Interview: A Conversation With American Idol's Michael Johns

With a record breaking television finale, American Idol, has proved it remains just as popular as ever. The top two contestants, David Cook and David Archuleta, brought in an impressive 97 million votes from the show's viewers. Season seven of American Idol boasted several popular contestants aside from the two David's, which promises to make for an entertaining summer tour.

I had the opportunity to speak with one of these contestants while tour rehearsals were underway in Los Angeles.

Michael Johns started his American Idol stint as an early favorite but was shockingly voted off, for an 8th place finish. Personally, I was as surprised by his elimination as anyone else. Johns was my favorite contestant and I saw him as being a top three contender. I really liked his rock/soul sound and thought he had the vocal chops and stage presence to carry him through to the finals.

I asked Johns about his elimination and he told me he was definitely shocked as well.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked. I mean, I'd never been in the bottom 3 before and I'd had two or three really solid weeks. And my iTunes sales were really good. It was just kinda like, one week you were getting praised - the next week you were gone," he said.

Johns said he didn't have much time to think about what had happened as he had about fifteen hours of press the next day. In addition to the whirlwind of press appearances, Johns found some time to attend a taping of Saturday Night Live. To his surprise he was invited to the show's after-party. While there, he received a lot of positive feedback about his singing abilities from the likes of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.

"We weren't planning on going to the afterparty but they invited us back there. Ashton Kutcher was hosting, and Gnarls Barkely was playing. At the afterparty everyone you could think of was there. You know, it was strange - that was my first 'night out' out of the AI bubble. Everyone was there—Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz. And everyone was coming up to me saying, 'Man you were robbed'!"

He also said he received similar feedback from the press, which helped him get over his disappointment.

"I got over it pretty quick. It was like: people really do care what you did, and I really can have a career out of this. That's exciting."

One element that might have led to his early departure was the perception that Johns had failed to define himself as a singer. Johns told me he found it particularly perplexing when Simon told him that he didn't see Johns as a "rock singer."

"The frustrating thing on the show was Simon saying, 'We don't think you're a rock singer.' It's like, 'What are you talking about? (laughs) What's your version of rock?' I've always been into the more blues-oriented side of it."

Johns told me is working on writing songs for a future album, but did not give any specifics on a record deal. Knowing that Johns is partial to both soul and rock, I asked him which musical direction he plans to pursue.

"My record is gonna be totally a rock/soul vibe. Everything from Otis Redding to INXS. Totally love that kind of stuff. I like Michael Hutchence, Jim Morrison - there's different sides to rock. With rock you can do alternative rock, punk rock, grunge rock - different ways to say what rock is."

Article Author: Sherry Lipp

Sherry writes mostly music and dvd reviews and on occasion she gets to do an interview. She plays the guitar, enjoys playing with her dog Pepsi and she and her husband are currently in the process of internationally adopting from Poland. …

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