Up Close With The American Idols - Michael Johns - Page 3

Only The Beatles. I mean come on, it doesn't get better than them.

Were you excited to do the Beatles weeks on American Idol?

Yeah, of course. I mean, it's the first time they got the songs released. It was amazing. It sucked that we couldn't get the whole catalog obviously. We only had 25 songs to choose from. [I did] "Across the Universe," one of my favorite songs of all time. Absolute joy. Out of the second week, we had another 25 songs to sing from. That was just like, 'You know what? I don't think if I suck really bad it's going to get me voted off the show this week.' So I chose a song that meant a lot to one of my good friends who passed away. So, you know, one of those good things I got to do.

How was rearranging "A Day In the Life" for only 90 seconds? What that hard?

It was hard, but it actually worked. And then Simon didn't even know the song. He said, 'It sounds like three songs in one' - and I was like, 'It is.' You know what I mean? So for me - if they gave me praise, if they gave me criticism - it didn't really bother me. Because I was like 'Okay you've got your opinions, but it doesn't actually affect what I do.' So I don't know. I kind of like... ahhh, anyway, it doesn't matter.

[Being a big Beatles and classic rock fan myself, I wished that I could have spent more time discussing music with Michael. However, knowing that my time was limited I decided that I should try to discuss the tour a little bit more.]

Has the tour been…

YES!

…everything you hoped it would be?

Yes. Amazing. I love it.

Do you go out and greet the fans?

Every day. Except today 'cause I can't frickin' sign anything 'cause of my left arm.

It's not going to affect your performance tonight?

Movement might be restricted. But that's alright. It won't affect my voice, of course. I've got some fist pumps I can't do - might throw in some kung fu kicks instead.

As promised, Michael’s arm injury did not adversely affect his performance later that night. He turned in an excellent three song set – though I did not see any kung-fu kicks.

Next week in Part 2: Chikezie – the quiet Idol.

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.

Visit Sherry Lipp's author page — Sherry Lipp's Blog