If there is any incorrect infomation on this site, please feel free to email me.
But please have proof to back it up. and I will remove it. Thank you.
Judge For Yourself.
Ok since the A.I. Songwriting contest has been over for more than 3 months I'm sure nobody cares, but here goes nothing. American Idol just announced that Kara DioGuardi would be the new judge on A.I.. No big deal except Kara DioGuardi is the co-writer on Bo Bice's "The Real Thing" CD for the song "The Real Thing". Guess who her co-writer was? 2007's American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist Marti Frederiksen. Out of "more than" 25,000 entries how can ANYONE think this contest was fair?
Bo Bice's Wiki Page. Check The Song Credits.
Here's another one at ArtistDirect.com where both are back-up vocals on"Katharine McPhee's" CD.
She also sings back-up vocals with 2008's American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist Windy Wagner.
Check the credits. ArtistDirect.com....Britney Spears CD.
Here's Some More Reality For You.
The Huffington Post website wrote a piece on the so called reality shows (mostly about idol).
Here is a link to the story.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/the-amazing-reality-of-re_b_118433.html
Here is another site that's informative.
http://www.truthaboutfremantle.com/pg2.html
And this.
http://www.wga.org/uploadedfiles/news_and_events/press_release/harsh_reality.pdf
Gives New Meaning To "Going For The Gold".
I sit here waiting....waiting for someone to do SOMETHING.....ANYTHING. So while I wait I watch tv, and right now it's the Olympics I'm watching. I like the Olympics. The Olympics are the one thing that brings the world together. If only for a couple of weeks. So what happens? They play the winning song of the 2008 American Idol Songwriting Contest during the Olympics. I'm not real happy about that. Why? You'll need to read the rest of my website for the answer. Rickey.org has the video if your interested.
http://www.rickey.org/?p=8598#m
I wonder? Did the Olympic Committee contact Idol or did Idol contact the Olympic Committee?
The below email is real...It was sent June 14, 2007.
It names Andy Zulla as being involved with this contest...almost a year before he made this years 2008 American Idol Top 20 Songwriting Finalist for the song
"HERE I AM" – Written by Andy Zulla, Tom Kitt, And Matt Zarley.
HELLO? ...It was a nation wide contest and I name a top 20 finalist 9 months before the contest even starts. Man I'm good.
Here's Some Of The Stuff Posted About The Contest.
I found this and thought it might show you how they promoted this contest.
http://blogs.trb.com/entertainment/news/blog/2008/04/clyde_on_the_idol_songwriting.html
2008 American Idol Songwriting Contest
The following is a quote from USAToday.com
"The song was among "tens of thousands" submitted and combed through by 19 Entertainment's more than 60 Artists & Repertoire staffers, who winnowed the list to a manageable pile before Idol creator Simon Fuller and his team pruned to 20 semifinalists, says Jeff King, 19's U.S. head of digital entertainment." End quote.
So if 60 different people were choosing ...then how did we end up with so many people with ties to A.I.?
1. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist (Andy Zulla) is an engineer on Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Diana DeGarmo CD's.
2. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist (Windy Wagner) is a backup singer on the new Clay AikenCD.
3. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist (Ryan Gillmor) wrote the song "Hey" which is the theme song for Fox Television's show "Unhitched".
4. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist (Dan Yessian) wrote jingles for Ford Motors.
5. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Finalist (Luke Ebbin) is a producer on Austalian Idol 1st place runner-up Shannon Noll'sCD.
6. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Winner (Regie Hamm) is a co-writer on the new Clay AikenCD.
7. 2008 American Idol Songwriting Top 20 Winner (Regie Hamm) is a co-writer and personal friend of 2007 American Idol Songwriting Winner Scott Krippayne.
So Which Is It ?
According to American Idol website in the news section dated April 15, 2008
American Idol claims they had over two million votes cast last year alone for the American Idol songwriting contest winning song, "This Is My Now".
(Note--They are saying over two million votes just for "This Is My Now" alone.)
(News story headline is "Choose The American Idol Songwriter.")
www.americanidol.com/news
Now here's the funny part.
