And then there were two.
Following last night’s (5/19) exit of Haley Reinhart from American Idol, only country contestants Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina remain. That’s right, an all country finale, which has never happened in the show’s 11 seasons.
No matter who wins, this is great news for Nashville. We get not just one, but two, Idol voter-approved talents to mold into the next future stars. But as is the case with any new artist, there will be some important hurdles. Below is an examination of those hurdles and an Idol finale scorecard.
First off, let’s talk talent. Detractors have criticized Scotty for not being a great singer or perhaps sounding too much like Josh Turner. Sure he may not be the rangiest vocalist out there, and he may have sung “Your Man” one too many times in the early rounds, but I haven’t heard him hit too many sour notes so far. He seems to know his limitations and wisely stays close to his sweet spot. Lauren, on the other hand, is a naturally gifted singer with a gorgeous tone and extraordinary range. She gets the win in this category.
Haley Reinhart
There’s also an aspect of preparedness to consider. Scotty has a definite lead in this category, showing a confidence onstage and in front of the camera that belies his 17 years. He also has a keen ability to adapt and make instinctively appropriate choices for the moment, like choosing
Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You” on the Wednesday following Osama Bin Laden’s death.
By comparison, Lauren’s song choices seem completely slapdash. For example, her own song choice for Wednesday’s (5/18) highly critical Top 3 show was
Faith Hill’s cute-but-forgettable “Wild One.” Hardly a slam dunk. And I’m still not exactly clear how she sees herself as an artist… is she more
Miranda or
Martina or something completely different? Issues her label will have to confront.
Country radio is still an important piece of the puzzle, and Scotty in particular may face some challenges there. If
Phyllis Stark’s recent
article for Radio-Info is any indication, many country PDs and MDs aren’t going to be signing up for the Scotty fan club anytime soon. The response to Lauren was less hostile, provided that she comes with some A-plus material.
Hopefully, some of these folks in country radio will come to their senses and realize that both artists are young and still developing their skills. They should also pause to consider just how many of their listeners (and potential new ones) have been calling to vote for these kids (95 million total votes this week, fyi). And I won’t want to presume to speak for the labels here, but I imagine great care will be taken to ensure Scotty is not just a Josh Turner soundalike. His performances and choices suggest a wide range of ability and taste and it shouldn’t be a problem for him to bury that criticism.
Lastly, there’s a certain all-important X factor. Scotty has this in droves. He’s the all-American kid that helps your grandmother cross the street and rescues helpless kittens out of trees. Seriously, how can you compete with something that symbolic? To her credit, Lauren possesses a likeable southern girl charm but she’s no match for Scotty in this area.
Yes, both contestants have some checks in their columns. Both are distinct talents with their own set of pluses and minuses. But for my money, nothing short of the supposed
Rapture tomorrow is going to stop Scotty from being crowned the next
American Idol.
John Rich Wins "The Celebrity Apprentice"
/by Sarah SkatesJohn Rich hears he is winner of The Celebrity Apprentice.
John Rich was named winner of NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice last night (5/22) by Donald Trump. The season finale aired live from the Skirball Theatre in New York City, where Rich became the show’s first country music winner, beating out actress Marlee Matlin.
In last night’s episode, Rich surprised everyone by playing his “Trump card” and becoming the first contestant to bring in additional money in the finale. Rich added a donation of $250,000 from Dollar General and Reckitt Benckiser, and $25,000 from The Melting Pot. Rich also performed his new song “For the Kids” during the episode.
As the newest Celebrity Apprentice, Rich received a $250,000 prize for his charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The show’s charity earnings for the season totaled $3,120,852 – the largest amount ever raised by a TV series.
“Today has been an unbelievable day!” said Rich. “I got Trump to put on a Stetson hat on national television and now I get to drive down to Memphis with a $250,000 check for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. This entire experience has been for the kids and I’m so excited to raise money for this cause and help save lives. Everyone, please purchase the song ‘For the Kids.’ All of the proceeds will go straight to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital!”
