Music News & Videos

With the summer tour nearing its final stretch, we thought it was high time to speak with the Season 7 winner himself, David Cook. In the midst of touring so many cities and doing so many performances, David is also recording a new album. We wanted to know what challenges he faced with such a busy schedule and what impressed him most about his newfound celebrity. We caught up this month while he and the other Idols were making their way across the East Coast.

“Both the tour and the record are going really well, we’re actually ahead of schedule on the record. And we’re now on the home stretch of the tour,” David reported. Touring holds special appeal for him because “getting immediate reaction from such a large crowd is huge. A lot of the people who come to the tour are obviously fans of the show. They know these songs and they’re able to sing along. It’s just a really celebratory vibe for all of us.”

But what about stage fright? Sure, there were tens of millions of people watching on Idol, but the studio audience was small compared to the 11,000 who come to tour shows. “It’s a weird psychology,” David explained, “I get nervous when I have to play in front of small crowds more than big crowds. I think with less people, you can feel the eyes burning a hole through you more.”

David was too polite to say which city had been his favorite to perform in to date, rather quipping that he appreciated Portland “because there’s no sales tax.” But he did share special praise for the Newark crowd. “They sang all the songs back to me… It was a really special vibe.”

Coming as no surprise to anyone who’s been on the road, the most challenging aspect of touring for David is “just getting comfortable.” David likes to joke that “for the first time in my life, I’m homeless. I don’t have a home base. You get in the vibe that the bus is home.” And so what happens after September 13, when tour comes to an end? “I’ll have to find a new place to live again, I guess.”

Despite all the challenges of performing in different cities all the time, progress on his new album is excellent, due in part to the fine rapport that exists between David and record producer Rob Cavallo. “It’s just a really organic relationship and to have him on board is obviously huge... I know Rob can do what I need to do on this record.” The yet unnamed album is expected out in November.

Many MyIdol users here on americanidol.com have expressed interest in the well-being of David’s brother, Adam, and so we asked David about this phenomenon. David told us that “A group of [his] fans had started raising money for the American Cancer Society with a goal of $10,000 and they exceeded it in 38 days which is massive!” This type of activity is the “best gift”, according to David.  “It’s the stuff fans do for other people that I think is the coolest thing in the world.”

We can't wait to hear more from David down the road and to hear his new album when it comes out in just a few months. Meanwhile, it's great to look back at David's Transformation Gallery!

Exclusive Interview With Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin

Back on Super Tuesday, our Alaska Street Team member sat down with the young governor.

Justin Guarini became well-known as 1st runner-up to Kelly Clarkson on the debut season of American Idol.  Justin charmed everyone with his soulful voice, beautiful smile and that big head of curly hair. Continuing his special relationship with Idol, Justin signed with the TV Guide Network in 2007 as co-host of "Idol Tonight," an exclusive live pre-show and red-carpet event preceding each episode of Idol.  One of Justin's co-hosts on the program just happens to be none other than Season Two Finalist Kimberly Caldwell.  Justin also serves as co-host of "Idol Wrap," a fast-paced re-cap of each episode of Idol. Justin is currently recording his third album, and he has emerged as a leading advocate of music education.  A national spokesperson for Support Music Education since 2004, Justin and a select delegation met with Congress in 2005 to discuss music in schools and later performed/emceed at a private gala concert for Congress, their families and staff.  In 2006, he received the NAMM "Music for Life" Award for his work supporting music education.  Justin also raises money for charities such as Habitat for Humanity, Broadway's Kitchen Sink, Foundation for Global Harmony, Children's World Organization, and various children's hospitals nationwide. americanidol.com congratulates Justin on all of his success and wishes him a very happy birthday! Justin recently traveled with Brandon Rogers, Gina Glocksen and Nadia Turner to Afghanistan to entertain the troops.  Visit our exclusive gallery!

