Floridian: 'Idol' on the download

I'm an unabashed Kelly Clarkson junkie ("Since you been GONNNE!!!"), but after hearing the mind-blowing Fantasia, I have a new favorite Idolist. With Tina Turner's strength, Patti LaBelle's holler and legit songwriting skills, the Season 3 champ from High Point, N.C., is everything an R&B diva should be: bold, brash and unafraid to take chances. Such wickedly thumping jams as Baby Makin' Hips and Not the Way That I Do are the best tunes Beyonce never had the guts or independence to make. Fantasia is the American dream, a hardscrabble teen mom turned star who is both accessibly real and deliciously fantastic.

Season 5's Bald Wonder has one of the most distinctive voices in modern rock, that stylishly warbled metallic yawp that made him the most controversial also-ran in Idol history. But talent aside, somebody needs to get it through his shaved skull that "Nickelback imitator" is not a viable career option. On the early tracks of his debut, the sheer force of Chris Daughtry's voice is enough to overcome the derivative guitar scrum, especially on It's Not Over and catchy power ballad Used To. But everything eventually starts sounding the same, faux-metal gunk clogging your ears. It's no surprise that the album's most thrilling moment is the Guns N' Rosey What I Want, with a guest solo by guitar god Slash. Note to Daughtry: Find cooler friends.

Poor Ruben: No one likes to live in another's shadow . . . especially when that shadow belongs to someone one-third your size. But that's been the fate of the Velvet Teddy Bear, who won Season 2 of Idol but lost out to the sales power and elfin charisma of runner-up Clay Aiken. Studdard was created in the Luther Vandross mold, a God-fearing loverman who could belt gospel and mushy ballads. For sophomore disc The Return, such popular producers as the Underdogs try to give Studdard a sexier, street edge, but the album is consistently dull, one blah love letter after another. The Claymates were right: Neither Ruben's voice nor his persona is the stuff of champions.

Kellie Pickler's Huckleberry Blond routine last season made me want to pull an Elvis and take aim at the tube. But the lil' minx's debut disc makes for cheap-o fun, like watching Hee Haw in your underpants. Pickler's thin voice has been smoothed out via studio trickery, but her sassy spirit remains, especially on go-girl dustup Red High Heels. The highlight is a moving ballad called I Wonder, a strong, unapologetic letter to an estranged mother. The liner notes don't list writer credits, but if Pickler had a hand in that one, she really was a lot smarter than she let on.

Dreamgirls, the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash, doesn't hit theaters until Christmas Day. But just from hearing the soundtrack, I'm pretty sure I already know my favorite scene. That would be the one in which former Idolist Jennifer Hudson, playing a disgruntled girl group singer, belts the octave-spanning showstopper And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. Just hearing it gave me chills. The rest of the album, which also features Beyonce, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy, is a likable blend of show tune bigness and Motown flair. But believe me when I say Hudson's big moment is worth the price of the album - and maybe the price of a movie ticket, too.

Taylor Hicks making soul music is kind of like McDonald's making neckbone soup. You can't mass-produce a beloved delicacy that needs time, love and experience. I don't doubt the reigning Idol champ has great affection for Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, but when he samples both of them on new song Heaven Knows, you've gotta wonder where homage stops and desperation starts. Hicks, whose voice sounded much richer on TV, gets decent songwriting help from Rob Thomas, Diane Warren and Bryan Adams. But the wanna-be juke joint stink of the album is too synthetic to enjoy. McRib, anyone?

I once had a great interview with Clay Aiken, a giddy young man who laughs like a hyena hopped up on Pez. The most famous runner-up in Idol history kept talking about ditching fame and working with autistic children. Asked about the new album, he sighed: "We're still trying to figure things out." I'm willing to bet Aiken despises his sophomore effort, with its gauzy covers of such lame pop songs as Mr. Mister's Broken Wings and Richard Marx's Right Here Waiting. (After all, Claymates will buy anything by their boy, right?) The wishy-washy orchestration makes Manilow sound like Metallica. And with the exception of a curiously pleading Without You, the singer sounds bored throughout. Still, if Aiken is trying to sabotage his fame - and it sure sounds like he is - I find that strangely admirable. Good luck with the teaching thing, buddy.

Sean Daly can be reached at (727) 893-8467 or sdaly@sptimes.com His blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.

1. Baby Makin' Hips 3:21 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 "See that wobble-wobble? Shaped just like a cola bottle." You go, 'Tasia.

