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04-04-2016, 09:41 PM,
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john
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RE: American Idol 2016 - The end is nigh!
Article by songwriter Sam Hollander on his experiences writing for American Idol singers for finale and post tour albums. He wrote Thanks For The Songs, with Haley, Adam Pallin, and Aimee Proal in 2011.
Quote:![[Image: header.jpg]](http://www.ascap.com/~/media/images/shared/site-components/header.jpg) ![[Image: A75126C2F2E24897A3C2C82801361CB5.ashx]](http://www.ascap.com/~/media/A75126C2F2E24897A3C2C82801361CB5.ashx)
...I quickly learned that the American Idol record-making process was madness — a panicked time crunch that kicked in the second the confetti was swept and the cameras went black. The victor and runner-up were immediately shuttled around Hollywood to collaborate with hitmakers from that specific chart year in a three week speed-dating round of musical mayhem. The immediate goal was a handful of songs that would set the template for the musical direction of the finalist’s forthcoming debut record. Then, the singers would begin intensive tour rehearsals, followed by a 50-date, summer-long, cross-country jaunt. At this point, with the artist’s exhaustion level nearing hospital status, they were jettisoned back west immediately after the tour wrapped, and were forced to track the rest of their entire albums within a solid six-week window. The records in question usually dropped around Black Friday while the cast was still fresh in the public’s appetite. In the early years, they shipped Gold. For the hungry writer, this was that next level mortgage s**t. This meant utter chaos. Every writer in the mix was whipped into a state of paranoid frenzy as we battled each other and the gruesome clock. What a competitive mindf**k.
I was first thrown into this raging fire with Season 6’s quirky runner-up Blake Lewis. Blake was awesome. Totally my kind of weird. He wanted to make a UK drum-n-bass record. The label wanted him to make a Justin Timberlake record. You know how this movie ends. We wrote three songs together, and to my surprise, two of them actually made the CD. I couldn't believe my luck! Even more exciting news followed. One was slated to be the second single! Damn, this dash seemed so easy. Nope. Sadly, I tore a hamstring before my victory lap when I learned that if the first single didn’t explode on Idol, there would be no sequel. Blake’s first single didn’t blow up. It didn’t deter me though. I was excited to toss more proverbial needles into these potentially fleeting haystacks. I had my head held high and a freshly gifted Sanjaya Malakar t-shirt. Dorothy was no longer in Kansas.
...Adam Lambert was strong-armed into recording one of my pitch songs that I was quite excited about. Yes! Unfortunately, upon listening to the final mix, everyone on Team Adam agreed that his vocal performance was the wrong fit for the song and that dream died as well.
Looking back, this was that broken moment that I was officially sucked out of Idolworld. That dark day my cell number was entered into the Idol do-not-disturb registry. I received zero winner calls for Seasons 9, 10 or 11. Sure, I shared three hours with the talented yet weary third placer, Haley Reinhart, which resulted in yet another tune for the scrap heap, but that was just a token. Can’t forget to mention Season 9’s Crystal Bowersox who sang a duet on a Blues Traveler record I produced. Why didn’t this mean anything to these damn people!? Season 12? The crickets continued. There would be no Lee DeWyze. No Scotty McCreery. No Candice Glover. No Phillip Phillips. As far as the Idol powers were concerned, I was officially Dead Man Writing....
Then it happened.
I wrote a Daughtry hit. The holy grail. Finally my one shining light in the Idol glory hole. Officially exiting pariah status, this success resulted in a hectic 11th-hour plea for me to write with Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson. I hopped in the car and raced over to the Venice Beach studio. I liked Caleb. He was a wide-eyed enthusiastic kid. I dug his soulful rock thing but I was even more thrilled to have another shot at reversing my dubious Idol legacy. But something inexplicable happened between the small talk that preceded the session and the song itself. I had nothing left. I spit some of my hackiest lyrics to date and we parted ways with a tune that was, of all things, depressingly, soulless. I beat myself up the entire weekend that followed, as I wondered if all these exercises in futility had finally taken their creative toll. A month later, the batphone rang: our song was chosen to be Caleb Johnson’s first single. This would be my only Idol champion first single. I couldn’t believe my s**tty luck, or Caleb’s for that matter. I was gutted. I knew nothing good would follow. I was correct. Sadly, if you Google it, you’ll probably find that it was the fastest disappearing single in the Idol era. In the early years, a song like this wouldn’t cut the mustard as a Taylor Hicks Japanese B-Side. By Season 13, it was the Hail Mary. Why, you ask? Because for all intents and purposes, the show was over. The Voice had stolen the proverbial thunder and the industry had moved on. And so had I....
