Singers know 'star' slot is up for grabs on 'American Idols' tour
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Performing on the "American Idols Live" tour are, from left, back row: Adam Lambert, season eight winner Kris Allen, Anoop Desai and Michael Sarver; front row: Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta; in forefront: Megan Joy.
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Chris Daughtry came in fourth and went on top the charts not once but twice. Jennifer Hudson finished in seventh and now sports an Oscar on her mantel.
That leaves Matt Giraud wondering: Is there any love for a guy who finished fifth on "American Idol"?
"I'm hoping to have a career like [Daughtry] or Hudson," he says in a phone interview, "people who weren't that big on the show and then left and had great careers because they made good music and we're really talented."
The first chance to prove himself is on the "American Idols Live" tour, which stops in Pittsburgh on Saturday with the top 10 finalists from season eight.
Kris Allen, a steady crooner from Arkansas, was the surprise winner last season with his technically flawless versions of Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Kanye West songs. However, most of the attention was, and remains, centered around flamboyant glam rocker Adam Lambert.
- With: Season eight's top 10 finalists.
- Where: Mellon Arena.
- When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
- Tickets: $38.50-$62.25; 1-800-745-3000.
Looking like a fifth member of Fall Out Boy, Lambert was a regular scene-stealer on the show, never wavering on tough songs such as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Since "Idol," Lambert has graced the cover of Rolling Stone, been talked about as a new frontman for Queen and has two albums in the works -- a debut for RCA and a collection of songs he recorded prior to "Idol" called "On With the Show."
It's no surprise that he's hitting the stage to a rabid fan base wearing his face on T-shirts and toting signs such as "Adam is my winner."
The Miami Herald called the show "Adam's World." The New York Times review of the "Idol" tour noted his "superhuman voice" on "Whole Lotta Love" and a medley of David Bowie songs, and went on to say that the evening "could have easily passed for an Adam Lambert concert with nine supporting acts."
"I feel like I was preparing for this all my life," Lambert said on press day in June. "I'm not a very patient person, so I kind of like the accelerated pace, that everything is happening all at once."
In the Times review, top Idol and headliner Allen was deemed "benign" by comparison. Asked about what's it like to hit the stage after Lambert, the winner told the Charlotte Observer, "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."
(What else can he say? Really.)
Also collecting good press clips for later use are Danny Gokey, who wins hearts with his widower story and Rascal Flatts ballads, rocker Allison Iraheta belting out "messy" versions of Pink and Janis Joplin, and Anoop Desai, reportedly doing a "gorgeous" take on "Always on My Mind."
Giraud has drawn a mix of reviews, generally positive. Newsday said he seemed "twice his age," given his song choices. That would put him at 48 -- just about six years older than Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, whose hit, "Hard to Handle," he's covering.
The Herald review said that while Giraud came off like a "subpar Justin Timberlake" on TV, he was "the biggest surprise" of the night.
Lambert, who has come out of the closet, weighed in in his own way, wearing a homemade "Matt Giraud Is Bangin' " T-shirt. A general consensus is that if "Idol's" top prize went to the nicest contestant, he may have gone all the way.
Before he got into "Idol," Giraud was playing in one of those dueling piano bars in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he learned to work a crowd in the trenches.
"I probably had like 300 to 400 songs I had to learn," he says. "It was kind of a tough job. It wasn't very glamorous, but it paid the bills. You just kind of take requests and it's very interactive, play whatever people want. People getting drunk all over the place. I had a great time. It taught me a lot of music I never really listened to. But I'm glad I'm not doing that anymore."
His ticket out came in the form of bumming a ride down to Louisville for the "Idol" auditions in July 2008.
"I was playing the piano bar one night and a friend of mine came up and tapped my shoulder and said he was taking his daughter down in a couple days to Louisville. I said, 'Wow, that's amazing. Can I come?' And it went on from there."
Although the daughter went home, Giraud got the yellow ticket to Hollywood. He missed the top 13, though, until he was brought back for a Wild Card show and impressed the judges with his cover of the Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You." In subsequent weeks, he covered such songs as Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover," Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson, whom he lists as one of his main influences.
"It was a hard time," Giraud says of the day he heard of Jackson's death. "We were in the middle of tour rehearsals and we ended up just taking the day off and went home, and it was just kind of a weird day for all of us. He was one of the people who made me want to do music in the beginning, so it was hard for me. But his music lives on ..."
During the season, Giraud got tripped up on Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" on the Songs for the Cinema night and got the ax by "Idol" viewers. But, in an "Idol" first, the judges cashed in their new "save" card to spare Giraud from early oblivion.
"Danny [Gokey] always says I went to church and got saved," Giraud says. "But it was a cool moment. We were talking about that last night on the bus, reminiscing about where we were a year ago. It was cool TV moment. A lot of energy and emotion in that room that night. I get compliments all the time on [this] show, like 'You deserved to be saved.' When I got it, I was kind of worried about people who probably thought, 'You didn't deserve it.' I was like, 'Man I hope people aren't [angry] I got it.' "
Giraud, who was voted off for good in late April after flopping on "My Funny Valentine," still feels as if he has a lot to prove when he hits the stage each night with the Idols, singing "Hard to Handle," "Georgia on My Mind" and The Fray's "You Found Me."
"I came up with all of them," he says, "and talked with the producers about what would flow nicely. I tried to pick things I could see myself doing as an artist after tour."
One review likened his performance to early Billy Joel, a nice change from the usual comparisons to Timberlake, another Jackson disciple. Giraud says he grew up listening to 'N Sync as well and certainly didn't mind being compared to the boy band's superstar frontman.
"If it was a compliment, I accepted that and was thankful. But I always thought it was important to be your own artist and be your own person, and I'm not trying to be like anyone else. And when I do make an album, it's not going to sound anything like Justin, but I got that a lot just based on how I looked. I think if you're a white boy in soul, you're going to get the Justin thing."
Giraud hasn't gotten label interest yet, but last week somehow "Sign Matt Giraud" became the No. 3 trending topic on Twitter. One thing he does have in the works is a deal to host a national online singer-songwriter contest called "Make the Cut" (www.yobi.tv./), and he plans to release an album, label or not.
In the meantime, he's enjoying the camaraderie of his fellow Idols on this intensive 50-city tour.
"I love all these guys. They're my brothers and sisters," he says. "We get on each other's nerves once in a while, but we all kind of deal with it. It's kind of like camp. You try to make it as fun as possible. At the end of the day, we all try to support each other's careers. We all want to see everyone else do well, as well as ourselves, so we're done with the whole competition thing. It's kind of like a family."
As for the shows, there's a big difference, he says, between doing the "Idol" stage and playing to screaming fans in arenas.
"The great thing about the tour is I don't have to worry about cameras anymore. I can really talk to the crowd and get them going. You couldn't really do that on the 'Idol' stage that much. You sing to the camera."
First Published August 19, 2009 10:50 am
