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'Idol's' Diana DeGarmo, David Hernandez, Chikezie, and Kimberley Locke Embark On Holiday Tour
Four of "American Idol's" favorite finalists have teamed up and are coming to a city near you. Season 3 runner-up Diana DeGarmo, Season 2 third place finisher Kimberley Locke and last season's David Hernandez (Top 12) and Chikezie Eze (Top 10) are embarking on a 15 city tour under the title "American Stars In Concert For The Holidays." Audiences will get a chance to get up close and personal as these former Idols perform an array of holiday songs and a few original tunes. Unlike Season 7's mostly solo-heavy "American Idol" tour, this show will be a mix of solos, group numbers and duets. Joining in on the fun as the tour,s musical director is one of my favorite Idol guys, Michael Orland, who serves as the "American Idol" pianist, arranger and Associate Music Director each season.
I had a chance to visit with the fabulous foursome as they rehearsed for the tour, which kicks off Saturday, November 29th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (my hometown!).
Kimberley, tell us about this Christmas Tour you are embarking on.
Locke: It's all the music you love to hear during Christmas. Our first show is right after black Friday so everybody's in the shopping and Christmas mood and Christmas spirit so, you know, it's a family show so it's gonna be a lot of fun.
David, this is your first time on tour what advice did Kimberley give you?
Hernandez: Oh what was it? You just told me to hydrate myself and sleep as much as I can 'cause I was like, 'Well, do you want to maybe go out and see some of the cities?' and she's like 'I'm sorry, but when I'm on tour, I'm getting rest!'
Locke: I have a routine when I'm on the road. Of course we're gonna get off the stage at night and we're gonna want to wind down and go out, maybe have a cocktail or something. I don't really do that. So I already told them to excuse me and forgive me for not being sociable but I get my rest because we're going back to back, city to city.
Diana did you actually know about Chikeze before this tour?
Degarmo: Yes I actually voted for him.
Chikeze: She didn't tell me that.
Degarmo: I did. I did. I don't vote often but when I do it counts man, it counts.
What are your best Christmas memories?
Degarmo: My Christmas right after 'Idol'. Ford gave me a Mustang, which came a couple days after Christmas.
Do you still have it?
Degarmo: Of course. It's my baby. She doesn't even have 10,000 miles on her. She's black and pink and I, you know, she's my baby princess car. My tag says princess on it.
Season eight starts in January. What is your best advice for the new contestants?
Chikeze: My advice if I could put it into song lyrics,'It's your thing. Do what you wanna do. I can't tell you who to sock it to.'
Locke: The best advice I think I can give to anybody is 'attitude is everything.' I learned very quickly [that] you get on the show and if you have an attitude that, you know, perceives you in a negative way, people are gonna shut you down really fast. It's a lot of work and you wanna make friends along the way, not enemies.
Hernandez: Yeah like she said, word travels like wild fire in this industry so you just have to keep your head out of the clouds and focus.
The "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" tour dates are as follows:
11/29/08 - Pittsburgh, PA at Byham Theatre
11/30/08 - Sugar Loaf, NY at Lycian Centre
12/1/08 - El Paso, TX at Plaza Theatre
12/3/08 - Easton, PA at State Theatre
12/4/08 - Englewood, NJ at Bergen PAC
12/5-12/6/08 - Athens, GA at Classic Center
12/7/08 - Hanover, PA at Eichelberger PAC
12/9/08 - Kennewick, WA at Toyota Center
12/11/08 - Mobile, AL at Mitchell Center
12/12/08 - Coral Springs, FL at Coral Springs Center for the Arts
12/16/08 - Key West, FL at Tennessee Williams Theatre
12/17/08 - West Palm Beach, FL at Kravis Center
12/18/08 - St. Petersburg, FL at Mahaffey Theater
12/19/08 - Akron, OH at University of Akron
12/20/08 - Davenport, IA at River Center Adler
12/21/08 - Waukegan, IL at Genesee Theatre
Tickets for the holiday tour will be sold at the venues and through Ticketmaster.com.
Locke: It's all the music you love to hear during Christmas. Our first show is right after black Friday so everybody's in the shopping and Christmas mood and Christmas spirit so, you know, it's a family show so it's gonna be a lot of fun.
David, this is your first time on tour what advice did Kimberley give you?
Hernandez: Oh what was it? You just told me to hydrate myself and sleep as much as I can 'cause I was like, 'Well, do you want to maybe go out and see some of the cities?' and she's like 'I'm sorry, but when I'm on tour, I'm getting rest!'
Locke: I have a routine when I'm on the road. Of course we're gonna get off the stage at night and we're gonna want to wind down and go out, maybe have a cocktail or something. I don't really do that. So I already told them to excuse me and forgive me for not being sociable but I get my rest because we're going back to back, city to city.
Diana did you actually know about Chikeze before this tour?
Degarmo: Yes I actually voted for him.
Chikeze: She didn't tell me that.
Degarmo: I did. I did. I don't vote often but when I do it counts man, it counts.
What are your best Christmas memories?
Degarmo: My Christmas right after 'Idol'. Ford gave me a Mustang, which came a couple days after Christmas.
Do you still have it?
Degarmo: Of course. It's my baby. She doesn't even have 10,000 miles on her. She's black and pink and I, you know, she's my baby princess car. My tag says princess on it.
Season eight starts in January. What is your best advice for the new contestants?
Chikeze: My advice if I could put it into song lyrics,'It's your thing. Do what you wanna do. I can't tell you who to sock it to.'
Locke: The best advice I think I can give to anybody is 'attitude is everything.' I learned very quickly [that] you get on the show and if you have an attitude that, you know, perceives you in a negative way, people are gonna shut you down really fast. It's a lot of work and you wanna make friends along the way, not enemies.
Hernandez: Yeah like she said, word travels like wild fire in this industry so you just have to keep your head out of the clouds and focus.
The "American Stars in Concert for the Holidays" tour dates are as follows:
11/29/08 - Pittsburgh, PA at Byham Theatre
11/30/08 - Sugar Loaf, NY at Lycian Centre
12/1/08 - El Paso, TX at Plaza Theatre
12/3/08 - Easton, PA at State Theatre
12/4/08 - Englewood, NJ at Bergen PAC
12/5-12/6/08 - Athens, GA at Classic Center
12/7/08 - Hanover, PA at Eichelberger PAC
12/9/08 - Kennewick, WA at Toyota Center
12/11/08 - Mobile, AL at Mitchell Center
12/12/08 - Coral Springs, FL at Coral Springs Center for the Arts
12/16/08 - Key West, FL at Tennessee Williams Theatre
12/17/08 - West Palm Beach, FL at Kravis Center
12/18/08 - St. Petersburg, FL at Mahaffey Theater
12/19/08 - Akron, OH at University of Akron
12/20/08 - Davenport, IA at River Center Adler
12/21/08 - Waukegan, IL at Genesee Theatre
Tickets for the holiday tour will be sold at the venues and through Ticketmaster.com.
Way cool . I'm buying tickets. This sounds like a lot of fun. Just what we need right now . Some Holiday cheer.
Great interview and story. Diana DeGarmo, Kimberley Locke, David Hernandez and Chikeze will be excellent on their Holiday Music Tour.
We saw the show on Dec. 1 here in El Paso, TX, at our historic Plaza Theater. It was great !! What a wonderful beginning to the holiday season. I hope it becomes an annual event. It was great to relax and listen to beautiful music. I totally recomend it.