Yeah, I’m waiting for that moment.

Of course, my copy of ADD accompanied me on these journeys, and I still hold it in high regard as one of my favorite albums. The fans here at Team Plaid are so enthusisatic and yet realistic too, which makes it a great place to catch up on Blake and chat about new developments.

I would have very much enjoyed seeing ADD take off commerically more so than it has, but the end result was a high quality product that Blake can be very proud of.

I have NO worries about Blake and his musical future, and I think Chris Sligh’s blog sums it up perfectly. Blake = music. Pretty simple formula. :D

There will always be haters, and Blake has his share due to his polarizing musicality and personality. If a review or criticism is well thought out, I can get it and respect it. The others I just ignore, and it works out nicely for me, haha.

Hope everyone is having a good summer! I’m not going to the AI tour this year,but am keeping my fingers crossed that Blake makes his way to the midwest at some point this year or next.

I found this video, but I can’t seem to play it on my computer. Maybe you guys can give it a try. I will try it on my PC when I get to work.

Summerjam

So this is like real? What is going to happen now? Also people were talking about an interview about the record drop, does anybody have the link?

www. maximumthreshold. net/index. php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=13&id=253

Here is also a short video of “Here’s my hello”. Really short.
http://www.youtube.com/user/katiekinsx0

In a Jordin footnote, She was at the SummerJam on Thursday in Nashville, for theRIVER. TheRiver did not support Blake in airplay at all, but you know what I heard this morning on their station? A LIVE version of “No Air”, from the concert she did the other day. Look, I don’t know what it takes to get that kind of attention paid to you by a Station– but wouldn’t that be awesome if Blake could get it at some point?? theRIVER was just drooling over having had her at their concert, and how wonderful she is, ILY etc etc, and I just sat there, thinking and wondering HOW do you get that to happen??

Is it bought for you? Is it a combination of charting a hit, and being likeable as a person? How? Is it because of her age and demographic, that they feel she is ultra-embraceable? Because even at smaller levels, this makes her super super popular, and played on the stations. It’s a currency or validity, of some kind.

I also think there is a reason that all the top 2 finalists do not sell well and eventually get dropped. This is just my two cents. They are forced to get a contract from the label for coming in second place. There is probably a dollar amount that the contract/prize is worth. The labels spend the money they have to for the prize and then that is it. Therefore, the artists such as Blake, Katharine etc., don’t get label support. Say the labels have 10 million dollars a year to spend (a gross underestimate, but just for an example), and they have a Leona Lewis that they want to support and an idol contestant they had to sign (say for a million dollar prize). They would put 9 million of their money in Leona, because they picked her to begin with. They are not going to risk only spending 5 million on her and 5 million on an unknown idol when that could jeopardize her success also. The labels only have so much money to spend. They put it where they want. I think Clive saw something in Blake, but unfortunately he got demoted and other people were making the decisions. There is a definite pattern now with second place finishers. And when a pattern exists, there is always an underlying reason. Just my opinion on all this.

Is it bought for you? Is it a combination of charting a hit, and being likeable as a person? How? Is it because of her age and demographic, that they feel she is ultra-embraceable? Because even at smaller levels, this makes her super super popular, and played on the stations. It’s a currency or validity, of some kind.

Those were similar thoughts that I had hearing some of the music that was and still is played on top 40 radio. I can only speak from the pespective of a consumer, but for some of the songs that ended being so overplayed on the radio, I was also thinking that some payment to the radio must have taken place, otherwise the quality of the material would never see the day light. I think being likeable by stations is not going to hurt and might help in putting an extra word about the artist, but I really do not think it is the main reason for the artist to be played. To use Jordin’s example. I heard “No air” live in December 2007 before it was on the radio. I would never thought that this song would make as high as it did. I found it bland. I would never understand how “Bubbly” got so high on the charts as it did. I am not suggesting that some of the artists who are on the radio do not have talents or great voices, but just the quality of the material including music or lyrics, that end up on the radio is of questionable musical merits. It just makes you start wondering and raising questions, just as you did.

