‘American Idol’ notes: New Kris Allen, David Archuleta updates
The wheels don’t stop turning for the “American Idol” alum when they are off the show, and this story, featuring a pair of the show’s most-popular contestants over the course of its run, is further proof of that.
We begin here with an update from David Archuleta, who has been back from his mission in South America for a little while. This may actually be one of our favorite videos that he has ever made, mostly because of the sheer honesty of it. He explains here how he spend much of his time earlier on in his career trying to please everyone, including higher-ups and record labels, and didn’t always really think about what makes him happy. That is what he is trying to do with his music now. He is taking his time, and choosing to work with local people in Utah and old friends rather than anyone in the ego / celebrity culture that is Los Angeles.
After hearing all of this, we are more intrigued to get new music from David than we have been in some time.
As for Kris Allen from season 8, he has been working hard writing some songs of his own for an upcoming album. He recently posted a lengthy note about it on his official website, but we thought we would specifically mention how he got inspiration for one particular song at an unlikely time:
“Some of you may know I decided to make this record independently. As exciting as that has been, it also comes with its own set of challenges. I knew from the very beginning that I was going to have to do things differently this time around. And something told me that I needed to listen more. Listen to the things that were happening around me that could point me in the right direction and eventually shape this record.
“It started one night while I couldn’t fall asleep because this unborn song kept playing in my head. Lyrics. Melody. The whole thing. I tried to ignore it but I thought maybe I should do something about it. So, I got out of bed, grabbed my guitar and wrote down the song that had been keeping me up. It became one of my favorites on the new record and is called ‘Beautiful & Wild.'”
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Photo: Fox
Ella
June 13, 2014 @ 11:49 pm
Nothing compares to seeing Kris live! I’ve seen him five times! Can’t wait for the new album!
Anna
June 8, 2014 @ 1:04 am
I’m excited about Kris’ new album. Charlie Peacock has produced some amazing artists and the new music that Kris has performed at his shows is promising.
nyc57
June 6, 2014 @ 8:44 pm
I don’t judge music by how popular it is.Kris’s 2nd album,Thank You Camellia, is really a beautiful,meaningful album and it is a shame it was not promoted.It came out only 2 years ago and his new one will be out very soon.It would have been out sooner but Kris had a terrible accident that required several surgeries.His new album was produced by the very respected grammy winning producer Charlie Peacock and I’m really looking forward to it.Kris is a really talented artist and an amazing live performer.
Elaine Burt
May 31, 2014 @ 9:01 pm
The music business is tough for anyone these days. Even Lady GaGa has a problem filling seats. I like Archie, but he will never be a big star. Kris Allen, on the other hand, was never really popular, and is not an American Idol favorite. His Arkansas power text win did not equate to a big fan base. No one is buying 10,000 albums because they voted 10,000 times. He has the nastiest fans of them all. Luckily he is down to a few thousand. He won’t sell 5,000 of his new album.
jenny
June 8, 2014 @ 1:02 am
It’s ironic that people who consistently come on posts/articles about Kris just to insult him have the nerve to suggest that it is Kris’ fans are the nasty ones.
Jillian
June 14, 2014 @ 4:22 am
Elaine:
Kris has 290,000 Twitter followers; how is he “down to a few thousand” fans? You said the music business is tough; if Kris is not popular, how is he still supporting himself through music 5 years after Idol? It is strange how you said, : “I like Archie, but he will never be a big star”. Funny, I don’t recall Archie nor Kris ever saying they wanted to be “big” stars. They are very grounded people who are not “fame whores” and who don’t want to live or raise a family in the Hollywood bubble.
MK
May 31, 2014 @ 10:41 am
Looking forward to the new CD by Kris Allen. It appears that his friend Adam (Hambrick) introduced him to Charlie Peakock, so thanking Adam for this.