Kris Newsweek Article!

An article released in Newsweek just released an article: "How Michael Jackson Helped Kris Allen win American Idol"

American Idol is back! OK, not really. But last night Fox, in memory of the late King of Pop, aired the episode from last spring when the top 13 contestants covered Michael Jackson songs. The show was strangely poignant, especially when Adam Lambert covered "Black and White"—in my opinion, his best performance on the Idol stage—and Kris Allen strummed his guitar to "Remember the Time." As Paula Abdul cooed, "Kris, I truly believe no one knows Michael's catalog better than you." You could even argue if it weren't for Michael Jackson, Kris Allen—who started his Idol career with a performance of "Man in the Mirror"—might not be our American Idol.

But wait a minute. Kris Allen is only 24. He wasn't even born when Michael Jackson released Thriller in 1982. How did Allen, who grew up in Jacksonville, Ark., discover Michael Jackson? We asked him to tell us, and to share how the other Idol contestants reacted to news of Jackson's death. Excerpts:

Do you remember the first time you heard a Michael Jackson song?
I was probably 7 or 8 years old. The Dangerous album came out, and I bought it. It was a tape. It kind of stayed in my tape player forever.

Were either of your parents fans?
I think my dad might have listened to him before.

Did you have a favorite song on the album?
The whole album was good. One of my favorites of his was "Remember the Time," I did that on the show. There are so many good ones on that album. I think that could be said of every one of his albums. Not too long after that, I think his History album came out, with him on the cover as a gold statue. Then I was like, wow he's been around forever and all of his stuff was incredible. I have the Thriller album. I have the Off the Wall album. I have all that stuff now.
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What is it about Michael Jackson that appeals to you?
Every time you listen to this music you get this feeling and you always feel good. And as a kid, that's a captivating thing. His music was so easy to get lost into. I remember being 8 years old and dancing in my room to his music. Trying to dance like him, as well. It was ugly, but it was fun.

Did you try to moonwalk?
I think everyone has tried to do the moonwalk, man. And it never works.

What about all the stuff in his personal life: the trial, him showing up to court in pajamas, how he dangled one of his kids from a balcony.
It never turned me off against his music. Because it was always a separate thing to me. There were always things that I saw, that I'd be like: awww Michael, what are you doing?! But when you put his songs on, you completely forget about that. And the nice things was, my parents would see even more of that stuff than I did, obviously they're going to watch the news more than me as a kid, and they never turned me off on him.

The first song you sang live on Idol was "Man in the Mirror." How did you pick that song?
Funny story, I actually picked a song and someone else picked it. So I had to search at the last minute for another song. I was going through, they gave me a list of 1,000 songs, and it was crazy. I couldn't find one song on there that I wanted to sing. Then I took two seconds and thought: if I had to sing one song right now, what would I sing? That popped in my head. I said you: know what, I'm going to run with it. So I did.

Is it true that you mentored the other contestants during Michael Jackson week? I think Kara DioGuardi mentioned something about that.
Probably the person she was referring to was Allison [Iraheta]. Obviously, I'm probably going to know more about Michael Jackson than Allison. Because I'm a little older. He was definitely more my time than her time. I was listening to a bunch of stuff, and I wanted to do "Give In to Me," but I didn't think it would work for me. I said do you know who would really good on this? Allison. I shot it at her. I was like, Allison, just listen to this song and tell me if you want to do it. She went and listened to it and ran back into the room and was like, "Yes! Of course I want to do this."

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Acess Hollwyood & Other Twitter Stuff!

The idols were asked questions via Twitter, and some of Kris's questions were asking about moving to LA and a duet with Jamie Foxx




AND ALSO...
Click Vote for Kris in the Mr. Twitter USA Contest. Just click on his picture on the site, you can only vote once every fifteen minutes.

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Transcript of the TV Week Interview

Thanks to the IdolForums for getting the transcript! When scans are posted, we will post them also!

What can the Vancouver fans expect?

That'll be my first time in Canada, so I'm very excited about going there. I've always wanted to go, and I hear Vancouver is great. The rehearsals have been going great. More than anything, just be ready to have a great show. It's going to be like 10 little shows by 10 different people.

What song did you sing in the "sing-in?"

You know, I think, with the sing-off, it was the first one they did that day, so it was a little bit weird. We did it differently than the other ones, maybe they didn't like how it was done, or it didn't fit in. I dunno. But I sang "Everything" by Michael Buble."

re: little screen time, did he feel like an underdog?

You know, I think you do get aware of that, but I say if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. It never upset me or anything, because it obviously worked out. Besides, I don't have a great back story. I'm just a regular guy that plays music, and I'm married, nothing too crazy about me. I mean, I guess I can be a little wacko, but that's OK. [laughs]

Did he get tired of the "dark horse" characterization?

Actually, personally, I did feel like an underdog. Maybe not like an underdog, but a person that does lay low and is not... you have someone like Adam, who is captivating and very different and uber-talented and kinda stands out, but I felt like I stood out in a quiet way.

Adam was the frontrunner, the odds-makers in Vegas had him winning. How surprised was Kris with the results?

Adam and I both were talking about that, and I think he was thinking I was going to win and I was thinking that he was going to win, so it was like we were both thinking it could go either way. But yeah, it was surprising. I thought it could have happened, but who knew? It didn't matter to us because we both made it to the finale.

Did he stress out in that situation, or let the chips fall?

I didn't stress about winning, nothing like that. I didn't come to win, I came to have a music career. With winning, that does happen, but it was never about that. For Adam and I both it was about putting on a good show.

Asks about Kris being in VA Beach and a possible collaboration with the Fray

I don't know if I want to let that out of the bag... um, we're actually still in Virginia Becah and are leaving today. You know, there is not a collaboration, but I do like The Fray and I'm just doing some work out here.

Any collaborations or duets on the album? What can he say about the album?

I don't know about collaborations. Right now there's nothing in the works. I think the tone of the album is going to be very much like what I did on the show, something that everyone can enjoy, something that comes out having great songs on an album.

most interesting thing when he's googled himself?

I don't google myself. But what is interesting is that, at some point, my wife was the third most googled person on Google.

Dream collaboration?

I think my dream would be Paul McCartney - but that is a dream.

Who from the contestants would he want to have his back in a Zombie Attack?

Have my back? Yikes. So it's zombies, right? Hmm... probably Lil, because I have a pretty good feeling she could beat them up.

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American Idol.com new Kris video!

LOL @ 00:17
He talks about the upcoming tour, being excited, and the new album! He talks about friendship and looking forward going to Little Rock, and a tour after his album releases!

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Kris featured on 20/20 Michael Jackson Special

Kris and Adam were featured in the ABC 20/20 Michael Jackson Special last week, as they talk about The King of Pop and how he influenced their music, and their songs on Idol
Thanks to Kris Allen Nation!

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