The more that most people hear a song, the better they like it. It’s naturally. That’s one of the reasons that TPTB frown on someone doing their own song on AI. Familiarity is comfort.

I also think there is a reason that all the top 2 finalists do not sell well and eventually get dropped. This is just my two cents. They are forced to get a contract from the label for coming in second place. There is probably a dollar amount that the contract/prize is worth. The labels spend the money they have to for the prize and then that is it. Therefore, the artists such as Blake, Katharine etc., don’t get label support. Say the labels have 10 million dollars a year to spend (a gross underestimate, but just for an example), and they have a Leona Lewis that they want to support and an idol contestant they had to sign (say for a million dollar prize). They would put 9 million of their money in Leona, because they picked her to begin with. They are not going to risk only spending 5 million on her and 5 million on an unknown idol when that could jeopardize her success also. The labels only have so much money to spend. They put it where they want. I think Clive saw something in Blake, but unfortunately he got demoted and other people were making the decisions. There is a definite pattern now with second place finishers. And when a pattern exists, there is always an underlying reason. Just my opinion on all this.

EOTW,

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this. Plus as Big D stated last week or the week before about the airplay issue and he was right. Do all AI winners see success? no, they don’t, but if you go back to last year, we saw clear evidence that winning AI does mean something in terms of airplay and promotion. I never heard Blake on my HAC or Top 40 station but Jordin was everywhere once Tattoo was released. Now, I hear TOML pretty often on the HAC station here and have been for over 2 weeks now. No one ever thought this song was going to do as well as it has done so far. It has surprised a lot of people. The biggest surprise to some was Z100 adding the song on Tuesday of last week after playing it for about a week beforehand. TIMN faded away pretty quickly after it’s release last year.

I kind of saw the handwriting on the wall when Clive was demoted 2 months ago and even before that when Blake went on AI to perform HMW. The fact that it was being debuted on AI without being able to accumulate spins beforehand with a release date before the impact date was sort of a sign of things to come to me and also the lack of advertising about the song before the impact date. Am I surprised this happened? no, but as far as how soon it has happened, sort of. I wish that KMN could have been the first single like some have said. It would have been interesting to see how it would have done airplay wise because we all know that BA was a poor choice for a first single.

It’s just a cruel fact that the world revolves around money. If I ever can’t figure out why something has happended the way it has, I chalk it up to somebody got paid! Wow. I guess that is a cynical outlook on life, but sadly I think it is true.

I truly believe that artists are successful with air-play today because of the amount of money the labels spend on them. Like Kasia mentioned, not to say they are not talented, but a lot of talented people go unnoticed. I think Jordin got a lot of payout from her label. Again, just my opinion. Not to take away from her (because I think she is very talented), but she rose too fast for an unknown artist in my opinion and got radio play from huge stations at the very beginning. Why would they do that for someone that had a zero track record? The New York station has played her from day one and hasn’t stopped.

It’s just a cruel fact that the world revolves around money. If I ever can’t figure out why something has happended the way it has, I chalk it up to somebody got paid! Wow. I guess that is a cynical outlook on life, but sadly I think it is true.

I understand what you are saying. Z100 does seem to add her songs without hesitation no matter what the song is. I’ve especially noticed that. I don’t know the precise date when “One Step At A Time” was added to their playlist, but it looked to me that they were the first Top 40 station to put it into full rotation. I could be wrong, but it did look that way. I genuinely like Jordin as a person, but her music just isn’t my cup of tea.

Now, I hear TOML pretty often on the HAC station here and have been for over 2 weeks now. No one ever thought this song was going to do as well as it has done so far. It has surprised a lot of people. The biggest surprise to some was Z100 adding the song on Tuesday of last week after playing it for about a week beforehand.

