Idol Gives Back - American Idol Helps Others

Daughtry

Chris Daughtry starts his first post-American Idol more...1 point

Chris Daughtry starts his first post-American Idol disc with a song whose title reviewers coast to coast will be grateful for: "It's Not Over." What an understatement. For the Idol-watching rock fan's money, nobody--not even Southern-fried heartthrob Bo Bice in season four--stormed the stage with more raw talent. That it translates so well to a solo disc (Daughtry was recorded with studio musicians; future discs will include a Daughtry-assembled band) proves all he needed was a little prodding,....1 point

Small Town Girl

This debut album by the small-town girl with the b more...1 point

This debut album by the small-town girl with the big, powerhouse voice showcases two distinctly different sides of Kellie Pickler's music. The hard-riffing uptempo material recalls the heartland rock of Bob Seger and John Mellencamp, with Pickler providing a good-ole-girl twang. Among the highlights are the emancipated strut of "Red High Heels," the playful humor of "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind," and the tomboy bluesiness of "One of the Guys." Yet the American Idol finalist turns pure d...1 point

Breakaway

Kelly Clarkson could have played her American Idol more...1 point

Kelly Clarkson could have played her American Idol-propelled career much differently, languishing in the role of dippy ingénue or shunting her musical development by leaning too heavily on overnight stardom. Instead she dug in her heels and allowed good sense (or a good manager) to steer, and somewhere Simon Fuller and the rest of the TV gang ought to be smiling. Credit Breakaway, which couldn't be more aptly titled--the sophomore effort represents a seismic split from the thin if pretty debut,....1 point

One Love

Apologies to Clay and Ruben, but if anybody should more...1 point

Apologies to Clay and Ruben, but if anybody should have had American Idol 2 on lock it was Kimberley. Kimberley Locke, that is, whose debut cracks the combination to her creamsicle-smooth vocal chops and coughs up a few surprises. Most important--and most often missing from the recorded dabblings of her AI cohorts--is a sense of restraint. K-Lo, as fans call her, doesn't muck up her songs with check-me-out vocal trickery. She opts instead for straight-up, bells-and-whistles-free singing, and wit...1 point

Thankful

Kelly Clarkson, the toothsome winner of Fox TV's f more...1 point

Kelly Clarkson, the toothsome winner of Fox TV's first American Idol competition shows that her prime-time win was no fluke. She blithely skips through octaves and genres like a seasoned pro, belting out power ballads like hooky "Low" and the Diane Warren-penned "Some Kind of Miracle," with the aplomb of Pat Benatar in her prime. Clarkson tackles the neo-gospel "Anytime" without flinching, then shows some dirty street cred as she growls through "Miss Independent," a song she penned with Christin...1 point

Carnival Ride

Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts, hastily made and r more...0 points

Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts, hastily made and released some five months after she won the 2005 American Idol crown, was surprisingly solid and tuneful. For her follow-up, producer Mark Bright steers her toward the big Martina McBride skies, with a plethora of strings and huge emotional crescendos. Underwood co-wrote four songs, mostly with the tried-and-true tunesmiths who made Some Hearts soar. On the torchy heartache ballad "I Know You Won't," she gives a beautifully nuanced and c...0 points

Some Hearts

Would American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have l more...0 points

Would American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have landed a major-label recording contract without winning the hugely popular television contest? Probably. The big-voiced Oklahoman has the pipes, the look, the pedigree, and, most important, the emotional resonance to sustain a professional career. As an investment in her future, her label eschewed the easy path in putting out an album to take advantage of her publicity, going for a name producer, Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Lonestar), to h...0 points

Jordin Sparks

Liking Jordin Sparks, American Idol's season six w more...0 points

Liking Jordin Sparks, American Idol's season six winner, comes instinctively. How many 17-year-olds are as self-possessed, as big-smiling, as committed to having a good time and keeping it real? Probably none. Liking Sparks' music has been a different story for fans anticipating her debut CD, though. Her gut-busting Idol performance of "I (Who Have Nothing)" was possibly her only prime-time goosebump generator, yet she's seen an instant progression to diva-dom, as chronicled in reports that foun...0 points