Last week, Rich released two new Six Pak albums via Warner Music Nashville: Rich Rocks and For the Kids. He has also teamed with fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestants Meat Loaf, Lil Jon and Mark McGrath to record “Stand In The Storm,” a new single benefiting their respective charities from the show.
John Rich chats with St. Jude patient T'Ara during a recent visit to the hospital to shoot for the show's finale episode.
Grant Williams Offers Singer Mini-Clinic
/by admin“What you get in a MiniClinic that you don’t get in a private session is the opportunity to learn by seeing these techniques at work in other singers,” says Grant-Williams, vocal coach to the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Christina Aquilera, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Miley Cyrus, Keith Urban, Linda Ronstadt, Charlie Daniels and others.
Voice coach Grant-Williams has appeared on numerous broadcast outlets including MTV, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, GAC, CMT, and USA. She has been quoted by and written for numerous print publications including Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, US Weekly, the New York Times, Associated Press and Country Weekly. For more details visit www.MyVoiceCoach.com.
Americana Nominees To Be Announced Live From NY
/by adminRosanne Cash will read the nominee list and music will be offered from Levon Helm and his Dirt Farmer quartet, Jim Lauderdale, The Civil Wars and some surprise guests! Nashville Mayor Karl Dean will be in attendance to make remarks about the association and Music City.
Paisley To Debut Video & Release Album
/by Michelle(L-R): Brad Paisley, Teddy Gentry, Rick Hendrick, owner Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Owen and Jeff Cook Photo: Ben Enos
Brad Paisley will attend the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 21 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and world premiere his new video, “Old Alabama,” on multiple platforms, including SPEED, NASCAR.com and the world’s largest HD video board at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The video for “Old Alabama” features NASCAR legends Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick and Alabama. It was directed by Jim Shea and produced by Mark Kalbfeld, who also directed and produced Paisley’s award winning videos “Waitin’ On A Woman,” “Start A Band,” “When I Get Where I’m Going” and “Welcome To The Future.” The video was shot on country roads in Charlotte, NC, and several takes took place at Hendrick Motor Sports Complex in Concord, NC.
As previously announced, artist royalties from the digital single sales of “Old Alabama” are being donated for tornado relief via the American Red Cross.
His 9th studio album, This Is Country Music, will be released on Monday, May 23. Paisley’s 15-track collection, with 12 co-written by Paisley, is produced by Frank Rogers. His first studio album since American Saturday Night (July of 2009) includes guest performances by Carrie Underwood (the duet, “Remind Me”), Don Henley (“Love Her Like She’s Leavin’”), Blake Shelton (“Don’t Drink the Water”), Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow and Carl Jackson (“Life’s Railway to Heaven”) and Clint Eastwood (the instrumental, “Eastwood”).
(L-R): Jim Shea, director and Brad Paisley Photo: Ben Enos
Eye On Idol (5/20/11)
/by FreemanAnd then there were two.
Following last night’s (5/19) exit of Haley Reinhart from American Idol, only country contestants Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina remain. That’s right, an all country finale, which has never happened in the show’s 11 seasons.
No matter who wins, this is great news for Nashville. We get not just one, but two, Idol voter-approved talents to mold into the next future stars. But as is the case with any new artist, there will be some important hurdles. Below is an examination of those hurdles and an Idol finale scorecard.
First off, let’s talk talent. Detractors have criticized Scotty for not being a great singer or perhaps sounding too much like Josh Turner. Sure he may not be the rangiest vocalist out there, and he may have sung “Your Man” one too many times in the early rounds, but I haven’t heard him hit too many sour notes so far. He seems to know his limitations and wisely stays close to his sweet spot. Lauren, on the other hand, is a naturally gifted singer with a gorgeous tone and extraordinary range. She gets the win in this category.
Haley Reinhart
There’s also an aspect of preparedness to consider. Scotty has a definite lead in this category, showing a confidence onstage and in front of the camera that belies his 17 years. He also has a keen ability to adapt and make instinctively appropriate choices for the moment, like choosing Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You” on the Wednesday following Osama Bin Laden’s death.
