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 |  Subject: Charlotte : 1:8:09  02.08.09 13:21 | |
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About this time last year, Kris Allen was getting ready to move into a new apartment and start another year of college. Now, the 24-year-old Arkansas native is playing arenas across the country.
But that's how life can change when you, well, win “American Idol.” After a surprisingly engrossing eighth season that concluded with Allen's victory over glamtastic, superhumanly voiced Adam Lambert, the Fox TV juggernaut is again hitting the road with a live show.
Allen, Lambert and the rest of this year's top 10 finalists – including Chapel Hill native Anoop Desai – descend on Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday for a romp across the pop landscape. Expect medleys, duets and solo sets meant to thrill crowds, and “Idol” viewers, of all ages.
Dubbed the dark horse of the competition, the unassuming Allen charmed audiences with nice-guy humility, an acoustic singer-songwriter sensibility and determined musicianship, playing piano and guitar. He's now co-writing an album slated to come out this fall. He spoke with the Observer from a recent tour stop in Tulsa, Okla.:
Q: On the show, you struck me as a real fan of music. What spurred your interest in listening to music?
My dad was a music fan, so growing up and listening to good music kind of got me into it. But I would say the first artist I really, really got into – I was 7 or so, and I bought the “Dangerous” album by Michael Jackson. From there on out, I was like, “You know what, I love music.”
Q: At the concert, you go on after Adam, who's like a spectacle unto himself. How has that worked out?
I think it's kind of nice. Adam does his huge thing and it's so amazing. He's one of the best performers I've ever seen. And then I come on, and… it's a little bit smaller, but I think the arena really appreciates what I do.
Q: What's the strangest thing you've seen from fans?
The whole shaking thing that people do – like, they can't stop shaking when they're meeting you. So, you try to calm them down, like, “OK, stop it, it's OK.” That's a little weird, but for the most part, everyone's pretty cool.
Q: What does it say about how “Idol” has changed that you could be on the show and win it? Does it say anything about how pop music has changed, too?
I feel like pop music is definitely not going my way. ( Laughs.)
Q: You mean, with artists like Lady Gaga?
Yeah, you know what I'm saying? I'm not gonna get up there and do, like, an electro-beat kind of song. But hopefully, people can appreciate what I do as well. I just think that it was nice that (the show this year) wasn't all about how good you can sing. It was about what kind of recording artist you're going to be, and how well you're going to do in that respect.
Q: Do you feel any pressure with the title of “American Idol”? I mean, it started off as the search for a pop superstar, and I wonder if it's even possible to be that kind of superstar now.
I don't see it like that. I see it as a chance to get out there. Now, because we were on the show, we're getting the chance to do what we want to do. Whether you're as big as someone like Lady Gaga, or whether your CD doesn't do amazingly, but you're still playing gigs and making music – at least we were given the opportunity.
Q: I understand from your Twitter feed that you're a fan of Chick-fil-A. Are you enjoying being back near some Southern food?
I am. We rolled up in, I think it was somewhere in California, and we found a Chick-fil-A right by the (arena). I hadn't seen one in California yet, so I kind of freaked out a little bit. This one just popped up out of nowhere. I think (fellow Idol) Matt (Giraud) said, “I've never been to Chick-fil-A.” I was like, “What's wrong with you?” Ah, it was so good.
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