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Toledo rallies for hometown hero Crystal Bowersox

Posted: 09 May 2010 04:27 PM PDT

There's nothing quite like the feeling of a hometown rallying around one of its own, and Toledo, Ohio, some 25 miles from the town of Elliston, where Crystal Bowersox resides when she's not competing on "American Idol," is finding out first-hand.

With Crystal one practically predetermined spot away from the Top 3, locals are prepping for an onslaught of national attention (some media outlets, like MTV, have already toured the area), while Papa's Tavern on the east side of town, where Crystal played every Wednesday night, is seeing its clientele expand as owner Tim Stahl fields interview requests. Recalling his first Bowersox booking, he told the Chicago Tribune, "I wanted her in here every week, so I said, 'Crystal, I don't have much
to offer, but I can give you Wednesday nights, and that is Taco Night,
and Taco Night is big.' "

Others, like Jacob Parr, a local screenprinter who attended Crystal's alma mater, the Toledo School of the Arts, is showing his support with a T-shirt he designed based on Crystal's own handwriting. "She purchased one," he told Toledo's Fox station. "That was the most exciting
news ever to hear, to see on the order sheet [that] this one is specifically
for Crystal." Portions of the T's sales will be donated to juvenile diabetes research. And he's not alone. Elliston's Trinity United Church of Christ also created a shirt, which it's touting as the same one "Crystal's dad, Grandma and others in her group of family and fans have been wearing on the air!" (see photo).

And soon Crystal Bowersox herself will be paying a hometown visit. Should she make the Top 3, the 24-year-old is already scheduled to sing the national anthem at the Toledo Mud Hens game on Friday, May 14. And she can already be heard on the radio. Toledo's 101.5 the River is currently spinning one of Crystal's original tracks, "Holy Toledo," in regular rotation. Listen to it here and let us know what you think.

– Shirley Halperin

Follow @IdolTracker on Twitter

Photo: Crystal Bowersox
poses during the Season 9 Top 12 portrait session in March. Credit: Michael Becker/PictureGroup

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Season 9’s Final 4 meet the press, look to the finish line and beyond [Updated]

Posted: 09 May 2010 04:27 PM PDT

For the first time in "American Idol" history, the Final 4 came together to meet the press Friday morning. From the "Idol" stage, Casey James, Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox and Michael Lynche answered a slew of questions addressing all sorts of topics, from their friendships to their home lives to the kinds of albums they'd like to make. As for what kind of impression they left? Casey was his usual bouncy self. Crystal, wearing the Stevie Nicks-inspired lace top she picked up earlier in the season, showed a softer side when speaking of her "big man and little man." Lee DeWyze got his point across: that he's in it to win it. And Michael Lynche wins the media-savvy award for delivering his share of quotable sound bites. Read on for a full transcript (edited for clarity, repetition and brevity).

Jamie Foxx is next week's mentor. What challenges do songs from the movies present?

Mike:
I think Jamie's going to be incredible. We met him the other week in
the parking lot of the place where we record, and he just started
mentoring us on the spot. It's amazing that he would take that
time with us. I think he's going to try to top Harry [Connick Jr.]. Like he can chill with
us and really give it to us good.

Crystal: I
think that Harry set the bar as far as mentors go this season. Jamie … he's
got that humble cool vibe, like you can just talk to him on a personal
level. I think he's going to do a great job.

Lee: I think
it's cool because he's done movie things, show things and he's also done
the music thing. He's kind of multi-talented. I think
he'll look at it from the musical aspect and also the
performance aspect which will be cool, because it will be a different
mentor session than all the others because of that.

Casey: What they
said. I really have nothing to add. He's got a lot of talent; he's done
everything. I'm sure he'll have a lot to add. As far as the songs coming
from the movies, it's going to be just as challenging as any other week.
A song is a song is a song. I'm just looking forward to getting another week to do
what we do.

Crystal: With the cinema songs, they're very iconic because people watch the movie, love the movie and know the music very well.
It's gonna be fun.