If you read the story from the LA Times.com website
www.latimes.com
May 23, 2007 Iain Tirie, head of the U.S. arm of Fuller's 19 Entertainment, said "more than 500,000 votes were cast on the American Idol website May 2-8 for the contest's top 20 songs, which had been culled by company executives from the uploaded submissions." Said Tirie, "Our goal was twofold: to elevate the songwriter craft and to let America choose the winning song."
Also Yamaha.com has another story.
www.yamaha.com
So which is it?
There is a very big difference between 500,000 total votes cast and 2,000,000 votes cast for the winning song alone.
They can count 90,000,000 votes in 24 hours but it took them a year to get a final count for the winning song alone.
The Mysterious E-mail.
The above story questions American Idols adding ability. Now you might ask yourself why?
Well a friend of mine who enjoyed watching American Idol decided to sign up so he could vote in the 2007 American Idol songwriting contest. He had never had any contact with A.I. except for that one time. But a year later he received a mysterious e-mail asking him to a enter a song in the 2008 American Idol songwriting contest.
The following quote is from that e-mail....
"Imagine..." "Your song performed on American Idol in front of millions of viewers."
It also says they will need an mp3 and a lyric sheet.
But it neglects to mention the $10.00 entry fee.
My friend is not a songwriter. The only contact he had was when he registered to vote last year. How many other people got this e-mail? 500,000? 2,000,000? More???
False Advertising Or Bald Face Lie? You Decide.
I'm posting this May 30, 2008, 9 days after the American Idol Grand Finale.
I watched American Idol both nights of the grand finale waiting for the announcement of the winners name of the 2008 American Idol Songwriting Competition....and I'm still waiting.
The following quote is from the only link American Idol.com has concerning the songwriting contest. (It's under the Show Guide Link....American Idol Songwriter)
(UPDATE!...The American Idol Songwriter link has been deleted.)
"The Nation Has Decided"
"Who Has Won? Tune in to the American Idol Finale on May 20th and 21st 2008 to find out." End quote.
Like I said....I watched. And here's the only thing said about the winner.
Ryan Seacrest......"Ladies and gentlemen singing the winning song of this years competition..The Time Of My Life..this..is..your American Idol David Cook,Goodnight".........(5 minutes into video.)
9 days later American Idol has yet to name the winner. It's not in the American Idol news section, not on the American Idol homepage..............Nothing.
Last year the winner's were introduced on camera by Ryan Seacrest. This year nada.
The following is from the Myspace blog page of the winner of the 2008 American Idol Songwriting Competition....... Mr. Regie Hamm..........and he does not seem happy.
"AMERICAN IDOL, MAGIC RAINBOWS ...AND DOTTIE"
"The guy in the feather suit who wrote the song for Simon had his own photo stand where you could have your picture taken with him. Hmmmm, maybe next time I'll write a song so campy it simply must be performed in front of fifty million people with the USC marching band. At least then I might have my name mentioned or my face shown ...but I digress." End quote.
American Idol made a lot of money off this contest and the ONLY thing we got in return was a thanks for the $10.00 email.
P.S. I dare you to sign up for the American Idol Forums (Songwriting) and post a question or comment about this and see how long it takes till the forum moderators delete it.
Don't worry you won't have to wait long.
(UPDATE!...The American Idol Songwriting forum has been deleted.)
300,000,000 To 1 ?
What Are The Odds?
In 2008's American Idol songwriting contest according to USAToday.com "tens of thousands" of songs were submitted.
www.usatoday.com
If this years contest and last years contest were legit that
means that all of the songs entered were listened to
and judged by the lyric and music only.
This years songwriting winner according to USAToday.com
was Regie Hamm for the song "Time Of My LIfe".
www.usatoday.com
Now in a completely different nationwide contest
the 2007 American Idol songwriting contest,
which according to USAToday.com had 25,000 submissions.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-05-22-idol-songwriters_N.htm
The winners were Scott Krippayne/Jeff Peabody for the song "This Is My Now".
And last but not least, Ryan Seacrest announced on American Idol’s finale show 2007
that over a 100,000 people tried out for season six in the singing competition.
The third place finalist for season six was Melinda Doolittle.
2008-A.I. songwriting contest winner-Regie Hamm
2007-A.I. songwriting contest winner-Scott Krippayne
2007-A.I. singing third place finalist--Melinda Doolittle
So what would the odds have to be that in three totally different nationwide contest you would have...Regie Hamm, Scott Krippayne, Melinda Doolittle
all 3 appear on the 2005 Music For The Soul's "After The Storm" cd?
www.musicforthesoul.org/photoGallery
Melinda Doolittle-Photo # 22
Regie Hamm-Photo #32
Scott Krippayne-Photo #46
So what are the odds?
