Author: Kirsten Coachman

Kirsten Coachman is a Writer, Editor, and Arts & Entertainment Journalist from the SF Bay Area. When not listening to music or cheering on the San Jose Sharks, she's probably at the movies. Follow her on Threads: @kirscoachman

David Archuleta Parts Ways With Jive Records

After a somewhat cryptic Twitter update from David Archuleta last week that said, “Decisions.. They are scary things before knowing what could happen after you make them, but I’m excited for what the future holds,” there was speculation that Archuleta had been let go by Jive Records.

On Februray 18, a Jive Records representative told The Hollywood Reporter that “David was released from our roster.”

Archuleta took to Twitter again this week to post a video to thank his fans and to explain the decisions that he is making for himself when it comes to his career.

In the video Archuleta said, “There were offers for me to continue working with [Jive], but it didn’t feel like the right thing now.”

Later in the video, he said that he had also parted ways with his management.

“I realized that this is not where I am need to be right now. This is not where I’m supposed to go, what I want to be doing right now, what I want to be focusing on,” he explained.

Archuleta was runner-up to David Cook during American Idol’s seventh season. In the fall of 2008, he sold 183,000 copies of his self-titled debut album in it’s first week out. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 in the number two slot.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Idol Wired >> Hollywood Drama

This week’s episodes of American Idol were packed with talent, tears, and drama that make “Hollywood Week” the must-see episodes of the season. It also lets you see a very real side to the contestants. However, seeing some of the contestant’s candidness was not always very flattering. In other words, Clint Jun Gambia, dude you’re toast. But we’ll get to him in just a bit.

Idol chose to mix it up this year with the group rounds. Contestants had make up their group with participants from both group one and group two from the first round of “Hollywood Week” auditions.

Remember the days of Idol when contestants would just group up and make it work? Yeah, that wasn’t flying this week. Contestants were making other contestants audition to get into their groups. It’s a brilliant move, but at times just seemed kind of rude.

I have also never seen so much footage of parents in Hollywood with their underage child/Idol contestant. I think they should have let their kids work a little more independently on their group routine and wait to be asked for pointers, but a couple of these moms were a little too much to handle.

James Durbin (totally over him, by the way) weighed in on the stage moms, and told the cameras that there shouldn’t be young kids in the competition. Really showed a little bit of a cocky side to him. I think he was just jealous that the group of teens were about to wipe the floor with his group, as they were both performing Queen’s “Somebody To Love.”

A quick word of advice to Mr. Durbin: You really need to stop inserting the screechy note into every one of your performances. It’s not necessary. But if you’re going to repeat the path of Siobhan Magnus and toss that note in during each of your performances, you should aim to be on key.

I think the biggest foul of the group rounds was Clint Jum Gambia kicking young Jacee Badeaux out of his group in favor of Scotty McCreery. Gambia didn’t think that Badeaux’s voice fit with the rest of the group, so he sent him on his way. Badeaux ended up joining up with Brett Loewenstern’s group.

If Gambia makes it past the Las Vegas round next week into the Top 24 where the viewers vote, I don’t think he has a chance in hell making it to the main stage. He completely shot himself in the foot by kicking Badeaux out of his group. Plus, he’s managed to come off as completely obnoxious this week. Good work, Gambia.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Hollywood Drama

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Comeback”

I currently have the lyrics to Justin Bieber’s hit song, “Baby” playing on a loop in my head.

“Baby, baby, baby ooh…baby, baby, baby ooh…baby, baby, baby ooh…”

Not cool, Glee. Not cool at all.

I have seen The Biebs perform on TV a couple of times, but never bothered to sit down and listen to his music. I had my own Justin Bieber when I was 16, but his name was Brian Littrell and he was a Backstreet Boy.

When I initially heard that Glee would be getting Bieber-friendly, I must admit that I cringed. Upon remembering that this show is set in high school, and that Bieber is pretty much “the dude” right now, it then made sense that the kids in glee club would like his music.

So, how was Glee’s take on Bieber? Not bad, actually. I can’t even believe I’m about to say this, but after taking a listen to the lyrics and the melody, I have come to realize that Bieber has well-written and catchy tunes. This would be why the chorus to “Baby” has not left my brain.

Chord Overstreet (Sam) sings The Bieb’s enormous hit, “Baby,” and I think pop music is definitely his niche. He isn’t the strongest male singer in the cast, but Glee’s “Blond Bieber” does quite well for himself on this song.

I wasn’t surprised at all to hear Kevin McHale (Artie) doing the rap breakdown in the song. He proves again that he can flow pretty well.

Overstreet, McHale, Mark Salling (Puck), and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) perform Bieber’s “Somebody To Love.” I have come to the conclusion that when the Glee guys are rocking a pop song, they sound at the top of their game.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Comeback”

Idol Wired >> The San Francisco Treat

Since I spend a good portion of my week in San Francisco, you can imagine that I was excited to see how the American Idol auditions went in the city by the bay.

In case you had forgotten, Idol reminded us that Adam Lambert had initially auditioned in San Francisco. Aw, remember the days when Idol would find ridiculous amounts of talent? (Psst…seasons seven and eight, I miss you!)

It’s not that the singers shown weren’t talented, it’s just that they don’t seem as quality as prior contestants. I personally was looking to be wowed by the contestants and that definitely didn’t happen during the San Francisco auditions.

What I appreciated about this particular episode of auditions was that more good auditions were shown overall. And of course there were enough sob stories to fill the hour-long episode, but being that this was the last night of auditions, I was expecting them.

I really didn’t have any personal favorites from this set of auditions. However, there were a couple singers that I am looking forward to hearing from during the “Hollywood Week” round.

Matthew Ness from Huntington Beach, CA had some amazing big notes during his audition. Steven Tyler called the 25-year-old, “a diamond in the rough.”

Stefano Langone, the 21-year-old from Kent, WA sang Marvin Gaye’s, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” He has a Bruno Mars quality to his voice. Very smooth vocal.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The San Francisco Treat

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Silly Love Songs”

Glee is getting lovey-dovey this week with the song selections from their Valentines’ Day-themed episode, “Silly Love Songs.”

For the second episode in a row Kevin McHale (Artie) takes a Michael Jackson hit. In his episode, he’s singing “P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing).” Out of all the males, I think McHale was definitely the right choice to sing this song. His voice has the right tone and flavor to pull this song off. I think it was important for him and the show to not have a carbon-copy vocal, but still manage to keep the essence of the song intact, and I think they succeeded on both levels.

This week Mark Salling (Puck) is singing Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” I know this song fits in with Puck’s storyline for the episode, but I feel like the song was in the wrong key for him. At times it sounded like he was straining to hit the higher notes. Because of this, I have to wonder if the backing vocals are purposely drowning his voice out. It seems depending on the song selection for him, Salling’s vocal performances continue to be very hit or miss this season.

We’re treated to two songs from Dalton Academy’s Warblers during the episode. Per usual, the vocal stylings of Darren Criss (Blaine) are featured on both tracks. First up with Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone,” Criss continues to impress. His vocal performance is flirty and has some swagger to it, which really adds to the song overall. There’s a big note that he hits at the end of the song which is absolutely fantastic. I really like that the Warblers sing songs that are more pop/R&B, because it distinguishes their style from New Directions.
Continue reading Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Silly Love Songs”