Bean99 mentioned yesterday that Tim McGraw’s version of “When The Stars Go Blue” had climbed to number 30 on iTunes Top 100 song list. I decided to do some comparison shopping. Here’s how the songs the Idols sang on country night stack up on the iTunes Top 100 today.
In order of appearance:
Phil Stacey - “Where the Blacktop Ends” by Keith Urban - not charting on the iTunes Top 100.
Jordin Sparks- “A Broken Wing” by Martina McBride - charting at 66 on the iTunes Top 100.
Sanjaya Malakar- “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt - not charting on the iTunes Top 100.
Lakisha Jones- “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood - charting at 84 on the iTunes Top 100.
Chris Richardson- “Mayberry” by Rascal Flatts - not charting on the iTunes Top 100.
Melinda Doolittle - “Trouble is a Woman” by Julie Reeves - not charting on the iTunes Top 100.
Blake Lewis - “When the Stars Go Blue” by Tim McGraw - charting at 22 on the iTunes Top 100.
Go Blake! Too bad the original version by Ryan Adams wasn’t mentioned on AI. I’d prefer it to receive the boost in sales from Blake’s performance Tuesday night. If you don’t have it, rush on over to iTunes and download it now.
Oh, and don’t forget to buy Blake’s studio version from the official AI site. It is love.
Note: I didn’t check the iTunes Country 100. Could be that some of these songs are charting there.
That’s very cool! Both “Somewhere Only We Know” and “Time Of The Season” appeared on the iTunes Top 100 after Blake sang them too.
And yes, if you don’t have Blake’s studio recording of “When The Stars Go Blue” you must get it. It’s now my favorite studio mp3 along with “Time Of The Season.”
I checked the Top 100 country chart on ITunes.
When the Stars Go Blue is at number 2 (right below Carrie’s Before He Cheats). A Broken Wing is at number 9 (right below Bucky’s Different World). Jesus Take the Wheel is at number 12. Mayberry is at number 18. Trouble is a Woman is at 34. Where The Blacktop Ends is at 55. I don’t see Sanjaya’s song on the top 100 Country.
The group song (I’m Alright) is at 49. And there are about 5 or 6 Martina McBride songs there too - looks like she came off the best. =)
Thanks for this. It’s an interesting comparison. I wasn’t a fan, but last season it seemed that Chris Daughtry had the biggest effect on the iTunes/ Billboard charts during the season 5 run. Hopefully this bodes well for Blake’s future sales.
Yes! Those are my 2 fav Blake mp3s too. :)
Slezak on EW.com sort of wavers on Blake every week but this week, in his Idolatry video he briefly mentions how Blake has to outlast Chris if there is any justice in the world. His guest was one of the people in the Avenue Q musical. The video is cute. Here’s the link.
http://www.ew.com/ew/package/0,,20007164_20013312,00.html
Does Slezak really waver on whether he likes Blake or not? Seems to me lately that all he’s been doing is praising him. In fact, so much this week that a few comments I read in response to his entries made note of it.
He’s been REALLY hard on Chris, however.
Most of the “official” journalists and reviewers like Blake from what I’ve read (and I read EW, Yahoo - both the TWOP review and the “grading the contestants”, USA Today, and MSN every week). It’s like Daughtry all over again.
Slezak does waver occasionaly - in the sense that he doesn’t like all of Blake’s performances on the show (but even I don’t so I guess I waver as well). He’s generally favorable though because he knows there’s a good future album in there (which I agree with). I think he should be hard on Chris this week. Chris was awful on country night, a night he had huge potential to do well in. I’m not sure about his treatment of Chris in the past though - I thought he liked him?
As for reviewers, LOL; one of the TWoP recappers is nuts over Blake. It’s hysterical. The other one likes Blake as well, but not in the same stalkerish way. But there are a lot of recappers like at allmusic, Rollingstone.com and TVGuide.com that don’t like him/ MSNBC just started warming up to him. A lot of mixed reviews for Blake (leaning toward the positive side).
Sarah, thanks for the link. I just saw Avenue Q a couple of months ago. Great musical, and she is great in it. I highly recommend it for anyone who gets to New York.
I’m not sure I would agree with the Daughtry comparison as far as the praise goes. Daughtry did get a lot of flack throughout the season for his genre and style. His album reviews were pretty mixed too. I find Blake to be much more original as an artist. I think that is what is appealing to them. But then again, as LB2 said, he seems to be getting mixed reviews too. Ah well. YMMV
LB2, The last recaplet at TWOP was written by Sars - one of the site’s founders - and she was clearly a Blake fan too. It seems that everyone over there has a soft spot for him. Jacob’s obsession is definitely starting to border on the insane. Okay, maybe not really bordering anymore. Hee.
I seem to feel like I never agree with the tv guide blogger. Isn’t their blogger one of those who leans toward the diva-type contestants?
I love the fact that Blake is charting almost every song he sings on the show. That pretty encouraging for his future recording career.
His voice just sounds so good recorded and he always choses the coolest songs to sing!
I am telling you I am pretty sure BLAKE will sell TONS of records whether he wins or not. HIs music will sell very well. He is a STAR!
I do wish to see him in the finale though. I am crossing my fingers
Erinn, Miss Alli loves him too. She writes for MSNBC sometimes and wrote an article about how the season is boring because we’re waiting to get to the obvious top 3. She mentioned on the boards how she struggled writing the article because she kept filling it with too much Blake love. It was becoming biased (hee!).
Sorry to re-comment just after my last one - Ricky is reporting that Blake actually had the 3rd highest votes, not the 3rd lowest. I’m very skeptical.
Hmmm….
