American Idol Live! Tour 2010 Tickets are NOW on Sale!

The Top 10 finalists Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Lee DeWyze, Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus, and Tim Urban will hit the road this summer on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010.

Presale begins TODAY, Friday 05/14/10 at 10:00 AM!!

America’s #1 show will make 49 stops this summer at a mix of top arenas and amphitheaters across North America giving fans a chance once again to catch their favorite “Idols” performing live in a town near them. The Live Nation promoted tour begins on July 1st at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit and runs through September 14th in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center. The complete list of dates is below.

Simon Fuller, creator and executive producer of American Idol stated, “We are all looking forward to this year’s American Idol Live! Tour. This is always one of the highlights of the year. Each of the Idols have the chance to meet the people that voted for them and perform at incredible venues all over America, another special moment in their developing careers.”

A limited number of 4-Pack ticket packages will be offered for $75 that includes 4 lawn tickets to participating amphitheaters, while supplies last. Quantities are limited and additional fees may apply.

Omaha, Nebraska and Toledo, Ohio go on sale May 14th. All other dates listed go on sale May 15th. Event times and dates are subject to change.

Here is the complete set of dates for the 2010 Tour:

DATE CITY VENUE ON SALE TIME
7/1 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills 5/15 10am
7/2 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest 5/15 10am
7/3 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena 5/15 10am
7/5 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum 5/15 11am
7/7 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach 5/15 10am
7/10 Atlantic City, NJ Mark G. Etess Arena 5/15 10am
7/11 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center 5/15 10am
7/13 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena 5/15 10am
7/14 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena 5/15 10am
7/15 Hershey, PA Giant Center 5/15 10am
7/17 Albany, NY Times Union Center 5/15 10am
7/18 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center 5/15 10am
7/20 Newark, NJ Prudential Center 5/15 10am
7/23 Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live 5/15 10am
7/24 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena 5/15 10am
7/25 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 5/15 10am
7/27 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena 5/15 10am
7/28 Knoxville, TN Thompson-Boling Arena 5/15 10am
7/29 Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach Amphitheater 5/15 10am
7/31 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena 5/15 10am
8/1 Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center 5/15 10am
8/3 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center 5/15 10am
8/4 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum 5/15 10am
8/7 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion 5/15 11am
8/8 Tulsa, OK BOK Center 5/15 10am
8/9 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center 5/15 noon
8/12 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center 5/15 noon
8/13 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center 5/15 10am
8/14 Mountainview, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountainview 5/15 10am
8/16 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena 5/15 10am
8/17 Anaheim, CA Honda Center 5/15 10am
8/18 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena 5/15 10am
8/20 Seattle, WA Key Arena 5/15 10am
8/21 Portland, OR Rose Garden 5/15 10am
8/23 Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre 5/15 10am
8/25 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center 5/15 10am
8/26 Omaha, NE Qwest Center 5/14 11am
8/27 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center 5/15 10am
8/29 Minneapolis, MN Target Center 5/15 10am
8/30 Chicago, IL United Center 5/15 noon
8/31 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena 5/15 noon
9/2 Toledo, OH The Huntington Center 5/14 10am
9/3 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center 5/15 10am
9/4 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse 5/15 noon
9/7 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre 5/15 10am
9/10 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena 5/15 10am
9/11 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 5/15 10am
9/13 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard 5/15 10am
9/14 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center 5/15 10am

Aaron Kelly sings "Fly Me to the Moon" on the American Idol Top 5 Show

Aaron Kelly opens up the show singing "Fly Me to the Moon" on the American Idol Season 9 show. Harry Connick Jr mentors the Top 5 on the music of Frank Sinatra.

Frank's daughters Tina and Nancy, known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", were in the audience for this very special tribute. They presented judge Simon Cowell, who has called Sinatra his all-time favorite singer, with Frank Sinatra's personal monogrammed hanky. "What I liked about Sinatra was he was the king of cool," Cowell stated later in the show.

Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as "In the Wee Small Hours", "Songs for Swingin' Lovers", "Come Fly with Me", "Only the Lonely" and "Nice 'n' Easy"). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as "Ring-A-Ding-Ding", "Sinatra at the Sands" and "Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim"), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and presidents, including President John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective "September of My Years", starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

Sinatra attempted to weather the changing tastes in popular music, but with sales of his music dwindling, and after appearing in several poorly received films, he retired in 1971. Coming out of retirement in 1973, he recorded several albums; scored a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980; and toured both within the United States and internationally until a few years before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a career as an actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

When Harry met Casey ... and Lee and Crystal and Michael and Aaron

American Idol Season 9 Top 5 perform the music of Frank Sinatra, with mentoring by Harry Connick Jr.
It's not every day you walk into the "American Idol" studio and find Harry Connick Jr. at the piano, but that's where the jazz legend was, dressed Monday casual in a baggy white button-down and loose black pants, walking Big Mike through his big-band arrangement -- one that Harry himself came up with -- and making sure the Top 5 contender was comfortable with the twists and turns of a Sinatra song. Judging from the fist bump at the end, it was all good.

It's Ol' Blue Eyes week, which means it felt a little like a Christmas rom-com and a lot like "When Harry Met Sally" on Stage 36. Only this was when Harry met Lee, and Casey, Crystal and Aaron, along with the aforementioned Michael Lynche. Truth be told, Harry Connick is one heck of a multi-tasker. Not only did he orchestrate all the parts of each individual song, but he also played conductor, cheerleader and vocal coach.

The process, however, was pretty much the same. Each contestant got at least three run-throughs plus an instrumental to sing along to sans amplification, with musical director Rickey Minor looking on from the judges' table. The band, which includes nine string players, 13 brass and one drummer, looks like it was put together by HCJ. And as we previously reported, no one is allowed to play an instrument this week.

How did that pan out? Kind of nicely, I must admit. Without the weight and obstruction of a guitar, however minor, it seemed as though the Top 5 opened up vocally -- like they got more power, volume and reach with that little bit of extra air. Or maybe that's just confidence taking control. After all, it's been a couple of months of high-stress competition.

And how was Season 9's guitar golden boy Casey James handling the adjustment? "We'll see," he said with a hint of skepticism, then explained how he'd come to terms with what he "signed up for." Meaning, he's not driving this well-oiled machine. Nevertheless, Casey was pleasantly surprised by this new guitar-less sound. "Walking around sounds different," he enthused in a moment of self-discovery. Leave it to stage manager Debbie Williams to chime in with a very important message for Casey: "You know who we should fix you up with? Kellie Pickler." As if Casey needs help in the dating department. Really, Debbie.

We kid, but in all seriousness -- someone's gotta go every week. This is what Casey James was explaining after mentioning our shiva for Siobhan. That's right, the guy in the bottom two was trying to console me. I'm not sure if that meant he'd resigned himself to the possibility that Tuesday is his last night or whether Casey was just speaking the truth, but I liked the way he ended his thoughts: "Well, you have two more days to mourn." And: "What matters to me me is what happens after the show." He's wiser than he even realizes...

Speaking of smarts, Aaron Kelly's got some, otherwise how would he have made it to the Top 5? With his sleeves rolled up (as always) and his schoolwork out of the way, he was down to big-band business and what he does best: belt. Last week, I asked him about hitting the "money note" -- that big sustain at the end of every one of his performances. "It's not that I'm trying to show off," he explained, "it's what feels right for the song. Sometimes, I feel like it's gonna be boring if it doesn't have a big, grand ending." And going one step further in proving he's Season 9's David Archuleta, little Aaron dutifully hugged everyone within arm's reach (Crystal, vocal coach Debra Byrd, Fox staffers etc.), vintage Archie style. No wonder he keeps getting all those votes!

