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‘AMERICAN IDOL’ IN BLACK AND WHITE: Article points out Billboard disparity between pop- and R&B-flavored winners.
*An article by Rodney Thrash (rthrash@sptimes.com) of the St. Petersburg Times points out the record sales gap between the finalists of “American Idol” who record pop records, and those who sing R&B.
“Except for Taylor Hicks, last year's top vote-getter, the white winners have outsold the black ones,” writes Thrash. “To be sure, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino have done well for themselves. They've gained entry into a world that, without ‘Idol,’ would have been inaccessible. But their success has been confined to a narrower audience than that of more successful Idol alums.”
Thrash continues: “The disparity isn't so much an issue of race as it is genre. Studdard and Fantasia sing a throwback style of R&B, which ‘is in absolute free fall,’ says Kyle Anderson, assistant editor of SPIN magazine. It doesn't appeal to the young, MTV generation that has made Idol a pop juggernaut. Top 40 radio stations don't give it much airplay. And ‘that's a genre that has always been victimized by bootlegging,’ Anderson says. ‘You are able to get records in other places.’"
Here are the American Idol winners and other notable contestants, the albums they have released and their sales figures, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
Kelly Clarkson
Season 1, winner
Thankful - 2.6-million
Breakaway - 5.7-million
Ruben Studdard
Season 2, winner
Soulful - 1.8-million
I Need an Angel - 448,000
The Return - 226,000
Fantasia
Season 3, winner
Free Yourself - 1.7-million
Fantasia - 380,000
Carrie Underwood
Season 4, winner
Some Hearts - 5.5-million
Taylor Hicks
Season 5, winner
Taylor Hicks - 679,000
Clay Aiken
Season 2, runner-up
Measure of a Man - 2.8-million;
Merry Christmas with Love - 1.3-million
A Thousand Different Ways - 511,000
Chris Daughtry
Season 5, third runner-up
Daughtry - 2.5-million
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