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Kris Allen certainly has his work cut out for him. His album is expected to post the lowest first-week sales from an American Idol winner in the show’s eight seasons—not that opening weeks mean everything. (Ruben Studdard’s best-ever first week didn’t exactly herald longevity.) And although Kris beat Adam Lambert for the AI title back in May, Adam seemed pre-destined to become the bigger media darling/pull-quote generator.
But in reality, Allen’s no less passionate about music (and he did win), so we chatted up the soft rock singer/songwriter at Us Weekly’s Hot in Hollywood Party in Los Angeles, the same bash where we talked pop with Adam Lambert. Check out what Kris has to say about his debut album, and what he thinks might be wrong with it:
Becky Bain: You won American Idol less than half a year ago and since then have basically zipped between the road and the studio. Are you happy with the finished results of your album?
Kris Allen: I am. I didn’t have any expectations, I really didn’t, so I am happy about it. There was a point when I was, “Oh my gosh, I’m gonna pull my hair out,” but I listened to it and I felt like this was a good piece of work, so I’m excited about it.
BB: I think your voice really soars on the tracks where it’s just you and your guitar, like the beginning of the soulful “Is It Over.” You’ve mentioned before that you might push to include more acoustic tracks on your next album, but what about an unplugged remake of this one?
KA: I have thought about a stripped down version of the songs. We’ll see what happens.
BB: Your new cover of Kanye West’s “Heartless” is moodier and obviously includes heavier production than the version you sang on Idol. I heard there was some tension with producer Salaam Remi about releasing the new take.
KA: No tension… the production of it was a little bit different for me, I just thought it didn’t fit in with the rest of the album. But people like it, so it’s good.
“Heartless” on American Idol
BB: You’ve talked about some of the compromises you made while making this album. This isn’t going to turn into a sequel to Kelly vs. Clive, is it?
KA: No, absolutely not. Jive has been really good to me, it’s been awesome. And the thing is, they let me do what I wanted to do. So that means a lot of me that there are twelve songs on the album and nine of them are co-written by me. That’s all I can ask for.
BB: Idol has certainly bred a lot of rocker-types who are no stranger to guyliner: David Cook, Daughtry, and your Season Eight pal Adam Lambert. Would you ever try to go for a more stylized, edgy rocker look when it comes to your image, or are you sticking with the way things are?
KA: Probably not. I don’t think I can get away with that. I think my fans would be like, “I’m done with this guy, he sold out!” Not that that is selling out, it works for some people, but not for me.
and what he think might be wrong with it
Subject-verb agreement aside, did I miss this part of the interview?
@fna: thanks for the grammar correction, and that was in reference to his dissatisfaction with “Heartless”
@Becky Bain: Gotcha.
Im guessing Becky were’ny no English major!
negative spin is negative spin. what will you do with the rest of your life when idol is over becky? certainly not a journalist.
Please tell me where did you get that Kris is likely to score the lowest level of first week ever sales among idol winners..what credible sources have you relied on..& don’t tell me it’s this TV-Link thing that you are introducing a link to in your review or the fraud site of Rickey.org..I was just reading a review on the Bilboard website and, it says & I quote “The first single from the album, “Live Like We’re Dying,”has sold 98,000 copies so far, according to SoundScan. Jive Label Group GM/executive VP Tom Carrabba” link here:
http://www.billboard.com/features/kris-allen-the-billboard-cover-q-a-1004044831.story#/features/kris-allen-the-billboard-cover-q-a-1004044831.story
So if the single sold 98,000 copies in three days & it’s going up the charts at #40 don’t you think that this is an indication of how well the album will do in the rest of the week which will finish in 4 days?!
If Kris Allen has the lowest level of first week sales, that bodes well for Barack Obama. The NJ and VA elections weren’t a referendum on Obama, Red state Allen vs. Blue state Lambert is.
Barack Obama campaign volunteer rooting for Kris Allen, here.
Hopefully you’re joking, but you never can tell when it comes to American Idol. It brings out the cray crays.
bull!
This guy seems so humble, that version of heartless is pretty awesome in its own right. I think he will be fine in the long run however I don’t really think hes getting the promotion his AI counterpart has been getting.
Like the interview, good luck Kris with a K!~
@ Hun*ter “If Kris Allen has the lowest level of first week sales, that bodes well for Barack Obama. The NJ and VA elections weren’t a referendum on Obama, Red state Allen vs. Blue state Lambert is.”
uh, actually Adam won many RED states and Kris won many BLUES states. That was stats on Dial Idol state by state…so that is not true.
Also Adam is an ardent believer in astrology. Well do you know that Adam Lambert shares the same Sun Sign with Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck? And aren’t Palin and Beck releasing books around the same time Adam is releasing his cd? Palin and Beck’s books are number one on Amazon…and so was Adam’s cd on Amazon. So according to astrology, which Adam believes in, he is right there with Palin and Beck.
Good interview btw.
Becky, are you trying to be an ass or does it just come naturally?
How nice of you to condescend and take time out of your busy life to interview Kris Allen.
Adam may be the poster boy for Bedazzler and a media darling, but there are legions of fans of the more organic music and pure talent of Kris Allen.
They are both talented and I feel will both do well in their own genres. I knew Adam Lambert before he became a TV star. I like him. I don’t like the majority of his music. It’s just not my thing.
I didn’t know Kris Allen. I like him. His music is what I like and bought.
I look forward to the day when it gets back to being all about the music and not some bizarre pissing contest with media types who lost a bet.
For the record, I’m very ‘blue state’ and Kris Allen gets my $$$ vote.
Monster – your post is hilarious. I was not a fan of season 8 at all, but, of all the contestants, I found Kris Allen’s music to be the most authentic. He has a very organic sound, that will fit in very nicely on several radio formats. I usually tend to go more for the hard rock sound, but I wasn’t overly impressed with the 2 rockers this year. I liked Kris’s soiund enough to go and purchase the cd. It is really very good.
wow… the kristards are sure getting their panties in a twist here. Becky comes up with the idea that Kris will post the lowest debut numbers for any idol winner to date because if he sells less than 119K he WILL. It’s not rocket science. 90K does not > 119K in any math equation I’m aware of.
But Tilly, who really cares but the Idol freaks. High debut sales does not a career sustain or make. just sayin’
To the poster who said that Kris’ single sold 98000, true, but not in 3 days. Kris’ single was released September 21,and became available on iTunes on September 25. This was way before the album came out.
Dear Becky,
You should be fired.
Me
Becky, you are a condescending passive aggressive bitch.