American Idle

Matt Giraud hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity on the American Idols Live! Tour, but he’s easily one of the top five singers in the show.

As the tour continues winding down roads and ending up in every little city you can think of, the crowds keep coming out and showing their support.

Here he is in Newark, New Jersey getting similar responses as the more popular singers on the tour.

All in all Giraud is a nice guy, probably one of the more genial figures on the entire tour and one of the more likeable.

Enjoy him singing “You Found Me” at the piano.

Support the Idols on tour!

American Idols Live! visited the Boardwalk of Atlantic City this weekend, and from the sounds of it the crowd wasn’t as crazy as other audiences.

Nonetheless, the Idols put their all into the show, especially Adam Lambert, who sang five songs and busted out “Starlight.”

Blake Lewis was in the audience as well, giving the Idols some encouragement. I mean, it wasn’t the crowd’s fault; apparently security told the crowd to sit down at some point during the show.

Also, Boardwalk Hall is usually reserved for acts like the old Miss America Pageant and other old-ass acts. WTF were the Idols doing there?

Shouldn’t they have been playing somewhere larger? Some questions should probably be asked and will be asked after that show. Dear God, what were the producers thinking sending the Idols there?

Anyway, the tour rolls on and I’m cure it will be better at the next stop.

Get tour tickets while they last below.

Anoop Desai headed home to North Carolina last night, playing to a packed house in Charlotte.

He looked dapper and seemed deeply moved that he was performing back at home and that the fans were deeply into his performance.

There have been some really good shows that have come from singers going back to their hometowns; this one was also part of that elite group.

Anoop Desai - “Always On My Mind”

We also have a good video of Michael Sarver, the oil roughneck we haven’t heard from much on the tour, largely because the big three of Adam, Kris and Allison get all the kudos.

So here is Sarver singing his song in Charlotte last night.

Michael Sarver - “In Love With A Girl”

The STAPLES Center has been a busy place in the past few weeks, with the Michael Jackson Memorial and all.

So now the American Idols Live! Tour sets up shop there, and all the national media converge on L.A., presumably to get away from the scorching temps going on in whatever city they reside.

Matt Giraud hasn’t gotten as much press as the others on the tour, so I thought it would be nice if we showed his performance.

Matt Giraud - “Georgia”

Anoop Desai is another singer who hasn’t received as much pub as Kris and Adam, but his songs are great, nonetheless.

So here he is, singing Bobby Brown’s signature piece de resistance, “My Prerogative.”

Enjoy, and remember that American Idols Live! tickets are still available and you can buy them here!

Anoop - “My Prerogative”

The Bay Area was the next stop on the American Idols Live! tour this past weekend, with Oakland being the first stop of two.

Oakland is of course the home to MC Hammer and to Keyshia Cole, so the town knows how to get down.

And Danny Gokey certainly can get down himself, as he shows in the Michael Jackson cover of “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)”

I think this is Danny’s best song on the tour and he should try to put a version of this on his album, even though there have been reports he’s doing a country album.

Danny Gokey - “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)”

Other than Gokey’s solid performance, there were scattered reports of anti-gay protesters bum-rushing the show outside. But it turned out that there were only 3 to 5 people protesting.

The American Idols Live! Tour has some interesting news of late. Things are kinda dead in Idol land at the moment (for once!) and my apologies for not getting anything up yesterday.

My son is in the hospital with jaundice and has been under bilirubin lights for over a week.

The only real Idols making news at the moment are the Top 10 on tour.

Kris Allen has had his “No Boundaries” song bounced from his set list for the tour for the foreseeable future and it has been replaced by The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done.”

The song change surprised me, but the song itself is a good one for Kris, and since he’s so versatile the change should actually help him rather than hurt him.

I know some peeps will be bummed by the change, but I really do think it’s for the best.

Kris Allen - “All These Things That I’ve Done”

Also, we have some photos from the Sacramento show above, so enjoy.