2. What I Want 2:49 Chris Daughtry Daughtry $0.99 Guest licks by guitar freak Slash give Bald Guy switchblade edge.

3. And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going 4:46 Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls $0.99 Beyonce who? This desperation ballad is the definition of showstopper.

4. Red High Heels 3:43 Kellie Pickler Small Town Girl $0.99 Huckleberry Blond out-Shania's Shania on this foot-fetishist anthem.

5. Not the Way That I Do 3:36 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 Doomsday drums add menace to a killer kiss-off.

6. Without You 3:34 Clay Aiken A Thousand ... $0.99 Claymates rejoice! For the first time, Aiken's pleading sounds genuine.

7. It's Not Over 3:36 Chris Daughtry Daughtry $0.99 Nickelback knockoff or not, the guy can flat-out sing.

8. I Wonder 3:58 Kellie Pickler Small Town Girl $0.99 Tough-love note to estranged mom is surprisingly moving.

9. The Runaround 3:13 Taylor Hicks Taylor Hicks $0.99 Mr. Soul Patrol mixes Basin Street stomp with Motown sheen.

10. Hood Boy 3:34 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 OutKast's Big Boi raps on this retelling of Salt-n-Pepa's Whatta Man.

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Comments on this article

by Brian	12/27/06 01:35 AM
Yeah ok Miss Hudson will read this review as she goes up to accept her Oscar. She is amazing in Dreamgirls and this song. I think she should demand a recount. This girl has a voice!!!!!!!!!!

by annie	12/25/06 12:40 AM
Where is the poll, Sean. BTW lay off the moonshine so you can actually hear. :)

by Rita	12/23/06 05:36 PM
Clay's ATDW is exquisite. Sean, notice how many votes Clay has compared to the others, and perhaps you'll stop thinking it's cool to diss the most beautiful voice that's come along this century.

by Velvet	12/20/06 02:14 PM
I love Clay's cd...especially the new cuts..the originals...Lover All ALone should have been on there..also LOVE HIS CRAZY LAUGH!! Makes me laugh everytime! :) I may go out and buy some PEZ myself!! :)

by Lisa	12/19/06 08:30 PM
Fantasia's album is great,great,great. She has clearly grown as an artist and it is reflected in her album.

by Lisa	12/19/06 07:13 PM
Fantasia, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtery all deserve an A , the have beautiful voices and I wish all of them the best in the singing careers. Kudos to them all.

by Veronica	12/19/06 05:02 PM
Fantasia's new album is hands down the best album in years. I love it. I bought it Saturday and haven't stopped playing it. I literally know all the words to like every song. She really hit a home run with this album. I would have given it an A too.

by Joey	12/19/06 03:02 PM
Glad you gave Fantasia the highest mark because her new album is amazing and she is easily the best vocalist! She is a TRUE artist the live band and horns on her album are great. I see why she is getting these great reviews from everyone.

by Trish	12/19/06 02:49 PM
Surely you jest about Clay Aiken's Cd being a D-. I think that you probably need to clean out your ears with drops and listen again. He's a brillant song stylist and will be the most successful of all the Idol's in the long run. Kudos to Clay!

by Neva	12/19/06 01:43 PM
If you want to hear some really good music be patient until Katharine McPhee's CD comes out Jan. 30. Now that will be worth listening to and buying! She's the best of the whole bunch.

by Lynn	12/19/06 01:32 PM
Everyone deserves Kudos for trying - I won't lower myself to diss them like you do BUT Dude - return your glue bottle will ya! Clay outsings them all even if it is not what HE wants to sing - get a copy of Lover All Alone will ya! yeeesh....

by BETTI	12/19/06 12:06 PM
TAYLOR DESERVES AN A FOR HIS NEW CD. IS WONDERFUL.

by Judy	12/19/06 11:44 AM
Clay's ATDW is genius quality. Love it!!! Give it an A . Clay can sing unlike so many "stars" promoted today. Great performaces by a true talented young man.

by tanya	12/19/06 11:09 AM
Clay's ablum A Thousand Different Ways deserves an A . The title song is WONDERFUL ! Open up your ears and give the guy a chance. He has more talent in his little finger than all other idols, winners and loser !!