As for our front-runners, needless to say, Lee and Crystal handled their starring turns with aplomb, even if somewhat fidgety without their instruments. So instead of the strum, it was the snap, which seems all too appropriate considering the genre du jour. Lee was especially thumb-happy and also looking quite chummy with Mr. Connick, while Casey, who held onto his microphone for dear life, was simply starstruck. "I'm not even alive right now, it's like I'm in a dream," he said while watching Harry have his way with a Hammond organ.

To that end, expect a little New Orleans groove in Tuesday's episode (it is, after all, Harry Connick's hometown), as evidenced by Crystal and Rickey Minor's impromptu twirl at the base of the stage while Lee sang his heart out. Similarly, Lee and Casey both stood at attention while Crystal ran through her Sinatra number. But even with only 30-some people in the room, the show's last girl standing garnered the loudest applause from this influential focus group. Next stop: final four.

Source: Shirley Halperin, L.A. Times, American Idol Tracker

With four Idols sporting new ink, Aaron Kelly and Season 9's Top 6 talk tattoos

Life offstage had a theme this week and it was new ink. With a rare day off (which Siobhan Magnus described as "like, a big deal"), four of six Season 9 contestants took advantage of the me time and visited a Hollywood tattoo parlor on Friday night. Naturally, we had to ask what inspired the four to mark the occasion and also posed a question to Casey and Aaron, who sat out the inking: What would they put on their sleeve at this moment in their lives?
Crystal Bowersox: Sporting fresh ink on her left wrist -- a beautifully illustrated gadfly-like twist on the classic medical symbol with a syringe down the middle and the words Type 1 Diabetic written across the top, Crystal said she got the tattoo because she is a "diabetic for life" and also "because I am really horrible about wearing medic ID bracelets and necklaces." But beyond practical purposes, Crystal says it sends a message to others and serves as a reminder to herself. "It's important now being in the position that I'm in," she explained after Tuesday night's show. "I have a responsibility to take good care of myself. There's lots of little kids out there with juvenile diabetes who need to take care of themselves, and they need a good role model." As for the art itself, she proudly declared, "I designed my own thing."

Siobhan Magnus: Ever the jokester, Siobhan first tried to convince us she had Michael Lynche's and Lee DeWyze's names written on her butt cheek, leaving "room on the other side for everybody else.... I'm sorry I can't show you," she said with a hilariously straight face. But in all seriousness, she couldn't show us the roman numeral IX she had stenciled on her "hip area," but she could explain the digit's significance: "It's been a really good number for me," said Siobhan. "I was 19 years old when I tried out in 2009 for season 9. And the more I think about it, then the more nines come up. Like memory vomit -- I was 9 years old when I figured out I loved to sing, and I was born in 1990, I could go on and on...."

Michael Lynche: Big Mike's gigantic guns both got new decoration. On his left arm, three stars, each about 3 inches tall. On his right: the word "Dream" in script. "They're healing up good," said Mike. "I'm just into reaching for the stars, you know? As silly as it is, I'm reaching as high as you can go and just dreaming big dreams. I'm sure all of us want to be stars. It resonates in my spirit, so I put it on my arm."

Lee DeWyze: Fans first spotted Lee's adornment at a "Shrek Forever After" screening over the weekend. Lee explained the symbol: "I got a silhouette of the Chicago flag ... (because of) everything that's happened to me there, and that's where this all started for me."

Casey James: When it comes to future tats, the wheels are already turning in Casey's mind. One of which, he teased, involves "a symbol from a movie" on his arm. He later 'fessed up: it's a Star Wars thing, which he'll share with his brother and cousin. "I've got a few (tattoos) drawn up that I'm getting when I go back home," said Casey. "My brother has one on his arm that's my initials on music bars, and I'm going to get his, which is BC."

Aaron Kelly: Though he's now one year closer to 18, Aaron's mother would likely not approve of a tattoo on her little guy -- even if it said "Mom" -- but if he were to go under the pen? "I'd probably go (with something) like Siobhan's," said Aaron. "But she did a roman numeral IX and I'd probably get the (number) 9 for season 9 of American Idol."

SOURCE: Shirley Halperin, LATimes.com