Hold the phone -- three-time Grammy winner and two-time, reigning ACM and CMA Female Vocalist winner Carrie Underwood has added yet another achievement to her long list.  Last year, the American Idol Season Four champ's smash hit, "Before He Cheats," sold one million ringtones, making her only the second country artist in history to have a song RIAA certified as a Platinum Mastertone.  Carrie now becomes the first country artist ever to have two songs hit Platinum Mastertone status with the Grammy-winning "Jesus, Take the Wheel." These are just two of the hits that have made Carrie the only country artist in history to have their first seven singles all reach #1, and they can be found on her 7x-Platinum debut album, Some Hearts.  Carrie's Double-Platinum sophomore album, Carnival Ride, includes her three most recent hits -- "So Small," "All-American Girl," and "Last Name" -- all of which she co-wrote.  The disc's fourth smash, the powerful ballad, "Just a Dream," is currently climbing the charts. How much has Carrie changed? Visit our Transformation Gallery!

According to the Reuters News Service, American Idol Season 3 Finalist Jennifer Hudson will be performing the National Anthem tonight between 3 - 5 PM CT at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. According to Jennifer's publicist, Theola Borden, Senator Obama, himself, made the request, reports Reuters. Now, with today's appearance, what could be next for Jennifer Hudson?  Her self-titled debut album is scheduled for release September 30th and she will appear in the upcoming film "The Secret Life of Bees".

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Gaslight Anthem
The Buzz: Earnest Jerseyites pair roaring chords with heart-on-sleeve sentiments.
Listen If: You were ever a member of a punk rock Springsteen cover band, or if you think Jesse Malin is the most underrated artist of our generation.
Key Track: "The '59 Sound," which employs a gang of guitars and a grand, hollered chorus in its consideration of mortality.

The Band: Human Highway
The Buzz: Pair of Canucks go all California '70s, writing airy AM anthems that balance atop a stack of pillowy harmonies.
Listen If: You not only identified the source of the band's name — a bizarre 1982 movie starring Neil Young — but you also own a contraband DVD copy.
Key Track: "The Sound," whose shuffling beat and tight guitar strums are the perfect accompaniment to the waning days of summer.

The Band: Koushik
The Buzz: DJ/Producer works up languid, Air-y jams that sound like drifting clouds, rolling seas.
Listen If: You've dreamed of some hybrid of hip-hop and easy listening.
Key Track: "Lying in the Sun," which tops Koushik's gentle-wind production with an equally airy falsetto vocal.

Who: Coventry, England indie punk trio the Enemy, who, in the span of a year, quickly went from forming the band to opening for the Rolling Stones to topping the British music charts. Sounds Like: Already branded by the U.K. press as the newest reincarnation of Oasis, the Enemy combine that band's knack for Lennon/McCartney hooks with the youthful angst of the Buzzcocks and the social awareness of Joe Strummer, as evidenced by their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns. Vital Stats:

Athens, Georgia's art-pop wackos Of Montreal have a new album called Skeletal Lamping coming out on October 7th. The follow-up to the band's 2007 breakthrough record Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Skeletal Lamping brings the same sort of theatrical, hallucinatory rave-ups the band is known for with a little extra funk thrown in for good measure. Download the shimmering "Nonpareil of Favor" below. • Of Montreal: "Nonpareil of Favor" (Right click and choose "save as")

The producers of the smash hit Broadway production of GREASE are proud to announce that American Idol Season Five finalist, Ace Young, will make his Broadway debut when he joins the company in the role of "Kenickie" on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. A native of Denver, Colorado, he began his career in the entertainment industry at the early age of nine performing at various venues all over the west coast. Following Idol, Ace traveled the country performing in 60 sold out arenas across the nation as part of the American Idols Live Tour. He has played guest starring roles on the popular television sitcoms "Half & Half" and “Bones.” In 2007, Ace was nominated for a Grammy Award for his co-write on fellow “Idol” Chris Daughtry's quadruple platinum hit single "It’s Not Over." In April 2008, Ace released a popular single entitled "Addicted," available everywhere. He recently formed a partnership with renowned record producer and songwriter Desmond Child, and together they cowrote, recorded and funded Ace's eponymous debut album - a revolutionary combination of Rock, R&B and Funk which utilizes a 30 piece string section with live horns. The eagerly anticipated album was released on July 15, 2008. American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, who joined the cast in the role of "Teen Angel" on Friday, June 6th, will play his final two weeks in the show with a final performance on Sunday, September 7th.