Pam, I am glad Cookie is doing well. I may be in the minority, but I really like TOML (ie., the Magic Rainbow song). I have actually heard it on the radio here in Southern California a couple of times.

I may be in the minority, but I really like TOML (ie., the Magic Rainbow song). I have actually heard it on the radio here in Southern California a couple of times.

Good, I’m glad to know I’m not by myself. I know the “Magic Raibow” lyric is corny, I won’t lie, Heh! but Cookie made the song work for him.

It’s sickening to see how good jordin is doing when blake is the talented one. Shes only doing good because she’s getting the push from her label that blake didn’t get

I was going to say that Jordin really hasn’t done THAT exceptionally if you consider her CD sales. I don’t believe she has even sold 850,000 CD’s yet, despite the fact that she has had smash hits for her first two singles. Most of her sales have been tied up in the iTunes downloads rather than purchases of her entire album, it reminds me of Rihanna a bit. So, yeah, Jordin’s doing very well with the radio airplay and single sales but not CD sales wise. It’s obvious that her record label is shelling out the $$ to promote her songs to radio. I already heard her third single on the radio although now that I recently got an iPod, I barely listen to the crap on the radio. One reason I even bought the iPod was I was utterly disgusted at the SHIT on Top 40 radio!!

I am NOT happy at Blake being dropped from his label, but on the other hand, Arista really did NOTHING to promote his album or singles. I don’t know how they expected his CD to just “sell itself” when Jordin certainly was never treated that way - her label pushed her to the max to get her airplay and sales, yet she’s the one who WON Idol. The main reason I wanted David Cook to win this year is because I couldn’t endure yet another one of my favorites being thrown under the bus. I figured Cook would have a fighting chance to do well with the Idol title, as that means a guaranteed record contract and more $$ for promotion. Hopefully B can sign with an indie label and do well.

Count me as one of those who kinda likes the Magic Rainbow song, despite those stupid lyrics ;).

EOTW,

I heard that Katharine McPhee’s label had actually blown like 2-3 million on her record deal-promo so that might be why they were cheap assholes with B. They spent quite a bit of $$ on her, then she basically flopped compared to what they invested in her, so they might have been hesitant to shell out the bucks for Blake.

Interesting comments from him at the beginning about “being dropped”. Not sure what it means. What do you guys think? Is he now with 19 Recording? Is that different than 19 management? He says they “optioned him to make another album”. But then I can’t make out whether he said “but he is with 19 Recording” or he said the option is “with 19 Recording”

Is 19 Recordings a record label? I vaguely remember him saying something about how after Idol he was with 19 Recordings, but Clive wanted him?

Here is the link on Fox:

She Loves the way

That performance was pretty “Hot”! This is where Blake really excels.

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks MJ!

19 Recordings is the music label of 19 Productions which is tied in with Simon Fuller and American Idol. I believe in the past they’ve released recordings by Tamyra Grey and Emma Bunton aka Baby Spice. It’s not a huge label, but it’s a platform to get music out there.

Thanks for the answer charles c. Do you know why then 19 Recordings would hand an artist over to say Arista and not keep the artist themselves? Because they are small, would they have some kind of sharing deal together where each one gets a piece of the pie? If Blake would go to another label, say an Indie label, would 19 Recordings still be a part of it? Thanks for the answers if you know them. I find this all very fascinating!

Waiting for recaps from the Canal Room…

More soon. :)

Here are some photos I found out on the internet:

Canal Room photos

WireImage photos

hurry, hurry wanna see the pics and videos!!!!!!!

ps was it a sell out crowd? a lot of support for Blake?

Getty images

I also sent some pics to Team Plaid. Recap later.

