“American Idol” finalists say the nationwide tour has gone according to plan.
“It’s not as stressful as the show was,” said Ramiele Malubay, who was joined Friday afternoon in a pre-concert publicity session with reporters by Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Michael Johns and David Cook. “It’s not just fun, fun all the time; it’s fun, but the job aspects are there. I do a lot of sight-seeing from my hotel window.”
There were a few exceptions to the rule, however.
Smithson, an Irishwoman who cites Sebastian Bach and Skid Row as her inspiration, said she has enjoyed the nightlife in almost each of the 49 cities the tour has visited.
“You’ll routinely find me at 6 in the morning going back to the room,” Smithson said.
The top 10 finalists of the NBC show are on a nationwide tour that stopped in Kansas City for concerta Friday and today. “Idol” winner and Blue Springs native David Cook headlines the show at the Sprint Center.
While Cook has found time to make music – his first post-‘Idol’ album is due out in November – others have neither found the time nor the opportunity.
“There were no record labels that came to me during the tour,” said Mercado, who professes herself a blend of Christina Aguilera and Billie Holliday. In addition to a career in music, she hopes to someday break in to acting. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested; there is a 90-day waiting period, and now that that’s over, I have heard there are people who are interested.”
White said she has had a lot of jobs in her life – selling shoes and working as a nanny among them – but touring has been the creme de la creme.
“I’ve never done anything harder with more of a reward,” said White, who has been recording verses and choruses in her spare time via GarageBand, a software application that allows users to create music. She names her songs according to the city she’s in.
Castro said other than a little writing and recording during a tour stop in Los Angeles, he has nary found the time to work on anything non-tour-related. But that’s no reason for concern. He said he started braiding his hair into dreadlocks when he decided music was something he wanted to take seriously. The locks are still there, only “a little longer and a lot wiser,” he said, smiling.