It's All About Who You Know.
Regie Hamm has co-written several songs with Dan Muckala.
(In the search box type in Dan Muckala Regie Hamm then search by keyword.)
US Copyright Website
Dan Muckala is a producer/engineer on Kimberly Locke's "Based On A True Story" cd.
www.artistdirect.com (Check the credits)
Kimberly Locke was the 3rd place singing finalist on American Idol second Season 2002.
www.americanidol.com/contestants
wikipedia.org/Kimberley Locke
Dan Muckala is a producer/engineer on George Huff's 2005 "Miracles" cd.
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,3443897,00.html
George Huff was a 5th place singing finalist on American Idol third Season 2004.
www.americanidol.com/contestants
wikipedia.org/George Huff
Dan Muckala is a producer on two cd's by the band "The Afters".
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4541806,00.html
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,3144314,00.html
The Afters song "We Are The Sound" was used in commercials for American Idol this year.
http://www.ccmmagazine.com/news/headlines/11572370/
http://www.inorecords.com/v2/artistsdetail.php?id=23
Regie Hamm has co-written with Scott Savol. (In the search box type in Scott Savol Regie Hamm and search by keyword.)
US Copyright Website
Scott Savol was the 5th place singing finalist on American Idol fourth season 2005
http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season4/scott_savol/
Some Americans Couldn't Enter The Songwriting Contest...Why?
From the American Idol Contestant Agreement.
"Not Allowed To Enter"
"or a resident of Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland or Vermont"
Did anyone from any of these states send a $10.00 entry fee by mistake?
Did American Idol return the $10.00 entry fee if they did?
2007 American Idol Songwriting Contest
Back in early April 2007 American Idol announced that they were looking for amateur songwriters. Here’s a quote from American Idol’s webpage dated April 11, 2007. (In this quote you will see some key contest dates, note that the submission phase was already half over by the time they posted this news story.)
"American Idol has been the vehicle for discovering so many great new artists over the years and now, with the launch of American Idol Songwriter, we are searching for great undiscovered songwriting talent, stated Simon Fuller.
" Having an untapped songwriter create the winner’s single seemed like a natural next step for our show. Not only do the fans pick their American Idol, but also his or her first single. This show has always been, and will continue to be, all about fulfilling dreams." End Quote.
Impressive, but I'm not so sure it’s true.
The contest seemed easy enough, write a song and send it in. What could be easier?
Of course there was a $10.00 dollar entry fee. So with the ten bucks paid and the "Contract Agreement" signed, I was in! And then I waited.
The contest worked like this, starting April 4th 2007 and going till the 17th, America could enter a song. 20 songs were then chosen by American Idol’s producer Simon Fuller and his staff, then, on May 2nd 2007 the top 20 songs were posted at AmericanIdol.Com and the voting began, and continued until May 8th 2007. For reasons unknown American Idol decided not to release the names of the songwriters, just the song and lyrics.
Kind of strange that a songwriting contest wouldn’t name the songwriter?
Then on May 21, 2007, just one day before American Idol’s two day Grand Finale AmericanIdol.Com posted the "Top 20 Songwriting Finalist" names, faces, and Bio's.
Ok, this is where it gets interesting ...I promise ;)
According to American Idol 25,000 songs were entered. (At $ 10.00 each for a grand total of $250,000.00) and according to American Idol more than 500,000 people voted. BTW, I found out much later that the more than was really 2,000,000 votes for the winning song alone. The winning song "This Is My Now" was written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody, and in case you’ve been stuck on the international space station, 17 year old Jordin Sparks won the singing contest. So, with a little research, here’s what I found out.
At least 10 different songwriters have had prior working relationships with either American Idol Judge’s Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, American Idol Host Ryan Seacrest, American Idol Bandleader Rickey Minor, American Idol's Best Friend and Legendary Record Producer Clive Davis, former American Idol Finalist or Fox Television.