She will be loved is up. I hope you like it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6V8f4n5Z8wo

Thanks for letting me know he had a new blog (I don’t have a myspace account). I just read it. He sounds very happy and I am glad. On a selfish level, I don’t care if he is a mega star. I just want to be able to hear new music from him. He may not become a millionaire that way, but, I just want him to be able to keep playing tours, events and make CDs. It’s sort of ironic. We will probably end up being able to hear more music from him now that he is not with Arista. I still can’t believe they didn’t even let him tour!!!!! Oh well. Glad his little “mood face” on his blog was “grateful”. I think that sums it up nicely for everyone. We are all grateful!

remember

vote on xmfan..hits..Upop 29 for BA…it was played YESTERDAY afternoon at 1:34 PM (et) great time..better than those am plays…so keep requesting

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xl7LiJduKZg

SWBL =

I’m thrilled for Blake. From reading here and at other sites, the show was a success. And could his blog have been more adorable? He seems to be completely happy and fine with how everything has worked out. I love his positive attitude. Can’t wait for that tour!

First things, sad and excited for Blake as far as Arista is concerned. As long as he can keep making the music that he enjoys, and can make a comfortable living doing so…then good for him.

Kasia thanking you so much for posting the videos. Loved SWBL. Enjoy the song so much more when Blake performs it than Adam.

Best of luck to you Blake…keep your head up…don’t let the man get you down( got that off School of Rock:D). Just keep on keeping on:)

Greeneyes–I had not heard about the Cake rumor really, but I LOVE the idea. What a wonderful bunch of news we are getting today!

Also, trekk over to SomeplaceElse, and see a couple of the reviews written by peeps who were there. I was blown away by the good amidst the sea of bad. Sweet sweet vindication. Chockful of good news, I just can’t help but smile, honestly. Everything’s really going to be alright.

Kasia thanking you so much for posting the videos. Loved SWBL. Enjoy the song so much more when Blake performs it than Adam.

Yes! ITA.

Thanks for the link to SomeplaceElse. I thoroughly enjoyed that. It is so funny, how the people there don’t even comment on that wonderful post or have any intelligent conversation, they just act like it is not there and continue with the digs. You made me laugh and put it all into perspective. Thanks!

Everything’s really going to be alright.

I think so too!

these two singers are all about the music and each has talent to spare!

Though I have to say I do not follow the Real World so I do not know the other person;)

We got to the venue about 6:30 and the door opended about 7:30.
I think as the evening progressed, there were more people coming in. I assume there were around 200 or so. There was a mixture of young people, some teenagers, a mixture of females and males. I did not walk around during concert, so I am not sure who was standing at the back.

Brianna (sp?) opened the show and her part was about .5 hour or so. Crowd seemed to be receptive but I think most people were really there to see Blake. Every time Blake’s name was dropped, the crowd responded with cheers. I do not remember now the exact order of songs but Blake did some improv, You give love a bad name, Here’s my hello, 1000 miles, Jealousy, We came down to get you, Emotional Waterfalls, How many words, and America the Beautiful. I am not sure if I missed something. It seemed like a long set, which was great.

Blake looked relaxed and entertained the crowd. The response back was really great. Some screaming, cheering, and clapping. You can hear it on some of the videos that I posted. He is really able to keep the attention of the crowd on him and sounds very natural. I was stadning close to the steps to the stage so the sound was not always clear and I probably missed some things he mentioned. I hope others will fill in in what I mised.

For me the songs highlights were America the Beautiful, Emotional Waterfalls, 1000 miles, How many words, Jealousy. The new version of You give love a bad name sounded interesting. Blake’s voice sounded wonderful. As he was singing, he would acknowledge people that he recognized by raising his eyebrows or pointing. In between the songs, he also chatted with the audience.

As far as news that I recalled, he mentioned “owning “the video of “She loves her way” and planning on releasing it. I did not hear if he mentioned when. He also talked about tour in September, which we already know. The other thing that was mentioned wat the upcoming album.

