"Wildflower," the debut album by Rossville's Lauren Alaina, shot to No. 1 on iTunes' Top 10 country album downloads on Tuesday, the first day of its release.
Alaina, 16-year-old daughter of J.J. and Kristy Suddeth, was runner-up on Season 10 of "American Idol," which was won by North Carolinian Scotty McCreery.
McCreery's debut album, "Clear as Day," charted No. 1 on iTunes on its Oct. 4 release and is now second to "Wildflower."
"Wildflower" also ranked No. 3 among albums in all iTunes genres on Tuesday. New releases by rock group Evanescence and singer/songwriter Ryan Adams were No. 1 and 2, respectively.
"I was sitting in the hair and makeup room getting ready for 'Good Morning, America' when my mom ran in and told me it was No. 1," Lauren said in a phone interview from New York City. "I had just finished my foundation, and I got so excited that I almost took the makeup off!"
Lauren said she had hoped the album would do well.
"I just didn't know it would happen in eight hours!" she said.
James Howard, morning co-host on WDEF-FM 92.3, said the ranking is "a gold star for our hometown girl."
"We've been supporting her by promoting this new album, and we will continue to play 'Like My Mother Does,'" Lauren's first single, he said.
Her new single, "Georgia Peaches," came out this week in conjunction with the CD release. It's written by Mallary Hope of Cohutta, Ga.
Danny Howard, Sunny 92.3 program director and no relation to James Howard, said the "power of 'American Idol'" behind the singer obviously helped propel her to the top.
"She's a new artist because it's her first CD, although 'American Idol' made her a star last season," he said. "It's not uncommon for a major artist's CD to debut at No. 1 or be in the top three, but it still doesn't take any shine off her accomplishment. It's still great."
Lauren, currently on a publicity junket in support of "Wildflower," said her day started at 4 a.m. Tuesday and finished at 5 p.m. Today's schedule was set to begin at 6 a.m. to talk with Premiere Radio and tape a program for "AOL Sessions."
Fans of the teen singing sensation can catch her on television Thursday at 9 a.m. when she visits "Regis and Kelly" in New York City.
GAC Network will air "Introducing Lauren Alaina" on Friday at 10:30 p.m., a special that follows her career from small-town Georgia singer to "American Idol" runner-up.
On Saturday, Lauren said, she'll spend three hours signing CDs and meeting fans during an appearance at the Fort Oglethorpe Walmart at 3040 Battlefield Parkway.
On Oct. 21, Lauren will be a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which airs locally at 4 p.m. on WRCB-TV Channel 3.
"I just want to say thanks to everyone for being so supportive," Lauren said.
Susan Palmer Pierce is a reporter and columnist in the Life department. She began her journalism career as a summer employee 1972 for the News Free Press, typing bridal announcements and photo captions. She became a full-time employee in 1980, working her way up to feature writer, then special sections editor, then Lifestyle editor in 1995 until the merge of the NFP and Times in 1999. She was honored with the 2007 Chattanooga Woman of ...
Enough is enough! Between this publication and WTVC we have no escape! The young lady has talent, but was this much attention given to other artists from the area? I remember at one time when Confederate Railroad was one of the top acts in Nashville, but were you falling all over yourself for them? The girl wins the equivalent of the old "Ted Mack Amatuer Hour" and you would think she is the next Linda Rondstadt. Add that to the shilling that the WTVC news does for that Dancing with the Stars show and it is getting out of hand, no local sports on the 6pm news, but we get this garbage.
Vanilla ice cream for the masses... they love it... can't get enough of it, and luckily for corporate music, it's the cheapest product to produce in high quantity.
Because sports are SO VERY interesting to everyone right ordinaryguy? I don't care to hear about either but I would much rather hear about Lauren Alaina then to see EVEN MORE sports coverage for crying out loud.
While I am not a fan of her music and I do think she is over covered in the news and would prefer more real news I still say "Good for her" She is living the dream most people want.
With her hairdo she looks a bit like Jan Crouch of the Christian Broadcast Network.
Stop being so jealous. Nobody makes anyone read the articles about her, and you can flip the station for the 30 second coverage she gets at a time. There's rarely ever any sports news worth mentioning at 6 on weekdays as the games are usually at night or on the weekends. This is great for the North Georgia community and for the area as a whole. Congratulations Lauren.
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