Lee DeWyze Is Having a Bad Day With The Low Sales Of “Beautiful Day”

Becky Bain | June 2, 2010 10:42 am

Idol victor Lee DeWyze stopped by Live with Regis and Kelly his morning to perform his coronation song, U2’s “Beautiful Day.” At least that’s what our TV told us, because this version sounds almost nothing like the original U2 song or Lee’s studio recorded single currently sinking on the charts. In fact, in this reinterpretation of the hit track, Lee sounds… fantastic. Maybe his sales would be less disappointing if he had recorded this version instead?

So far, Lee’s sales have been underwhelming, to say the least. The Friday after his win, DeWyze was #3 on iTunes with “Beautiful Day”, and now less than a week later, he’s fallen to #27. The song has sold 25% less than the coronation song of last year’s Idol winner, Kris Allen, despite the fact that Lee’s song was a hit written by one of the biggest bands in the world, and Allen’s Kara DioGuardi-penned tune, “No Boundaries”, was pretty much unanimously ridiculed.

Need more proof that the selling power of this year’s batch of contestants isn’t what it was in seasons past? Last year, Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert scored a combined total of 25 songs in the Top 200 Nielsen SoundScan digital charts during their finale week. Bowersox and DeWyze? Just nine songs. Shows you just how lukewarm audiences have been to this past season of Idol, whether it’s due to the lack of sizzle in the contestants or the show itself.

Anyone surprised? It appears that fans of cheesy music-oriented TV shows have been spending all their hard-earned money on Glee soundtracks. Who has any money left for Idol singles?

His sales might be lacking, but don’t write off Lee just yet. Check Mr. DeWyze out on Regis and Kelly, getting his acoustic on while performing a phenomenal, soulful version of “Beautiful Day” that should have been the version he performed during the finale. He finally sounds like a guy who deserves accolades instead of the insane fury of Mama Sox fans.

Lee DeWyze – “Beautiful Day” (Live)