One Songwriting Finalist Colin Armstrong, according to his American Idol bio, won the "BE A STAR" contest on L.A. radio station STAR 98.7 FM. Sadly, the bio doesn’t mention that Ryan Seacrest was the radio DJ, or that 2 of Colin’s Armstrong’s co-writers Mikal Reid and Marti Frederiksen are credited on Bo Bice’s 2005 CD and Clay Aiken’s 2006 CD. Marti Frederiksen also is a co-writer on Bo Bice's title track "The Real Thing".
(Side note, Marti Frederiksen and Clive Davis are producer’s on Clay Aiken’s CD).
Songwriting Finalist Jennifer Hamady spent 2 episodes as a backup singer on the 2007 season of American Idol.
Songwriting Finalist Kelly Corsino has her own music production company "Framistan" and one of her clients is Fox Television.
Songwriting Finalist Cal Harris Jr. was an engineer on Paula Abdul’s "Head Over Heels" CD.
Songwriting Finalist Sam Sims was the bass player on Paula Abdul’s "Under My Spell" tour.
Songwriting Finalist CJ Vanston played keyboards while Randy Jackson played bass on Richard Marx’s "Repeat Offender" and "Days In Avolon" CD’s.
Songwriting Finalist Shedrick Mitchell gets the credit of playing the organ while American Idol Bandleader Rickey Minor played the bass on "Queen Latifah’s Dana Owens" CD.
Songwriting Finalist Byron Zanos's "Somewhere In The Middle" CD was engineered, mixed and mastered by Grammy Award Winning engineer/producer Daegal Bennett (Tony's son).Tony Bennett was a mentor and sang on 2007's American Idol Grand Finale.
I still haven’t mentioned the winning song yet. And remember that that the songwriting contest, according to the shows producer Simon Fuller, was meant for amateur songwriters.
Ok, lets examine American Idol Songwriting Contest Champ Scott Krippayne’s true bio.
At Walmart.com, you can buy Scott’s 2005 "Gentle Revolution" CD for the low price of only $12.88. I’ve been to Walmart.com and looked, there isn’t an amateur CD section, but there is a Scott Krippayne section.
So much for searching for a great undiscovered songwriting talent.
And if you visit the U.S. copyright website, a quick search shows Scott Krippayne has written songs for several christian artist like Jaci Velasquez, Rebecca Saint James, Kathy Troccoli, Point of Grace and more.
And if you check out Scott’s Purplehonda myspace page, Scott says he has written 14 number 1 hits and 20 top 10 hits for artist like John Tesh, Ronan Tynan, Saddi Patty and more.
F.Y.I. Scott Krippayne also wrote the title track "Wonderful Crazy" for American Idol Juniors Finalist Katelyn Tarver’s 2005 debut CD.
So much for having an untapped songwriter. He seems fairly tapped to me.
Scott Krippayne has written with Andy Marvel.
Ok, we know what your thinking, who’s Andy Marvel?
Well, Andy Marvel is one of the songwriter’s on Jordin Sparks 2003 "For Now" Demo CD.
And then there’s Matthew Ward. Both Matthew Ward and Scott Krippayne get credit for solo’s on "The Heart of a Martyr" Celtic Cry CD. Matthew Ward produced American Idol Winner Jordin Sparks 2003 "For Now" demo CD. Scott also has written with Jorge Corante.
Jorge was the producer on Paula Abdul’s "SpellBound" CD.
Here’s a little something to take home and ponder.
What are the odds that 2007’s American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and 2007’s American Idol 3rd place Finalist Melinda Doolittle would both be singing with American Idol season 3 Finalist George Huff before American Idol season 6 even began?
Just so you know ...Ryan Seacrest announced on American Idol’s final show that over a 100,000 people tried out for the 2007 season.
Math was never my subject, but 100,000 to 1 seems close.
Here’s a quote from Shoutlife.com. Christian artist Michael W. Smith’s manager Chaz Corzine says "Three years ago I met and became friends with a young girl that possessed about as much talent as I had ever seen in one person. Her name is Jordin Sparks and when I first met her - she was 14 years old. Shortly after I met Jordin she, her mother and her grandmother visited Nashville. I had the opportunity to take them to Michael’s house where Jordin and Michael’s girls hit it off like they had been best friends all their life!
