The Post caught up with last week’s “American Idol” finalists Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, and Adam Lambert to find out how they feel about making it into the Top 12. Here’s what we discovered:
Allison Iraheta:
* Iraheta’s natural hair color is black – she dyes it every five weeks – but says she may switch it up to purple during the competition.
* The El Salvador native also confirmed that two years ago she won a Telemundo competition: “It helped me out with being on the stage in front of cameras a little,” Iraheta said. “But it’s nothing compared to this.”
* She grew up watching the show and told the Post, “I’ve wanted to actually audition since I was nine [years old], since I was that little… It would have been the same; I would have still wanted it as much as I do now.”
On what she plans on bringing to the competition:
“Well you know I love doing all kinds of music, but really … like rockish pop or something like that; something, you know, that really can show my style, I guess. I don’t know. So maybe a little bit of everything.”
On her iPod:
“Kay Villeon.”
Her first album:
“Queen Volume I and a Volume II: Greatest Hits.”
On being the youngest contestant this season:
“I think it doesn’t matter… because I think really all it comes down to is the same thing – we’re all here for the same thing and it depends on how much we want it and how much we prepare.”
Adam Lambert
On his first Broadway show:
“I actually was cast in a production of ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’ when I was 10 years old, and I played the role of Linus with the blanket.”
What Adam thinks he will bring to the competition:
“Obviously I’m a risk taker,” he told the Post. “I kind of feel like I’m not easy listening. You know what I mean? I’m not going to be always the most digestible thing for everybody across the board; I’m specific, and I like to kind of blow it out the box and either you like it or you don’t.”
On why he considers himself unique in the competition:
“I’ve been watching the show for years and I hadn’t really seen anybody. They’ve asked me, “Well, whom would you compare yourself to?” and I’ve always kind of been like, ‘I don’t know.’ I think the more individual we all are the better chance we have at garnering a fan base.”
On his real-life idols:
“I think David Bowie has been a really, really, really cool artist. Just considering that he has reinvented himself, he took a ton of risks – visually, lyrically, and musically. Obviously vocally we’re very different, but I think that, along those other lines, we have some similarities, and someone like that is a great model for me.”
Kris Allen:
On travelling the world with his campus ministry to Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Mozambique, South Africa and more:
“[I was] actually just doing kind of philanthropy stuff; just trying to help people out and just a lot of mission kind of stuff.”
His dream Theme:
“The Beatles.”
On making it through:
“When I made it through, I was really, really shocked… I felt like anybody had a shot, so I felt really, really lucky to actually make it through with all those other people.”
On Simon Cowell’s comment: “I think the chicks are really going to dig you”:
“You know it probably helped. I’m not going to lie,” says Allen, who is actually off the market and has been dating his girlfriend for seven years.
On the eccentric Normund Gentle (aka Nick Mitchell):
“He’s not mocking the show; he’s doing what he knows how to do, and that’s entertain – and he’s really, really good at it… we all love him to death.”
On trying out with his brother:
“My brother actually wanted to try out, and I went with him. And we both tried out and I ended up making it a little bit further than him. But he’s really, really supportive of what’s going on and he’s really, really excited.”