Lee: I think the arranging the songs — taking
these songs that we have and making them your own, people are always talking about that. Now
is a really good week for that because these songs are so well
known for the movies that they've been in and what they stand for. The meaning is going to be awesome, to change that and
make it my own thing. [Updated: a previous version of the post attributed this quote to Casey James.]

Mike: I
think the challenge is to make it relevant to today and to you because a
lot of the songs are older, so to take it outside of that movie
realm and make it relevant to something that you could hear right now, that's
the challenge and also the joy in it for us.

Last season, the Top 4 all ended up recording albums that have ended up on the Billboard charts…. Do you have any vision for your own debut albums yet?

Lee: Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of that comes from when
the show is over, pushing yourself to really want it. Just taking this
wave and letting it ride, you have to really want to do it. That's a big
part of it. For me, I can't wait to record an album and put out some of
my songs and tour it and the whole nine yards — that's what I want,
that's what I've always wanted to do. I think it's a matter of how badly
you want to do it and how hard you push yourself. That's when people
are most successful — when you don't settle for anything, and just keep
pushing, so I'm psyched to do that.

Crystal: I
can hear all four of us having hit songs on the radio and I think we're
all going to be really successful after the show. And we don't start
slowly after the show, we go on tour, we're recording on the road,
we're doing everything all at once. It's just about the drive and
determination to get there and I can't wait to put out my original
material.

Mike: I'm excited
about the diversity amongst us and the Top 10 in general; there was a lot of diversity
this season. And none of us are competing against each other and I
don't think we'll be competing after the show. It's just we all have our own
lane and we're all starting to get kind of good, so I'm looking forward to
everybody's music.

Casey: It's good
news. I didn't know that about the Top 4; you just made me really
happy. All of us, that's why we're here — we want to do well, but the
ultimate goal is to do music and have albums and do what we want to do
and this the means to that and we're all really psyched about getting
to that point.

Crystal, they teased you about being the only girl, but Aaron Kelly said you were the mama behind the scenes, can you tell us what that means?

Crystal: I don't know, with these guys, I'm just like one of the
guys. I hang out and tell jokes, but with Aaron, I felt so proud of him, I
sent him a text after Wednesday's show and said I can't believe how far you've come. At 17, I
couldn't imagine going through this at this age and he's got so much
grace about everything. I don't even think he cried at all, he's just so grateful
for having made it this far. And I'm proud of him and I cried. He was the resident hugger of the group; he just hugs every morning gave
everybody a good ol' squeeze. But I don't know if I'm the mama for these
guys, we just chill, hang out and have fun.

There have been a lot of reports recently saying that you wanted to quit, can you set the record straight?

Crystal: Actually, I thought I had. It was blown out of
proportion. It was a brief conversation that I had with Ryan after a
show, and I missed my kid. I just missed my son. I never had any intention to
quit, I wasn't angry with Ryan; it was just a brief conversation, he gave me
great advice, and that was it. I'm not really sure how it got out; it was a
conversation between him and I, but it got out and people were, like, "Oh
she stormed out the back door and she threw a fit and she's angry at
Ryan…." And it was none of that. It was a very civil and helpful conversation we
had.

How are you going to feel saying goodbye to Simon? And what kind of album would you want to make?

Lee: As far as Simon, once this is over, on one hand I'm like, "Thank God I won't
have to sing and be judged like that again," but on the other hand, there have
been things that have been said, not just by Simon but all the judges
that have been helpful to me, maybe things I never realized while I'm
performing and things that I kind of just looked at differently. And so
It's going to be weird when this is all over to not have that but
hopefully I'll see them around in the future for one reason or another.

And as far as albums go, we're all very specific about we like to do
and we all know ourselves really well. at least I think we all know
exactly what type of music we all want to make so for me I'd like to
sit in a studio and especially after going through all of this I'd like to sit down and start writing new things work on things I
have written and co-write with people, and just do different things. To
put together a good, solid rock album would be cool.

