In the past two days, I’ve presented my picks for best American Idol videos and albums as part of a 2015 in Review series. Selecting a Top 10 song list was a whole lot more difficult, because even some non-finalists released some fabulous tunes over the past 12 months. But here goes, my picks for…
This year got off to a slow start in terms of American Idol album releases. Through the end of May, we’d gotten just two full-length albums from former contestants from the show. You might say things picked up after that. Nine winners or runners-up wound up releasing albums or EPs in 2015. And that included…
For the last three days, my look back at 2015 has focused on the music released by former contestants of The Voice. Beginning today, we shift our focus to music released by singers who once graced the stage as finalists on American Idol. By my count, former contestants from the show released more than two…
I started this series with my picks for the Top 5 videos of 2015 by former contestants from The Voice. Yesterday, I presented my choices for the Top 5 albums/EPs from the past year. Today? The toughest list of all: my selections for the Top 15 songs released in 2015 by former contestants. Folks, this…
The Idol Chatter / Voice Views 2015 in Review series started yesterday with a look at the Top 5 videos of the year from former contestants on The Voice. Today, let’s turn our attention to the albums and EPs released over the past year. More than 50 past singers from the show released one or…
I get a bit irritated when artists like Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Coldplay or Luke Bryan show up on The Voice stage to hawk their latest singles. The reason is simple: Former contestants from the show — the singers who helped make The Voice so popular — are releasing fantastic music. And they need a…
Over 14 years, American Idol alumni have released dozens upon dozens of covers of Christmas classics. Back in 2004, Clay Aiken released the hottest selling Christmas album of the year, “Merry Christmas with Love,” selling more than 1 million copies. As recently as 2013, Kelly Clarkson hit number three on the Billboard 200 with “Wrapped…
former contestant for Team Blake on The Voice has released a new single. And, yep, you guessed it. That means a new country tune, this time courtesy of Jordan Rager. Jordan, a 21-year-old from Loganville, Ga., landed a spot on The Voice singing “Chicken Fried” way back in Season 2 and advanced to the battle…
David Cook just announced that a familiar face will join him on tour in 2016. That would be Tony Lucca, a finalist on Season 2 of The Voice. “Reality TV stars collide,” wrote Tony on Facebook, where the news was — well, let’s say warmly welcomed. A sampling … Leigh Hicks: “David Cook is the…
The final season of American Idol is just a little more than two weeks away. The Season 15 premiere airs Wednesday, Jan 7. And to help spark interest, the show released clips of three auditioners from that premiere episode today. Below you’ll hear longtime Idol fan Michelle Marie sing LeeAnn Rimes’ “Blue,” Alex Sasser take…