How many times in a row can I listen to the full version of “When the Stars Go Blue”? Why the answer is TONS!!!! :).
LB2, I saw your post and went over to read that!!!! Hmm. I am ALWAYS skeptical about the stuff he posts that cannot be verified. It’s also been a few weeks since he’s posted anything that can be verified like song choice/performance order. I’m taking it with a larger grain of salt than usual because while I am willing to believe they mess with the bottom three to suit their own purposes, I have a really hard time believing they’d send the wrong person home.
LOL, MJ! The recorded version does kick all sorts of ass. Even Dave, who runs VFTW and really likes to snark on Blake, admitted that it’ll probably sound good recorded. And it does!
I agree, PJ - I can see the subtle manipulation happening, but sending the wrong person home would be blatant.
LB2, I heart Miss Alli. Thanks for the heads up on Ricky. I’m happy he’s spoiling again.
To be honest, with a record like his I just don’t see why he would post something unless he was very confident. It is posible that his source is jerking him around, but given the fact he’s been doing this for a few years (CI included) I tend to trust him. I also think, that with all that is at stake for this week that AI would do whatever they feel neccessary to ensure the show they want. This is one heck of a special case, if there ever was one. [/tinfoil hat]
I love the recorded version of “when the Stars Go Blue.” Just amazing. I can’t wait till we can get the actual sales figures on these. I bet it’s selling well too.
I guess I just don’t see TPTB risking the integrity of the show just to get rid of Sanjaya a couple of weeks early. I don’t think his presence would mar the IGB special. Ricky has been great at spoiling song choices, but that is information that a LOT of people in the Idol world have access to. I think the votes are kept closer to TPTB’s hips. Ricky would have to know someone pretty powerful to get that sort of information.
Also, he’s been claiming vote totals all season. I’m sure the TPTB are aware of him and they have done nothing. Why? My guess is that they’re not true. If they are true and for some reason they can’t go after Ricky, why would they risk removing Sanjaya knowing he would spill the beans?
Maybe someone is playing with Ricky or maybe he has his own agenda. I just find it hard to swallow. It’ll be interesting to see if he does go to Howard Stern and what happens with that.
If he goes to Howard Stern, he’ll likely have to reveal his source. Methinks that’s bluffing on his part.
I don’t know whether his vote totals are right or not, and frankly, I’m not that worried about it. As long as he still correctly spoils song choices, I don’t care what else is true or not.
Damn pj - you gotta warn a girl before you put up such a hot picture. I’m sitting here staring at it instead of getting my work done.
Gah, PJ. That pic is SMOKIN’.
I thought y’all might appreciate a little eye candy for this thread.
Re: the votes. I guess I’m okay with all the manipulating they do, but I’d hate to believe they’d go so far as kick someone off who wasn’t the lowest vote getter.
PJ, that pic is killing me. :)
I would like to think they wouldn’t kick off the wrong person too. I can’t see myself wanting to watch if they did junk like that. I know they manipulate some of the show, but I agree - I’d like to think they don’t touch that aspect of it.
And MJ - Is it possible to burn up an iPod on one song? Because I must be getting close. :)
PJ,
Sorry….don’t know where else to post this to you….
92,138 at A-Day today. They had to lock the gates during the 2nd quarter b/c the stadium was at capacity! Can you believe it? :)
Must. Stop. Staring. At. Pic. of. Blake.
mmm….
How many times in a row can I listen to the full version of “When the Stars Go Blue”? Why the answer is TONS!!!! :).
I know mj…. He sounds AWESOME ! Love that song, love his recorded voice.. Can’t stop listening to it either.
Honestly I am already enticipating Blake’s future record:
Whether he wins or not… BUt.. Still…
Can’t help wishing Blake goes to the finale… I really hope so.
Rolltide…HOT!
Wow… It was *very* hard to scroll to the bottom of the page to comment. It’s almost impossible to leave that picture behind!
The studio version is so pretty. Y’all are onto something, tho. Maybe too much “When the Stars Go Blue” is the reason that my mp3 player has been giving an error in the last few days. Blake is just too smokin’ for it to handle.
Okay, I need a vacation from discussing whether or not “Daughtry the band” should be eligible for a Grammy or if it should be Chris nominated for his songwriting and/or vocals on the tracks. *sigh* They probably won’t even be nominated, so why all the fuss?
Anyway… I very much like the official recording of “When the Stars Go Blue”. I’ve liked all of Blake’s recordings, actually. They are in constant rotation on my iTunes playlist. :)
He has a gorgeous voice and is going to make a killer CD. That’s all. :)
RollTide, you can always find me here to talk about Bama! Wow! Very cool about A-game. Do you feel good about this season? I thought the firing of Shula was a bit premie, but I’m over it.
I’ve listened to WTSGB over and over, too. ;)
I do feel good about this season. I mean I don’t think it will be a miracle overnight, but I think it’s headed in a good direction. :)
Wow. I got a shock when I came back and saw that picture. A very nice one though.
pj, I see what you are saying. We’ll know for sure if Ricky does go to Stern. I don’t think he’ll have to reveal his source, but it could be interesting if 19E has to reveal the totals. I don’t think they would manipulate on a regular basis, but twice in 6 seasons seems possible to me.
Rolltide, glad to hear about A-Day. Is that a record?
Yes, definitely a record. :) That’s probably more than are in attendance for some of the regular football games. Plus, my brother said it might actually be a record for any game, b/c for games you would have to have a ticket, and so the stadium would only reach capacity. A-Day is free, so no ticket.
I don’t Ricky’s spoiler this week. Chris Sligh said that there’s an independent board consisting of five people to oversee the voting process to make sure it’s fair. So there.
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