Lee DeWyze Dishes on His “Very Chill” Debut Album ~ Interview

Neon Limelight Interview: American Idol Champ Lee DeWyze Dishes On “Very Chill” Debut Album

With the lights, cameras, and judges from American Idol in the past, the show’s ninth season champ, Lee DeWyze, is feeling like himself as a performer again. Known on the show for being the shy guy rocker, Lee has reverted back to using his confident swagger on stage as he performs around the country on the American Idols Live! tour this summer. The pressure of performing is off.

But there’s a new pressure: putting together his debut album. Lee was mum on who he’s working with on the already-in-progress album when we caught up with him backstage at the Idol’s Live tour stop in Baltimore, MD this past weekend, but we managed to get a few tidbits about the set’s overall sound and how it will represent him.

See what he told us about the album, his favorite part about touring, and which past Idol contestant he’d duet with if given the chance in our exclusive interview below:

Neon Limelight: Seeing how you won, you probably wouldn’t go back and do anything different, but now that you’ve had the chance to go back and see what you did well and what you could have improved on, if you could go back and mentor yourself, what would you tell yourself?

Lee DeWyze: I feel like when I went on the show, in the beginning — before the show, I knew who I was and I was myself — when I went on the show, everything was just jumbled for me. It was kind of I had to relearn how to do everything. It was really bizarre. Towards the end of the show I started falling into my groove again. And now that the show’s over and I’m doing the live stuff again, I’m back to being me. If anything I would tell myself to not be as nervous and just sing and not worry about it, but other than that, I’m kind of happy. I did what I could.

NL: Do you still get those nerve when you’re about to go on stage.

LD: Nope.

NL: Not at all?

LD: Nope!

NL: That’s awesome!

LD: I played for four years before I ever went on American Idol, so it was never about being nervous to play live, it was just about the cameras and the judges. It was all so bizarre to me. Now that that’s all over, I’m just having fun and doing my thing again.

NL: You’ve done live shows–

LD: Not like this!

NL: Of course! But what’s the biggest surprise about touring so far?

LD: That I can actually sleep on the bus! I didn’t think I’d be able to actually fall asleep on the bus but I can.

NL: Do you get good baby sleep or is it bumpy?

LD: No, when I fall asleep on the bus, I’m out. I’m out like a light. So I’m happy I can sleep on the bus.

NL: What’s your favorite part of the live show you guys do on the tour?

LD: Seeing the fans. Seeing the fans support and seeing them come out the way they do is awesome, it’s unbelievable. They’re the ones who voted us to where we got and supported us throughout the show and are gonna buy albums and go to concerts and be part of what we’re doing. Those are the people I want to thank and do this for. That’s why I’m doing this.

NL: What you gotten the chance to think about what your album will be like and have you started it?

LD: I’ve already started. It’s gonna be like a whole rock/pop sort of deal. It’s gonna be very chill rock, a little harder stuff. It’s gonna be my vibe — stuff I would have done from day one [and] what I’ve always done. It’s gonna be awesome.

NL: Who are you working with, like writers and producers?

LD: I can’t tell you. [grins]

NL: Fine!

LD: I wish I could or I would. I would tell you for sure.

NL: It’s fine! I understand. So, if you could duet with any past Idol contestant, who would it be?

LD: That’s a good questions. Including this season?

NL: Not this season.

LD: Probably Carrie Underwood. She’s got like a really beautiful, pretty voice and I’ve got like a harder, rougher voice, so I think it would be kind of cool to put those two together.

NL: Yeah, I think they would compliment each other well.

LD: Yeah, it would be really cool. So, Carrie Underwood.

by TJ

Idol Winner Lee DeWyze's "Beautiful Day" Hits #1 on the Charts!

The American Idol Finale Impacts Billboard Charts

Millions tuned in for the Season 9 finale and they liked what they heard. Soon after Lee DeWyze was crowned the American Idol, his version of U2’s “Beautiful Day” went to #1 on the Billboard Rock Digital Chart. This is the new champ’s first Billboard #1.

Season 4’s American Idol, Carrie Underwood, performed her latest single, “Undo It,” on the May 26th finale. The song, which is co-written by Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, took the #1 spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Chart.

