John Mayer and Idol’s Phillip Phillips charge onto the Charts

Grammy winner John Mayer and newly crowned American Idol winner Phillip Phillips share a lot in common. Both are attractive, guitar strumming, raspy voiced white guys, and now they’re both making waves on the Billboard Charts... Mayer lands his third # 1 album with his latest, Born and Raised, which sells 219,000 copies. Phillip’s compilation album from season 11 of American Idol debuts at # 11 while the combo-album from the season finale episode,  American Idol Season 11: Top 2 Season Finale EP, featuring his competition (and the girl who should’ve won) Jessica Sanchez also debuts at # 21. Sanchez’s season competition album debuts way down at #126. Two other Idol contenders also hit the charts as season 10′s third place finisher Haley Reinhart barrels in at # 17 while season 8 champ Kris Allen disappoints with a # 27 debut for his sophomore album. He may have won that season but he has been upstaged time and again by that season’s runner-up Adam Lambert who hit # 1 with his sophomore album, Trespassing, last week…. For more on all these albums and the Billboard 200, head here and check out the new top ten below.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Born & Raised- John Mayer (debut)
2. 21- Adele (last week~ 2)
3. Blown Away- Carrie Underwood (lw~ 3)
4. Apocalyptic Love- Slash (debut)
5. Up All Night- One Direction (lw~ 10)
6. Tuskegee- Lionel Richie (lw~ 9)
7. The Hurt & the Healer- Mercy Me (debut)
8. Once Upon Another Time EP- Sara Bareilles (debut)
9. Now 42 Compilation- Various Artists (lw~ 6)
10. Little Broken Hearts- Norah Jones (lw~ 5)

And other American Idol contenders on the BB200 (along with Carrie Underwood above) ….
11. Journey to the Finale- Phillip Phillips (debut)
12. Trespassing- Adam Lambert (lw~ 1)
17. Listen Up! – Haley Reinhart (debut)
21. American Idol Season 11: Top 2 Season Finale EP- Phillip Phillps & Jessica Sanchez (debut)
27. Thank You Camellia- Kris Allen (debut)
33, Stronger- Kelly Clarkson * a former # 2 album that just passed 800,000 copies
73. Clear as Day- Scotty McCreery * a former # 1 album that has sold over 1 million copies
126. Journey to the Finale- Jessica Sanchez (debut)

Back on the Hot 100 Singles Chart, Philips also makes an auspicious debut as his coronation single “Home” hits the top ten debuting at # 10. This makes him the first Idol winner to hit the Hot 100 top ten with their coronation single since season 7′s David Cook. He also becomes the 13th Idol alum to hit the top ten on this chart following Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, David Archuleta, and Adam Lambert…. Perhaps, I may have to eat my words about Phillips but I am still very skeptical that he will ever have any real pop hits with his upcoming debut album. That said, he’s off to a nice start. We’ll see how things turn out…. Holding onto # 1 is Gotye while Carly Rae Jepsen fights hard in the runner-up spot. For more on this chart, head to Billboard here.

Top Ten Singles on the Billboard Hot 100:
1. “Somebody that I Used to Know”- Gotye w/Kimbra (last week~ 1) * 7 weeks at # 1, the longest chart topper of 2012
2. “Call Me Maybe”- Carly Rae Jepsen (lw~ 2)
3. “Payphone”- Maroon 5 w/ Wiz Khalifa (lw~ 3)
4. “We Are Young”- fun. w/Janelle Monae (lw~ 4)
5. “Starships”- Nicki Minaj (lw~ 5)
6. “Wild Ones”- Flo Rida w/Sia (lw~ 6)
7. “What Makes You Beautiful”- One Direction (lw~ 7)
8. “Glad You Came”- The Wanted (lw~8)
9. “Boyfriend”- Justin Bieber (lw~ 9)
10. “Home”- Phillip Phillips (debut)

And here’s the lead off single from Mayer’s new album, “Shadow Days”

Billboard Counts Down the Top 24 American Idols of All Time

Tonight, American Idol really gets down to business as the Top 12 boys (well, 13 because apparently there’s going to be a surprise wild card pick) perform live for the first time. Tomorrow, the top 12 girls sing and Thursday we will have our first results show. This is when the show really gets good if you ask me, and the talent looks very strong this year. My early favorites are Jessica Sanchez and Creighton Fraker. For more on all of this year’s contenders, head to mjsbigblog here.… Now, looking back at the best American Idol contestants of all time, my favorites are in order:
1. Kelly Clarkson
2. Carrie Underwood
3. Adam Lambert
4. Jennifer Hudson
5. Carly Smithson

Each of them has had great success, (Ok, Carly is just the lead singer of the Evanescence left over band We Are the Fallen, but hey she’s had a top 40 album with them!) and won or been nominated for big awards. With that said, Billboard is counting down the most successful Idol alumni according to sales, radio airplay, download track sales, and streaming plays etc which make up their charts. (Remember this is only for domestic tracking, so the worldwide success of Lambert, Clarkson, and David Arhculeta doesn’t count here). And I’ve got the list for you below. For all the stats, head to Billboard here. Take a look and let me know who your faves are as well.

