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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

AMERICAN IDOL NEWS - Exclusive Interview with Lee DeWyze

American Idol Lee DeWyze has been touring the country with his fellow Top 10 Season 9 finalists. The reigning champ hopped on the phone with us before performing in Pittsburgh for an exclusive interview. He chatted about his upcoming album, advice for Season 10 hopefuls, and more.

Lee told us that “The best part of being on tour is getting to play live; really live! There are no judges and no cameras. It’s just me doing my thing and getting to play for the fans.” So does Lee get nervous performing in front of stadiums of people? Nope. “I got up in front of 40 million people while on American Idol and I learned so much from the show. It’s all about music for me. I stayed true to myself on the show, and being on the big stage on tour I’m interacting with the crowd and being myself.”

Every season seems to have a prankster, and it seems that Lee is the Season 9 tour prankster. MyIdol member Wahntchre wanted to know more about Lee’s leader role with the pranks and if he’s afraid of the pranks that may be pulled on him. “I only do very subtle pranks – nothing harmful. If anyone is going to try to prank me, it better be good, because there’s going to be retaliation!”

As the American Idol, Lee is the headliner of the Season 9 tour. Since he’s the last person to perform at each show, what does he do to pass the time while he’s waiting for his set? “I’m still trying to figure it out,” Lee remarked. “I have time to listen to a full album, so I’ll pick one and listen to it. I just try and chill, because if I just sit around and wait, I’ll get tired. During Casey's and Crystal’s sets, I’ll go watch them and listen to the crowd and get pumped up.”

Lee’s favorite part about being on tour is meeting the fans. “There have been a lot of cool moments meeting the fans. Seeing the people who supported me on the show has been great. They are fans of the show and are music fans too. It’s cool to see the people progress from being fans of mine to fans of my music. When I meet them I like to let the fans know how much I appreciate them. The time will come when I’m out on my own making music, and I look forward to making a name for myself and having them stick by me. I love them all so much.”

In just one month, the tour will hit up Lee’s hometown, Chicago! “I’m very excited for the Chicago show because my family and friends will be there,” Lee shared. “This will be the first show my family will be at. There are lots of fans in Chicago too. It will be like a really good homecoming.” Although the tour stop will be just 15 minutes away from Lee’s home, they don’t have any extra time to spend in Chicago. Once the tour ends, Lee said he’ll have a little time to see everyone back home.

As Lee travels the country on tour, he is also working on his album and first single. “My first single was U2's ‘Beautiful Day,’ and the fans responded to it well. It was cool to cover a song by one of the biggest bands of all time,” said Lee. “I am looking forward to releasing my album which will be more my style – more folk-rock. I’ve been writing everything so far and it represents me well.” My Idol members AngelxDeWyze and jojowinkie wanted to know more about the writing process, and Lee shared, “I’ve been writing since I was 16 years old. I’m inspired by different stages of my life, and Idol was a huge stage of my life and a big influence. I like to write about things I can relate to like finding myself, love, and emotional things people can feel. I’m emotionally connected to music. My mood affects my music and sometimes the melody comes first and other times it’s the story; it just depends on how I’m feeling. Sometimes a song will just come to me, but I never write about something I don’t experience myself or an experience someone else shares with me.”

To the Season 10 hopefuls who are currently going through the audition process, Lee offered up some great advice. “First, good luck to all of them,” Lee stated. “Don’t be fake and don’t try to be something you’re not. Stay true to yourself. If you do the best you can, good things will come.”

Before Lee hit the road with the Top 10, he talked about what he has to have with him on tour and what it’s like to have his dreams come true.

From AmericanIdol.com

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