The set finished about 10;45. My children were getting really tired, a long drive and a long concert, and we had to get going to head back to Pa. So, when Blake was getting off the stage, I asked if he would take a picture with my children, and he promised to be back in 10 minues. I guess, they planned Greet and Meet as they formed the line and Blake was back in about 15-20 minutes after doing interviewes. We were able to get to the front of the line becasue of the children, so I do not know how long Blake stayed after concert. I can assume he greeted all the people who stayed in the club.

He seemed truly happy, releaxed, and appreciative to talk with the fans. I got a nice hug from Blake and my children high 5s and hugs too. He thanked us for driving to the venue. My daughter wanted to beatbox for him, and I think he enjoyed that. There was a long line, it was getting late, and we had to get going to get the car before parking lot closed, otherwise I would stay longer and ask more questions. So we probably talked with Blake for about 5 minutes and took pictures with him. Blake told me that he was planning to put Emotional Waterfalls on his new record that he was working on. So, that might be a little different than what I heard before. My husband was taking picures (he is not a Blaker although he likes some of Blake’s songs) so he was standing on the side. After I finshed talking to Blake, Blake came to my husband to shake hands. I thought it was really nice gesture of him.

Loved the concert and what Blake has to offer to fans. He is a true musician who loves what he does. He sounded wonderful playing the instruments and his ability to improvise shows when he is on the stage. Those people who said that his voice was weak, I would encourage to come to his live performances. They will not be disappointed and might change their minds. He is a very talented singer and musician.

I think that is all that I can recall now. I hope that would give you a flavor of the concert.

Your whole last paragraph should be framed and hung over every fan forum. I really think your wording is wonderful.

Can not wait for the rest of your videos– and greeneyes’s especially!

Your whole last paragraph should be framed and hung over every fan forum. I really think your wording is wonderful.

I agree 100% with Bully:)

I am also looking forward to the rest of the videos. I think Jealousy the most though…love that one.

Here are some pictures. The video is coming… I’m splicing up all my clips (there are just huge long 20 minute chunks and I want to do it song by song) and getting them up on YouTube ASAP.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbermxo/sets/72157605818489203/

You are welcome. I was rushing as I was writing and did not check the recap if there were and spelling etc mistakes. I just noticed it should be “We came to get down” and not ‘We came down to get you”. I have no idea where this came from. Freudian slip.

Some interesting information from Chris Sligh. This debunks all the “Blake was dropped sooner than any other Idol” comments.

Chris Sligh says:
“By the way: the way that record deals work, is that every album is an option. A normal record deal is 1 option 4. Each option is the label’s choice. An option can be a year. An option, if an album is ultra successful can be 3 or 4 years. Most of the time, an option on a new artist comes up right at a year from when they first signed, which was the case for Blake, when the artist and the label decide on if they’re going to make another album. It was also the case for Katherine last year, as well as Taylor. Though news didn’t filter down until later in the summer, Kat knew in May last year when I saw her that she was going to be leaving her label and going elsewhere…in fact in May of last year, she already had an idea of where she was going to end up. It wasn’t announced until August-September that she had been officially dropped. Blake signed in June of last year. It wasn’t announced until September. You’ll notice you haven’t heard an official announcement from Arista yet. Why? Because it takes a while for a record label to get around to that stuff. So…to make clear…Blake did NOT get dropped sooner than any other Idol ever.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9AVMCXtryQ

Blake talking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGX3DFW8Msw

Jealousy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfvz2O2M7A8

Whatcha Got 2 Lose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5c-yWjT4oY

More coming…

EOTW,
Thanks for the interview frorm NY Post. Did the reporter say, sold out show?