Audio Day Dream

The strategy sessions over how to present Blake Le more...0 points

The strategy sessions over how to present Blake Lewis's post-American Idol debut must have been excruciating, as label-types scratched their heads, wondering: Is it possible to market a disc full of beat-boxing? If not, would the world warm to Blake Lewis, pop charmer? Or Blake Lewis, balladeer? The safest bet seems to have been to build a better post-prime time set by way of experimentation. Audio Day Dream unfolds much the way late-season American Idol shows do: It sets Lewis on a lot of platf...0 points

Based On A True Story

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Kimberley knows h more...0 points

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Kimberley knows her fans will be able to relate to this album because music is the universal language. In her first attempts at songwriting, the product is a collection of songs highlighting the good and bad points of love and friendship. Taking calculated risks and exercising her faith has proven to be the key to unlocking the music that lives within Kimberley Locke.0 points

My December

Judging by the themes of anger and betrayal that d more...0 points

Judging by the themes of anger and betrayal that dominate Kelly Clarkson's third disc, My December, perhaps 'Jagged Little Idol' would have been a more telling title. According to interviews, the massively successful artist wanted more creative control with her music going forward; as a result, unlike her previous CDs, Clarkson contributes as a songwriter on every track. The final product is not nearly as catchy as Breakaway, but is far more introspective and honest. My December's overall sound....0 points

Elliott Yamin

Elliott Yamin's debut is so agreeable and well-exe more...0 points

Elliott Yamin's debut is so agreeable and well-executed it may well convert hardened R&B experts--the kind who'd normally distance themselves from a disc with a TV pedigree. With sincerity and a voice that vaults itself to places no talent-show contestant should be able to go, Yamin bares his soul here in a way that would do his hero, Donny Hathaway, proud. Tracks like "Take My Breath Away" and "You Are the One" find him twisting a wrench around love-stained lyrics; "I'm the Man" and "Find A Way...0 points

True Beauty

Watched over by 30 million viewers weekly, Mandisa more...0 points

Watched over by 30 million viewers weekly, Mandisa catapulted into instant fame with her winning smile and powerhouse vocals as she sang her way into the final rounds of American Idol: Season 5. The critics agreed: Entertainment Weekly chimed in with praise ("It's all about Mandisa!"), claiming Mandisa turned American Idol into a one-woman show. Her debut single "Only The World" is exploding on Christian radio and debuted at #19 in 2 weeks. Mandisa Photos 0 points

Bucky Covington

Bucky Covington was a finalist in the 5th season o more...0 points

Bucky Covington was a finalist in the 5th season of American Idol, where he went on to win the heartsof the American public, finishing 8th on the show. Originally from Rockingham, North Carolina, Bucky's long journey to national attention began where he and his identical twin Rocky were born. Drawn early to country music, Covington was a fan of Tim McGraw, George Strait, and Travis Tritt, among others. After getting his first guitar at age 19, he claimed local fame with the country/southern rock...0 points

A Thousand Different Ways

The project, Aiken's first outing since 2004, comb more...0 points

The project, Aiken's first outing since 2004, combines 10 cover versions of well-known songs from the '70s, '80s and '90s with four brand-new songs. The album is a follow-up to Aiken's debut set, "Measure of a Man," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and is certified triple-platinum, as well as the platinum-selling "Merry Christmas with Love," the best-selling holiday album of the 2004 season. More from Clay Measure of a Man Merry Christmas with Love A Clay Aiken Christ...0 points

Katharine McPhee

Katharine McPhee has a cloudless voice and a warm, more...0 points

Katharine McPhee has a cloudless voice and a warm, wide-eyed Alice in Wonderland quality that won her swarms of fans on American Idol's fifth season--if Simon Cowell had a ready antonym for "ghastly," there's little room for doubt about which contestant he would have applied it to. While debates over whether McPhee's considerable grace and talent should have won her the TV competition rage on across the Idol-viewing landscape, one thing's certain: she's made a debut album good enough to render s...0 points

Free Yourself

Few would accuse Fantasia of a reluctance to abide more...0 points

Few would accuse Fantasia of a reluctance to abide by the wisdom that what you've got, you should flaunt, and the vocal gusto she slathers over her full-length debut gets partial credit for earning--and keeping--your attention. To a greater extent, though, the high-wattage help heaped over the Idol 3 champ and Patti LaBelle-sound-alike makes the disc dazzle. In addition to pitch-ins from Missy Elliott, who produced and co-wrote three tracks and busts out a two-snaps-up rhyme on "Selfish (I Want....0 points