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04-06-2016, 12:47 PM,
(This post was last modified: 04-06-2016, 12:47 PM by john.)
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john
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RE: American Idol 2016 - The end is nigh!
Balancing out the annoyance I experience with these various top 10 or 20 lists is the fact that Haley appears on so many of the lists. Since the lists are basically individuals in the media listing personal favorites, it is great to see she is held in high regard by those who are in a position to give a lot of publicity. Of course we already know a lot of these people adore her.
She is #7 in Daniel Fienberg's list, TV critic for the Hollywood Reporter
Quote:Initially miscast as her season's Token Rock Chick, Haley always had the slinky, jazzy, esoteric interests that have made her post-Idol career so frequently intriguing. The show's voting demo pushed Scotty and Lauren to the finals, but Haley's "What Is and What Should Never Be," "House of the Rising Sun" and "I Who Have Nothing" were probably the season's signature vocals and with Casey Abrams, Haley found the unlikely partner capable of making Idol duets unobjectionable. Haley also earns ephemeral bonus points for successfully voicing the main character, an 11-year-old boy, in Netflix's underrated F is for Family.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/a...sts-881373
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04-07-2016, 02:43 AM,
(This post was last modified: 04-07-2016, 02:50 AM by john.)
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john
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Posts: 7,107
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RE: American Idol 2016 - The end is nigh!
Quote:REALITY ROCKS
Lyndsey Parker
Managing Editor
April 7, 2016
Thursday night, American Idol comes to an end, with a nostalgic, Nigel Lythgoe-produced finale featuring dozens of alumni from the past 15 seasons. To celebrate (or commiserate, because I’m actually very sad that the show is ending), Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks is ranking the 50 coolest Idol finalists ever.
Why “coolest”? Because for years, many skeptics and snobs have written off this show as just some corny karaoke competition. This gallery proves otherwise. These very cool contestants were the game-changers, the mavericks, the edgy and indie types, the ones that kept things interesting and changed what people thought Idol could or should be....
10. Haley Reinhart (Season 10, third place)
The greatest, scrappiest underdog in ‘Idol’ history, this raspy-voiced chanteuse “Reinharted” her way to the top against all odds. Five years later, she’s a bona fide sensation, with a new record deal, Postmodern Jukebox videos that rack up millions of views, and her cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” going viral thanks to an Extra gum ad. she’s also the only Idol ever to play Lollapalooza, for what that’s worth.
https://www.yahoo.com/music/the-50-coole...68550.html
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04-08-2016, 11:42 AM,
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john
Posting Freak
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Posts: 7,107
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RE: American Idol 2016 - The end is nigh!
Where's Haley? Snubbed?
THR
Quote:APRIL 07, 2016 9:35pm PT by Daniel Fienberg
Critic's Notebook: 'American Idol' Finale Reminds Viewers Why the Show Mattered
..I missed Haley Reinhart and Crystal Bowersox and Adam Lambert and don't necessarily know what they were up to tonight, though two of the three have been active Idol returnees in the past, so I'm guessing they were just booked elsewhere, I guess....
Chicago Tribune
Quote:'American Idol' goes out with a stunning upset; let's not overpraise the corpse
... and Haley Reinhart (not there, or at least not on stage), talented young adults with now-recognizable names still hoping to catch on....
The TV Critic
Quote:There were a few former contestants a bit conspicuous by their absence. There was no Blake Lewis, David Archuleta, Adam Lambert, Crystal Bowersox, Haley Reinhart, Angie Miller, and Jax were all absent just to name a few. They couldn’t get them all in, but there were a few that I didn’t even remember until I went, “oh yeah!” who got in ahead of them. Presumably because of conflicts, but other than Lambert, I’m not sure what anybody else would have going on.
MJ
Quote: Jason Castro (S7), Anthony Fedorov (S4), Vonzell Solomon (S4), Nadia Turner (S4), Haley Reinhart (S10), Paul McDonald (S10), Naima Adedapo (S9) are around, but are not set to perform.
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