Surprise American Idol earners for 2011

$URPRI$E: ADAM’S BIG DEBUT- Adam Lambert makes his first showing on the list…and he’s all the way up in the second spot, tied with fellow robbed rocker and road warrior Chris Daughtry, with an impressive $6 million total. He actually beat out the superstar likes of Jennifer Hudson (who holds steady at number six, with $2 million) and even Kelly Clarkson (who drops from number two to number five after a relatively low-key year in which she earned $2.5 million). Adam wasn’t even on last year’s list, which was a surprise in itself since his Season 8 castmate, Kris Allen, was. (Kris is a “near miss” on the list this year, according to Forbes, but now that he’s lucratively starting to write songs for other people, like “Glee” star Matthew Morrison, he may make a reappearance next year.) While Adam’s first album, For Your Entertainment, sold 821,000 copies domestically and was certified gold or platinum in six other countries, his success is also largely attributed to his gigging: His 116-date Glam Nation Tour was a rare success in 2010′s troubled concert industry, and it also spawned a vast array of merchandise (like Glambert disco-ball keychains!), a live EP, and a concert DVD. If Adam if he can keep up this pace after his sophomore album comes out, he should rank high again in 2012.

$URPRI$E: FANTASIA’S BIG COMEBACK- Fantasia Barrino is well known for her money troubles (she almost lost her home in 2009, and once told People that she was so in debt, she couldn’t afford a pizza), and last year she wasn’t on the Forbes list at all. But this year she’s all the way up at number three, with a tally of $4 million. This is thanks to her reality show “Fantasia For Real,” which was VH1′s biggest hit of 2010, and her comeback album Back To Me, which was her highest-charting album to date (it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200) and has so far sold almost 500,000 copies. After a year of many setbacks–she was caught up in an extramarital affair scandal, then tried to take her own life–this high Forbes ranking is very good news for Fantasia.

$URPRI$E: LEE’S NO-SHOW - Lee DeWyze, the most recent winner with available data applicable to this list, didn’t make the cut at all. (He’s another “near miss,” as his runner-up from Season 9, Crystal Bowersox, which means he definitely earned less than $1 million.) Perhaps this isn’t that huge a surprise, considering that his post-”Idol” album, Live It Up, is the least successful winners’ album ever, disappointingly debuting at number 19 and selling only about ­­­­143,000 copies to date. But as mentioned earlier, Lee’s predecessor, Kris Allen, did make the list before. However, Kris starred in a Ford commercial that ran on Fox throughout last year’s “Idol” season and featured a song, “Alright With Me,” that Kris co-wrote. Lee didn’t get such a residual-generating opportunity.

$URPRI$E: KAT JOINS THE PACK - Katharine McPhee’s career never quite took off after her Season 5 “Idol” run, and her most recent album, Unbroken, only sold about 46,000 copies. But this year she squeaks onto the Forbes list, tying for ninth place with the Season 7 Davids (Cook and Archuleta) after earning a cool million. This is due to her upcoming, much-buzzed-about NBC series, “Smash,” and a new label deal with Columbia Records in conjunction with that show. If “Smash” is, well, a smash this fall, expect Kat to move up this list. Perhaps 2012 will really be her big year.

$URPRI$E: WOMEN CASH IN - Of the dozen Idols on the combined Forbes list, seven of them are women. This is an interesting development, considering that no female contestant has won “American Idol” since Season 6′s Jordin Sparks. (Jordin surprisingly places fourth on this year’s list, with $3 million, and tells Forbes, “‘American Idol’ kick-started me in my career. It gave me an amazing fan base money can’t buy.”) Additionally, only five of the top earners on the list are singers who actually won “Idol.” So apparently the way “Idol” fans vote with their pocketbooks differs from how they vote with their cell phones while the show is actually on the air.

So, will this year’s newest confirmed “Idol” signings–Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Pia Toscano–make the Forbes list next year? That remains to be seen, since Scotty’s $250,000 record deal is actually less lucrative than previous winners’ deals. We’ll just have to wait until next year to find out which Idols rake in the big bucks.

FULL FORBES LIST
1. Carrie Underwood: $20 million
2. Daughtry: $6 million (tie), Adam Lambert: $6 million (tie)
3. Fantasia Barrino: $4 million
4. Jordin Sparks: $3 million
5. Kelly Clarkson: $2.5 million
6. Jennifer Hudson: $2 million
7. Kellie Pickler: $1.8 million
8. Clay Aiken: $1.5 million
9. Katharine McPhee: $1 million (tie), David Archuleta: $1 million (tie), David Cook: $1 million (tie)
Near misses: Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox, Ruben Studdard

Courtesy: Yahoo Entertainment

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I was reading through the comments and came across one of my readers who was distraught that I spent so much time talking about Democrats and Obama and never mentioning Clay Aiken.  For those who are unaware, my career as a blogger was instigated by Claymates who were upset with me for outing Clay Aiken.  To placate that reader while not ostracizing those who enjoy the daily dose of politics, tonight I’ll write about both Clay and Obama.