By comparison, Lauren’s song choices seem completely slapdash. For example, her own song choice for Wednesday’s (5/18) highly critical Top 3 show was Faith Hill’s cute-but-forgettable “Wild One.” Hardly a slam dunk. And I’m still not exactly clear how she sees herself as an artist… is she more Miranda or Martina or something completely different? Issues her label will have to confront.
Country radio is still an important piece of the puzzle, and Scotty in particular may face some challenges there. If Phyllis Stark’s recent article for Radio-Info is any indication, many country PDs and MDs aren’t going to be signing up for the Scotty fan club anytime soon. The response to Lauren was less hostile, provided that she comes with some A-plus material.
Hopefully, some of these folks in country radio will come to their senses and realize that both artists are young and still developing their skills. They should also pause to consider just how many of their listeners (and potential new ones) have been calling to vote for these kids (95 million total votes this week, fyi). And I won’t want to presume to speak for the labels here, but I imagine great care will be taken to ensure Scotty is not just a Josh Turner soundalike. His performances and choices suggest a wide range of ability and taste and it shouldn’t be a problem for him to bury that criticism.
Lastly, there’s a certain all-important X factor. Scotty has this in droves. He’s the all-American kid that helps your grandmother cross the street and rescues helpless kittens out of trees. Seriously, how can you compete with something that symbolic? To her credit, Lauren possesses a likeable southern girl charm but she’s no match for Scotty in this area.
Yes, both contestants have some checks in their columns. Both are distinct talents with their own set of pluses and minuses. But for my money, nothing short of the supposed Rapture tomorrow is going to stop Scotty from being crowned the next American Idol.
Cloud Battle Will Rain On Consumers
/by FreemanApple has reportedly signed a licensing deal with EMI Music for a cloud-based music service, and is close to finalizing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music.
Warner Music Group reached an agreement with Apple last month, and having EMI on board will bring the tech giant one step closer to offering a full-featured cloud music service. At present, available cloud options from Google and Amazon are unlicensed.
Once deals from Sony and Universal are finalized, Apple will be in a position to offer a service with more bells and whistles than its rivals. With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on the horizon for June 6, the company might finally be ready to unveil the long-awaited service.
It remains unclear, however, which new options and features will be part of the Apple cloud experience. One possibility is the ability to scan a user’s iTunes library and match tracks with existing master copies in the cloud, thereby eliminating the need to upload gigabytes of files. Apple could also charge a subscription fee for cloud usage.
The stripped-down Amazon cloud interface could stand some improvement. Aside from a clunky file uploading process, it’s essentially just a hard drive with some navigational features to help track down the album, artist or song desired. Furthermore, the service offers no clear way to find any track-specific information like number of plays or year released. On the upside, users can apparently download the files to any computer and new mp3 purchases from Amazon are automatically sent to the cloud.
But there’s also also a strange disconnect between the Cloud Player and Amazon’s massive retail arm. One of the things that has always made Amazon such a vital and exciting place to shop is its discovery and recommendation engine. If a user rates, say, the latest Miranda Lambert album AND an old Talking Heads record, then Amazon makes all kinds of recommendations based on the purchasing habits of other users who own similar things. None of that appears to be happening in the cloud.
This is one area where the iTunes cloud service will likely triumph over its competitors. As an organizing tool, iTunes is without peer. Presumably Apple will inject its cloud product with a similar logic for grouping and sorting music in myriad ways. If it can also include an engaging recommendation tool that will encourage users to explore and discover, Apple will have the edge.
The major labels are rumored to be pulling for Apple to win the cloud battle. If a fully-licensed Apple cloud takes a huge chunk of the digital music marketplace, then Amazon and Google will be forced to secure licenses for their services to stay relevant.
Submissions Open For CMA Broadcast Awards
/by adminThe Country Music Association has begun accepting online submissions for the 2011 CMA Broadcast Awards at Broadcast.cmaawards.com. Categories include Broadcast Personality and Station of the Year in four different market sizes (major, large, medium, and small), as well as CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year. Submissions are accepted until 5 p.m. CDT on June 30.
