I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the American Idol Season 9 tour. Would all the performers be up on the stage at the same time singing like they were entertaining a crowd in a variety show in Gatlinburg, or would it be like watching a few acts at a festival? You’re fans of a few of them but the rest of them you don’t know much about. Turns out… it was kind of a mixture of both.

Heading into the concert, I thought it was really neat how they set up a mock American Idol audition. My guest and I had a lot of fun watching the good and the bad (make that really bad) concert goers audition in front of the crowd…this could have been something that would have been interesting to see during the intermission on the actually stage.

The show opened with five cheesy Ford commercials….that I think they could have done with out. Then it broke down each constant/performer on the big screens. One by one each performer came out…starting with Didi Benami. Although her voice was beautiful, she seemed a bit nervous on stage. She basically stood in the same spot during her performance and had minimum interaction with the crowd. She was one of my favorites on the show…I would’ve like to have seen more out of her. Her performance definitely set the mood for the crowd for pretty much the duration of the whole concert. No one wanted to stand up, until they were prompted to by one of the performers. Had they show started with a bigger bang, the crowd may have acted like they were into the performers and not sitting down like they were watching someone at a county fair.

I will have to say when little Katie Stevens hit the stage in her stelletos and mini skirt…she brought the party! I was really impressed with her stage performance and I felt like I was at real concert with her as the headlining act. Her huge voice filled up the whole arena when she was singing “Fighter”. …which brought everyone to their feet.

The mood changed from “up in the club” to a Tim Burton movie when Siobhan Magnus showed up. She stared out singing “Paint it Black”…which is one of the classic songs that she sung on the show. Of course she ended the song with her classic screaming as well. But it was her last song that I think really showcased Siobhan in her “true colors”…and I think it may have scared a few people. “Stockholm Syndrome” by Muse…which probably was not the best song to pick for the soccer Moms and the teeny-boppers in the crowd…but nevertheless, Siobhan was for sure in her element. The music got louder and louder…the screams higher and higher…and then she ended with head banging with her guitarist. Which left everyone in an awkward daze. It will be interesting to see if she comes out with a record…as I think that she has the most unique sound out of all the performers.

For me the rest of concert was for the most part…how should I say this? Forgettable. Really nothing more than what we saw out the performers on the show. Even the beloved Crystal Bowersox came out with her earthy-soul songs…”Piece of My Heart”, “What’s Up”, “Up to the Mountain”. So I suppose, even though she was my favorite on the show, I wanted her to perform something different; something that we may see on a new record. I wanted her to blow the place up, not just with her voice but with her song choice as well. Speaking of song choice, even though I am not a big Lee DeWyze fan, I really enjoyed his remake of “Rocket Man”. I don’t remember him singing that on the show and I thought it was wonderful.

The finale was pretty predictable. It ended with of the contestant singing “It’s My Life and “My Life Would Suck without You”. Which again was not that spectacular. I hope that Season 10 will bring in some bigger acts, because I’m pretty sure that’s what this tour lacked.

Blogged by: Jessica DiCentes
Photography by: Paul Hooper