I Need an Angel

If anybody ought to be hugging the velvet teddy be more...0 points

If anybody ought to be hugging the velvet teddy bear for releasing I Need an Angel, the follow up to the Idol 2 champ's 2003 Soulful debut, it's the top brass in the gospel music biz. Not only does Studdard give the genre its props by reinvestigating his roots and turning in an entire disc's worth of well-loved renditions, he also, by virtue of his celebrity, will spawn a new audience of secular listeners for the music. Because to hear this stuff--whether you were raised in the church or outside...0 points

Soulful

The first full-length effort from second-season Am more...0 points

The first full-length effort from second-season American Idol winner Ruben Studdard is an unassuming album that will surely please his fans. Studdard works in the vein of mainstream R&B crooners like Luther Vandross; here, he even covers "Superstar," the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett song associated with Vandross. Other familiar material includes a close, if foreshortened, copy of Al Green's version of "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart," and the standard "For All We Know," so memorably sung by...0 points

Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks's much-anticipated major-label debut more...0 points

Taylor Hicks's much-anticipated major-label debut is being released on December 5, 2006. More Idol Releases Katharine McPhee Daughtry Fantasia0 points

Do I Make You Proud/ Takin' It To The Streets

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Fantasia

Maybe the best thing about American Idol is that, more...0 points

Maybe the best thing about American Idol is that, once it launches its stars, it sets them free. Fantasia, the self-titled sophomore set by the up-from-the-bootstraps 2004 series winner, sends out song after song that Simon would recoil over and great swaths of America would likely vote down in a heartbeat. Ripped from real life, these tracks are produced with both gumption and vision--a combination potent enough to smoke you out of your seat (see "Two Weeks Notice" and "Bore Me") and settle you...0 points

American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs

Interested in visiting your favorite contestants f more...0 points

Interested in visiting your favorite contestants from the second season of American Idol? Then this is the album for you, but be forewarned that something is lost in the translation from the small screen to the compact disc. Simon Cowell's scathing comments and Paula Abdul's head tossing add to the human drama; without those visual embellishments, the recorded version falls flat. Sure this is a talented bunch, but the material is mundane, with few of the finalists straying from the traditional a...0 points

American Idol Season 4 - The Showstoppers

Few would risk making guarantees when it comes to more...0 points

Few would risk making guarantees when it comes to a hodgepodge of a disc like Showstoppers, but one thing is for sure: it's bound to become the only CD in your collection you bought knowing full well you would have to hold your nose through certain tracks. That, of course, is the fun of the American Idol franchise: You may love Carrie Underwood's rootin'-tootin' version of Martina McBride's "Independence Day" but loathe Anthony Federov's syrup-soaked rendition of the '80s chestnut "Everytime You...0 points

American Idol Season 5 Encores

American Idol: Season 5 Encores features the top 1 more...0 points

American Idol: Season 5 Encores features the top 12 finalists singing their best performances from this season. Rocker Chris Daughtry offers his take on Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive." Kellie Pickler contributes her special version of Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight." And, Taylor Hicks sings the classic Doobie Brothers hit "Takin' It to the Streets."0 points

American Idol Greatest Moments

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American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics

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When You Tell Me That You Love Me (American Red Cross Disaster Relief single)

RCA will donate to the American Red Cross Disaster more...0 points

RCA will donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund $.50 for every CD sold. The American Red Cross name and emblem are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company or individual. For more information about this promotion, please call the American Red Cross at 1-800-HELP NOW, or email the American Red Cross at info@usa.redcross.org.0 points

American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics

You've watched them on TV and followed them in the more...0 points

You've watched them on TV and followed them in the media. Now six of the American Idol winners perform 10 of the season's holiday best. American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics is a bona fide AI songfest for Christmas, featuring Clay Aiken, Rueben Studdard, Tamyra Gray, Kimberly Locke, Justin Guarni and Christina Christian. With two tunes featuring the entire ensemble singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," two duets, and a couple of cuts by Kelly Clarkson, includ...0 points

What World Needs Now

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