Carrie Underwood Performs On Tonight Show & Talks ‘Greatest Hits’ [VIDEO]

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1. Note: yesterday Carrie Underwood tweeted “If I hadn’t tried out for American idol there’s no way I’d be sitting here right now”. The Voice “WINNERS” could say “that because I didn’t try out for American Idol I’m still now sitting here at home”. LOL

   • I love how the Voice finds musicians that are so great and so original and talented like Dia Frampton from season 1 or Juliett Simms or even Michelle Chamuel from season 4. They may not be superstars yet or
     ever but I still enjoy listening to the quality that is their voice and artistry. I don’t care if they dont become superstars I love how the Voice introduced me to these talents and that’s all that matters.

   • I don’t believe being on any of these shows is for nothing, because even if they are local musicians, many are unknown before they are on the show, and can build their careers even locally from being on the show. David Cook and Kris Allen were known locally in their regions, and had a following before they were on Idol but now have a big enough audience to sustain even an indie music career. They might not have had enough of a local audience to be able to do this if they had not been on any kind of national show.

   • I think that even though it probably helped Idol that Kelly and Carrie became so successful, it isn’t fair to compare every other winner of every singing competition in the US to to them, and to do so actually hurts the shows. Saying they were the only ones that were successful implies every other winner was a failure, when in fact some have been moderately successful.

     It might be more of the exception that they did become superstars after being launched from this type of show, with the norm being more moderate success that we have seen from these shows. It sets up an almost impossible standard and puts negativity on the shows and contestants because of statements that they need to produce superstars in order to be successful.

     I think the accomplishment from all these shows is that contestants can make a name for themselves and build a fanbase which enough to do music for a living, where they might not have otherwise. Anything more is the exception.

   • I watch both shows & I agree there are positives & negatives to both. I am tired of the comparison with the shows. I have found artists I like from both shows that I have bought music from post-show.

   • I think that the level of success achieved post-show of anyone who had the kind of exposure that AI gave them is basically up to them. I don’t want to give AI too much “credit” in how ultimately successful anyone from the show ends up being, because I think that is not giving enough credit to the individuals who were on the show. Still, AI (at one time) was a tremendous opportunity for huge, sustained exposure to a diverse audience, which cannot be dismissed, but I don’t think that it’s fair to think that AI ‘created’ superstars

   • I just can’t get worked up about one show being better then another. I see all of these shows as something to sit back and relax to after 10 or 12 hours at work, maybe debate the merits of the contestants competing with each other but I have a hard time debating which show is better than which. I’m happy there are multiple shows because I find them a great mechanism to find new artists, especially the ones that step outside of the mainstream. I have been introduced to many artists that I have followed for years on AI, Rockstar, The Voice, the Sing off, and a couple of others that have slipped my mind right now.

   • We should just except these people to be good singers, not expect them to be instant superstars. The Kelly Clarksons are the exception, not the rule. Success isn’t about putting out a good performance on one or two songs once a week for a few months but putting in a ton of demanding work.

     There’s a lot of pressure, time away from family and friends and letting other people make decisions about your life…someone might be a great singer but just not have the temperament or discipline to make the thousands of sacrifices it takes to make it to the top. And to go on tour? That’s a herculean amount of work.

   • You should just take the show for what it is. A good contest/game show. The Bachelor/Bachelorette has a HORRIBLE track record for matching couples that stay together, but that doen’t keep people from watching that drivel. At least the singing shows actually have people with talent, in contrast to many other reality shows.

   • Quite frankly, people here are getting tired of you ranting about this non-controversy. It’s far easier for a chart-topping artist with a huge fan-base to get a new career bump, than it is for a completely unknown artist to suddenly become a star, which is why complaining about the disparities in success is utterly ridiculous.

     Some would also argue that the Voice owes its success to the coaches more than vice versa. If the panel had been composed of 4 different artists, would the Voice still be this successful? If they didn’t have the right chemistry, I’d say no. People also forget that all of these coaches (except Blake) were able to win multiple Grammys and top the charts without the help of the Voice. Yes they weren’t in the peak of their musical careers when they joined the Voice, but they certainly weren’t in a complete slump either (otherwise the Voice wouldn’t have hired them). Plus, I can’t think of a single artist who doesn’t go through peaks and troughs in their musical careers. There’s always a catalyst that helps to re-boost their career, and if it wasn’t the Voice, it could have been something else. It just seems strange to credit the Voice for the success of an artist who has already had multiple rounds of success.

