Tag: American Idol

Fox Airs ‘American Idol’ “Welcome Home” Special

Yesterday afternoon in select markets, FOX aired an American Idol TV special called, “Welcome Home” featuring the past nine Idol winners.

For those of us (including myself) that had no clue this was going to be on the air, the Idol special made it’s way to YouTube!

Check out American Idol’s “Welcome Home” below!

Source: 1 (Go give the source some love for uploading this!)

Concert Review >> Lee DeWyze at Mix 106.5’s Very Merry Mixxer

Last week, Lee DeWyze took part in Mix 106.5’s Very Merry Mixxer alongside Angel Taylor and the popular band, Plain White T’s.

He performed second that night, and kicked off his eight-song acoustic set with “Earth Stood Still.” He followed up with a slightly altered version of “Dear Isabelle.” DeWyze changed up the melody just slightly, making the song sound more upbeat.

DeWyze has found balance in his vocals between a soft and subtle vocal and his larger notes. I definitely prefer the stripped down versions of the songs versus the polished studio tracks, because they showcase his true rough around the edges musical style and folk-pop vocals.

One of the highlights from DeWyze’s set was his take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” His performance was stunning.

I’ve always really liked DeWyze’s voice on this song, and during this particular moment at the show, I was just in awe. It was a fantastic performance.

The other big highlight of the night was “Brooklyn Bridge,” which DeWyze closed his set with. This song should always be performed acoustically; The sentiment behind the lyrics comes across much more powerful.

DeWyze’s stage presence has definitely come a long way from his American Idol days. He bantered a bit with the crowd about how he had been playing his guitar a little too hard, and how much he’s enjoying playing his songs off of Live It Up.

The one thing that I would have changed about DeWyze’s set would be the order of his set list. He played his current single “Sweet Serendipity” in the middle of his set instead of singing it last, which I thought was odd. I would have rearranged his entire set to make it flow a little bit better.

I found DeWyze to be pretty entertaining. His vocals were really on point, and the crowd seemed to love him.

For more information on Lee DeWyze, check out his official website.

Complete set list:

“Earth Stood Still”
“Dear Isabelle”
“Beautiful Like You”
“Sweet Serendipity”
“Hallelujah”
“Live It Up”
“A Song About Love”
“Brooklyn Bridge”

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Kris Allen Performs at Star 101.3’s Jingle Ball

I attended Star 101.3’s Jingle Ball this past Friday night at the Masonic Center in San Francisco.

Kris Allen (along with his bandmates Cale Mills and Chris Torres) performed an acoustic set for the crowd. In my honest and completely biased 0pinion, Kris has never sounded better.

His set that night included a couple holiday tunes that I brought back to share with the class!

Enjoy!

“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

“The Christmas Song/We Wish You A Merry Christmas”

 

Kris Allen Fans Raise Money For Music Empowers

It takes extraordinary fans to do extraordinary things. Most fans attend live shows to see their favorite performer, maybe buy a t-shirt, and sometimes will wait after the show for an autograph. Fans of American Idol-winner Kris Allen have taken their support of the singer to a new level.

Alright With Music was formed by fans of Kris Allen that hope to raise $25,000 for the Music Empowers Foundation by December 31. Kris Allen

“Kris has taught us about the important work done by the Music Empowers Foundation, which provides funding to non-profit organizations that offer innovative music programs in under-served areas,” the group stated in a press release earlier this week.

Music Empowers founder Andy Davis said that the foundation is “incredibly honored” by the current fundraiser.

“Kris has become an amazing advocate for music education,” Davis said in a press release. “This year, his support of organizations like Music Empowers has helped to bring music education programs to about 100,000 kids.”

So far Alright With Music has already managed to raise over $9000 for Music Empowers.

Alright With Music originated earlier this year as Team Alright With Moo, a group of fans that raised over $25,000 this past June in honor of Allen’s 25th birthday for Heifer International.

To learn more about Alright With Music and how you can donate, please visit their website.

For more information on Kris Allen, check out his official website.

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Tour Talk With Kris Allen

As his tour with Lifehouse comes to a close this week, Kris Allen took some time to talk with me about being on tour the past year supporting different artists, the “Alright With Me” video he did for his fans, and what he thinks is the biggest misconception about his music.

I caught your show the other night in San Francisco, it was great.

Thanks, that was a really fun show.

My friend mentioned after the show that her favorite part about your set was that you’re converting Lifehouse fans in about eight songs or less.

Tell her thanks. That’s kind of what we’re trying to do.

Can you tell while you’re performing that you are drawing people into your music?

I feel like we can tell. It takes about three or four songs. You know they’re like, “Oh, this is fun,” and by the end they’re like “Wow, that was a lot of fun!” And it’s always cool when you can win over the dudes. Girls are probably the best fans that you can have, but when you can win over the guys at a show, especially the older guys, it’s awesome.

Very cool. You’ve supported different bands this year on tour. Is it a feeling of “same thing, different band” or is the vibe different on each tour?

I think it’s a different vibe, you know? We were out with totally different kinds of artists. We went out with Maroon 5, and Keith Urban, and now Lifehouse. Also, I think the vibe really depends on the venue. With Keith, we were playing those monster fairs with like 10,000 people there. With Maroon 5, it was like smaller outdoors stuff, but still pretty big. And with Lifehouse we’re doing theatres. It’s been a blast, it really has been for every one of them.

Is it more intimidating to play a small intimate show or a large venue?

The most intimidating crowd to play for is about five people. When it’s super small and you’re just sitting in a room with friends and they’ll go “Hey Kris, sing us a song,” you’re like, “Oh no, I can’t do that.” It’s really weird.

In the beginning of the tour you had “Man In The Mirror” on the set list, and then switched it out for Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” what was behind that decision?

I think that it was a conscious decision to say you know what, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” is a little more upbeat of a song. And we’ve been playing “Man In The Mirror” forever. It was just nice to play something new, and I think when we introduce new stuff into the set everyone gets excited about it. It may not be perfect at first, and it may not even be that great, but we get excited about playing new stuff. Continue reading Tour Talk With Kris Allen

Kris Allen Tweets “Alright With Me” Music Video

Kris Allen just tweeted a thank you to the fans, and in his last tweet included a link to a music video for “Alright With Me (A Thank You To The Fans).”

The video was directed and edited by Matthew Leonard. This is seriously better than any video treatment I could have imagined for this song! I can’t believe that Kris and KAB pulled this off without fans finding out! So awesome!

Check it out!

Absolutely love it!

Lee DeWyze’s “Sweet Serendipity” Music Video Premieres on VH1.com

The music video for Lee DeWyze’s debut single, “Sweet Serendipity” just debuted on VH1.com!

Watch the video and let me know what you think in the comments!

First impression: I like it. I’m a fan of simple, sweet videos.

Lee’s album, Live It Up is now available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com!

Don’t forget to pick up your copy!