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The "American Idols Live" tour kicked off this month in Glendale, Ariz., and I had a chance to meet up with all 10 "Idol" singers backstage before their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Check out the schedule below to see when the tour is headed near you.

I got the singers in pairs, so keep checking back with "As Seen on TV" for four more two-on-one interviews in the coming days and more inside scoop, including Carly Smithson calling out the Wall Street Journal reporter who wrote the story about her first record contract. The interviews culminate with "The Davids," David Cook and David Archuleta, including Archuleta explaining why he's "done" singing John Lennon's "Imagine."

First up, though, are Michael Johns and Jason Castro, two charmers who quickly made fans. The pair made for a fun interview as Michael continued his notorious wisecracks and hi jinks and Jason was, well, Jason. They talked about their first night performing for thousands of fans, whether Jason should cut his dreadlocks, and about which former "Idol" called Jason "dumb as a bag of rocks." Check it out:

Victor Balta: So, tell me about that first night, when you guys first stepped out on the stage with 10,000 people screaming their heads off...
Michael Johns: Oh, it's nuts.
Jason Castro: It was a little awkward.
MJ: I love it. I love it.
JC: Because you get to start on this platform coming up. I've got to sprint out there and plug in my thing, and the first show I didn't plug my thing in all the way, so the ukulele wasn't going. It's just a lot of pressure. I've got, like, 20 seconds to run out there, situate my stool, adjust my mike stand, plug in the ukulele.
MJ: That's three things for Jason Castro. That's a lot. That's two more than he's used to.
JC: All he has to do is just stand on this little pad and go, "Hey!"
MJ: But if I could sing Daydream and your songs...
JC: But I've got to do all my hard work before...
MJ: Yeah, you've got the harder stuff before, then I've got to vocally challenge myself...

VB: So, Jason, I've got to ask about the dreads. I swore that one random night during the season, you were going to come out, like, almost totally clean shaven.
JC: That would've been humorous, but that probably would've been the end of my career.
VB: No, you're more than the dreads.
MJ: No, he's much less.
JC: It's a whole persona, I think. They kind of embody what I am, and what I do.
VB: So, Michael, have you thought about doing dreads?
MJ: Well, I had long hair before. It was about down to there [points just below his shoulder]. So I've done that before. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Next. So I just go with the messy, New York, windblown thing.

VB: Describe the difference in the energy between the performance in the live shows versus performing on TV.
MJ: It's about tenfold. It's pretty ridiculous. And you're going out there just performing for you and an audience, connecting. You're not worried about Simon Cowell, or 40 million people watching at home watching you.
VB: And you don't have to worry about performing to the camera...
MJ: Well, I would say the performances are a lot better, wouldn't you say?
JC: Yeah.
MJ: A little more natural.
JC: It's a lot less pressure, but at the same time kind of more. Because it's more people than you'll ever see. Like, in the studio, it's kind of a little, comfortable number (of people)...
MJ: You're not living and dying if you hit a bum note. It's OK if you're doing it with emotion and passion, and connecting, and you're not thinking about that other stuff, you usually sing better.

VB: Have you had a favorite moment yet, on the tour?
JC: My favorite moment, so far, was after the show. It wasn't even in the show. Walking out and seeing everybody for the first time lined up outside. And they were, like, 50 feet above us because our buses were down in the loading dock. The crowd of people there throwing down notes and posters. That was the first time I really felt, like, that love.
MJ: Yeah, that was pretty cool.
JC: Even in the show, you've got the in-ear (monitors), so you don't even hear the crowd as big as they are. But whenever you go outside, it's there.
MJ: I've got to agree. That was really cool.

VB: Tell me about life on the road with these guys. Any crazy antics on the bus?
MJ: Now, we're going to be all together a lot. It's going to be...
JC: I've been given a few water guns.
MJ: I've got some things planned.
VB: [To Jason] Does that make you nervous?
JC: Yeah, I'm always nervous around him.
MJ: Sleep with your light on, boy...