Crystal: For me, I don't think we're really saying goodbye to Simon,
he's just moving on into a new phase in his career and we are doing the same as well,
but I'm definitely grateful for his honesty — sometimes brutal, but
honest nonetheless — I think it helps us in moving forward and bettering
ourselves as musicians just hearing from him, he knows what he's
talking about. And as far as an album, I definitely want to co-produce
my own thing. I'll co-write on some stuff, but I
definitely have a lot of original material that I've been writing for
years and I want to out that out there. I really want to do my own stuff and
do a real organic roots music kind of thing.

Mike: As
far as Simon, I don't think it's any different from any year when the
idols leave the show. It's not like we hang out with Simon 24 hours a
day. I think like all the Idols, we'll get to see him and be more on a
professional level with him later on outside of the show. It'll be cool
to see him out there and doing his thing. I wanna hang with him, he's
got a little bit of swag to him for sure. And as far as album, I've
been toying with this country techno thing… [Laughs]

Casey: You beat me to it, I was going to go polka punk…

Mike: I
just love good music that makes you feel good that does something to
your soul. I think everybody is a soul singer personally because you
can sing from your soul no matter whatever chord you're singing over. I just
want to do stuff that makes you feel good, that just inspires you, that does
something to your heart.

Casey: As far as the Simon thing goes, hopefully when I audition for
the show next year, the judges can be real nice… [Laughs] I think he's a key
element to the show and it's going to be interesting to see what
happens, and like Mike said, he's just moving forward doing what he
wants to do, kind of like us and graduating from one thing to another;
it's the natural progression of things.

As far as the album goes, I
know that it sounds crazy, but I'd like to think of a mix between
country, rock, blues and pop all mixed in the same bowl and stir it
up a little and whatever happens, happens, because that's who I am
musically. The stuff that I write can be interpreted by whoever is
listening. I play one song at one venue and someone will say, "Oh, that's
a great country song." I play at another and they go, "Oh, that was really
bluesy." At another they say, "Oh, that's a nice pop song." It's just
different interpretations. So that's what I am I guess.

What is your favorite moment so far this season and how does it feel to be in the Top 4?

Mike:
This is like the first different thing of the top 4. Week in, week
out, our schedule is pretty much the same, we know our routine, which I love — I'm a creature of
habit — but this is, like, nuts. This is the first crazy thing we're
doing. And when my wife and my baby got off the plane and got to be here it
was like the best, for me anyway. I felt fully strong again. I'm a
strong person, I pride myself on being strong, but I was at full
strength once they got here. My other piece of me finally got to see what this
was all about.

Crystal: Favorite moments? There are a couple. Family
aside, when my man and my little man showed up and we finally
get to be with them a lot more and that's really really nice. But he
hangs out in the VIP room with little Leila Lynche when I come on the TV, I
haven't seen him do it because I'm out here, but he claps and is like, "Mama, mama!" He knows as soon as I'm on TV, so that's really nice.

And I met Melissa Etheridge back in 2008 at the Chicago Theater and she's been an influence of mine from the start, since I was 10 and started playing music. So I got to meet her then, she signed the guitar and then she was next door, and came over to say hi to us. And she sent me flowers before that… getting to hang with your hero is probably the coolest thing in the world, it's really amazing and it wouldn't have happened without all of this.

How does it feel to be in the Top 4? It's surreal. I never expected to come this far and I think us being in the Top 4 says something about the market in general, where it's heading. All four of us are soul, kind of bluesy, a little rock, and I hope it keeps heading in that direction.

Lee: Being in Top 4, it's insane, because just the other day, I was looking at videos from Chicago when I was there in that stadium. And when I look back, there's thousands of people and I was just a little dot on the screen. And to have gone from that to just us four. The thing is, there are so many talented musicians and artists out there. And us four have been given such an opportunity and I'm grateful for it. It feels amazing and I can't wait to see what the next thing is. Because this is new to everybody here, and we never know what the next thing is gonna be in the grand scheme of things.

