Lee DeWyze Live Backstage at Jones Beach

American Idol Season 9 winner Lee Dewyze, and many of the other Top 10 Idols (Casey James, Michael Lynche, Aaron Kelly, Didi Benami, Andrew Garcia and Tim Urban), were interviewed backstage at Jones Beach before the American Idols LIVE show by radio personality Phathead of 94.3 WMJC on Wednesday, July 7, 2010.

MTV Review: Lee Dewyze, Crystal Bowersox & the Top 10 ~ Good Morning America Concert

'American Idol' Top 10 Begin 'Beautiful Day' With 'Good Morning America'
Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox and company strummed and belted through the rain in Central Park on Friday.

By Christopher MacAllister, MTV

With their signs and banners eagerly clutched in their hands, fans marched into Central Park to see "American Idol" season-nine winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox chat with Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos about "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" before two 12-year-old girls competed and a guy who looked like Santa's older brother competed in an "Idol" trivia quiz. And also to see all of the top 10 Idols perform for the "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series on Friday (July 9).

Crystal was the first one to perform, singing Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" while strumming her guitar, of course. She did the song justice despite the slight spray of rain.

Next up was Lee, again with a guitar, awaiting his time to shine amid the continuing showers. The crowd shouted their love for him, as he responded to their makeshift banners, wishing happy birthdays and anniversaries.

Asked about the life-changing experience of winning "Idol," he said it was "important to remember where you came from" and managed to plug the October release of his upcoming album. He then performed "Treat Her Like a Lady" by the Cornelius Brothers, to which the audience reacted with more enthusiasm and excitement.

Then all of the top 10 took the stage and the band began the riff for Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." The guys gave their best for the rousing anthem, before the girls took over with "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. The rain seemed to bring down the energy of some, Lee in particular, who almost seemed bored at times. But as all 10 sang the song as an ensemble, they gave it a powerful finish.

Before the last song, Lee, Andrew Garcia and Michael Lynche began to beat box and rap for the slightly drenched crowd. But instead of capping off the set with another group performance, Lee went solo for his single, U2's "Beautiful Day" — and fans didn't seem to mind the irony of the bad weather.

Actually, as one fan told MTV News, there's more than one reason to consider it a beautiful day. "It was great to see the American Idols on stage together, and the rain was nice, as it has been so hot!"

Idols LIVE Tour Update: 7 Concerts Canceled & 8 Rescheduled!

FANS here is the revised schedule for the Idols Live Summer Tour. Pay very close attention; some September concerts are now scheduled for July!

The tour kicked off July 1st and will now wrap up on August 31st.

In all, 7 concerts were canceled (Omaha, Kansas City, Winnipeg, Toronto, Buffalo, Cleveland and Portland) and 8 were rescheduled (Bridgeport, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toledo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis).


7/7 - Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach
7/9 – Bridgeport, CT – Arena at Harbor Yard
7/10 – Atlantic City, NJ - Mark G. Etess Arena
7/11 – Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
7/13 – Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
7/14 – Manchester, NH - Verizon Wireless Arena
7/15 – Hershey, PA – GIANT Center
7/17 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center
7/18 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center
7/20 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
7/21 – Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagara Pavilion (venue change)
7/23 – Washington, DC - Jiffy Lube Live
7/24 – Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
7/25 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
7/27 – Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena

7/29 – Virginia Beach, VA - Virginia Beach Amphitheater
7/31 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena
8/1 - Duluth, GA – Arena at Gwinnett Center
8/3 - Sunrise, FL – BankAtlantic Center
8/4 - Tampa, FL – St. Pete Times Forum
8/7 - Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion
8/8 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
8/9 - Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
8/12 – Phoenix, AZ – US Airways Center
8/13 – Los Angeles, CA - STAPLES Center
8/14 – Mountainview, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountainview
8/16 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
8/17 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
8/18 – Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
8/20 – Seattle, WA – KeyArena
8/21 – Portland, OR – Rose Garden
8/23 – Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
8/25 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
8/26 – Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
8/27 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
8/28 – Chicago, IL – United Center
8/29 – Toledo, OH – The Huntington Center
8/30 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
8/31 – Indianapolis, IN – Conseco Fieldhouse

Lee DeWyze ~ Excellent Tour Review from USA Today!

Lee DeWyze ratchets up the energy level

Lee DeWyze takes the stage to the ringing chords of his coronation cover, Beautiful Day. But since the finale, Lee's version of the song has transformed. It takes few cues from U2's epic arrangement, and only minor ones from the acoustic version Lee has occasionally performed since. Instead, it takes on a rhythm all its own, as Lee turn it into a acoustic-rock anthem, one that emphasizes the line, "I know I'm not a hopeless case." And, judging from the crowd's response -- it dwarfs anything the other performers have seen -- he's not.
The first chords of Lee's next song almost sound like Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, but it's really his new version of Elton John's Rocket Man. But the Pink Floyd similarity may have been intentional -- after the first chorus, Lee quotes briefly from Floyd's Welcome to the Machine.

Like Beautiful Day, Hallelujah has undergone a makeover since the show. Standing in front of a spotlight that scatters rays around, Lee begins the song simply on guitar, then he walks to the front of the stage as the audience begins to sing with him. The arrangements on the TV show may have won him the competition, but these new versions suit him much better.

Treat Her Like a Lady takes on a darker edge than it had on the show -- the band almost sounds like they're playing Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen behind him at the start.

"You're like my family!" Lee says afterward. "You're amazing in every way." Then he launches into Kings of Leon's Use Somebody, saying, "Everybody can use somebody once in a while -- everybody."

It's a great song choice for Lee, exactly the sort of thing he'll need to get on the radio, and its whoa-oh-oh chorus immediately pulls the audience in, all the way to the back of the hall.

If Lee gets this kind of powerful-yet-vulnerable tune, he could really do something going forward. All those criticisms about confidence that he got about the judges fall away when he's in a setting that he feels is all his own. There's something undeniably appealing about him as he sings a song like this -- a guy worn ragged by the world but still retaining that sense of hope that refuses to give in.

But, still, he refuses to milk the moment. When he thanks the audience, instead of basking in their applause or running the gauntlet and slapping the hands that reach for him near the edge of the stage, he simply turns and walks off to get ready for the final group song.

Lee Dewyze "Starstruck" by Andrew Garcia ~ Interview at Rehearsals

American Idol winner Lee DeWyze and good friend and Idol roommate Andrew Garcia sit down for a casual and fun interview during a break from rehearsals for the American Idol LIVE Tour.