According to Billboard Magazine, David Archuleta's new single, "Crush" (19/Jive), debuts at No. 2, thus becoming the highest new entry of 2008 and the highest debut ever for an "American Idol" song not performed on the series. "Crush," which debuts at No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs, is the fourth entry for Archuleta on the Hot 100.  His first three all debuted the week of June 7 and spent one week each on the tally:  His version of John Lennon's "Imagine" at No. 36, Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at No. 58 and "In This Moment" at No. 60.  "Crush" is the seventh single to debut inside the top 10 of the Hot 100 in 2008. And here is a summary of songs recorded by "American Finalists" but not performed during the course of competition that have debuted in the top 10: No. 2: "Crush," David Archuleta (Aug. 30, 2008) No. 6: "I'll Stand By You," Carrie Underwood (May 12, 2007) No. 8: "Never Again," Kelly Clarkson (May 12, 2007) Visit our David Archuleta Transformation Gallery to see how he changed over Season 7.

Grammy-Nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi has joined American Idol as a fourth judge.  She will sit alongside Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson at the judges' table and use her background as an award-winning songwriter and producer to praise or critique the wannabe hopefuls throughout the competition.  The eighth season of American Idol premieres January 2009 on FOX. "We are turning the heat up on Idol this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges' table," said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller.  "She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America's most successful songwriters.  We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show." "We had originally intended for American Idol to have four judges," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "We've seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers." Mike Darnell, President, alternative Programming of FOX, added, "For the past seven seasons, Paula has had to endure the experience of being the only woman at the judges' table.  She's been as an island of consideration and gentle criticism between Randy and Simon, offering her invaluable expertise as a performer and No. 1 artist to the thousands who have competed on American Idol.  With Kara by her side, Paula finally has some back-up and now there is going to be a lot more 'girl power' on the show." One of the industry's most sought after songwriters and producers, DioGuardi's songs have appeared on more than 100 million records.  Her songs have been recorded by Grammy award-winning artists including Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Santana and Pink.  Scores of major recording artists including Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Pussycat Dolls, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, Jewel, Ashley Tisdale, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey and Marc Anthony have also released DioGuardi's songs.  Over the last four years, she has been awarded 10 BMI Pop Awards for having written the most performed songs on radio.  From her catalog of several hundred songs, over 264 have been released on major labels worldwide; and over 165 have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums.  DioGuardi co-owns Arthous Entertainment, where she develops and mentors fellow hit writers, producers and artists. Watch our interview with Kara. 

Step & Repeat: The Best & Worst Of VMA Fashion

Kim Stolz and Fonzworth Bentley take you on a trip down memory lane, looking back at the highs and lows of fashion at the VMAs.

Top 10 VMA Opening Moments

From Diddy's dance-off to Britney's Vegas bomb, the VMAs always start with a bang!

Related Artists

• Britney Spears
• Madonna
• Diddy
• Jay-Z
• Christina Aguilera
• Bruce Springsteen
• Michael Jackson

Life has been a whirlwind of activity for Jason Castro since Season 7 Finale, and americanidol.com was lucky to catch up with him from the road for a report on how things are going halfway through the 2008 Live Tour. Not surprising, the cool and collected Jason was very positive about the tour. “Seeing the country and getting to sing every night has been awesome, I’m having a blast!”

