The gang from American Idol 8 was at the War Memorial in Syracuse Monday night for the second-to-last show of their two-plus month tour and it was clear from the jump that this year, there were some significant changes in the production. Gone was the tin foil set of yesteryear, replaced by a rather plain Jane stage with a center riser from which several of the performers rose playing pianos.
This year, it appeared that a good portion of the production cost went to lighting. The set included a huge digital panel, which punctuated the show from time to time with blasts of light and also provided background graphics that were supposed to somehow match the ambiance of each of the performances.