The American Idols Live! Tour 09′ continued rolling along last night, with a performance at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash. Watch some videos from the concert below.

Kris Allen - “Hey Jude”

The Allen video is quite shaky, but we appreciate the video nonetheless and it beats having to pay $200 for a ticket, doesn’t it?

And then the pyrotechnics went off like crazy for Adam Lambert, who came out dressed to kill like usual amid a sea of flashing lights.

Adam Lambert - “Whole Lotta Love”

And Scott MacIntyre may be destined for singing theme songs for sitcoms, but he’ll have a great time doing it, as evidenced from his performance of “10,000 Miles”

Scott MacIntyre - “10,000 Miles”

Well, that’s it from Tacoma. Much more if you go to eum442’s YouTube channel. Many thanks to eum442 for the video!

The top 10 from American Idol season 8 kicked off the annual ritual of performing as a group around the country.

This year it was in Portland, Oregon at the Rose Garden. Some of the songs they played included:

• Michael Sarver: “I’m in Love with a Girl” by Gavin Degraw, “Closer” by Neyo
• Megan Joy: “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Baily Rae and “Tears Dry on Their Own” by Amy Winehouse
• Scott MacIntyre: “Bend and Break” by Keane and “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton
• Lil Rounds: “Be Without You” by Mary J Blige, “No One” by Alicia Keys, “Single Ladies” by Beyonce
• Anoop Desai:”Always on My Mind” by Willie Nelson, “Mad” by Ne-Yo, “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown
• Matt Giraud: “Hard to Handle” by the Black Crowes “Georgia” “I Found You” by the Fray
• Group Medley: Megan and Lil sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” Matt and Scott on duel pianos for “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel, Michael sings “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley,  Anoop begins singing Madcon’s “Beggin”, but it’s in the style of the original 1967 4 Seasons version–Matt, Scott and Michael join in. Lil sings the Madcon rap, and Megan joins her.
• Allison Iraheta: “So What” by Pink “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin, “Barracuda” by Heart
• Danny Gokey: “P.Y.T.” by Michael Jackson, “Maria Maria” by Santana, “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts, “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts.
• Adam Lambert: “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin “Starlight” by Muse “Mad World” by Tears for Fears/Gary Jules “Slow Ride” by Foghat w/ Allison, Bowie Medley: “Life on Mars”, “Fame”, “Let’s Dance”
• Kris Allen: “Heartless” by Kanye West, “No Boundaries”, “Bright Lights” by Matchbox 20,  “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers  and “Hey Jude” by The Beatles (the Idols join Kris for the “na nas”)
• “Don’t Stop Believing” The Top 10 - Encore

Also, watch an interview with Anoop and Kris prior to the concert in Portland.

The Idols got together this past week for a rehearsal and it was the first time that the public has been allowed to hear them before they embark on their Idols Live! tour in early July.

I’ve gotta say…I’m impressed with their harmonies! This is some of the best stuff we’ve had the pleasure of hearing from any of the Idols tour groups, now or ever. “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey is a phenomenal song and the Idols handled it with aplomb.

Season 8 was definitely special and ground breaking and I think at a time where so much change happened in this country in such a short period of time, it was nice to have this diversion.

Couple that with the sudden news of Michael Jackson’s passing, most of which the American public is still coming to grips with, and season 9 will have to be extra special to top this group.

So get out and see these season 8 performers, because they can bring the noise!

Matt Giraud talked about his elimination on a few interview shows, but his real popularity comes with his personality.

Giraud comes off as a nice guy who finishes first and so even though he was eliminated, he still has that positive attitude.

A few things that were interesting about his interview, which you can see above. First, he learned how to play piano at age 15. Wow. I had no idea!

Also, he plays several instruments. I think he’ll have a bright future on Idol and his sense of humor will carry over well to his music career.

Actually, I think that out of most of the Top 10 performers, Giraud will have a high level of success and I do think that he went home too early.

But like he said in the interview, he could tell something was afoot during the week. Interesting. What do you make of that?