When Ryan Seacrest was on the Today show Wednesday talking about the latest gig he’s landed thanks to the fame he gained as host of American Idol, I wondered if he gave a thought to all the contestants who made it possible.
When Jennifer Lopez shows off her new boyfriend via her new video tonight on American Idol, I’ll wonder if she has any appreciation for the more than 100 American Idol finalists whose performance have entertained millions of viewers.
Ryan makes Idol more enjoyable. Jennifer? That depends on whether she’s focused on judging or fawning over Deandre Brackensick on any given night.
But there’s no doubt about this: Idol is the perfect place to market a new video because of the contestants who made the show a success.
And someone has certainly forgotten those contestants. Because every week, the show gives a wonderful marketing opportunity to an outsider instead of paying back its own.
A couple of weeks ago it was Lana Del Ray singing us to sleep. A week ago, it was Nicki Minaj lip syncing and bouncing around the Idol stage in an outfit that threatened to become a wardrobe malfunction at any second. This week, someone or something called The Wanted will be on hand.
Yes, Kellie Pickler will also perform. And it’s about time. Her critically acclaimed third album, released in January, disappeared from the Billboard 200 in the blink of an eye. She’s struggled to get a new single in the country top 30.
Tonight should help.
But it’s not enough for Idol to devote one of two results show performance spots to past Idols. These spots should be filled with past Idols. Especially when so many are releasing new music.
How about Ruben Studdard, the Season 2 winner, whose new album was received with a giant yawn? I imagine lots of Idol followers don’t even know he has a new album.
How about David Cook, whose second album was a sales flop, but who just released a 5-track EP acoustic version on iTunes? How about Adam Lambert, who has to be hoping his second album receives a more enthusiastic reception than his first single from that album?
The list of new Idol music goes on and on.
And Idol’s track record shows the show is the perfect place to market new music.
Check out what’s happened just this year:
* Daughtry appears on American Idol. Album sales jump 45 percent the following week. The band’s third album goes from 117 to 72 on the Billboard 200 and 28 to 21 on the Billboard rock chart.
* Lauren Alaina sings “Georgia Peaches” on Idol. Her album, which had fallen off the Billboard 200, returns the next week at number 151. Sales jump 34 percent. Twenty-one weeks after its release, “Georgia Peaches” finally cracks the top 30 on Billboard’s country singles chart.
* Scotty McCreery returned to Idol last week to sing his new single. Over the next week, his album sales jumped 172 percent. “Clear as Day” jumped 40 spots to number 21 on the Billboard 200. No doubt publicity surrounding the Academy of Country Music Awards helped. No doubt Idol helped as well.
But, gee, Idol, there are an awful lot of other former contestants out there who could use a helping hand as well.
And you owe them a debt of gratitude.
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8 Comments
Thank you for this article.
Another great example is David Archuleta, runner up in Season 7 who just departed on a two year mission of faith and service as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has new music out, and more coming within the 2 years. His fanbase is still massive and what a great send-off an Idol appearance would have made! As much as I appreciate the judges have other lives, the promotion of the their projects is going to backfire, I’m afraid. I tune in for the Idols, not the judges.
I also think they should have more Idols back to perform, and regardless of whether they have a new album or single to promote. I wish they could have had David Archuleta back before he left on his 2 year mission but I guess it would have been hard to get any of his last couple of months. (now for my shameless promotion of my favorite Idol) In the 10 weeks before his mission David was filmed as leading man in a 5-week Philippines miniseries Nandito Ako (we’re expecting a subtitled DVD set), recorded a beautiful classic Philippines album/single/MV Forevermore (see WOWHD, Amazon or Multiply for the CD) and recorded a US (classic? inspirational?) album (expected in the fall). But a mention of David on Idol would have been nice this year. BTW follow DavidArchie on twitter – his manager will tweets David emails her while he’s away. #DA2014
That last sentence should be “his manager will tweet what David emails and asks her to tweet while he’s away.
And to agree further with the comments about David Archuleta, he’s the perfect artist to invite to sing with they do Idol Gives Back. David is so generous with his time and talents (and likely, his money) and sings some songs that will inspire you to get out there and do something! Idol is missing what’s right under their noses! When David does charity work, I know he doesn’t want to “flaunt” it publicly, however, he has the voice to make you FEEL something, which is the point of Idol Gives Back. He could belt out “Prayer of the Children,” “Somebody Out There,” “Dream Sky High,” or any number of inspirational songs and it would get the point across. Not to mention he’s had new music EVERY year since his year on Idol.
I would LOVE to see Jason Castro perform. He’s awesome.