American Idol fans got everything they screamed for ” and more ” last week when the “American Idols Live! Tour 2008” descended upon the San Diego Sports Arena on July 2.
The show’s top 10 finalists ” Brooke White, San Diego’s Carly Smithson, Chikezie Eze, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay, Syesha Mercado, David Archuleta and season seven winner David Cook ” hit the tour road on July 1 in Glendale, Arizona. San Diego was stop No. 2 and the Idols were fresh and exuberant about playing large venues on the exhaustive 52-city tour.
“You can actually see 12,000 people instead of the cameras. It’s a little intimidating,” said Kristy Lee Cook, who made it the No. 7 slot during the season.
Despite the intimidation, Cook claims that she was not nervous the first night of the tour.
“We’ve done it so much. We had a lot of rehearsal time. I wasn’t nervous. I thought I would be ” I know why, too; it’s because Simon, Paula and Randy are not there,” she said, referencing the TV show’s judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
“It’s much nicer,” said runner-up Archuleta. “People are just there to enjoy your performance ” not to judge.”
Archuleta, at 16, is the youngest finalist and came in second to the show’s winner, David Cook. He is also the recipient of the most screaming from adolescent girls.
Earlier in the day, the performers signed autographs outside the line of tour buses. Archuleta’s appearance was marked by high-pitched squealing only possible from pre-teen vocal chords, and accompanied by a lot of jumping up and down.
Does this intense attention cause Archuleta any uneasiness?
“It’s really neat,” said the soft-spoken young singer as he finished reading a letter from a fan in South Dakota, adorned with curlique handwriting and some kind of cute animals. “Sure, it’s an unusual feeling. It’s weird that people take time out from their day to write me a letter. But I think it’s so nice and thoughtful.”
The show itself is slick and well-produced, with a band, back-up singers, and staging that allows Idols to prance up and down stairs, from one side of the stage to the other, and out on a catwalk into the audience; after seven seasons and as many tours, they’ve got it down.
Each Idol performed his or her own set of three songs, going in the order in which they were voted off. Eze, at No. 10, opened the show to the screaming, sell-out audience. And this time, we’re not just talking about teenyboppers. Every age group and every kind of person imaginable was represented here ” from great-grandmas to sleeping infants ” standing, cheering and singing along with every song.
“What makes a difference with the arena crowd (opposed to the television audience) is that everyone feeds off of each other,” said Eze. “One person screams, then the person next to them gets all excited and they start screaming.”
Malubay, who made it to No. 9 primarily on her cuteness, was up next, followed by Johns, who had his own share of swooning screamers. Johns brought the crowd to its feet with truly amazing renditions of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” and Queen’s “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions.”
Johns said he was in the contest to get another chance at a career.
“I never went in thinking I would win the whole thing,” he admitted. “The top ten is cool. I wanted to make the tour.”
He has been writing and recording and expects to have a record out before the end of the year, proving the value of “American Idol,” whether a winner or not.
“I totally respect the show,” Johns said.
Laughing about being called the “old guy” on the tour, he added, “It has given me another shot at a career at 29. I’m completely grateful.”
As expected, the hometown fans nearly jettisoned out of the arena when Smithson made her appearance, and it was truly her night to shine. Although she didn’t make it home during the brief stint in San Diego, family, friends and former coworkers were in the audience. This night, everyone was a Carly fan, as she, too, rocked the house.
Two other standout performances came from the more sedate Idols: White and Castro. They were just plain good on their own. No powerful, explosive voices or flashy stagewear, just clear, sweet vocals “” accompanying themselves on piano, ukulele or guitar.
White’s husband, Dave Ray, an accountant from Van Nuys, watched his wife from the audience in devoted awe.
“I’m so impressed by how good they all are. But Brooke is the best,” he said, adding with a smile, “I’m a little biased.”
He shared that the whole experience has been “surreal.” And even the family members of contestants have become close, Ray said.
“Sayesha’s fiancé, Carly’s husband Todd and I are going to drive to Vegas together (for the tour stop on July 5).”
Mercado appeared to have the most fun with the crowd, interacting and laughing, in between belting out her set.
Then Archuleta appeared, and an out-of-the-ballpark, thunderous roar erupted, certainly resulting in some hearing impairment. It was as if the Beatles walked onstage.
Somehow, through the continuous din, he managed to sing his set, flirt shyly with the crowd and laugh, in seeming embarrassment.
Archuleta’s father, complete with familiar baseball cap, watched proudly from the audience.
The crowd, already in a frenzy of Idol delirium, greeted season seven winner David Cook with yet more uproar. And he gave them what they wanted, strutting across the stage, touching hands, and making severe eye contact with swooning females of all ages.
Cook, whose guitars are marked with the initials AC, dedicated the song “Hero” to his brother Adam, who is reportedly battling brain cancer.
He expressed gratitude to the fans, saying with tears in his eyes, “It’s a rare occasion to do what you love, and to love what you do. So thank you all.”
Overall, performances were enjoyable ” some of them exceptional. The well-oiled Idol machine is often corny, a little hokey, but certainly entertaining. It will be interesting to see who, of these 10, continue on the road to fame, and who has simply had their 15 minutes of fame, as auditions for American Idol Season 8 begin later this month.