Idol Chatter & Voice Views

In case you hadn’t heard, former American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke released a new single this week.

The song is called “Strobelight,” and it’s a dance tune that stemmed from a collaboration with American Idol judge Randy Jackson.

You can hear a snippet of the song on Kimberley’s MySpace page.

Kimberley finished third on season two of American Idol. “Strobelight” marks her first musical release since a 2007 Christmas album.

Speaking of dance tunes, Billboard’s dance club chart bears about the only good news on the music charts for Idols this week.

Blake Lewis, runner-up in season six of American Idol, finds himself just one spot away from his first number one hit.

“Heartbreak On Vinyl” moves up from number three to number two on the dance club chart this week. Only Ono’s “Give Me Something” stands between it and the top spot.

“Heartbreak” marks Blake’s third top 15 dance single. “Sad Song,” the first single off his current album, reached number 11 on the Billboard charts; “How Many Words,” from his 2007 debut album, rose as high as number eight.

Elsewhere on the music charts this week …

Kris Allen: “Live Like We’re Dying” dipped three more spots to number 26 among Billboard’s Hot 100 singles. The song holds steady at number 17 on the pop songs chart. Kris’ debut album dropped out of the Billboard 200 for the first time last week.

Daughtry: “Life After You” also seems to have run out of steam on the Hot 100. After lingering in the low 30s lately, the song dips to 46 on the chart. It’s now number 21 on the pop songs chart, down four notches. Curiously, Daughtry’s second album heads in the opposite direction on the Billboard 200, moving up from 72 to 66.

Danny Gokey: His first single, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me” cracked into the top 30 country singles at number 29 a month ago. And it hasn’t budged since. Danny’s album falls from 50 to 61 on the Billboard 200 and from 10 to 14 on the country albums chart.

Adam Lambert: “Whataya Want From Me” climbs one spot to number 13 on the pop songs chart, but heads in the other direction on the Hot 100, falling from 20 to 23. Adam’s album is now 69 on the Billboard 200, down four spots from last week.

Kellie Pickler: The season five contestant’s second album has certainly showed resilency on the country charts. It’s still number 37, 79 weeks after its release and without a supporting single in the top 30.

Ruben Studdard: The season two winner didn’t exactly get a chart boost from his appearance on American Idol during R&B/Soul week. In fact, his latest single, “Don’t Make ‘Em Like U No More,” dropped right out of the top 50 on the R&B singles chart.

Carrie Underwood: Last week, “Temporary Home” became yet another number one country single for Carrie. This week, it drops to number four behind “Highway 20 Ride” (Zac Brown Band), “American Honey” (Lady Antebellum) and “A Little More Country Than That” (Easton Corbin). The song also falls on the Hot 100, from 41 to 52.

Carrie’s latest album continues to do well though, moving up from six to five on the country chart and from 31 to 27 on the Billboard 200.