When she was a contestant on a new television singing competition fifteen years ago, Kelly Clarkson was able to dabble in many different genres of music each week in front of millions of viewers. That show was "American Idol" and she impressed everyone so much with her dazzling voice that Clarkson went on to become the very first winner.
The big prize was a recording contract with RCA Records and Clarkson has had a glorious career with many worldwide hits singles. However, she has recently revealed that her time with the label was not easy. Over the seven albums she released, Clarkson had little input on song selection on most of these albums and was not allowed to venture outside of the safe and narrow world of pop music.
Now after completing the terms of her recording contract, Clarkson decided to move on to a new label, Atlantic and with that, an new opportunity to take more control of her music. For her new album, "The Meaning of Life", the singer has decided to dive deeper in to a r&b and soul sound which she was previously unable to do. Clarkson was involved in all all aspects of the recording of the album and this busy wife and mother of two even managed to find time to co-write a few tracks.
To give us a sample of what's to come from "The Meaning of Life", two songs have been released. "Love So Soft" is a blast of classic funky soul with modern trap rhythms and features members of Earth, Wind & Fire playing on the track. Meanwhile, "Move You" is a emotional ballad with Clarkson's beautiful vocals soaring in to gospel territory. If you are a fan of Kelly Clarkson, you will be very excited by this new direction and if you are not, I think this dynamic collection might make you want to reconsider:
I caught Adam Lambert at The Orpheum in downtown L.A. for his last show of the North American leg of The Original High tour on April 3rd. The runner-up of the eighth season of "American Idol" (and was robbed of winning the title, in my opinion) is an incredible vocalist and dynamic performer. After fifteen years, the popular singing competition just aired it's final episode which had allowed America to vote for their favorite singers from among your average Joe or Jane. To honor the show, contestants from every season showed up to perform and I was quite surprised that Lambert didn't appear considering he's one of the bigger artists that came from "American Idol".
He just ended a very successful worldwide tour with Queen and wasted no time returning to his solo career by releasing a new album and getting back on the road. Lambert seems to have been heavily influenced by the rock & soul style of Freddie Mercury as his third album, "The Original High" features a looser and funkier side to the singer. The record is also his most commercial using top producers like Max Martin and Shellback to help shape a slicker pop sound.
Lambert (dressed all in red in the first of three costume changes) took to his minimal stage with only a short platform in the middle but had impressive, state-of-the-art video screens behind to add an extra jolt to the show. He kicked-off with "Evil In The Night", a generic dance track from "Original High" before launching in to two of his biggest songs; the title tune from his debut album, "For Your Entertainment" and "Ghost Town", the haunting first single from the latest album.
Lambert continued to burn through many other songs he has recorded over his short time in the spotlight before reaching a tune that took us back to his early "Idol" days . His hypnotic cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World" was a star-making moment for the singer and from the frenzied response by this audience, still makes quite an impact today. After the song, Lambert turned up the lights and began talking, which I then realized was the first time he actually stopped singing to speak to the crowd. He's an effusive charmer delivering positive energy and literally getting on a soap-box with his modest political statements.
It wasn't too long before Lambert got back to singing that delighted the largely female audience with more dance-powered songs before closing the show with the title track from his second album, "Trespassing" which was written by the singer and Pharrell Williams. He's taking a little time off before continuing his tour throughout Europe, then re-team with Queen for a mini European tour. Even through he didn't take home the top Idol prize, Lambert seems to be doing quite alright.
Here he is performing "Mad World" when he appeared on the show last month, recreating one of his magical moments on "American Idol":
And let's go back to early Adam Lambert with the music video of "For Your Entertainment" when the young singer was going through his goth period:
The tenth season of "American Idol" premieres tonight but the real question still remains: "How will the showdo without Simon?"
With the addition of two new judges, musicians, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez (?) as well as Jimmy Iovine in the new position as a supervising producer/mentor for the contestants, Nigel Lythgoe, the program's executive producer who has returned to the show, has promised many more exciting changes for "American Idol" in a way to bring the focus back on discovering a bright new pop star.
We'll have to wait and see if all of this will be an improvement but I won't be watching until the contestants have been selected and are in Hollywood.
I can't stand watching all of those awful auditions with these delusional people ruining perfectly good songs.
Let's hope this season's eventual winner will have the same amount of success as "American Idol"'s very first winner, Kelly Clarkson.
So ends another season of "American Idol" and another winner was crowned.
This year's champ was Lee DeWyze and although I would have preferred Crystal Bowersox, I wasn't really that excited by either one. In fact, none of the twelve finalist this season were particularly strong, memorable or imaginative. I think this was emphasized by this episode being the lowest rated season closer in the history of the program.
I think the problem is that because everybody has watched the show and know what to do and what not to do that they all wind up playing it safe. . . too safe. They're to the point were they are afraid to take any musical chances, like picking songs that haven't been done to death on previous seasons and trying something a little more challenging. The fear of being voted off has made most of the contestants uninteresting. The only person this season who was fearless and stayed true to who she is throughout was Crystal but although she is very talented, I'm not sure how successful of a recording artist she will be. She lacks, just like the many of these other wannabe "artists", that certain je ne sais quoi to help her stand out in a very crowded music field.
Here I am. . . sounding like Simon Cowell, who is going to be greatly missed. He may not have any tact but he was the only one of the judges keeping it real. I have no suggestions for a replacement for Mr. Cowell but it definitely needs to be somebody with more depth than Randy Jackson and more bite (and musical background) than Ellen.
In regards to the show, I thought the musical tribute to Simon Cowell with all the previous "Idol" winners and contestants was very nice. The new song that Christina Aguilera performed was an odd choice but she sang it well. Although for some reason it just comes across as a little sad when they pair the "Idol" contestants with artists whose glory years are behind them but it's still great to see people like Hall & Oates, Chicago and Alanis Morissette.
For me, watching Janet Jackson perform was certainly a highlight of the show although I'm not so sure she was actually singing "live" but who cares? It was good to see her, she looked great and she was entertaining.
Here are some tunes from previous "Idol" winners. Enjoy:
