Posted on 05/08/2006 4:22:13 AM PDT by silent_jonny
Got mine at Walmart today on my lunch hour. Actually bought 3 and gave 2 away to friends. The CD sounds really good.
Report on first day sales of Taylor's single on iTunes as at 6:12 PM EST
Up to #23 on overall chart. Holding at #10 on pop chart. TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS (from single) up to #28 pop chart.(close to breaking 100 on overall).
My daughter wanted a single so I went to VIRGIN MEGAMALL in Times Square here in NYC at 12 PM -- SOLD OUT !!
I was asked to return at 3 PM. I did. 20 people were on line to get the single. I finally got one.
I am reading reports from Wal-Mart buyers everywhere...
Some numerical calculations for your consideration folks....
Let's take just one store -- WAL-MART
There are 3,000 Walmart stores in the country.
If each carries 40 CDs (many will carry more) and sells out, that's 120,000!! Since it's charting high at Amazon and B&N, that's at least 75K each (270K).
Now, let's figure in the Targets, Kmarts, Tower Records, Best Buys . . . Add in iTunes. . . It's a runaway success!!
I estimate at least 300,000 copies in the first week !
GOLD will be reached in a fortnight !
Just got back and I bought three, too. Two to send to the troops! :)
Based on first-day sales, Hits Daily Double is predicting that Taylor's single is on track to sell about 150,000 in its first week. That's physical copies only and doesn't include downloads. When downloads are added, his total sales will approach 200,000 for the first week. This compares favorably with Carries's first week sales last year of 170,000.
That is pretty amazing. Are the radio stations playing it as well? He is really getting a media blitz this week with the cover of People & a Ford commercial to coincide with the single release.
It appears to be losing steam in radio airplay after rising into the top 50 in pre-release. Maybe it will begin to rise up the charts again now that it's officially been released and Taylor is getting a fresh round of publicity. At the moment, it's at #79 on the Mediabase Radio Airplay pop chart.
More on that commercial.
Newest American Idol to pitch sales campaign for Ford
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060614/UPDATE/606140449/1148/rss25
Scott Burgess / The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. announced today that 2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks will star in ads for the automaker's national push to clear out its 2006 models.
A television spot and two radio ads will begin Thursday, with Hicks singing a new song titled "Possibilities." He also will appear in print ads in newspapers and magazines across the country.
The advertising firm JWT Detroit created the commercial for Ford. It was directed by Michael Humboldt of Plum Productions.
"We've been following Taylor closely (along with the rest of the world) this whole season on Idol, and jumped at the chance to work with him," said Lydia Cisaruk, Ford's Dealer Communications Manager.
In the commercial, the silver haired Hicks belts out his new song while dancing alone on an open stage as Ford vehicles drive behind him on three large screens. The commercial can be viewed on the Web site fordvehicles.com.
The TV commercial, as well as the other ads, tout Ford's Drive on Us campaign, which offers zero-percent financing on most vehicles and up to $1,000 for gas -- through a pre-paid MasterCard. Other incentives include up to $4,000 cash back in lieu of zero-percent financing.
Hicks is the second American "Idol" winner to join Ford's "Bold Moves" campaign. Kelly Clarkson kicked it off in May.
Ford has been a sponsor of hugely popular TV show, "American Idol," since it started in 2002. It started using "Idol" members to endorse its vehicles last year.
During the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show, "Idol" finalist Diana DeGarmo unveiled the Ford Mustang. George Huff, another contestant, has featured a Ford Fusion in his recent music video.
Taylor Hicks was a charmer even when he was a high-school junior. Just ask Brooke Kelley Campbell, who dated the American Idol star and took him to her senior prom at Hoover High School in Birmingham, Ala. "Taylor was a fashion guy and he wanted to make sure that he matched my gloves and all that," recalls Campbell, now 29. "My dress was green, and his tux was like a crisp green and navy plaid."
At the prom, Hicks "was the center of attention," says Campbell, who now lives in Roswell, Ga., and is a married first-grade teacher with an 18-month-old son. He even showed off some of the choreography that later made him stand out on American Idol. "(Taylor) was such a good dancer. He did what he called the 'Carlton Dance,' from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
FOR YOU TAYLOR HICKS FANS OUT THERE ...
Here's the latest from Billboard on Taylor's Single as at 17:00 EST June 15,2006...
I work in pr/consulting, and I have never understood why this show has such a devoted following...
Maybe that why I don't get paid squat.
Cool insight from Tay's prom date. Sounds like he has always been the same guy. She lives not far from me, and my wife may know her as a fellow teacher. I'll have to check.
Thanks as always for the chart updates and analysis. DIMYP seems to be off to a great start and should end up doing real well. I agree the ongoing publicity surrounding Taylor will add to the sales as more people see and hear from him.
his tux was like a crisp green and navy plaid."
This is an area that they don't handle well. Only 'some' of the contestants get their back story in full told, over and over and over. They should cover all of them equally.
Black Crowes: Jammed out and tedious
Review: How boring were they? Put it this way: Taylor Hicks upstaged 'em.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/homepage/article_1182367.php
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
It should have been one of the highlights of the summer, a 4½-hour Southern blues-rock bonanza capped by the Black Crowes' biggest headlining SoCal date since reuniting last year and fired up by turns from pedal-steel whiz Robert Randolph and the three-guitar attack of Drive-By Truckers.
But Wednesday night at a far-from-full Greek Theatre, the Crowes were jammed-out and tedious, Randolph was curiously reined-in and timid, the Truckers (witnessed by maybe 500 early birds) were nowhere near as sharp as on record -- and the moment that probably still has everyone who saw it talking involved "American Idol" champ Taylor Hicks.
And so I find myself in an unusual situation. This week's Pop Life column, extolling the burgeoning virtues of Hicks and imploring his contract-keepers to allow him to chase Joe Cocker's spirit, rather than conform him to bland pop formula, was filed the day before the unlikely heartthrob turned up at the Greek. This stunt, then, suggests that maybe Hicks and his handlers have their heads screwed on right.
Make no mistake: This was clearly a stunt, one Randolph was gracious enough to let happen and build up. Earlier, just after the Truckers' half-hour set, Hicks could easily be spotted (and approached) near one of the swag stands, flanked by managers and security people while watching "Idol" pal Elliott Yamin engage in his own bit of meet-and-greet.
It was an odd sight at a show not sponsored by Pop-Tarts and attended by tens of thousands of squealing teens. But what may have drawn snickers in the lobby grew into enthusiasm once Hicks was on stage.
I couldn't tell you the name of the tune he and Randolph cooked on, as this night the guitarist's set mashed one hook-free groove into another. (The guy is a virtuoso, yes, but he needs better material, stuff that can be tightly constructed for maximum impact as much as it can be stretched out. It's telling, actually, that he shined most on someone else's song, Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile.")
What I can say, however, is that Hicks held his own, never showboating or stealing the spotlight, just sitting in, blowing some mean harmonica and briefly leading the responsive crowd in a bit of "everybody say yeah!" back and forth. That showed respect to the evening he intruded upon. But the moment also stands as a significant vote of confidence from a serious rocker, something no "Idol" favorite has received, at least not so meaningfully.
"But, dude, what about the Black Crowes?"
Yeah, well, what is there to say? After a half-dozen missed opportunities (including gigs at the Roxy and the Fonda and a spotlight at the last Long Beach Blues Festival that I had to forgo after falling ill on site), this was my chance to catch up with one of the better rock 'n' roll bands of the last 15 years.
--- end snip
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