American Idol’s seventh place finisher, Snarkista’s NEMESIS country singer Kristy Lee Cook, is back with Arista Nashville, the same label that signed and then dropped her in 1999. KLC punked Snarkista week after week, and made it into the Idol Top 10! Arista, in conjunction with Idol’s arm 19 Recordings, plans to release KLC’s first single “15 Minutes of Shame†on August 11th. An album is scheduled to drop this fall. The fab Brett James will produce, he co-wrote Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel.â€
Snarkista knows you’re wondering why would 19 and Arista toss such a deal to a seventh place finisher when season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis was dropped from his contract? Idol’s figured out that contestants seem to do better with country music. Two words: Carrie Underwood. Her massive success is just too hard to resist for Idol brass. Kellie Pickler has had a modicum of success as well, although nothing near what superstar Carrie has enjoyed. KLC was the only country option out of this year’s Top 10, so Idol’s gonna go back to the well despite her mediocre finish.
KLC is no Carrie, although she might be a Kellie. If her release is basically background music for 4th of July fireworks, Snarkista predicts a major bomb. Brett James will certainly give KLC a good shot at country airplay, which is CRITICAL to any type of successful showing. Country programmers are notoriously hard to crack, but KLC’s Idol exposure should give her a leg up with them. “Fifteen Minutes Of Shame” IS a provocative title, and may blow up Kristy’s squeaky-clean image. Advice for Brett: DON’T put a remake of “God Bless The USA” on the release, or KLC will be sitting in the discount bin. No matter what you think of the genre, country’s a LOT cooler than that shizz.
