Idol Runner-Up Blake Lewis Dropped by Record Label

The overarching theme among contestants on American Idol is failure. Adding to that today was Blake Lewis, who was reportedly dumped by Arista records after his first CD sold a meager 300,000 copies.

Lewis was the runner-up on the sixth season of the show (losing out to Jordin Sparks), known for adding his beat-boxing to his singing. This maneuver helped him become one of the fan favorites in a season that saw Sanjaya Malakar make it to the Idol tour (meaning it was a season lacking in quality depth).

Lewis said over the weekend in a radio interview with an Internet station that Arista did not want to make another record with him, mostly because his first CD, Audio Day Dream, failed to live up to the label's expectations.

He joins the likes of Idol winners Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard - and fellow runner-up Katherine McPhee - to be dropped by Arista this year.