We Came to Get Down & Billie Jean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj1ejuDJK10

1000 Miles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_MIqrJFYFM

Still more coming…

Blake: “I will loop you all night long”

greeneyesxo???: “He can loop me any time he wants”

greeneyesxo???: “He can loop me any time he wants”

While that is great, that was not me. HAHA ;) I think it was the girl next to me! But I do agree! =P

She Will Be Loved: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZPf9qQrVkgw

YGLABN: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ngRL2RNON60

Talking about Bon Jovi: http://youtube.com/watch?v=rEfMCXr9zzU

America the Beautiful: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9ZfI9FexorY

More Blake Chatter: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QuyHS5P5oxA

Here’s My Hello: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xoQZ1hA76KU

Emotional Waterfalls: http://youtube.com/watch?v=y5Cotanbuc4

SLTW: http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6dFoMzppAI

HMW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qor6wGHty8c

I absolutely adored all of these vids. I am thrilled that B is bringing out his old stuff now! I truly love it all! Some day, I am going to get to see one of these club shows - they are so damned good.

He seems more relaxed now and improvising with the songs even more and it is so fabulous.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qEdkxqw91h0

Thanks for the interview frorm NY Post. Did the reporter say, sold out show?

Kasia, I believe he did say a sold out show. Woo hoo!

VH1 article

Interesting tidbits:
Lewis said he may release the disc through his own label, which he’s in the process of getting off the ground.

Arista went through a lot of changes. The person who was working on my record was fired.

It seems theirs are more hip hop nature and maybe he wants to be more into an open genre label.

Oh, and where are my manners. Thanks for the excellent vids and pics and the articles. Though I don’t go to that “other site” run by nazis, so I ddin’t read those.

I’m sure there are people complaining that he is saying that he didn’t get dropped by saying that is exactly what happened. Blake even used that wording. My guess is TPTB at 19 told him not to use those terms. Record labels don’t like the word dropped and they don’t want the artists using that. It’s a negative word and “parted ways” is much more friendly and legally PC. I’m thinking they had a little speaky with him after the first interview where he used the D word. However, the “others” will see that as him spinning and trying to sugarcoat a bad thing.

At least I know the BT/B show will come to my neck of the woods since BT lives in this area. Yippee!

I think he’s on the right track for that now….one club full of people at a time.

Amen to that newduck

The MTV article was good, I agree NBNN, and for all the reasons you stated. Sure, people will say “spinning”, but hardly anybody heard the radio show he said he was dropped in, and LOTS of people will read MTV/VH1. It has a nice benign quality to it, that puts it all in an amicable light.

Newduck–you should reconsider going to SomeplaceElse this one time, and read two posts. They are by unbiased people, one being an industry-type, and gave very nice reviews that will only help fandom. He needs more of the good reports to come in, and that will help show how ignorant and ranting the other posts are.

You see, I disagree on a level of what you were saying– because we CAN make a difference to help change former Blake fans’ minds. They just need some positive reinforcement, and time for their personal feelings to resolve themselves to Reality of what Blake is about. They liked him once, they can like him again. They just need a reminder, of WHY he was so awesome, to start with! LOL. In their illusion-bubble being popped of him, they forgot, that he really and truly was this awesome talented guy with alot to offer. More than we even know, really, and that concept is enormous to me.

I am so happy that Blake is doing more of his pre-idol stuff in all those shows, it’s great to hear SLTW, EW and J all over again, done differently.

Now I’m looking for stuff from the Fly Summer Jam…

I went to their site, just for giggles, and they have a few piccies up.
(Just random, not necessarily Blake-oriented)

Here’s my post on IDF with all of the links:

http://idolforums.com/index.php?showtopic=566849

Blake’s sales were 500 this week.

I’m still amazed that he sells any with virtually zero radio play.

When my computer crashed, I lots all my iTunes downloads. Does anyone know if I can login there somehow to retrieve what I’ve downloaded before? I know when I’ve tried to buy another ADD copy, it told me I already had bought it. I was wanting to listen to “I’m Just Human,” and unfortunately, that is when I realized I had lost all of it. I really can’t afford to re-download.

I think Apple says that you have to back up your itunes purchases (I’m assuming you didn’t back up your music). BUT! I think if you use this link and send them a message explaining to them what happened, they will email you back and allow you to redownload your purchases. Only once though!

I believe this is true, but not 100% sure, but it is worth trying!