Diskeries banking on 'Idol' worship
Eight albums slated for release
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No fewer than eight albums from "American Idol" contestants are slated for release between Sept. 12 and mid-November. And three of the most recent season's stars have discs landing the same day: Nov. 14.
The last release from an "Idol" winner, season four's Carrie Underwood, has sold a remarkable 3.2 million units. Runner-up Bo Bice sold 641,000 -- a respectable number for debuts, but barely tolerable in the "AI" world.
RCA Music Group insiders figure 400,000-500,000 copies are sold as a souvenir of the show; anything above that is evidence that the music is finding an audience.
First up in the "AI" lineup is Mario Vazquez, the fourth-season dropout who was signed to 19 Recordings, which has the right to ink any of the show's 12 finalists. The bestseller among contestants who weren't in the final two is Josh Gracin, whose self-titled debut on Disney's Lyric Street imprint sold 667,000.
Clay Aiken's second non-holiday album is due Sept. 19. His debut, "Measure of a Man," released Oct. 14, 2003, sold 2.8 million copies.
On Sept. 26, Ruben Studdard's third CD arrives. His debut, "Soulful," released Dec. 9, 2003, tallied 1.8 million.
Fantasia Barrino's soph effort is due Oct. 17. "Free Yourself," released the same day as Studdard's last disc, has sold 1.7 million.
On Nov. 14, last year's winner, Taylor Hicks, again goes head-to-head with runner-up Katharine McPhee and country singer Kellie Pickler. An album from hard rocker Chris Daughtry also is due in the fourth quarter.
The last time "AI" releases were bunched together was Nov. 23-Dec. 7, 2004, with Studdard, Barrino, Clarkson's "Breakaway" and Diana DeGarmo's "Blue Skies" hitting retail in a two-week period.
The big winner was "Breakaway," the biggest-selling "Idol"-related album in the U.S. at 5.4 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The loser was teenager DeGarmo, whose "Blue Skies" debuted at No. 52 and was off the top 200 a month later; it has sold only 165,000 copies.