Jason and the other nine are currently performing at their 26^th city venue since embarking on July 1^st. Interestingly, performing in front of an average 12 thousand live audience members on tour has been easier for Jason than singing in front of American Idol’s 30 million viewers. “[Performing] in front of the stage audiences was kind of strange. Because we were on TV, there were so many things you had to be aware of. To make it look normal on TV, you had to act abnormal.” In contrast, performing before a live audience “is a lot less pressure.” Which isn’t to say that when tour first started, it was a piece of cake. “For about the first week, I shook through every set, but now I’m pretty comfortable with it,” Jason explained.

Exciting though it may be, touring can actually also be quite demanding. “The ‘day’ starts at midnight after we leave the city we just finished and we drive until the morning. Around 5 or 6, we’ll get into the hotel and then take a little nap and then around noon, we drive to the venue and have lunch. There we say hi to some fans and then we have an hour of press and then an hour of official meet-and-greets and then sound check and then dinner and then the show starts. And that’s a typical day.” So, what’s it like to see America this way? “Well, it’s pretty cool, but kind of rushed. You can’t hang out and see everything like you’d want to, but at least you’re seeing something, which is more than I was doing last year.”

Given such a hurried pace, we wanted to know if there’s been a highlight so far. “New York was pretty crazy because we were there for an extended amount of time. I had a lot of fun there because my mom and my sister came out and my girlfriend. There’s a lot to do in New York," he chuckled.  Jason also told us what it’s like to go out as a group with the other Idols. “We kind of try to sneak around, hide in the corner.” Although Jason assured me that they do not wear disguises.

Identifying the hardest thing about Tour was easy for Jason: Sleep. “Getting to sleep on the bus, and then having to get up at 5 in the morning and try to keep sleeping after that. Well, sometimes it doesn’t work. So when you don’t have your rest and you go and do stuff for 12 hours, it can wear you out. But then you have an off day and then everything’s better.” Given the rigor, it’s no surprise Jason misses aspects of home. “I just miss all the people and the simpleness of everything and just sitting around eating and stuff.”

After tour, Jason looks forward to advancing his music career. “I’m gonna make some music. Planning to record and do some writing and get an album out, that’s the plan.” Jason had a few parting words to his fans. “I’d like to say ‘hey’ to my fans. Hope you don’t forget about me and you keep in touch. Oh, and be on the lookout for new music.”

Visit our Tour section to find out where you can see Jason and the nine other Idols in concert this summer, and where you can check out Fan Photos and Fan Reviews.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week pulls its highlights from Blog Fresh Radio.

The Band: Burial
The Buzz: Formerly anonymous dubstep producer reveals his face and name, ending thousands of cockamamie theories in one fell swoop.
Listen If: You've always thought reggae and R&B would sound better sped up, and made out of wires.
Key Track: "Archangel," where a baleful soul vocal is knocked around by big, blocky percussion.

The Band: Tittsworth
The Buzz: Manic, hyperkenetic DC DJ releases manic, hyperkenetic debut.
Listen If: You're staring down one last summer party — all you need is a soundtrack.
Key Track: "WTF," where the spectacularly sassy Kid Sister snarls and spits over a gleefully amphetimized disco track.

The Band: Richard Swift
The Buzz: Prolific California singer/songwriter veers from Bacharach pop to quasi-R&B, but tackles all with scholarly precision.
Listen If: You want a history of 20th century pop, and you want it done in about 45 minutes.
Key Track: "Would You," where Swift pulls off an impressive girl-group lead vocal — it's the Shirelles via David Lynch.