My family came out to visit me and I got to see my mom and dad — that was awesome, but as far as the show goes, I think the first time we came onto this bigger stage was my favorite moment. Because when we went on the small stage, it was nerve-wracking but it was like a smaller crowd. It wasn't like this. And then we came out here and it's just you with this big old band behind you, Rickey Minor and those guys are amazing! And to stand up there and you're just looking out, we're gonna be playing bigger venues than this, but for me, it's a big audience. And I'm up there, like, "What is going on right now? There's cameras, what? Just stepping out here for the first time was amazing. And look where we all are now.

Casey: Lee pretty much nailed it for me, like going to the stadium and literally not thinking that I'd make it through that first step and really not even understanding or thinking about it. And then here you are and you realize that this is actually happening here. It's wild and that's really it. It's overwhelming. Like literally, when I say the word unbelievable, I actually mean I don't believe it. It's amazing to me.

As far as my favorite moment, it's kind of like asking me what my favorite food is or my favorite song. It's hard to pick. The whole experience, if I can use that as an answer. It's just every single thing and every single moment that I get. I look up and I'm sitting here looking at you guys and going, this is the best — my moment right now. And the next moment, looking at the "American Idol" logo and realizing that I'm here. Every single moment is my favorite.

Crystal and Mike, as parents, have you bonded and united in that sense?

Crystal: Actually [on Wednesday's show] on the couches during the commercial break, we were talking about parenting techniques and things. What would you do in a certain situation with your kid. It's insightful and we've got a little bond.

Mike: I think we bonded off the bat, because you can't help but look up to somebody who's trying to really do it for the family and is so talented. One of the craziest things for us is the time juggle with all this: making sure you spend enough time with the wife and the baby and then also enough time to rehearse and enough time together so that we bond and are a good family here as well. I think that takes as much brain power as coming out on the stage; just keeping it all in balance.

When you auditioned you said you were doing this for your baby, do you feel like you've accomplished that?

Crystal: I hope that he'll grow up and look back and be proud to know that his mom did everything she possibly could to make his life better. He'll go through that phase of "I hate you," and then he'll get older and well be friends again and he'll be happy.

Last season, the Top 4 got to do duets. Would you guys like to do that and how would you best be paired up?

Lee: We never know what the next thing is. If it came down to it, I think any of us would be more than happy to work with anyone here, but with this show, you never know. At this point, it's, like, whatever they're gonna give us we're more than willing to tackle.

Mike: We've been together long enough that it would probably be pretty awesome to sing with anybody. I think even outside of this, to be on the road and be able to write together — I'm super looking forward to that, because I think we all bring something so different to the table. And we're pretty good in our element, and when our powers combined, it's pretty special.

Crystal: We're all guitar players. All four of us play an instrument and we can just sit around and jam or co-write or just whatever. I'd be happy to work with any one of these boys. Men.

If you could do one thing differently, what would you be your do-over moment?

Crystal: I wouldn't change a thing thus far.

Lee: I'd have more bag-pipers on stage. [Laughs] Everything that I've done or that Crystal or Mike or Casey have done has gotten us to where we are now. Whether it was a bad decision or a good decision, you learn from your mistakes and you're driven by your successes…. It's really hard to look back and say that you regret things when you're in such a good position. This has been so good to all of us that I really don't regret anything.

Casey: I'm gonna say what he said.

Mike: I don't think it's even the time to look back yet. We're still in the thick of it all. You can't really look too far in any direction right now. One of the guys that takes care of us he says, "be in the moment right now." And I think that makes the most perfect sense, because it's cool the time we get back stage, but we're not gonna get that time again. It's not like this is an every year thing for us. And every week we get, that's a snapshot because we lose somebody and now we're not as big a family anymore. So it's just not the time to look back. We've got so much to do right now. Even today still — there's rehearsal. It's good to be in the moment.

Crystal: And no matter what happens, we all win. Right now, at this point, we're winners.

