show with Brad Paisley and therefore received the most stage time of any other woman at the Sommet Center in Nashville, but you never would have guessed based on the huge night 19-year-old pop/country superstar Taylor Swift had. Swift not only beat out Carrie in the "Music Video of the Year" and "Female Vocalist of the Year" categories, she nabbed the ultra-coveted "Entertainer of the Year" award among a crowded field of veteran competitors.

Carrie briefly grabbed attention away from Swift's buzz when she took to the stage to put on a scorching performance of "Cowboy Casanova." Watch the exhibition below:

Amid an array of outfit changes, Carrie was able to dish out plenty of laughs with jokes through song about figures like Brooks & Dunn, Kanye West and even epidemics like swine flu. In the funniest moment of the night, 88-year-old Jimmy Jones "interrupted" Carrie and Paisley while they were introducing an act, which of course was a mock of the Kanye-Taylor Swift episode that happened earlier this year at MTV's VMA Awards.

Also taking to the stage was Daughtry, who did a duet of "Tennessee Line" with Vince Gill. Watch the performance below:



Kellie Pickler turned up a few times, once introducing an act and a second time in the audience where she was sitting next to a little boy.

Additionally, Idol alums and fellow up-and-coming country artists Danny Gokey and Diana DeGarmo made appearances at the celebration. Photos of them arriving on the red carpet are up on WireImage.

As for my predictions, I was wrong on both accounts, as Carrie went home empty-handed for the first time at the CMA Awards, as she and Randy Travis lost out to Paisley and Keith Urban for "Musical Event of the Year." And although Carrie was not attached to it, her single "I Told You So" lost out in the "Song of the Year" category. Hopefully next year is kinder to her.

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HITS predix: Carrie Underwood's 'Play On' 140-150k

According to HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart, Carrie Underwood's Play On might possibly be able to eke out a second straight week atop the album sales chart.

Despite a crowded field, Play On is expected to be engaged in a four-way fight for the top, each within the vicinity of 140-150k. Carrie's competitors include albums from Bon Jovi, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Jackson.

Be sure to check back on Friday for revised predictions.

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Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Lifetime"

In her third single release ahead of her sophomore album ‘Unbroken’ (Jan. 5), Katharine McPhee touches a tender chord on the bubbly “Lifetime.”

On “Lifetime,” McPhee’s vocals sway with the breezy mood and light instrumentation, resulting in an extra sweet product. The sing-songy feeling found here could seem corny if it were to be applied to a song of another theme but it does not feel out of place in the slightest. One of six tracks co-written by McPhee on ‘Unbroken,’ “Lifetime” features lyrics that fit the song’s good-natured style to a T (“Highs and lows will come your way / there’s no need to be afraid”) and is an easy candidate for wedding playlists for years to come.

If “Lifetime” is any indication of Katharine McPhee’s songwriting ability, things are looking bright and sunny for the rest of her forthcoming project.

"Lifetime" is now available to download at iTunes ($0.99). Unbroken is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com and will be released on Tues., Jan. 5.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Carrie Underwood at the 2009 CMA Awards

Award shows are beginning to become old news to Carrie Underwood, as she consistently wins more categories that she's nominated than she loses at, from AMAs to ACMs and even Grammys. As she prepares to co-host the CMA Awards with fellow country star Brad Paisley for the second year in a row, Carrie looks to sweep the categories she's nominated in.

See my predictions of how Idol-related nominations will fare in tonight's live broadcast below:

>Female Vocalist of the Year

Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Once again, Carrie will have no problem nabbing the coveted "Female Vocalist of the Year" award, as she continues to prove her stardom by delivering top-notch vocal performances year after year. Although Taylor Swift obviously has the public in her corner because she's country's current "it girl," her vocals do not match up to any of those belonging to her fellow nominees. The fact that Carrie has owned this award since she was first eligible in 2006 also bodes well for her chances.