Who: Los Angeles-via-Stockholm sextet Carolina Liar, who, with the help of mega-producer Max Martin, are soundtracking every premature break-up this summer with their hit "I'm Not Over." Sounds Like: Combining the Killers' new New Wave, U2's knack for anthems and the bubblegum pop productions of Martin, Carolina Liar come off as the perfect house band for The Hills. Perhaps that's why singer Chad Wolf and the rest of the group had four songs from their debut album Coming to Terms featured on the MTV show. The band will spread their infectious pop across the country as they tour with The Academy Is… this fall. Vital Stats

The Verve impressed at Coachella a few months ago and now their long-awaited new album — their first in nearly 10 years — hits stores in a week. *Rolling Stone* is offering up a sneak peek right now: To hear the spacey cut "Columbo" off *Forth* click below and prepare to be awash in Richard Ashcroft's lovely vocals. *Sorry! You can't hear "Columbo" here anymore — the album's out in stores. But you can read David Fricke's four-star review of Forth here.*

With 2.6.1, we’re continuing our trend of releasing a maintenance release shortly after a major release in order to get fixes for the inevitable “dot zero” bugs into your hands without a long wait.  If you’re happy with 2.6, however, keep on using it.  You need not upgrade to 2.6.1 if 2.6 is getting the job done.

2.6.1 offers several improvements for international users.  Styling of the admin for right-to-left languages is much improved thanks to the efforts of the Farsi and Hebrew translation teams, and a mysterious gettext bug caused by certain PHP configurations is now fixed.  For IIS users, 2.6.1 fixes several permalink problems. Image insertion problems in the Press This feature experienced by IE users are also fixed. Of note to everyone is a fix for a performance bug in the admin where those with a lot of plugins would experience slowness on some pages.

Check out the full list of over 60 fixes to see if 2.6.1 has something to offer you.   A full diff and list of changed files is also available.  Download 2.6.1 and enjoy.

In our ongoing conversation with last season's top 10, we had the chance to speak with Carly Smithson this past weekend.  After all, Carly is a little bit more than half way through with the summer tour, so we figured we'd check in to see what she thought of her experiences thus far. Carly was thrilled to be in Manchester, but not because of the rain that greeted her.  Instead, it was only about an hour from their previous stop in Worcester, Massachusetts, which means it was a fairly easy bus ride for them.  Typically, they're on the buses for several hours a night, but because Worcester is so close to Manchester, they were on the road for only about an hour and were able to hit their hotel rooms at a reasonable time (for them) of around 1:30am. Thus far, Carly boasts that "it's been great being on the road with all her friends" and that it's "a wild trip [she] never could have expected."  The best thing, for Carly, has been the nightly "Meet and Greet's".  In these regular sessions, Carly and the other Idols meet with a small group of kids in each city. A lot of the times, these kids are going through tough health issues or facing other obstacles and it's just a thrill for them to see their heroes up close and personal.  As much as it's a thrill for them, it's even more of a thrill for the Idols.  To emphasize that, Carly noted one such time, in Worcester, where she "met this great girl and took her around to the buses and gave her a teddy." Carly also mentioned that it's just really great to perform for all the fans who voted so often.  Interestingly enough, apparently there are a bunch of Uber fans who travel from concert to concert, all across the country.  They're kind of like the old Grateful Dead fans who used to follow the Dead from city to city.  The bottom line, though for Carly, is that she "wants to really thank the fans". Without them, of course, there wouldn't be an Idols Summer Tour. In regard to what's coming up for Carly after the tour, she is going to pursue making music, to nobody's surprise.  She's not sure if it will be a major or Indie label or self-produced, she just knows that she'll put one out as soon as possible.  Asked what kind, she shared with us that it would be "kinda like Celine Dion mixed with Heart. Pop Rock, you know?"  She laughed out loud when she thought about a previous interview when another writer wrote that she will be putting out a heavy metal album.  Carly exclaimed, "Yeah, I'm gonna be opening for Slayer!" Overall, in addition to the support from her fans, Carly's thankful for the great reviews she's received on tour as well as the fabulous reviews she got while on the show. She singled out L.A. Times entertainment reporter, Richard Rushfield, for the incredibly descriptive way he writes about the show, Ryan Seacrest and all of the contestants. We're sure that we'll be hearing more from Carly once the Summer Tour has concluded. Check out Carly's Transformation Gallery!