by Billy	12/19/06 08:44 AM
kellie's album deserve a A..its an awesome album

by Mark	12/19/06 07:51 AM
Just your opinion. Try listening to lover all alone written by Clay Aiken.This guy is a true musician

by Kris	12/19/06 02:13 AM
Clay's album deserves more credit than that. His take on "Here You Come Again" is beautiful and I love the cover of Broken Wings- it's haunting and amazing.He will rebound from this and be bigger and better than ever. No problem.

by Ryn	12/19/06 01:27 AM
Great review of Fantasia's album. It's bold and original!

by Elnora	12/19/06 12:58 AM
I think everyone has a right to their opinion.but some of yours are right.But guy most of these idol was kids when they started,wishing on a star.It's hard to stand up and be judged.Not too many of us could do it.Hope to see more living their dreams.

by kfc	12/19/06 12:23 AM
Hmmmm.. trying hard to determine which song on Clay's ATDW rates a D-...Broken Wings? Absolutely love it. Everything I Do? Nah, absolutely love that, too...Lonely No More? Because You Loved Me? Everything I Have?..hmmmm..love them all ..and Clay...A

by Simon	12/19/06 12:05 AM
Kellie Pickler, Small Town Girl is amazing! I bought the album and every song on it is great! She also sings great live!

by Joyce	12/18/06 11:52 PM
Clay aiken is one of the best singers to come around in years.ATDW is way above most out there. You don't have to sing about sex to be real sexie. Clay has my vote any time!!!

by Nit	12/18/06 09:44 PM
Today I took the cd to work let some none Fantasia listen and they all went out and brought her CD they went crazy over it the live drums and horns. One guy know his music said best Cd in a long time. Hell he got off early to go get it. Love The Cd A

by Alisa	12/18/06 08:29 PM
This is one of the best articles/reviews that was honest in everything stated.. Plus, I'm a big fan of Fantasia.. The girl has got so much talent and I hope that this CD will show the world just that. Thanks again

by Patricia	12/18/06 06:12 PM
Clay's cd is AWESOME! Love the songs on it! Sure you aren't listening to someone else? How many did Clay sell the first week? You must be right how bad it is do you think? DUH!

by Juanita	12/18/06 03:20 PM
To the reviewer: So You've Had A Bad Day. Surely you jest.

by Julie	12/18/06 03:18 PM
Clearly you must not have heard "Lover All Alone," which is an iTunes exclusive on Clay's album. Clay wrote the lyrics, David Foster wrote the music, and the result is pure magic. This song needs to be on a movie soundtrack so others can hear it!

by "Charlie"	12/18/06 01:27 PM
I bet you think you are a great reviewer.You know so much about music nobody can tell you anything. You are always right on the money.Tell us all what you would have written about Elvis's "Hound Dog" or "Blue Suede Shoes".I think I made my point....

by hannah	12/18/06 01:21 PM
What a lazy bunch you reviewers are!! Everyone just copies what Rolling Stone had to say about Clay! Any excuse you can find to put him down will do for you, I'm sure. He's been going strong for four years now without your pathetic approval!

by Martigyrl	12/18/06 11:12 AM
Sean, YOU are kidding, right?? Rating Pickler a B?? Surely, you jest?? Boy, you are in the holiday spirit aren't you? Tell that girlfriend of yours, to take away your eggnog. Rating Clays' ATDW below hers???Stop the drinking, Sean!!! Martigyrl

by Cory	12/18/06 11:03 AM
So if you're female you get points, if you're black you get points, if you simulate black you get points, if you are drowned in a wall of sound you get points, but don't sing beautifully or you get a D- Do you think this critic is predictable? Yup!

by Carol	12/18/06 09:47 AM
Sean Daly is a liar. Clay Aiken never sounded better than he does on this album, and he stated many times that he is very proud of it. Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu946zTv9FU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEZVLggb2NY

by Pam	12/18/06 09:29 AM
I'm a Claymate. Woohoo! LOL That said, I think you're right - the story is that Clay wanted to do originals but RCA "mandated" the covers. Sounds like it's RCA trying to sabotage Clay's fame, not Clay himself.

by Lynn	12/18/06 02:00 AM
Amazing that the men who review the "Idols" always give the women high praise...not. We will see who will be around say 10 years from now and who can be replaced by one of the same generic newer Idols!

by Kendra	12/18/06 01:49 AM
I can't believe how one's perceptions can be so diametrically opposed to another's. Amazing.

Music

'Idol' on the download

Thirty days. That's how long until the sixth season of American Idol starts gobbling great chunks of our brains.