A few weeks ago word broke that Jimmy Iovine was pushing to get an album made with Pia Toscano before the American Idol 2011 season was over. While it makes sense to strike while the iron is hot, the American Idol producers said at the time that they weren’t going to allow an eliminated Idol Hopeful to steal the eventual winner’s thunder. Someone is singing a different tune today.
American Idol Executive Producer Ken Warwick told reporters today, “If we’ve got a rising star that the record companies and [‘Idol’ parent company] CKX think are marketable now, they will try to get records out.
As time’s gone on, we realized what we’re seeing so often is that the big star is not the winner, but from the top five or top 10, so it’s unfair to hold someone back so we can promote someone else.”
I’m not sure I’d agree that it’s unfair that the season winner gets the first album. He or she (probably “he” this season) made it to the end and won the game. That seems like a very fair prize. But when it comes to Hollywood, green calls the shots.
So does this mean we’ll definitely see a Pia Toscano album or at least a single before late May? That’s not much time, but I think it’s entirely possible.
Source: MTV News