With Lee’s and Carrie’s additions to the charts, the American Idol contestants have now accumulated 272 #1s to date.

Kelly Clarkson – 56
Carrie Underwood – 46
Chris Daughtry (Daughtry) – 35
Fantasia – 21
Ruben Studdard – 16
Jennifer Hudson – 13
Clay Aiken – 11
Mandisa – 10
Kimberley Locke – 8
Josh Gracin – 7
Jordin Sparks – 7
David Cook – 6
David Archuleta – 4
Kellie Pickler – 4
Elliott Yamin – 4
Taylor Hicks – 3
Adam Lambert – 3
Kris Allen – 2
American Idol Finalists – 2
Bo Bice – 2
Bucky Covington – 2
Blake Lewis – 2
Chris Sligh – 2
Paris Bennett – 1
Jason Castro – 1
Diana DeGarmo - 1
Lee DeWyze – 1
Tamyra Gray – 1
William Hung – 1
source:American Idol News

American Idol Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze is tearing up two other Billboard Charts as well! Just 3 weeks ago, Lee's pre-Idol album "Slumberland" debuted on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart at #32. In it's second week on the chart, this second release (after "So I'm Told") from Chicago's WuLi Records had jumped to #17...the largest move by any album on that chart. Now in it's 3rd week on the Heatseekers Chart, "Slumberland" has jumped to #7! "Slumberland" debuted at #39 on the Independent Albums Chart, which tracks the week's top-selling albums across all genres, sold via independent distribution channels.

Come on FANS...let's make our American Idol Lee DeWyze #1!

Toronto Star's 10 most important works of the decade: No. 4, American Idol

We asked our critics and our readers to vote for the 10 most important works of the decade. We count down to No. 1 as we approach Dec. 31.

Kris Allen, the 2009 American Idol, on why people like the show so much.

"I think the beauty about American Idol is that it takes people that they can relate to, that maybe acts like a friend of theirs, or has the same job or something like that, and makes them into rock stars or country stars or pop stars," said the 24-year-old from Conway, Ark.

The man's bang on. The rags-to-riches story, after all, is a persistent cultural cliché. But instead of commoners rising to royalty, we have a farm girl from Oklahoma becoming a country mega-star (Carrie Underwood), or the girl from a small Texas town who used to sing in bars and now sells millions of pop records (Kelly Clarkson), or the Arkansas church music director who got to play on the same New York stage The Beatles once rocked (Allen).

You don't even have to win the reality singing competition to become famous: think Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, rocker Chris Daughtry, Broadway lead Constantine Maroulis or glam pop-rock sensation Adam Lambert.

Idol contestants come in all shapes, sizes, races, sexual orientations, ages (from 16 to 30), abilities (contestant Scott MacIntyre was blind); they're from small towns and big cities; they're a little bit country or a little bit rock 'n' roll, and everything in between.

Of course, the same could be said of plenty of U.S. reality shows that don't pull anywhere near Idol's viewership.

Its ratings are down, as are most network TV shows', but Idol still beats the competition every Tuesday and Wednesday that it airs. Just under 29 million watched Allen win over Lambert on the May finale.

But Idol's not just about numbers. It has become part of the zeitgeist since it debuted in June 2002 as a spinoff of the British show Pop Idol.

Idol's genius, in an era in which we simultaneously adulate and denigrate our celebrities, lies in combining the mythology of the American dream with a healthy dose of schadenfreude.

It starts with the audition shows, when just enough delusional, tone-deaf applicants are mixed in with the true talents to give the viewers something to laugh at.

As some are knocked down, others get built up.

By the time contestants have made it through the pressure cooker of Hollywood Week, when a couple of hundred wannabes are cut to 36 semi-finalists or less, viewers are finding their favorites: the people they'll cheer on and vote for.

And therein lies one of Idol's main attractions: viewers' ability not only to watch stars being born but to take an active part in the transition.

Throw renditions of hit songs into the mix, and the interplay between contestants, judges and host Ryan Seacrest, and you've got a hit.

Challenges lie ahead, however. The show has already lost popular judge Paula Abdul although replacement Ellen DeGeneres should maintain viewers' interest.

But will it survive the reputed departure of the most popular judge, bitingly honest Brit Simon Cowell?