Hot Music Beat

American Idol champ Kris Allen has released his new single ‘Live like We’re Dying’ off of the singer’s as yet untitled album which is scheduled to come out on November 17. Let me say this – I am quite sure that this is going to be a smash hit! The song is actually a cover from the Irish pop rock band The Script. Just like Kris did with Kanye West’s song ‘Heartless’, he totally sang the cover song as if it was it was written for him to sing. Honestly, he’s the only one I know who can make a cover sound totally original.

Sometimes, losing American Idol has better perks than actually winning it. Idol runner up Adam Lambert has reportedly begun working with RedOne, the man behind many of Lady Gaga’s hits and who, apparently has a renewed interest in glam rock. A source at RCA Recordings said that Adam’s debut album will feature a Queen-inspired sound that will go beyond what he ever did on the show. That sounds hot. Be sure to watch out for Adam’s debut album which is scheduled to drop this fall. Idol champ Kris Allen will also release his album then. I can’t wait for both debuts and see another showdown.

American Idol runner up Adam Lambert has just been outed by judge Kara DioGuardi. The judge did a taped interview for The View which aired this past Friday. During the segment, Barbara Walters asked her if she though his perceived sexuality might have influenced the audience to vote for Kris Allen. Kara replied “Well, first of all, I hope not … because we should be judging on talent and viability in the music industry and they both [Lambert and Allen] had that. I don’t think that Adam [Lambert] was ever in [the closet]. I think he was always openly out.” When Barbara reaffirmed that it wasn’t the public’s perception that Adam was openly gay, Kara said “I think he was. I mean from what I’ve seen … I do. I never thought he wasn’t.” I wonder what Kara has seen that the rest of us haven’t.

Everyone has been calling Kris Allen’s victory over Adam Lambert an American Idol upset. What’s so upsetting about it? It’s not like Kris isn’t talented. But when you’ve pretty much orchestrated a finale show that showcased Adam more than Kris, it would be upsetting to you. Kris only got to perform one song with Keith Urban while Adam got to sing a medley with rock icons KISS. Heck, even Danny Gokey got to sing more songs than Kris when Danny sang a medley with Lionel Richie. Add to that, the final performance of the two before the winner was announced was with Queen. Adam’s star was made to shine brighter than Kris’ that night but I guess the producers didn’t expect a rally of fans for Kris.

Even though Adam Lambert seems to be the favorite for the first place on American Idol, his competition is not likely to be giving up to easily. Kris Allen goes for a very bold song choice by doing Kanye West’s “Heartless”. The surprising part is that he does it only with his voice and guitar… a bold move for which he is commended by the judges… even Simon Cowell who says that with this performance, Kris Allen managed to wipe away the failure of his first song for the evening. It’s a really tough race it seems and Kris Allen has a good starting speed… especially considering that he actually made Kanye West’s music sound like real music.

Of course, if the other duet from American Idol performed well due to Adam Lambert’s innate charm, this duet, formed by Kris Allen and Danny Gokey who performed Styx’s Renegade, didn’t hold out too well against the odds. Simon Cowell, as always offers the spiciest comments ever and he just resumed himself to saying that Danny Gokey was better than Kris Allen. That’s real criticism for you… right on the spot. And considering that Danny Gokey was deemed “probably safe” by Simon Cowell, it might mean that Kris Allen is in for a bit of a painful break with his rising career.

The American Idol contestant came back again in full force and this time he gave up the soft side of his performances and went for something a little more exciting: Wild Cherry’s “Play that funky music” is what got Adam Lambert second place in the top nine for the beginning of this week. Simon Cowell was sensibly impressed with Adam Lambert’s performance since he said: “At least we get rid of some of this karaoke nonsense we’ve seen tonight.” Originality seems to have won Adam Lambert a good spot last night so now it’s a duel between him and Kris Allen for the first place… a regular cat fight, one would dare say.