One of the best tracks off ontime RS Artist to Watch MGMT's debut is “The Handshake,” a psych-rock headtrip that features no repeating verse or chorus. As the group’s Ben Goldwasser told *Rolling Stone* last November about the band’s approach to songwriting, “We write specifically not to have traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure, and we try to challenge ourselves and see if we can write songs that didn’t fall back on that.” No kidding: MGMT have just dropped a brand new jam that, like “The Handshake,” also features no repeating verse or chorus. Only this time, Goldwasser and his songwriting partner Andrew Van Wyn Garden have stretched their songwriting philosophy into a 13-minute psych-rock mindfuck that features about a half-dozen song segments masterfully woven together. (You can pick up the tune, called "Metanoia," at iTunes; check out a live version above.) There’s a little something for everyone here: sunny Beatles-style pop; searing shrieks of electric guitar; theatrical, over-the-top vocals that evoke Freddie Mercry; country-tinged slide guitar; pipe organs; eerie, Haunted House-appropriate dirges. It’s insanely ambitious — but somehow these guys pull it off. And at ninety-nine cents, this thing is a bargain.

Who: Malibu's Shwayze. One-half L.A. playboy and one-half trailer park MC, the duo look to prove they're more than just reality television stars with their self-titled debut album. Sounds Like: If you're unfamiliar with their MTV show Buzzin', Cisco Adler describes the duo's tunes as "California chill stoner music," as evidenced by the duo's Sugar Ray-meets-Pharcyde first single "Buzzin'." Shwayze, the other half of the duo, says Adler's music industry father Lou "brought the California sound in the Sixties. Cisco and I are reinventing it for right now." Vital Stats:

Billboard Magazine's Jonathan Cohen is reporting that Daughtry's four-times platinum self-titled 19/RCA debut will be released in expanded form Sept. 9, led by a newly recorded cover of Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time."  The original album will also have acoustic versions of "What About Now" and "Home" as well as a live version of "It's Not Over."  A bonus DVD includes videos for "It's Not Over," "Home," "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight" and "What About Now," along with live clips for "Breakdown" and "There and Back Again." Daughtry is embarking on a month's worth of live dates starting Friday, August 15 in Las Vegas. Watch again our emotional Exit Interview with Chris Daughtry from season 5.

Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta is releasing his first post-Idol single, "Crush", digitally today and great reviews are pouring in.  In fact, Entertainment Weekly notes that the single sounds "hip and contemporary".  EW goes on to gush, " 'Crush' is good news for David, for his fans, and for the general health of the Idol Franchise." Congratulations David! Check out the latest photos of David and the rest of the Top 10 on Tour this summer.

Wondering what's blaring through the speakers at our interns' desks? They'll tell you — themselves — in our newest feature What the Interns Are Listening To. **Who:** Creature Feature, a Los Angeles two-piece known for their horror-movie-driven anthems, make the kind of music that will be immediately recognized by avid Danny Elfman fans. Formed after a Halloween party in 2005, the duo made up of Curtis RX on guitar and Erik X on synths get their inspiration from slasher flicks like *Blacula* and *Creepshow*. 
**Sounds Like:** Fantasy rock: Creature Feature's seemingly light, carnival-like songs have dark undertones and evoke lots of playfully gory imagery, like *The Nightmare Before Christmas* or *Corpse Bride* do onscreen.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Hospital Ships
The Buzz: Fractured folk from Lawrence, KS, the Ships combine quavering vocals with delicate instrumentation.
Listen If: You'd like the Flaming Lips if only their songs were a bit tinier.
Key Track: "The Shots I Drank," a seasick nursery rhyme played out against rolling piano and hazy flutes.

The Band: Marching Band
The Buzz: Swedish duo crafts pillowy pop, brightened with bands of psychedelia.
Listen If: You spend Saturdays eating mushrooms and listening to the Shins.
Key Track: "Gorgeous Behavior," which is full of twinkling guitars and cascading AM radio harmonies.