VB: What's one misconception about you that you've seen online, or wherever?
MJ: That I'm downright hilarious. It's too much pressure. I'm sick of it, quite frankly. [Laughs] No, I don't know. We're pretty much open books on the show. For me, I haven't really had any negative stuff written about me.
JC: I come across pretty dumb, I guess. I've gotten that a lot. A certain somebody was quoted saying I was dumb as a bag of rocks.
MJ: Yeah, who's that? On the show?
[Jason leans over and whispers in Michael's ear]
MJ: Oh yeah, Kimberley Locke. She can go jump in a lake.
JC: That's just what I heard.
MJ: She said that he was dumb as rocks. She was going around saying this season was, like, the most boring ever.
JC: Yeah. But the fact is, I am a brilliant test taker. I made a 1340 on my SAT. I'm just not an idiot. There's just so much going (in my head) it's hard to get it out.
MJ: Brilliant.

*** What do you think? Are you looking forward to the tour? Were you surprised by Kimberley Locke's alleged comments? Click here to comment!

****** Victor Balta and Tracy Phillips are blogging live from the TV critics press tour. What do you want to know about your favorite shows? Let us know. Click here to ask about your favorite TV shows!

More from the TV critics press tour:

• Margaret Cho, Bobby Brown, David Alan Grier Get Politically Incorrect
  
• Is TV Ignoring Baby Boomers?
  
• Attell: Carlin Is Comedy's Washington
  
• Koppel Gets New Gig; Slams U.S. News
  
• Network Vows Obama-only Coverage

See when the "American Idols Live" tour is coming near you:

July 11    Portland, OR    Rose Garden    
July 12    Tacoma, WA    Tacoma Dome    
July 14    W. Valley City, UT    The "E" Center    
July 15    W. Valley City, UT    The "E" Center    
July 18    St. Louis, MO    Scottrade Center    
July 19    Rosemont, IL    Allstate Arena    
July 20    Columbus, OH    Schottenstein Center    
July 22    Indianapolis, IN    Conseco Fieldhouse    
July 23    Cincinnati, OH    US Bank Arena    
July 24    Detroit, MI    Joe Louis Arena    
July 26    Toronto, ON    Air Canada Centre    
July 27    Rochester, NY    BlueCross Arena    
July 29    Pittsburgh, PA    Mellon Arena    
July 30    Newark, NJ    Prudential Center    
July 31    Newark, NJ    Prudential Center    
Aug. 2    Atlantic City, NJ    Boardwalk Hall    
Aug. 4    Long Island, NY    Nassau Coliseum    
Aug. 5    Long Island, NY    Nassau Coliseum    
Aug. 6    Albany, NY    Times Union Center
Aug. 8    Hartford, CT    XL Center    
Aug. 9    Worcester, MA    DCU Center    
Aug. 10    Manchester, NH    Verizon Wireless Center    
Aug. 12    Baltimore, MD    1st Mariner Arena    
Aug. 13    Philadelphia, PA    Wachovia Center    
Aug. 14    Washington DC    Verizon Center    
Aug. 16    Lexington, KY    Rupp Arena    
Aug. 17    Charlotte, NC    Time Warner Cable Arena    
Aug. 18    Duluth, GA    Arena at Gwinnett Center    
Aug. 20    Sunrise, FL    BankAtlantic Center    
Aug. 21    Tampa, FL    St Pete Times Forum    
Aug. 24    Houston, TX    Toyota Center    
Aug. 25    Dallas, TX    American Airlines Center    
Aug. 26    Bossier City, LA    CenturyTel Center    
Aug. 28    Oklahoma City, OK    Ford Center    
Aug. 29    Kansas City, MO    Sprint Center    
Aug. 30    Kansas City, MO    Sprint Center    
Aug. 31    Minneapolis, MN    Target Center    
Sept. 2    Green Bay, WI    Resch Center    
Sept. 3    Grand Rapids, MI    Van Andel Arena    
Sept. 4    Cleveland, OH    Wolstein Center    
Sept. 6    Bridgeport, CT    Arena at Harbor Yard    
Sept. 7    Providence, RI    Dunkin Donuts Center    
Sept. 8    Wilkes Barre, PA    Wachovia Arena    
Sept. 10    Ft. Wayne, IN    Allen County Memorial Coliseum
Sept. 11    Evansville, IN    Roberts Stadium    
Sept. 13    Tulsa, OK    BOK Center







Message Edited by Victor_Balta on 07-12-2008 03:05 PM