Where is the fine line between camaraderie and competition?

Casey: We're not competing with each other because everybody is so different. It's like apples and oranges, one is not the other. Each one of us has our own sound and people that are voting for Mike aren't gonna vote for me or Crystal; it's not like that. So it's not like I'm setting out to beat them, I'm just setting out to do what I do and hopefully do it well enough so that it's accepted and appreciated by the people who are gonna vote for you.

Lee: I do think that there is somewhat of a line. We're all friends, and that's not gonna change, but as far as the show, at the end of the day, all of us do want to win. That's why we're here. We all want that No. 1 spot but I don't think that we look at it as, I wanna take it from Mike, or Crystal or Casey — it's not like that. If any one of these guys win, we'd all be happy for each other. But at the end of the day, we have to sit there and work on our songs and make them the best they can be, and do whatever we can to have the best performance.

Crystal: We're all definitely friends and the line between friend and competitor, it doesn't really exist for me. We're all being catapulted by our fan bases and people who are voting for us because they, like Casey said, certain people are voting for Lee, might not vote for me. We all want the No. 1 spot but it's not up to us who gets there, you just do your personal best every week and the fans are the ones that take us there.

Mike: I think that the only time that there's any type of competition is on song choice day. When they put down the song choice list and we have this thing where nobody can look at it. and you have to flip it over, and you're all nervous about getting the best song or the right song and then you realize, nobody sings the songs that you sing! So it's not like a fight to get the song before somebody else gets it, because we are pretty much singing different songs.

Crystal: There have been some moments though.

Mike: A couple, but we all feel confident in our abilities to make a song our own and that's really what it's about anyway. You want it to be like you're singing that song for the first time that the song is being heard. That's pretty much our approach, but the song choice days are fun.

With the hometown visits coming up for the Top 3, is there some place or something about home that you're missing right now?

Casey: My dogs, friends, places that I've played. Doing music every single night — essentially, sometimes eight hours a day, at the very least four hours a day of music. I miss that a lot. I think all of us miss everything about home, but we're here and we're present. This is just the blink of an eye, the weeks have gone by so fast.

Mike: Eleven weeks we've been here.

Casey: I feel like it was just yesterday that I was singing "Waiting on the World to Change" with Mike, as I was sitting in the audience watching him play on stage.

Lee: Family, obviously, I miss because they've always supported me. But I have done my hardest to put everything into perspective, and it's hard for me to say that I miss home, on one hand, when I know this is what I wanna be doing… I'm really trying to live in this moment, because when this is all said and done, I'll get a chance to go home and see my family, but if this is what I wanna do for the rest of my life as a career, you have to be able to separate the two. It's just when I see my family or talk to family that I really miss home.

Crystal: Obvious answer: family. My family's pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I've lived away from home for a decent amount of time and they're used to me coming and going. But the thing that I really miss the most is playing shows with my bass player Frankie May. And Papa's Tavern on the east side of Toledo, a little dive bar — they've got a mural up for me now and it's just real down-at-home… I really miss jam night and just playing shows around town and shaking peoples' hands and selling CDs out of your suitcase and trunk, that kind of thing — being on the front lines of your fans and playing shows, that's what I really miss.

Mike: I feel really lucky that my family is with me. My home is always where my wife is, so we could be anywhere and I wouldn't care. That's a good song! I don't necessarily miss home in that sense because we've been away from our family in Florida for a while living in New York. But the simplicity of your life that you used to have, that's something to reminisce about. But for me, it's as simple as reminiscing about fifth grade and that simplicity. We're just at a different place now. We chose this and it's good. I'm just super excited to see where this is going. Because the world is basically at our fingertips right now, depending on how hard we work, is where we're gonna go. And as long as I've got my wife with me and my little baby, it doesn't matter.

–Shirley Halperin

Follow @IdolTracker on Twitter

Photo: Casey James, Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox and Michael Lynche answer
questions at the "American Idol" press conference Friday.

Credit: Michael Becker / Fox

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