The Band: Women
The Buzz: California band with un-Googleable name write lower-than-lo-fi pop songs.
Listen If: You like songs where you can see the stitching, and care more about melody than instrumentation.
Key Track: "Group Transport Hall," where a swift acoustic strum carries a spry, childlike vocal.

Who: Lo-fi folk-rock quintet from Philadelphia featuring Adam Granduciel of the Capitol Years and guitarist Kurt Vile, who releases solo records boasting stunning fuzzed-out guitar jams. Sounds Like: Bob Dylan cranking out jams with Sonic Youth. Granduciel, whose adenoidal croon eerily recalls the Bard's, has a knack for penning cryptic ruminations on life, death and hitting the road. "There's a song you hear on the radio/ It's a funeral march," he sings on "Arms Like Boulders." "So you change the channel/ But it's all you hear/ As you’re driving up the 101 from Mexico to California." Meanwhile, his band turns spacey noise-blues epics that sometimes stretch on beyond the 10-minute mark. Vital Stats:

Once Ramiele Malubay was chosen as one of the top 24 contestants in season 7 of American Idol, life for her has been anything but dull. After competing for five weeks knowing that she would be on tour during the summer, Ramiele stayed in L.A. This worked out well for her, as rehearsals for the finale and the tour began in earnest before the season even ended. Life in the Idol world is always fast paced. As soon as the finale ended, rehearsals really kicked up and then the top 10 Idols were on the road, touring America from coast to coast. Luckily for us, Ramiele took some time out of her busy schedule while she was in Newark to share some thoughts about the past year. Ramiele has had a great experience on the road and she notes that "every city is different. We try to get off the bus, put our stuff inside and go and sign autographs before we have hair and makeup done and do press and whatnot." Later, she followed up, "I really didn't come into this with any expectations. I just love getting off the bus in other cities. I love waking up in different cities." While it sounds glamorous and exciting, being on the road can be somewhat exhausting. Ramiele, though, exclaims, "It's less exhausting than the show." Without having to stoicly receive feedback from the judges after every performance, she confirms there's just less stress. This is how Ramiele describes a typical day on the road for her: "Usually, after a show, if we have a show the next day, we'll travel to the next city and it will be, like, a four or five hour drive. We get out of the bus, take all of our stuff out, go and sleep for a couple hours, get ready, get all of our stuff back, get our hair and makeup done, meet the sponsors, perform, meet people after the show and, then, we go sign autographs outside and, then, we go and do the same thing all over again." Whew. "All of us have gotten it down to a routine schedule. We're working on getting things done quicker. You know, like hair and makeup because there are five girls and four of the girls are in the first set, so it's hard to get everybody done, but we're doing really well." Being on tour is also quite different from being on the show in that she is now regularly performing in front of thousands and thousands of people. Laughing, Ramiele told us what kind of effect this has had on her: "Backstage I freak out a little bit when I look into the audience. I go second, so when Chikezie is out there, I peek through the little cracks and see how many people are out there. I kinda freak out a little because there are so many people. Then, you go out there and you do the same songs every night. You don't have to learn new words or impress anybody -- you're just being yourself. Putting yourself out there for the people who have been watching you and supporting you." Being away from family and friends for so long can be challenging, but she speaks to them often. When we spoke to her, Ramiele was missing her dog very much, but, fortunately, her boyfriend was coming into town with her dog for a visit. After the tour, Ramiele hopes to meet with some major studios and will be retuning to the Philippines in December to do a few concerts. Visit our Tour section to find out where you can see Ramiele and nine other Idols in concert this summer, see Fan Photos and Fan Reviews..

Season 3 Finalist Jon Peter Lewis took some time off from the road to share his thoughts from the Salt Lake City auditions. He was there hanging with the auditioners -- you'll even see him doing some interviews for americanidol.com later this summer/fall!  He was also in Salt Lake to celebrate the release of his second album, Break The Silence, which hit stores on July 22nd. Don't miss his take on the Salt Lake experience, and, if you're heading to the Kansas City auditions, you might just see him there, too!