Complaints that "American Idol" voters chose one of the least talented singers from among a particularly mediocre crop of contestants may be bearing out.
Sales figures are in for newly crowned season 9 champ Lee DeWyze’s debut single, a cover of U2’s "Beautiful Day" — and they’re way down compared to the numbers posted by past "Idol" winners.
DeWyze’s single sold 95,000 copies in its first week out. That’s a decline of nearly 30 percent from the 134,000 sales of season 8 winner Kris Allen’s debut single "No Boundaries." And DeWyze had less than half the sales of season 7 winner David Cook’s debut, which sold 236,000 copies.
"Beautiful Day" isn’t DeWyze’s only song on the charts this week. He has six tracks on the SoundScan Top 200, including "Beautiful Day" and "Falling Slowly," a duet with "Idol" runner-up Crystal Bowersox. All are taken from his performances on the Fox hit. While that number might seem impressive, after season 7, David Cook landed 11 different songs on the Top 100.
DeWyze’s weak sales are another sign that powerhouse "American Idol" is on the decline. Overall, ratings for the show were down 9 percent from last year. The finale, which aired last Wednesday, was the highest rated entertainment show of the 2009-10 broadcast season, but it was "Idol’s" lowest rated finale since season 1, down 16 percent from last year’s final show.
Lackluster sales numbers weren’t the only bad news for DeWyze in the week after his "Idol" win. In a phone interview, Bowersox, who recently broke up with her boyfriend, shot down rumors that she and DeWyze are dating saying: "That wouldn’t happen … he’s like a brother to me." Ouch.
