Idol Chatter & Voice Views

We’re less than a week away from the release of the post-Idol debut album from season seven contestant Michael Johns.

“Hold Back My Heart” hits stores Tuesday. You can hear the single “Heart on My Sleeve” on Michael’s MySpace page. The song is number 27 on Billboard’s list of Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.

Michael’s been busy since finishing eighth on Idol. He also sings nine songs on the soundtrack for snowboarder Shaun White’s documentary DVD “Don’t Look Down.” One is “Life is OK,” a duet with fellow season seven contestant Brooke White.

Speaking of Michael and Brooke, they performed last week at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers awards dinner in San Diego last week. Here’s a video clip featuring Brooke singing her new single, “Radio, Radio,” Michael singing “To Love Somebody,” followed by a duet.

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And speaking of season seven contestants, Carly Smithson is apparently ready to embark on the next phase of her post-Idol career by becoming the lead singer for a new rock band called The Fallen.

The Los Angeles Times reported the news this morning. Meanwhile, Carly’s MySpace page now includes a link to the story and has taken on a whole new appearance, urging visitors to check out the Web site wearethefallen.com on Monday.

So, who are The Fallen?

Apparently, three of the members, including lead guitarist Ben Moody, are former members of Evanescence, which rose to fame with a 2003 Grammy-winning album with Amy Lee as lead singer.

The album sold something like 15 million copies. It’s title: “Fallen.”

This afternoon, Carly’s MySpace page was updated with an announcement that The Fallen will make its first public appearance Monday “with a midday set before a small industry crowd at a studio in L.A.” At the same time, the band’s first song will be released on The Fallen Web site; it will be available for free download, according to Carly’s MySpace page.

Best of luck to Carly, who’s probably better suited to being in a rock band than taking a second stab at a solo pop music career.