Forbes Top American Idol Earners from Last year

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Forbes magazine have just released their official list of the highest paid American Idol contestants of 2008, with pop-country queen Carrie Underwood taking the top spot with a whopping $14 million.
The season four winner earned the big bank from a combination of record sales, extensive touring, and her endorsement deal with Vitamin Water. Underwoods 2007 album "Carnival Ride" performed strongly throughout 2008, selling almost 3 million copies in the States alone and scoring 5 consecutive number one singles on the country chart. Her overall record sales now total 9.6 million.

Also on the list at #3 is the original Idol Kelly Clarkson, who earned considerably less with $4.2 million. Clarkson also had an album released in 2007, the ill-fated "My December", which only yielded one hit single "Never Again" with sales failing to carry through to 2008.

1. Carrie Underwood - 14 million
- The Muskogee, Okla.-born country girl used Idol to launch a massively successful recording career. A three-time Grammy country vocal winner, Underwood has sold 9.6 million albums.

2. Jennifer Hudson - 5.0 million
- The multi-talented singer-actress won an Oscar in 2006 for her role in Dreamgirls. Her 2008 self-titled album has sold over 750,000 copies. Hudson was chosen to sing the national anthem at the 2009 Super Bowl.

3. Kelly Clarkson - 4.2 million - Idol's original queen has sold over 10 million albums. Her latest release, "All I Ever Wanted," hit No. 1 on Billboard charts.

4. Jordin Sparks - 3.1 million
- The season six winner broke out with "No Air," a duet with R&B crooner Chris Brown. She has toured with Alicia Keyes and is now on the road with tween sensations the Jonas Brothers.

5. Kellie Pickler - 2.3 million - Like fellow Idol alum Underwood, Pickler is more cowgirl than diva. She has sold 1 million records since the show. She is paid to endorse Sexy Hair products.

6. Clay Aiken - 2.2 million - The Raleigh, N.C., native maintains loyal following six years after finishing second on Idol. He has sold 4 million albums and penned a New York Times best-selling memoir. Aiken recently finished a run in Broadway's "Spamalot.

7. Chris Daughtry - 2.0 million - One of the first Idol rockers to reach the final four, Daughtry's debut album sold over 4 million copies. His follow-up is slated to hit stores this July.

8. David Cook - 2.0 million - Once a small-town songwriter, Cook has a top-selling album and a lucrative endorsement deal with Skechers.

9. David Archuleta - 1.3 million - Edged out in the seventh season by Cook, baby-faced Archuleta has gone on to release a successful album of soulful pop. The self-titled debut record has sold 700,000 copies. The 18 year-old has played more than 100 live shows since Idol.

10. Taylor Hicks - $300,000 - Prematurely gray-haired soul master Hicks charmed Idol audiences and won the fifth season. He's now playing Teen Angel in a national tour of Grease.

Countdown to Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D.

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The E.N.D (Energy Never Dies) is an appropriate acronym for the Black Eyed Peas.

With more than 20 million albums sold, multiple GRAMMY Awards, sold-out tours, Fergie's The Dutchess, and will.i.am's ascension as an in demand producer and political game-changer (''Yes we can''), the Black Eyed Peas are a pop entity.

The Peas advance their swagger on their fifth studio THE END, with #1 single BoomBoom Pow already creating chaos around the world and ''Imma be'' bubbling over. Check back often as itunes is offering singles from the album leading up to its release on JUNE 9th.

Colbie Caillat ready to "Breakthrough" on her Sophomore Album

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Platinum-plus, award winning star Colbie Caillat is readying her sophomore album, Breakthrough for an August 25th release in the US.

The Malibu-based singer/songwriter, whose subtle style and mesmerizing vocals captured a global following via the social networking site MySpace long before her near-double platinum trailblazing debut album COCO hit in 2007 - is working with an impressive array of producers, songwriters, and artists on the new album, including John Mayer and newly appointed American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi.

"I can't wait to share all my new songs with everyone," says Colbie. "I've taken this time to look back at where I was and realized I've broken through a personal barricade, which is why I've named the album Breakthrough. I came home in December after two solid years of touring and promotion and knew I had to find myself again. It requires a lot of discipline to open yourself up to new influences and break the chains around you creatively. I must say this process has been the greatest learning experience for me. It's so great to be working and writing in new ways, with old friends and new."

