Carly Smithson - American Idol 7 Top 12 - Everything You Need To Know
Carly Smithson makes it to the American Idol Top 12
Carly Smithson was born in Ireland, but now lives in San Diego. She manages a tattoo shop with her husband.
Carly Smithson is the most pimped American Idol contestant of all time.
In 2001, Carly Smithson signed a major recording contract with MCA Records during the time Randy Jackson (the judge) was the VP of A & R. Fans are outraged that Carly Smithson has not been disqualified because of this conflict of interest when other contestants in the past have been barred from participating on American Idol because of this link.
Carly Smithson's debut CD "Ultimate High" was a high-profile flop as documented in a front page article by the Wall Street Journal. MCA Records reportedly spent $2.2 million on producing and promoting her album but it sold only 378 copies when it was released. Because of fan outrage, Carly Smithson was forced to come clean with her past record contract during the show -- after American Idol initially portrayed her as a singer coming back into the show due to visa issues only. However, Carly Smithson lied when she said that her recording contract "didn't work out because the record company imploded". In fact, MCA Records -- which has signed major artists such Mary J. Blige, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, etc. -- was absorbed by Geffen Records 2 years after Carly Smithson CD was release -- so to imply that a major label like MCA Records being absorbed by another company was the reason for her CD failing is a flat out lie.
Carly Smithson was being heralded as the "next Britney Spears" but many factors contributed to her CD's failure. Her debut single "I Wanna Blow Your Mind" was explicitly about blow jobs which her target audience (or any audience for that matter) simply could not relate to. She also released the album near the time of the 9/11 attacks (November 13) which hurt the music industry as a whole. However, this did not stop MCA Records from promoting her album as they spent $500,000 in promotion appearances for Carly Smithson's second single "Beautiful You". A video for "Beautiful You" which was reportedly filmed at the cost of $250,000 was shelved when the response from viewers from a call-in show on Nickelodeon was zero.
Carly Smithson worked with some prominent artists on "Ultimate High", namely Sheryl Crow who co-wrote one of the songs, Shiela E (the drummer) and Danielle Brisebois -- who composed "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Brisebois who is very close to Carly Smithson and treats her as a sister also composed (and performed in an unreleased CD) "Just Missed The Train" which Carly Smithson recorded on her album, which in turn was recorded by Kelly Clarkson -- the first American Idol. Carly Smithson had worked with many artists before American Idol existed. These artists also work with American Idol alumni today. Carly Smithson is not an unknown to people on American Idol, and if the conspiracy theorists are to be believed, is an insider using American Idol to bolster her popularity for an already predestined recording contract.
Carly Smithson recently said that her favorite "Idol" moment of all time was when Sanjaya Malakar was voted off American Idol. This has incited a major fanwar among pro-Sanjaya Malakar fans such as Rickey.org and Votefortheworst.com against Carly Smithson.
Rickey's Bold Prediction: Top 3 Shock Elimination for the Ages
Links:
Carly Smithson fans (The Rickey Smiths!) on Rickey.org
Carly Smithson audition
Carly Smithson -- Crazy on You (on iTunes)
Carly Smithson -- I Drove All Night (on iTunes)
Carly Smithson -- Shadow of Your Smile (on iTunes)
Good News! Carly Smithson's debut album "Ultimate High" is now available! Ultimate High on amazon.com
Listen to "You'll Never Meet God (If You Break My Heart)" by Carly Smithson and Danielle Brisebois: