According to a spokeswoman for former American Idol 5 second runner-up Elliott Yamin, Yamin's involvement with the show's ongoing summer concert tour is the reason why the 28-year-old former viewer favorite has yet to sign a recording contract.
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"Elliott is involved in a lot of charity work and has put a lot of time into that and then went straight into the Idol tour," the spokeswoman added. "It's hard to entertain offers while he's been on tour, and he's just waiting for the right offer. He's got a few things in the works and will have something firmed up very soon."
Unmentioned by the spokeswoman was the fact that regardless of how much free time Yamin has had since American Idol's May 24 finale broadcast, due to the terms of the Idol contract he signed, he is still currently restricted from signing a recording contract with anyone other than 19 Entertainment (Idol's producers) and their Sony BMG recording partner.
Since American Idol's fifth edition ended, 19 Entertainment, which, as part of each finalist's participation in the show, has the 90-day exclusive right to sign any of the twelve finalists to recording contracts with Sony BMG, has announced that it has inked deals with winner Taylor Hicks, runner-up Katharine McPhee, fourth place finisher Chris Daughtry, and sixth place finisher Kellie Pickler but not announced anything about Yamin, the competition's third place finisher.
During a recent interview with his hometown Richmond Times-Dispatch, Yamin confirmed that he will not be signing a contract with 19 Entertainment. As it appears to have done with the rest of this past season's finalists, 19 has apparently decided not to exercise its option to sign him to a Sony BMG recording deal. "It's not going to be with 19," Yamin told the paper.
The four recent Idol 5 signings represented the first Idol season in which Sony BMG has opted to use its 19 Entertainment deal to sign four Idol finalists. Hicks, McPhee and Pickler will also be part of another Idol first -- all three of their debut albums are scheduled to be released on November 14, the first time that former Idol finalists will share the same debut album release date. Daughtry's debut album, also slated to be released late this year, does not yet have a firm release date.
In addition to debut albums from Hicks, McPhee, Pickler, Daughtry, three other Idol alums will also be releasing new albums in time for the holiday shopping season. American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken will release his third album on September 19 while Ruben Studdard, the Season 2 winner who edged Aiken by a razor thin margin, will release his own third album the following week on September 26. American Idol 3 winner Fantasia Barrino will release her second album three weeks later on October 17.