The hard working artist has written or co-written more than 40 songs for the new album, and is currently refining the material that will complete the much anticipated sophomore effort. Colbie set up a hi-octane 'writing camp' in Hawaii last year, inviting familiar collaborators Jason Reeves and Mikal Blue (who co-produced/co-wrote and helped mold her debut smash) and Kara DioGuardi to the creative free-for-all.

DioGuardi said, "Oh, gosh, she's so incredible. What an incredible voice and just a great songwriter. We spent a few days in Hawaii writing, it's pretty amazing. I love what we've done and I love what she's done with the other writers. I think it's gonna be an incredible album."
Celebrated by media outlets from People Magazine to ABC's The View as one of the artist development stories of the decade (the Washington Post calls her one of the 'few genuine breakouts'), Colbie's aptly titled new album is positioned as one of the most anticipated sophomore releases in recent years.

Lady GaGa Goes URBAN on her Second Abum

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Lady GaGa is rumored to enter studio and cook up new materials for her second studio album.

New Lady GaGa songs have just been added to her artist page on the BMI's Web site that give writing credits to her long time collaborators RedOne and Akon. However, GaGa is also bringing in new flavors to help broaden her already brilliant style.

What will her new sound be?
Slated to bring some R&B funk is Darkchild (Janet Jackson, Brandy, Britney Spears) while Fernando Garibay (Paris Hilton, Ashlee Simpson) takes care of the bubble-pop and Jim Jonsin (Beyonce, Soulja Boy, Trina) is bringing in the booty-bounce!

With songs with names like "Retrosexual," "Filthy Pop" and "Freezer Burn," I'm as happy as a horny toad at a lily pad sale. Not wanting to pigeonhole her sound by staying in the disco-electro box, GaGa has decided to go more urban with her followup. I'm totally trading in my bubble dress for a neon jumper stat!

Paramore's New Album Hit Stores this September

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On Monday, MTV News headed into the winding hills of Calabasas, California, to producer Rob Cavallo’s palatial estate, where Paramore are hard at work on their new album.

At first, it seemed like a rather odd place — a suburb in the middle of nowhere — for a platinum-plus rock act to be hammering away on their new album, but it seems like the surroundings have only brought out the best in the guys (and gal), judging from their sunny demeanors, lack of haggard studio beards, and, well the six brand-new songs we heard.

And while we can’t say anything about the new tunes just yet (but know that they do, in fact, rock pretty hard), we do have one rather HUGE bit of news that we can break to you: a release date for the record!

When? Well, read on to find out!

Okay, so get out your calendars. Turns out, according to the band — and confirmed by their labels, Fueled By Ramen and Atlantic — the follow-up to Riot! will be hitting stores this September.

There’s no word on a title, or a first single (though Hayley Williams did say that one of the songs we heard “sure sounds like” it’s gonna be the first one out of the gate), but fans can look forward to hearing a couple of the new songs this summer, on Paramore’s tour with No Doubt.

That’s about all we can tell you right now. But trust us, there’s going to be plenty more from our studio visit in the coming weeks, so, be on the lookout for a whole bunch of news about the new album, straight from Paramore themselves, over on MTVNews.com

Chris Daughtry's 2nd Album Out in July

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In a season in which "American Idol" has welcomed back some of its most popular winners, next Wednesday night's show will see the return of one of the most famous, and best-selling, alumni who did not win the show: Chris Daughtry.

The bald rocker and his band will come back to the "Idol" stage on the May 6 results show to debut "No Surprise," the first single from Daughtry's upcoming as-yet-untitled second album. The band is currently finishing the disc, due July 14, which is the follow-up to its Grammy-nominated, quadruple-platinum 2006 debut.

"American Idol' fans have been so loyal to this band, we wanted to give them the first listen to our new single," Daughtry said a statement announcing the new album. The singer revealed via Twitter that he co-wrote "No Surprise" with pal Chad Kroeger, lead singer of Nickelback. He also tweeted that after watching Tuesday night's performance show he thinks that Kris Allen is the "SHIZNIT-O-Bam!!!" The band — which also includes bassist Josh Paul, drummer Joey Barnes, and guitarists Brian Craddock and Josh Steely — recorded the album's 10-plus songs in Los Angeles, and the press release announcing the disc describes it as having a "more gritty sound," honed by two years on the road supporting the fastest-selling debut rock album in SoundScan history.

And, despite being a married father of two, Daughtry tweeted that he "can't wait to get back onstage soon."