There are so many similarities between Barack and Clay.  Both are Democrats.  Both can’t be trusted to keep their word.  Both say one thing, but do another.  Both lie with ease.  Both authored books filled with half-truths and exaggerations.  Both have a difficult time with keeping stories consistent.  Both make up eventsor scenarios to garner support or sympathy.  Both are constantly asking for money and/or donations.  Both put down others to boost up themselves.   Both pretend to be someone that they’re not.  Both can contradict themselves in the same sentence.  Both love to talk.  Both are very arrogant.  Both are untrustworthy.  Both have an elevated opinion of themselves.  Both do not like reporters who ask difficult or probing questions.  Both dislike Fox News…

I don’t think I need to go on.

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Hey, friends and readers, I apologize for being away and not posting.  My ex boyfriend came to visit and I was spending a few days with him and my current boyfriend.  It was funny, yesterday the three of us drove to Clay Aiken’s subdivision and checked out all the mansions.  I’m sure Clay would have loved to for the three of us to knock on his door.  It looks like Clay is trying to hide the view of his house from the street.  It looks like landscapers have planted lots of leyland cyprus, Japanese maple, and various other trees and vegetation.

So let’s talk about some other things.  Obama’s approval has dropped. Overall, 42% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president’s performance. That’s the lowest level of approval yet recorded for this president. Fifty-seven percent (57%) now disapprove. Those are the lowest ratings yet recorded for this president. The president’s approval rating has held steady in the 46% – 47% range for six months and it remains to be seen whether this new low is merely statistical noise or the start of a lasting change.

Star Magazine reports Al Gore’s split from wife Tipper after 40 years of marriage was a shock to everyone who thought theirs was the ideal marriage. Now Star can exclusively reveal that the former Vice President was having an affair with Larry David’s ex-wife — for the past two years! In the June 28 issue of Star, on sale Wednesday, Star reports that Al and Tipper’s breakup didn’t come as much of a surprise to one Hollywood player — Laurie David. Star has learned that Al has been having an affair with Laurie, who divorced Seinfeld creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David in 2007 amidst reports she was cheating with the caretaker of their Martha’s Vineyard summer home.

While Obama and the Democrats try to regulate the banks and blame them for the failure that was perpetuated by the government, we learn that government managed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could eventually be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and face the ignominy of trading on the pink sheets after a U.S. government takeover destroyed most of the value of their common stock. Remember, Democrats want the government to run health-care.

So what did people think about Obama’s first oval office address? Let’s read some of the comments by the unbiased and non-racist MSNBC:

Olbermann: “It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days.”

Matthews compared Obama to Carter.

Olbermann: “Nothing specific at all was said.”

Matthews: “No direction.”

Howard Fineman: “He wasn’t specific enough.”

Olbermann: “I don’t think he aimed low, I don’t think he aimed at all. It’s startling.”

Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a “commander-in-chief.”

Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. “I’ll barf if he does it one more time.”

Matthews: “A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk.”

Matthews: “I don’t sense executive command.”

Ouch, that was harsh.

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How does Broadway raise money for charity?  They strip.  Classy, right?  Of all the many ways for Broadway to raise money, they have decided to have 10 of their Broadway performers strip for cash- don’t worry, Clay Aiken is not one of the 10.  Besides, he doesn’t strip for charity, just webcams.  However, Clay Aiken’s long rumored boyfriend, and some say male escort, Reed Kelly, will be baring it all for charity.  I guess with a career in the toilet, Clay doesn’t pay as well nowadays.

BROADWAY BARES returned to Chelsea’s hottest hot spot and the original location of the very first BROADWAY BARES in 1992, Splash, for SOLO STRIPS: AROUND THE WORLD on Sunday, April 11.

Directed by Rachelle Rak, assistant directed by John Berno and costumes by Brad Musgrove, AROUND THE WORLD featured eleven of Broadway’s sexiest performers stripping to two capacity crowds and raising an impressive, if sweaty, $7,365. The evening was the second in a series paying homage to that very first BROADWAY BARES twenty years ago which featured Jerry Mitchell and six friends performing original strips on the bar at Splash for a $10 donation plus whatever tips the audience gave to the dancers.

Rak had the challenging task of taking us around the world for a strip in nearly a dozen time zones but was certainly up to the task. She explained, “Ten years of Broadway Bares has made stripping sort of my specialty skill! Thanks to Jerry (Mitchell) who taught me how to take off a glove properly. I now pass on my knowledge and sass.”