Another unique thing about that visit was that former American Idol contestant George Huff, was at Smitty’s house. As you might imagine - it wasn’t long before the three of them (Michael, George and Jordin) wound up around the piano. That is a night I will never forget. Well, it wasn’t long before Jordin was on the road with us singing background vocal’s for Smitty’s 2005 Christmas tour. She was a hit - both on stage and off stage. That was the first of two tours Jordin would do with Michael. She also joined him on his 2006 Christmastime Tour." So where does American Idol 3rd place Finalist Melinda Doolittle fit in all of this?
She’s a backup singer on George Huff’s 2004 "My Christmas" EP.
And if you want to know why I think this is important?
All I can say is "Right Is Right" and "Wrong Is Wrong!
And It Needs To Be Exposed!
AMERICAN IDOL . COM
This link is from American Idol's news dated April 11, 2007 ...here's a very important line from the story. "begins its search for the best amateur songwriter in America".
This link is from American Idol's news. Note the date of the "Meet Your Songwriting Finalist" story.
This link is from American Idol's "Meet The Finalist" section. They posted this page 1 day before the Grand Finale. These bio's don't do justice.
This link is from Songwriting Finalist Colin Armstrongs myspace page. He writes about winning the "Be A Star" contest. Ryan Seacrest was the radio DJ that hosted the contest.
This link is from Rethmetic Records website it shows that Ryan Seacrest was the radio host for Colin Armstrong's "Be A Star" Contest. (Hit enter website then hit artist photos section)
This link is from MSN Music. Check the credits on Clay Aiken's CD and you'll find Songwriting Finalist Marti Frederikson ...he's a producer and engineer.
This link is from Bo Bice's Wiki page. Check the song credits, "The Real Thing" and you'll find Marti Frederiksen.
This link is from MSN Music. Check the credits on Bo Bice's CD and you'll find Songwriting Finalist Marti Frederikson ...he's a producer YADA YADA YADA ...But what's this? Who? Could that be????? Yes, Yes, it is ...It's Songwriting Finalist Mikal Reid! And he's not alone cause there's good old Clive Davis too. I'm getting a headache.
This link is from Songwriting Finalist Jennifer Hamaday's homepage. Check the news section where she writes about singing on the show. (Little box with a scroll bar)
This link is from Songwriting Finalist Kelly Corsino's company website. Check her clients ...Fox Television.
This link is from MSN Music. Check the credits on Paula Abdul's CD and you'll find Songwriting Finalist Cal Harris Jr. ...he's an engineer. (He's listed as Calvin Harris)
This link is from Songwriting Finalist Cal Harris Jr.'s Myspace page. If you check his bio he writes about working with Paula Abdul.
This link is from "The Official Paula Abdul Fan Site". Check the band credits and you'll find Songwriting Finalist Sam Sims ...he's a bass player.
This link is from MSN Music. Check the credits on Richard Marx's CD and you'll find Songwriting Finalist C.J. Vanston ...he's a keyboard player. (He's listed as Jeffrey C.J. Vanston) Randy Jackson is playing bass.
This link is from MSN Music. Check the credits on Queen Latifah's CD and you'll find Songwriting Finalist Shedrick Mitchell ...he's an organ player. Rickey Minor is playing bass.
This link is from CDBaby.com. It's a story about Byron Zanos that contains the following. His debut CD "Somewhere in the Middle" was engineered, mixed and mastered by Grammy Award winning engineer/producer Daegal Bennett (Tony's son).
This link is from Walmart . Com. Here is Songwriting Winner Scott Krippayne's CD. Amateur? My headaches back.
This link is from the U.S, Copyright website, You'll have to search it yourself. Sorry.
This link is Songwriting Winner Scott Krippayne's purplehonda myspace page. Check his bio.
This link is from Christianmusictoday . Com. It credits Scott Krippayne as writer of Katelyn Tarver's title track.
This link is from Broadjam . Com. It shows Scott Krippayne and Andy Marvel are co-writers.
This link is from Wikipedia . Com. It credits Andy Marvel on Jordin Sparks 2003 CD. And yes that is Ellie May Clampett who's also listed as a songwriter. Weird Huh?
This link is from Matthew Ward's homepage. It credits Scott Krippayne.
This link is from Shoutlife . Com. It credits Jordin Sparks and George Huff.
This link is from Artist Direct . Com. Check out the credits on George Huff's EP and you'll find Melinda Doolittle ...she's a backup singer.
