My Take on the American Idol 2008 Summer Tour Concert

I attended the July 22 concert in Indianapolis, IN. Except for a small fiasco with our babysitter, I think we arrived in time for the concert to start. The first performance we saw was Chikezie.

Number 10 - Chikezie
Chikezie was entertaining filling a tough spot, starting off the show.

Number 9 - Ramiele
Ramiele who has a large fan based actually sounded terrible, off key often and had no stage presence.

Number 8 - Michael Johns
Michael Johns gave a true rock concert performance. Johns is very talented and American Idol utilized his abilities in a few group performances.

Number 7 - Kristy Lee Cook
Kristy Lee was not one of my favorites during the season but I have to admit this girl gave a great concert. She had wonderful stage presence and interacted with the audience well. I'd see her again and country isn't my favorite genera.

Number 6 - Carly Smithson
Carly gave an excellent performance. She commanded the stage well, she sounded great, overall, she was extremely entertaining.

Number 5 - Brook White
Brook is my husband's favorite singer from the season. She gave a nice performance. I've read reviews of the tour that said she lacked star quality, but I'd disagree.

Number 4 - Jason Castro
Jason is my favorite performer from the season. I couldn't wait to see him on tour. Although I am partial to him, his performance was mediocre. I enjoyed seeing him. This was the first time I felt his young age, watching him on stage. I think he is immensely talented but this was the wrong venue for him. He'd do better sticking to acoustic guitar and playing in smaller settings much like Mtv Unplugged. All this said, he's been at the top of Amazon's First to Know notification service. Castro's version of the song "Hallelujah" briefly appeared in the #1 spot on the iTunes chart before it was removed due to American Idol not wanting any contestant to be favored.1

Number 3 - Syesha Mercado
Her performance was pleasant. Made more enjoyable by the guy in the audience who was one of only a few standing. He shouted, "Marry Me", "I Love You" and swayed grandly with fully extended arms during her performance. He put a smile on many attendees' faces.

Number 2 - David Archuleta
Archuleta has never been one of my favorites. I will say he gave a good spot on performance, I've just never been engaged by his performances. My opinion is that he needs a few years of maturity to really come into his ability to perform. I'd also love to see this guy open his eyes when he performs. That said, the audience went crazy. I finally saw his appeal in the audience members' reaction. I watched mothers arm in arm with their young daughters both fully singing and dancing along to his performance. I started to miss my own daughters who were at home with the babysitter. Archuleta's performance was a bonding experience for these mothers and daughters. I got it! In this day and age with role models and their sensational falls from grace, Archuleta is a performer you can be proud of and allow your teen to fall for.

Number 1 - David Cook
A star, a humble one at that. Completely comfortable on stage, while giving a great performance, he also casually talked to this huge audience and made everyone feel like he was talking to you directly sharing some personal feelings about family and his connection to Indiana. Throwing some banter out at the audience while taking a moment to re-tie his pant leg that came untied, he then questioned why anyone would boo him taking a moment for safety. Showing he was quick on his feet to joke with us. He said he felt a need to do even better because he had so many family members in the audience. His father bought his guitar in Indianapolis that he played this evening. And from his performances on Idol, fans know his older brother who suffers from brain cancer lives in Terre Haute, Indiana. A great performer, he left the audience wanting more. Hopefully we'll see that soon from him!

Caveat: There were a few shout outs to Luke Menard, an Idol contestant from this season. Luke was in the top 24, from Indiana, he was stage side in the audience. Carly gave a shout out to Amanda Overmyer who also was in the top 24 and from Indiana but she wasn't present this evening - not surprising.

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Castro