Host Marty Thomas, most recently in Xanadu and Wicked, kicked things off with an electric rendition of the evening’s theme song, the Electric Light Orchestra hit “All Over the World” which revved up the crowd for what it was about to experience.

BROADWAY BARES creator and executive producer Jerry Mitchell joined Thomas and special guests Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia and Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan thanking the enthusiastic crowds and announcing raffle winners. With each strip, we get closer to the fundraising goal of $1 million goal set by Mitchell at the first SOLO STRIP this past January 31st for Broadway Bares XX, which will be held on June 20 at Roseland Ballroom.

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Clay Aiken performed in Raleigh, NC tonight as part of a PBS Special that will air this Summer.  Open thread for Claymates and non-Claymates to opine on the performance.

Music line-up:

Misty
Unchained Melody
Build Me Up Buttercup
Crying
In My Life
Who’s Sorry Now?
What Kind of Fool am I?
Its Impossible
Moon River
Suspicious Minds
Some Paul Anka Song Beso something?
A Kind of Hush
Make Believe
I’ll Take Romance

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If segregation exists there is only one person I can think of who could captivate an audience and bring down a house with his opinion based speeches on the subject; Clay Aiken.  After finding discrimination and segregation where none exists within the Wake County School Board, I’d like to direct Clay Aiken’s new found activism toward Hawaii where Democrats, led by Senator Akaka voted to divide the state into two parts based on ethnicity.

Perhaps Clay Aiken can use his voice and microphone to rant bring attention to an actual case of legislative imposed segregation.

The U.S. House last week passed legislation that would in effect divide Hawaii into two states, one for ethnic Hawaiians and the other for everyone else.

In an opinion piece in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Gail Heriot and Peter Kirsanow — members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights — said the bill “might turn out to be this Congress’ single most calamitous decision.”

The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act would allow most of the nation’s approximately 400,000 ethnic Hawaiians to organize themselves as one large Indian tribe. The tribe would have the “inherent powers and privileges of self government,” including the ability to levy taxes and exercise eminent domain.

“Hawaii will, in effect, be two states, not one,” the authors wrote.

The legislation is popularly known as “the Akaka bill,” after Hawaii’s Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka. Ten years ago, he sought to exploit a 1974 Supreme Court decision that racial discrimination on the basis of membership in “quasi-sovereign tribal entities” is constitutional. That decision allowed hiring preferences to be given to Indians within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Akaka hoped that transforming ethnic Hawaiians from a race into a tribe would protect special benefits for those Hawaiians.

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Clay Aiken gave his, “About damn time” speech for the politically polarizing group, ‘Human Rights Campaign’ (HRC).  ”About damn time” is what many of us said when Clay Aiken came out in People Magazine a few years go- announcing that he did so because “he didn’t want to teach his son to lie” while reminding his fans that he didn’t lie to them- he just skirted the truth some.

It wouldn’t be a Clay Aiken speech if he didn’t find a way to insult someone or some group.  In his speech, Clay brought up Brown vs the Board of Education which led to the desegregation of schools, claiming that the Wake County School Board would disagree with the decision by the Supreme Court.  Only someone ignorant would make such a statement.  No Wake County school board member disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision. What Wake County school members believe is that ALL schools should be equal in education and standards, and that school children should not be bussed across county to attend school when there are schools that are located locally.  They believe that a student’s time is best served studying and not sitting on a noisy bus for an hour.  No school board member is supporting restricting one group or another from attending a school.  If Clay Aiken has witnessed such, then I demand he speak up and tell each of us which school is denying Blacks, Hispanics, Asian, etc from attending.  Just because you don’t like the outcome of an election it doesn’t give you the right to exaggerate claims or concoct discrimination where none exists.

Continuing on in his speech, Clay now claims that he was waiting for “thing$ to change” before he came out.  Really?  Was that before or after he told People Magazine that he “didn’t want to teach his son to lie”?  What thing$ was he waiting to see change?  If he was waiting for people’s opinions about gays to change or for people to be more accepting of gays to change, then the best way to affect such change would have been to come out and demonstrate that gay people are just like anyone else.  Or… he could have defended those like his ex boyfriend John Dahlstrom who came under vicious attack by his fans who were upset with the idea that Clay was dating his then hairstylist.  Or… rather than perform at a Church who damned gays to hell and that went out of its way to defend Clay’s heterosexuality by sending out a letter to its church members, Clay could have demanded that the concert be held at a more accepting place.  Or… rather than pointing the finger at those who aren’t accepting, maybe he can lead by example by educating his own unaccepting family members.

