Getting ready for the big night - Article from USA Today!

Getting ready for the big night

When all the Idols arrived in Portland last week, the tour's producers brought them into the Rose Garden's arena and played them the show's opening, with all its lighting and video effects, for the first time.

"They kind of surprised us," Kris Allen says. "I just kept smiling. I couldn't stop. This is something we've all dreamt of forever. I could not be more excited."

Matt Giraud felt his heartbeat speed up. "Whenever I see a big stage, especially if I'm going to be on it, I always get the chills.

"I remember sitting in these audiences when I was a kid and just imagining what it would be like to be up on the stage. Now it’s me, and it’s my tour bus, with my friends on it." Later, when no one was watching, he walked onto the stage in the empty venue and struck a pose with an imaginary microphone in his hand, just to feel the thrill.

Allison Iraheta admits to a case of nerves before tonight's show. "I'm still scared of performing," she says. "It's the first time I'm going to do this in front of this many people."

Kris says he's looking forward to finally seeing the arena full of people. "For me, it's about feeling that energy that they give you and performing for 13,000 people or 15,000 people, however many people are in the arena," he says. "That’s what I’m excited about."

Posted at 03:52 PM/ET, July 05, 2009 in Idol tour kickoff | Permalink | Comments 3 | Recommend



The Idols hang in Portland

Some of the Idols have been in Portland since the middle of last week. And when they haven't been rehearsing, their free time has mostly been just that.

"We’re pretty free to just wander about town, and Portland’s an amazing town to walk around in," Anoop Desai says. "I’m just upset that I can’t drink all the good beer that’s here. I’ve been getting over being sick."

Anoop hasn't had a lot of luck getting to follow through on his plans. "We tried to go play basketball the other day, but we didn’t have a ball," he says. "We walked to the courts, hoping someone else was playing, and nobody else was there. We walked there, then we had to walk back."

Megan Joy has spent a lot of her free time jogging around the arena and the city. Matt Giraud says he and Michael Sarver wrote a song while walking around town the other day. Of course, everywhere the Idols go, fan approach them.

"People stopping us on the street, and saying, ‘Hey, I’m a huge fan, can I take a picture?’ That’s fine," Anoop says. "The stuff that bothers me is when people Tweet about what hotel we’re staying at and saying, ‘Hey, everybody go to this hotel.’ And, it’s like, ‘No, everyone don’t go to this hotel.’ Let’s have our boundaries."

So Anoop probably wouldn't want to know about the former criminology student at Portland State University who identified the local hotel where the Idols were staying by looking at videos and photos that members of the cast and crew had posted from their rooms. She noted the rooms' decor -- the wallpaper, the carpet, the beds -- then went through the websites of every hotel in downtown Portland until she found one that matched. Then she made reservations so she could stay in the same hotel.

That woman and some of her friends were among a half-dozen or so fans who hung around the arena all Saturday afternoon and were rewarded with an invitation to watch that night's dress rehearsal from the front row.

"Danny brought me to tears," said Jill Kalanges, 21. "Adam was a religious experience," says Jessica Jordan, 22, a Spokane, Wash., resident who runs an Adam Lambert fansite called Lambert-Pics.com.

Posted at 02:11 PM/ET, July 05, 2009 in Idol tour kickoff | Permalink | Comments 7 | Recommend


Adam Lambert says he will rock you with his new album

Adam Lambert wants to clear something up. Lady Gaga producer RedOne is not producing all of his debut. "He's producing tracks on my album and writing with me, as well," Adam says. But Adam's working with a variety of producers and writers on his album, including Linda Perry, Greg Wells and Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic). Adam says he's also been talking to Dr. Luke (Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears).

Adam says he's enjoying writing songs with his collaborators. "Before, I was doing the lyrics and the melody more on my own, with somebody that was creating the tracks," he says. "This is a situation where I'm co-writing everything, melodically and lyrically. I actually prefer it. I feel more secure with somebody else to bounce ideas off of, and then we kind of share, throw the ball back and forth and come up with a finished product. I work better like that. I'm so happy to be working with top-line people, the best. And these producers are bringing in top-line writers that they know to help."

The resulting album, he says, will have elements of both classic rock and electronic music. "There’s a lot of anthems," he says. "You know how We Will Rock You by Queen is an anthem that you can put in stadiums and people will sing along to it? There’s a lot of that on the record so far. A lot of power-anthemy, sing-along stuff.

"I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, but it’s not going to be what they heard on the show." He thinks the closest comparison from the show might be his version of Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild. "It was a classic rock song, but there was this electro beat underneath it that was really new and fresh. And blending the two together, I think, is really something different."

Posted at 01:13 PM/ET, July 05, 2009 in Adam Lambert, Idol tour kickoff | Permalink | Comments 11 | Recommend


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