and the idol fever continues...

this month we see the release of albums from the american idol alums... sophomore efforts from kelly clarkson, ruben studdard, clay aiken and the debut release of fantasia and diana degarmo.... and what their albums prove is that on top of talent, an artiste really needs a producer with foresight and a great marketing strategy... however, the brains behind most of the IDOL releases belongs to clive davis... this really old man who did launch the career of whitney houston... but unfortunately seems to be rehashing other ppl's marketing strategy... and not to mention a selection of tracks that seem like it was rejected by the IT artistes of the moment... HILARY DUFF, ASHLEE SIMPSON, AVRIL LAVIGNE, VANESSA CARLTON, USHER....

it seems like CLIVE's bigger picture is simple... if the IDOL is black... he/she will go down the hip hop/r&b stream.. while the white chicas are transformed into rocker chicks... it is so formulaic it is disgusting... because it denies the potential of these singers to shine...

fantasia's debut is peppered with many hip hop tunes and attempts to distract buyers with names like missy elliot in the credits and collaboration... but fantasia ain't no BEYONCE... the only track that is worth noticing is her cover of the classic, YOU WERE ALWAYS ON MY MIND.. so maybe it's really a matter of the selection of material... as they try to package her as the singing EVE, bad fashion sense included... they forgot that her talent was in her abitlity to emote a song with her unique voice... which basically a number that borders on rap and trash talking doesn't allow her to do... what a disappointment...

diana degarmo on the other hand is trying to cut a share of the teen queens market... but someone should get clive davis new glasses... coz HILARY DUFF, LINDSAY LOHAN.... they are all babes.. and diana bears too much of a resemblance to the mother from THAT 70s SHOW.... but with her vocal abilities, she manages to pull off all the material... but she will not be a marketing success.... but who knows,... she could be the new LEANN RIMES... a country girl with a big voice... just give her the rite ballad..

kelly clarkson hit jackpot with BREAKAWAY... after a dismal showing with her debut album.. but her follow up was a ROCK number.... WHY???? what happen to the good ol' days where the singers sing BIG BALLADS with their big voices with no shame? mariah carey was shifting units by the millions until she decide reduce her 8octave range to breathy whispering... and whitney was the queen of r&b until she literally wore her vocal chords out...

so the only thing i hope for is when they do TAUFIK's album... they give a good mix of r&b, soul and radio friendly tunes... they must remember the songs that he won us over with... ME AND MRS JONES, SUPERSTITION (of course no one writes songs like that these days)... and I DREAM (the title couldn't be more IDOL cliche... but hey, admit it.. YOU LIKED IT!!!)... brillliant move to employ affordable songwriters from ang moh countries ie: australia....

as for SLY.... don't know don't care... :P