American Idol's winners and runner-ups typically bring in big sales when their singles are first released, even if the numbers taper off afterward, but ninth season winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox haven't even earned the initial boom of last year's top duo Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. In fact, they tanked. A glimpse at the actual figures when compared to 2009's numbers makes me feel a little pitchy, dawg.
Lee and Crystal's first week sales put them on the Billboard Digital Songs chart at number #12 and #32, respectively. Ouch. DeWyze's cover of U2's "Beautiful Day" tallied 95,000 downloads while Bowersox racked up 49,000 with her riff on Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain." DeWyze's "Hallelujuah" cover also came in at #20 while his "The Boxer" take landed at #61. His duet with Crystal, "Falling Slowly," arrived at #38.
Last year, Kris Allen's unbearable anthem "No Boundaries" sold 134,000 downloads and came it at #4 on the digital chart, while runner-up Adam Lambert's "Mad World" raked in 115,000 in first week sales, good for #7. Once again, Idol's relevance is dying like it's dying.
'American Idol': Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox Can't Crack Billboard Top 10 [Zap2It]