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 The "American Idols Live" tour kicked off this month in Glendale, Ariz., and I had a chance to meet up with all 10 "Idol" singers backstage before their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Check out the schedule below to see when the tour is headed near you.
I got the singers in pairs, so keep checking back with "As Seen on TV" for four more two-on-one interviews in the coming days and more inside scoop, including Carly Smithson calling out the Wall Street Journal reporter who wrote the story about her first record contract. The interviews culminate with "The Davids," David Cook and David Archuleta, including Archuleta explaining why he's "done" singing John Lennon's "Imagine."
First up, though, are Michael Johns and Jason Castro, two charmers who quickly made fans. The pair made for a fun interview as Michael continued his notorious wisecracks and hi jinks and Jason was, well, Jason. They talked about their first night performing for thousands of fans, whether Jason should cut his dreadlocks, and about which former "Idol" called Jason "dumb as a bag of rocks." Check it out:
Victor Balta: So, tell me about that first night, when you guys first stepped out on the stage with 10,000 people screaming their heads off...
Michael Johns: Oh, it's nuts.
Jason Castro: It was a little awkward.
MJ: I love it. I love it.
JC: Because you get to start on this platform coming up. I've got to sprint out there and plug in my thing, and the first show I didn't plug my thing in all the way, so the ukulele wasn't going. It's just a lot of pressure. I've got, like, 20 seconds to run out there, situate my stool, adjust my mike stand, plug in the ukulele.
MJ: That's three things for Jason Castro. That's a lot. That's two more than he's used to.
JC: All he has to do is just stand on this little pad and go, "Hey!"
MJ: But if I could sing Daydream and your songs...
JC: But I've got to do all my hard work before...
MJ: Yeah, you've got the harder stuff before, then I've got to vocally challenge myself...
VB: So, Jason, I've got to ask about the dreads. I swore that one random night during the season, you were going to come out, like, almost totally clean shaven.
JC: That would've been humorous, but that probably would've been the end of my career.
VB: No, you're more than the dreads.
MJ: No, he's much less.
JC: It's a whole persona, I think. They kind of embody what I am, and what I do.
VB: So, Michael, have you thought about doing dreads?
MJ: Well, I had long hair before. It was about down to there [points just below his shoulder]. So I've done that before. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Next. So I just go with the messy, New York, windblown thing.
VB: Describe the difference in the energy between the performance in the live shows versus performing on TV.
MJ: It's about tenfold. It's pretty ridiculous. And you're going out there just performing for you and an audience, connecting. You're not worried about Simon Cowell, or 40 million people watching at home watching you.
VB: And you don't have to worry about performing to the camera...
MJ: Well, I would say the performances are a lot better, wouldn't you say?
JC: Yeah.
MJ: A little more natural.
JC: It's a lot less pressure, but at the same time kind of more. Because it's more people than you'll ever see. Like, in the studio, it's kind of a little, comfortable number (of people)...
MJ: You're not living and dying if you hit a bum note. It's OK if you're doing it with emotion and passion, and connecting, and you're not thinking about that other stuff, you usually sing better.
VB: Have you had a favorite moment yet, on the tour?
JC: My favorite moment, so far, was after the show. It wasn't even in the show. Walking out and seeing everybody for the first time lined up outside. And they were, like, 50 feet above us because our buses were down in the loading dock. The crowd of people there throwing down notes and posters. That was the first time I really felt, like, that love.
MJ: Yeah, that was pretty cool.
JC: Even in the show, you've got the in-ear (monitors), so you don't even hear the crowd as big as they are. But whenever you go outside, it's there.
MJ: I've got to agree. That was really cool.
VB: Tell me about life on the road with these guys. Any crazy antics on the bus?
MJ: Now, we're going to be all together a lot. It's going to be...
JC: I've been given a few water guns.
MJ: I've got some things planned.
VB: [To Jason] Does that make you nervous?
JC: Yeah, I'm always nervous around him.
MJ: Sleep with your light on, boy...
VB: What's one misconception about you that you've seen online, or wherever?
MJ: That I'm downright hilarious. It's too much pressure. I'm sick of it, quite frankly. [Laughs] No, I don't know. We're pretty much open books on the show. For me, I haven't really had any negative stuff written about me.
JC: I come across pretty dumb, I guess. I've gotten that a lot. A certain somebody was quoted saying I was dumb as a bag of rocks.
MJ: Yeah, who's that? On the show?
[Jason leans over and whispers in Michael's ear]
MJ: Oh yeah, Kimberley Locke. She can go jump in a lake.
JC: That's just what I heard.
MJ: She said that he was dumb as rocks. She was going around saying this season was, like, the most boring ever.
JC: Yeah. But the fact is, I am a brilliant test taker. I made a 1340 on my SAT. I'm just not an idiot. There's just so much going (in my head) it's hard to get it out.
MJ: Brilliant.
*** What do you think? Are you looking forward to the tour? Were you surprised by Kimberley Locke's alleged comments? Click here to comment!
****** Victor Balta and Tracy Phillips are blogging live from the TV
critics press tour. What do you want to know about your favorite shows?
Let us know. Click here to ask about your favorite TV shows!
More from the TV critics press tour:
See when the "American Idols Live" tour is coming near you:
July 11 Portland, OR Rose Garden
July 12 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
July 14 W. Valley City, UT The "E" Center
July 15 W. Valley City, UT The "E" Center
July 18 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
July 19 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
July 20 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
July 22 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
July 23 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena
July 24 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
July 26 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
July 27 Rochester, NY BlueCross Arena
July 29 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
July 30 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
July 31 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
Aug. 2 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
Aug. 4 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Aug. 5 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Aug. 6 Albany, NY Times Union Center
Aug. 8 Hartford, CT XL Center
Aug. 9 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Aug. 10 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Center
Aug. 12 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena
Aug. 13 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Aug. 14 Washington DC Verizon Center
Aug. 16 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena
Aug. 17 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
Aug. 18 Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center
Aug. 20 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
Aug. 21 Tampa, FL St Pete Times Forum
Aug. 24 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Aug. 25 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Aug. 26 Bossier City, LA CenturyTel Center
Aug. 28 Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center
Aug. 29 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Aug. 30 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Aug. 31 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Sept. 2 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
Sept. 3 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Sept. 4 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Sept. 6 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Sept. 7 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center
Sept. 8 Wilkes Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
Sept. 10 Ft. Wayne, IN Allen County Memorial Coliseum
Sept. 11 Evansville, IN Roberts Stadium
Sept. 13 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
Message Edited by Victor_Balta on 07-12-2008 03:05 PM
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