I applaud Clay for giving a speech on human rights and equality, but it takes more than just giving a 4 1/2 minute speech to a group of gay/gay friendly people in a room, it takes activism… it takes leading by example to affect the change that he’s calling for.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Clay Aiken will take the stage at the convention center Saturday night to do something he has never done before: deliver a speech about gay rights.

But don’t expect him to pound his fist and scream for the right to get married.

“There are people who are loud and make noise, and there are people who are deliberate and slow and steady,” Aiken said during an interview this week at a downtown Raleigh, N.C., coffee shop. “Right now, at this point in my life, I feel like a slow and steady person.”

Aiken, a Raleigh native and platinum-selling pop singer, made headlines in 2008 when he appeared on the cover of People magazine with the headline, “Yes, I’m gay.” This weekend, he will speak as part of the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas gala at the Raleigh Convention Center. Meredith Baxter, the “Family Ties” actress who recently came out of the closet on the “Today” show, also will deliver a speech.

Since it was announced that Aiken would speak at the HRC gala, organizers have received e-mails from his fans. Some have said that Aiken’s appearance has caused them to have conversations about sexuality they wouldn’t have had otherwise, said Joni Madison, who is helping to organize the gala.

“It brings a whole other side to the conversation,” Madison said. “It’s fun to watch.”

The visibility of gay Americans has never been higher. More celebrities feel comfortable sharing their sexual orientation with the public. President Barack Obama advocates ending the military’s policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” A handful of states allow gay marriage, with fervent opinions on both sides of the issue.

HRC provided a speechwriter to help Aiken, 31, with his remarks, but he decided to write his own. The original speech was too political, Aiken said, and included a slam aimed at George W. Bush.

“I don’t feel like this is the place to be horribly politically charged and bash people and talk about the wrongs that have been done,” he said. “My goal is to be hopeful, that it’s time for everyone to have equal rights.”

For Aiken, that means inheritance rights and hospital-visitation rights and all the other rights that heterosexual couples take for granted, including the right to be married.

But, he said, “I’m not going to be the person who says it has to be marriage or nothing else.”

The most basic need, he said, is that everyone have the same rights. He believes it will happen, although it could take decades.

“It’s more important to me, as a parent, that my son have all the rights — if he’s gay — than it is for me. I don’t want to do anything today that’s going to inhibit, or be a detriment to his rights.”

Aiken’s son, Parker, was born in August 2008. Parker’s mother is music producer Jaymes Foster, who lives in California. Parker, who was conceived via in vitro fertilization, splits his time between the West Coast and Aiken’s home in the Triangle region of North Carolina, near Raleigh and Durham.

Aiken said he probably will attend Saturday’s event with his bodyguard. No family members or friends were scheduled to accompany him. Some in his family have handled the news about his sexuality better than others.

“Some Southern families like to sweep things under the rug,” he said. “We just don’t talk about it.”

Although Aiken has no plans to be a rabble-rouser in the efforts to secure equal rights, he admits he might eventually change his mind. Even as he has decided to take a measured approach, “that sure as hell doesn’t mean I won’t be loud one day,” he said.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers.

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May I have a few moments to get everyone up to date?  Well, I started my new job and I’m loving it.  It’s quite the challenge; long hours, hiring new staff, putting together a marketing strategy, redoing the 2010 budget, seeking out new vendors, signing new contracts, setting up new accounts… the list goes on.

The community I manage is beautiful– it’s double the size of the previous property I managed.  Of course, I have more staff which is nice.  The community has a resort-style pool, state-of-the-art fitness facility, business center, video library, reading room… I can continue to brag on my wonderful community, but then y’all will want to sell your homes and come stay with us.

I’ve selected a new apartment.  It’s a spacious 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment with a solarium and 1,200 square feet of living space- I also have a garage for my car.  I’ve done some shopping for furniture– I’m getting a Tempur-pedic mattress.  I’m tired of waking up with a sore back.  I just want to sink in my bed after a long day at work.

So, for the third time this year we have snow here in North Carolina.  I know, I’ve already heard- the cold weather and record snowfall is a result of global warming instigated by 8 years of the Bush administration.  I would assume that those extremist scientist who predicted that we would begin experiencing colder temperatures brought on by the cyclic events of the sun were… uh, lucky guessers.

Who’s chalked March 12th down on their calendar?  Clay Aiken is performing songs off of his upcoming album, ‘Tried and True’, at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  With such short notice, I hope that I can get good tickets and a limo for the event.  No, it’s not that I’m too good to drive, I just know that I have to be a little drunk to endure 2 hours of moaning and commentary from his fans- it truly is the best way to enjoy his concerts.

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