Billboard’s Top 24 American Idols of All Time:

24. Crystal Bowersox (2nd place, season 9)
23. Kimberley Locke (3rd place, season 2)
22. Lauren Alaina (2nd place, season 10)
21. Blake Lewis (2nd place, season 6)
20. Bucky Covington (8th place, season 5)
19. Katharine McPhee (2nd place, season 5…. but hey she’s a TV and movie star now. Hello, I love Smash!)
18. Bo Bice (2nd place, season 4)
17. Taylor Hicks (winner, season 5)
16. Josh Gracin (4th place, season 2)
15. Scotty McCreery (winner, season 10)
14. Kellie Pickler (6th place, season 5)
13. Elliott Yamin (3rd place, season 5)
12. Kris Allen (winner, season 8)
11. David Archuleta (2nd place, season 7)
10. Jennifer Hudson (7th place, season 3…. but um, she has an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, BET, Image Awards, the list goes on and on…. So there!)
9. Adam lambert (2nd place, season 8)
8. Ruben Studdard (winner, season 2)
7. David Cook (winner, season 7)
6. Fantasia (winner, season 3)
5. Clay Aiken (2nd place, season 2)
4. Jordin Sparks (winner, season 6… and soon to be seen in Sparkle, her film debut starring the late great Whitney Houston)
3. Chris Daughtry (4th place, season 5)
2. Carrie Underwood (winner, season 4)
1. Kelly Clarkson (winner, season 1)

And just because she’s amazing, please enjoy Kelly’s current # 1 smash “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”

Ranking the American Idol Coronation Singles

Ok, American Idol season 10 just wrapped up and you’d think I’d be done complaining about Scotty beating Lauren. Well, I’m still upset about that and of course Pia not being in the final two. But, that’s not what this post is about… Today I want to talk about Lauren and Scotty’s coronation singles and how they compare to the top two contestants from every season. Both of this year’s songs are at the top of the iTunes charts. Scotty was at # 1 and Lauren at # 2 at the time of this posting by the way, so it looks like we may have our first hit finale song since David Cook in season 7… However, just how good are those songs? Well, take a look at my rankings of all the finale songs below and find out! And here’s to a great, albeit frustrating season of Idol!

Ranking the American Idol Coronations Songs (seasons 1- 10)
1. “A Moment Like This”- Kelly Clarkson: it’s the original and it’s simply the best (just like Kelly!) It was also a # 1 hit and remains a radio staple.

2. “Time of Your Life”- David Cook: it’s the best-selling finale song to date and it works outside of Idol. In fact, it’s a wedding fave and they used it at the Olympics!

3. “I Believe”- Fantasia: Arguably the best sung finale single and to this day Fantasia kills it.

4. “Like My Mother Does”- Lauren Alaina: talk about a perfect fit. This song is lovely and a great choice for Lauren’s lush vocals and palpable emotions.

5. “This is the Night”- Clay Aiken: a perfect Clay ballad and another ideal inspirational Idol winner song. Oh wait, he was the runner-up…

6. “Inside Your Heaven”- Carrie Underwood: Idol’s country superstar took this track that sounds like a whole lot of nonsense and turned it into a multiformat hit.
7. “Flying Without Wings”- Ruben Studdard: his update on the boyband track holds up surprisingly well.
8. “Up to the Mountain”- Crystal Bowersox: while not as incredible as Kelly’s version of this song from Idol Gives Back, Crystal still gave a wonderful performance on this Patti Griffin classic.
9. “In this Moment”- David Archuleta: it’s surprisingly catchy slice of AC pop
10. “This is My Now”- Jordin Sparks: despite some of the worst lyrics of all these winning songs, Jordin’s vocals are pure and full of conviction.
11. “Inside Your Heaven”- Bo Bice: no, the song doesn’t fit him at all, but his pipes sound good on it.
12. “No Boundaries”- Adam Lambert: if only they had let “Mad World” be his final two single. Instead we get this Kara DioGuardi cheesefest. At least Adam sings the crap out of it.
13. “Dreams”- Diana DeGarmo: ok, I don’t have much affinity for this song now, but I remember liking it a good deal back at the end of season 3
14. “No Boundaries”- Kris Allen: wow, this song is kinda annoying, yet it sticks in your head and Kris gave it his all.
15. “ I Love You This Big”- Scotty McCreery: it puts the “b” in boring, but he sings it well.
16. “Beautiful Day”- Lee Dewyze: karaoke at best…
17. “Before Your Love”- Justin Guarini: Justin had no chance when you compare this one to Kelly’s amazing version…
18. “My Destiny”- Katherine McPhee: I love me some Kat and she will be amazing on the new NBC show Smash, but this song is totally forgettable despite her lovely vocals.
19. “This is My Now”- Blake Lewis: let’s just say beat-boxer Blake should not be singing ballads…
20. “Do I Make You Proud?- Taylor Hicks : a treacly pandering disastrous cheesy mess

American Idol’s Jessica Sierra has had “Enough”

On season 4 of American Idol, Jessica Sierra’s big voice helped her land a spot in the top ten alongside Bo Bice, Tony nominee Constantine Maroulis and eventual Grammy winning superstar Carrie Underwood. Unfortunately, she was shockingly eliminated in tenth place. (Simon even said she had a “likability” issue). Following that surprise elimination, while inferior contestants like Scott Savol headed to the top five, Sierra fell victim to her own demons in alcohol and drug abuse. She suffered personal and professional setbacks, did time in jail, and eventually appeared on VH1′s Celebrity Rehab. After a second stint in rehab (following her appearance on the show), Jessica has now been sober for over a year and is ready to kick-start her music career. She just released her new video for her song “Enough” which is kind of like Pink meets Paramore and deals with acknowledging and taking responsibilities for her actions in life and moving forward. Clearly it’s quite autobiographical. It’s a pretty good song too and is available on iTunes now. It will be on her upcoming album, tentatively titled Rebound, which she hopes to have out by the end of the year. For more on Jessica and her music, head to her website here. And check out Jessica’s new song and a flashback to her days on Idol below.

Jessica Sierra “Enough”

Jessica Sierra does LeAnn Rime’s “On the Side of Angels” on American Idol (I think the judges were a little harsh. Her voice is fantastic)