     The other irony is that most of the coaches fared much better on the charts prior to the Voice. I don’t think that the Voice did much to boost the singles released by Cee Lo, Usher, Shakira or Christina. Christina performed multiple singles on the Voice yet they all flopped and she had to cancel her tour (the songs where she was the featured guest don’t count because they aren’t technically-speaking, her song). How exactly did the Voice boost her musical career, when all of her hits happened before the voice? Contrast Christina with Robin Thicke, who performed only once on the Voice and his song shot to # 1 the US itunes. The bottom line is this: If you don’t have a song that reasonates with viewers, a Voice performance will not help. The same rules apply for both coaches and guest artists alike.

     We all have different definitions of success. Some of the Voice artists have seen modest success even if they aren’t topping the Billboard charts. I certainly wouldn’t call them failures even if others do.

   • I expect that some of the Voice non-winners are eventually going to break through, but it takes time for artists, especially the young ones, to make contacts in the industry, develop material, get more performing experience, find a band, develop their sound, etc. It’s not necessarily a surprise that some of the winners haven’t gone on to great things because it takes somewhat different skills to succeed on the show than it does in the music industry. The format favors people with experience and performing skills who can put together a consistent set of entertaining performances and convey a clear musical identity in the pressure cooker environment of the show. However, this does not necessarily translate to being a marketable current artist (especially for experienced artists who previously got dropped by labels, don’t change their sounds and styling sufficiently, or are aging out of the industry). Moreover, the days are long past when record companies want to sign a runner up right off one of these shows and put together a quick album to try to cash in.

     It’s more honest for the show to level with contestants that being on the show is an opportunity to perform on national tv, meet some musical stars and other striving unknown artists from around the country, and go through a kind of music industry boot camp. They’re making a TV show after all, not running a label. It’s up to the contestants to figure out where to take the experience after the show. That takes time, and nothing’s guaranteed. I think this has been acknowledged behind the scenes for awhile, and now it’s being acknowledged publicly. (Being brutally honest, Adam Levine has called the Voice “a game show for celebrities” and I think he’s told his team members this in private to manage expectations and encourage them to get what they can from their time on the show.)

     For 20-something artists with the right combination of talent, looks, relevance, and contacts, the show can be a good opportunity to boost their careers. The Swons seem to be well on their way with their first single. They were lucky to have a good combination of prior experience, a sound that fits in with country’s current dalliance with classic rock, plus industry contacts. They’ve had help both from Blake as well as Carrie Underwood, who went to college with Zach Swon. Judith Hill seems to be poised for an album launch sometime this fall/winter. She’s been doing a lot of fashion spreads, industry and charity events, and apparently she’s worked with both Prince and Isa Machine (from Florence +the Machine) on material for her album. Clearly Sony’s invested some money in all of this so I don’t think she will disappear. Dia Frampton might finally make inroads when her latest project Archis with Joseph Trapanese (a film composer who’s worked with Daft Punk) launches next year on a (as of yet unnamed) small label. From what I’ve heard, its the best work she’s ever done.

     I expect that at least one of the younger contestants with deals like Melanie Martinez, Jacquie Lee, Christina Grimmie, Caroline Pennell, etc. will find some success. Some of the self-releasing artists are doing ok too. Grace Askew seems to be getting some good press coverage for her recent self-released album and hopefully she’ll make inroads in Americana circles. Michelle Chamuel is touring a soon-to be self-released album this fall. There’s a bunch of other alumni who are self-releasing music, and perhaps at some point a few of them will be able to get signed too after taking more time to develop.

     As for the most current winner, Josh Kaufman, some of the press he did for his recent Indy Jazz Fest appearances alluded to a “blockbuster opportunity.” So far, he’s only talked about working on a single, so there might be something else in the works. Maybe that just means he will pop up at a couple of dates on Usher’s forthcoming tour. But, perhaps it could mean that the label is going to send him on the road as an opening act for someone else and lay a foundation for launching an album if things go well with both the single and tour. I’m also curious to see if he ends up as a Republic artist, or if Universal will have one of its other labels manage him, as happened with the country winners and Big Machine. It would make sense for a more adult-oriented imprint like Verve to take him on, especially because of his jazz background, since they also have a few AC artists on their roster. If I were managing him, I would try to initially position him as an AC artist with jazz and soul elements in his music, try to get some songs on radio and build up the audience, and keep the option open for him to cross over fully to jazz in the future.

2. This “my show is better than your show” nonsense is rather childish!

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