All entries must reflect performances and events between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. CMA’s panel of judges, which includes more than 40 distinguished radio and industry professionals, will be able to view and evaluate each entry online. After the judges’ scores are submitted, Deloitte & Touche LLP® will tabulate the winners.
Winners will then be notified in early October and recognized at “The 45th Annual CMA Awards,” which will be held later this year in Nashville. The annual gala, which is known as “Country Music’s Biggest Night,” will be broadcast live on the ABC Television Network.
To submit an entry, CMA member radio stations and broadcast personalities in the U.S. and Canada should log on to Broadcast.CMAawards.com, where guidelines and instructions for entries are posted.
RPM Inks Publishing Deal With Idol Finalist
/by admin(L-R) MTM’s Rusty Harmon, RPM’s Scott Siman, Bo Bice and RPM’s Blake Chancey.
Singer/songwriter Bo Bice has been signed to RPM Music for publishing. “I’m proud to welcome Bo to the RPM family,” says company President Scott Siman. “We value Bo’s great experience and creativity and both staff and writers look forward to the music they will be creating together.”
Bice, who was an American Idol finalist in season 4, is currently represented by Rusty Harmon of MTM Management. MTM’s roster also includes Scarletta and Yarn. Former clients include Jason Michael Carroll plus Hootie and the Blowfish.
RPM Music is co-owned by Siman and Blake Chancey. The company’s catalog includes rights to songs such as “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (Alan Jackson), “I’m Movin’ On” (Rascal Flatts) and “Leave the Pieces” (The Wreckers), among others. Recent hits include “What Kinda Gone” (Chris Cagle), “Anything Goes” (Randy Houser), and Montgomery Gentry singles “One in Every Crowd” “Long Line of Losers” and “Oughta Be A Song About That.” The RPM Music writer roster includes Aubrey Collins, Benji Harris, Nathan Stoops, and Katie Rae Davis.
AFTRA Praises LimeWire Settlement, Requests Info From Labels
/by FreemanThe union has also requested information from each of the major labels and subsidiaries involved, with the aim of securing a fair and appropriate share of the settlement to AFTRA recording and non-royalty artists in accordance with the union’s agreement with the labels.
“As the exclusive collective bargaining representative and voice of recording artists, AFTRA applauds this landmark settlement which awards our members their fair share of the monies they are owed as a result of LimeWire’s infringement of our members’ copyrighted works,” says Randall Himes, AFTRA Assistant National Executive Director for Sound Recordings. “AFTRA is moving quickly and aggressively to ensure that the settlement monies are apportioned fairly and disbursed timely to ensure that all artists, including AFTRA members get their rightful share.”
Specifics of the label agreement aren’t provided, but the 2010 winter edition of AFTRA Magazine claims that 90 percent of members’ earnings are tied to physical and digital sales.
Artists Salute Soldiers For Memorial Day
/by Sarah SkatesDarryl Worley
• • • Darryl Worley is donating $1.00 from each paid digital download of his new song “Unsung Heroes” to the U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command (FMWRC), and the 9/11 Families for a Secure America Foundation. The song is also available for free download for those serving in the military, past to present.
• • • Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Randy Travis are donating a portion of proceeds from his Cracker Barrel CD exclusive to the Wounded Warrior Project. The self-titled album contains nine classic hits and three previously unreleased songs.
• • • James Otto will give away handwritten, autographed lyrics for his latest single “Soldiers and Jesus” in honor of Memorial Day. The contest is open at www.facebook.com/jamesotto until Monday, May 30.
• • • Lee Greenwood has a new version of his patriotic anthem, “God Bless The USA.” He is giving away digital downloads of the song with all pre-sale orders of his upcoming book from Tate Publishing, Does God Still Bless The USA? The book will be in stores July 4 and includes the new version of “God Bless The USA,” and new single “Show Me the Way.”