>Musical Event of the Year

"Cowgirls Don't Cry" - Brooks & Dunn with Reba McEntire
"Down The Road" - Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally
"Everything But Quits" - Lee Ann Womack with George Strait
"I Told You So" - Carrie Underwood with Randy Travis
"Old Enough" - The Raconteurs with Ricky Skaggs & Ashley Monroe
"Start a Band" - Brad Paisley with Keith Urban

This is another category in which Carrie will have to try hard to lose. Her duet on "I Told You So" with Randy Travis went to #1 on the country charts earlier this year, and the fact that the song was originally sung by Travis will greatly help their cause for taking this category. It could be argued that Paisley and Keith Urban are a competitive force with their "Start a Band," but they'll take home plenty of other awards during the course of the night so this one won't be a huge loss to them.

The 2009 CMA Awards will be broadcast on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. Carrie is slated to perform "Cowboy Casanova" and Daughtry will duet with Vince Gill on "Tennessee Line" of the band's sophomore album Leave This Town.

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Digital sales roundup: "Cowboy Casanova" #19 (11/21/09)

It was a very big week for debuts from Idol alums on the latest edition of Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, with six new entries in all.

In keeping with the theme of "Carrie Underwood week" thanks to the release of the fourth season's champ's Play On, four album tracks sold well enough to make the chart in addition to lead single "Cowboy Casanova." The latter moved up #33-19, an increase of 66%, and sold 63.7k for the week, putting its total at 432.3k.

Other tracks by Carrie to make the chart include "Change" (#75, 19.8k), "Quitter" (#101, 15.1k), "Play On" (#126, 11.9k) and "Someday When I Stop Loving You" (#140, 10.4k).

Also continuing to show chart success was Kelly Clarkson's slow-burning masterpiece "Already Gone," which was up 11% in sales to 47.3k. It jumped six spots to #25 and has sold 663.7k to date. Next up was Adam Lambert's debut single "For Your Entertainment," which had an odd release after being available only on Wednesday of last week. The single debuted at #82 with 18.4k, which, if you're keeping score, is a little higher than Kris Allen's first week sales for "Live Like We're Dying" (15.8k), though to be fair Kris' single became available on a Friday, so it most likely would have done better than Adam's single if released on a comparable time frame.

This week, "Dying" was up 36 spots to #103 thanks to a 41% sales increase to 14.8k. It has now sold 98.2k in all. And Allison Iraheta's debut single "Friday I'll Be Over U" entered at #162 with 9.1k. This is another single that has had a fumbled digital release, as it was originally made available a few weeks back but was pulled before officially going for release last Monday. It has sold 9.8k when factoring in the early sales.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

019 033 Carrie Underwood, "Cowboy Casanova" 63,664 66% 38,459 432,312
025 031 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" 47,293 11% 42,786 663,658
075 --- Carrie Underwood, "Change" 19,772 999% 1 19,773
082 --- Adam Lambert, "For Your Entertainment" 18,397 999 0 18,397
101 --- Carrie Underwood, "Quitter" 15,060 999% 0 15,060
103 139 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying" 14,754 41% 10,444 98,151
126 --- Carrie Underwood, "Play On" 11,869 999% 0 11,869
140 --- Carrie Underwood, "Someday Whhen...Loving You" 10,431 999% 0 10,431
162 --- Allison Iraheta, "Friday I'll Be Over U" 9,073 999% 60 9,822

Total sales are in bold.

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HITS estimates: 'Play On' #1

After weeks of dry spells, the heaviest hitter of all Idol alums saw her latest disc debut on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart ahead of a busy holiday release schedule.

Carrie Underwood's third studio album, Play On, easily bested all other new entries to land at #1 in its first week of release. The album pulled in an estimated 312.9k, which is within HDD's original prediction of 300-350k but slightly below its revised predictions of 320-340k. These numbers are also below my cautiously optimistic prediction of 365k.

Although these numbers may appear a little disappointing compared to Carrie's two previous releases (they are her lowest debut sales to date), the current CD sales climate is a major factor compared to a few years ago when her music first hit the scene. The fact that she was able to have her album debut at the pinnacle of the chart is good enough news.

Regardless of its debut figures, expect big things from Play On heading into the holiday season.

Finalized sales figures courtesy of Billboard should be out by the end of the week. Hopefully its numbers are a little bit on the higher side.

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