Kris Allen: The ultimate interview, Part Three

In the third part of this four-part interview, "American Idol" winner Kris Allen discusses his experience on the show and his notable song choices that helped him clinch the season 8 crown. Read Part One here. Read Part Two here.

You earned a reputation on “American Idol” for taking well-known songs and making them your own. Is that something you’ve always done?

Yes. When you play in bars and you have to play for three hours, you have to play songs people know. I never wanted to just play a song that people know. I wanted people to think, “That’s a cool way to sing that song” or “That’s a cool way to play that song,” and so it’s always been a part of what I do as a performer.

What are some of the songs you would interpret while playing clubs?

I used to do “Man in the Mirror,” which I sang on the top 36 night. R&B songs are always fun to do, to have people hear it from a white guy on the guitar.

That song has always done something for me for some reason. It has a good message. It’s Michael Jackson. It’s a great song. There were a couple songs that I wanted to do that week that I wasn’t able to due to clearance problems. I went through this list of 300 songs and that one wasn’t on there. I didn’t want to do anything on that list. I think there were more songs than that, but there was nothing that I wanted to do. That song popped in my head and I thought, “Just go with it.”

Describe the process of making songs like “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Heartless” your own.

I completely forget about the song as [the original artist] does it and I think how I would play the song phrasing-wise, chord structure-wise and feeling-wise. It all comes together. I hear what it’s going to sound like in my head and I run with it.

So you’re hearing your version in your head before you play it out loud?

Once I hear it in my head, then I’ll start playing something on my guitar and singing along with it and it still sounds like the song but it’s not the way that person did it. Hopefully it’s a way that no one has ever thought of doing it before. That’s the way I like to do things. I like to be weird.

Let’s talk about some of the other songs you performed this season. During Grand Ole Opry week you sang “To Make You Feel My Love.”

When I got onto the live show, it was one of those songs I wanted to do and I was hoping a week would come up where I could sing it. It worked well for country week. I beat the system a little bit, because Bob Dylan’s not completely country but Garth Brooks had done it before.

So you knew the Garth Brooks version?

Yes, it’s one of the prettiest songs ever.

We briefly touched on “Ain’t No Sunshine,” but tell me more about performing that Bill Withers hit.

I played the guitar and then the week after I didn’t and then [the week we sang Top Downloads], I wondered, “What if I played the piano?” I hadn’t been playing the piano that long and so I couldn’t decide. “Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I should.” I had a hard time picking a song that week and I started playing it and Adam walked in the room and said, “That sounds really cool with the chord structure,” so he encouraged me to do that song and a couple of my friends did, too. I wanted to make it different and I wanted to make people actually feel like what the song is about, because it’s so gripping. I wanted to make it more contemporary as well, so I had a vision in my head and I ran with it. That’s one of my favorites for sure.

What about disco week? What went through your mind when you found out what the theme was?

Crap! A couple weeks before, they were having a hard time figuring out the theme for that week and Adam said something like, “I want to do Disco Week,” and I said, “Adam, no! Don’t say that!” I don’t know if it was thanks to Adam or not, but I was definitely not happy about disco week. I’m not a fan of disco. There’s probably a couple disco songs I can listen to, but most of it isn’t about anything. It’s definitely not me. So I thought, “What is a disco song that says something that I could flip?” “She Works Hard for the Money” actually tells a story. It’s going to be completely different than what anyone else is doing and it’ll be a nice change of pace and I think it could work. A lot of my friends said, “No. No. Don’t do that song. That’s going to be horrible.” But when I feel like I’m supposed to do something, I go with it. No one was going to talk me out of doing that song. It was a lot of fun. I loved it.

Was it more of a challenge than other songs because of the original arrangement?

Not completely, because we stripped it down and made it about the words and the melody.

Let’s talk about one of your best performances. For the “contestant’s choice” on the top three show, you sang “Heartless,” the Kanye West hit that has also been recorded by the Fray.

We could choose anything that week and I asked myself, “What do I want to do?” I was listening to the record and I thought, “What if I did this song?” A couple of my friends said, “That would be really cool.”

Were you listening to Kanye’s album?

I was listening to Kanye’s version. I like that whole CD. I think it’s great. I asked a couple of people, because Adam and I would always run ideas by each other, and I asked him, “What if I did ‘Heartless’ by Kanye?” and he said, “I think it would be genius.” That gave me the confidence to run with it. And seriously, once I got into it, it was one of the easiest things that I’ve done. I just played it my way and sang it my way.

You received a lot of great feedback for that performance.

Yeah, a lot of people went crazy, which is so weird to me because that was one of the easiest things I’ve done on the show. But that makes sense. Something that comes so easily to you is what you’re going to be really good at.

Did you have a strategy for winning “American Idol”?

My strategy was to stand out in my own way, which is not singing super-high notes. Also changing up the feeling of the different songs. And not competing against each other. I felt like that was the biggest strategy for me, don’t compare myself to everyone else, because we’re all so good at different things.

What was going through your mind during the finale? At that point, you had to know that no matter what happened, you and Adam were both going to have successful careers.

Me and Adam, we’re really good friends and so it wasn’t like, “I hope I win.” I thought, “If Adam wins, I’m going to be so happy for him,” because seriously, you do have the mentality when you make the top two that you’re going to be fine. You make it to the finale, what else do you have to do? Being the winner is nice but when you think about it, Adam’s going to do his thing, I’m going to do my thing and so it’s a totally different world. But we had been telling each other nothing’s going to be different about it.

And what was going on in your mind the moment you won?

It was a bit of a shock, but then it was like, “Yay! The season is over.” There are so many ups and downs about this whole competition that it was nice to know that the whole thing was over and then this little part of me was like, “I have to sing the song.” So that was all going through my mind at the same time.

The week after the show your name was all over the Billboard charts. Did that mean anything to you?

I think me and Adam had nine songs combined on the Billboard charts. That’s crazy. Four months ago, it would never have been anything, and so that was definitely a moment where it was like, this is the start. The first song. It’s the first moment where you can actually be on the Billboard charts and you have five songs on there, that’s crazy.

And you were No. 1 on the iTunes chart.

Someone texted me. They wrote, “How does it feel to have the No. 1 song, No. 1 video and No. 1 ringtone?”

Did you already know you were No. 1 when you received the text?

No, I had no idea.

-- Fred Bronson

Photo: Frank Micelotta / Fox

Related:

Kris Allen: Showbiz beginnings

Kris Allen: The early years

Adam Lambert: The early years

Adam Lambert: Showbiz beginnings

Adam Lambert: Finding his groove

Adam Lambert: The "Idol" chapter

Comments

[Lia]

Kris is very strategic, and talented. It's no surprised he won, and I love how honest he is in this interview.

[Coral]

I love this part of the interview, it's always great to hear Kris Allen talk about music, and the process that he goes through to rearrange a song. He puts so much thought into what he's doing, and I love it that he focuses on the melody and the lyrics. He is going to go far in the music business, because he knows who he is, and he won't be one of those artist who is just copying the fads or what's popular. I can't wait to hear his album.

Thank you for this interview. This section is so interesting.

[angela]

-kris..i havn't seen your music videos on mtv,channel v and myx..do u hav any?/

[Cinn]

This part of the interview is so great...I love hearing about the process an artist goes through.
Kris Allen is such a genuine guy. I love this line by him "And not competing against each other. I felt like that was the biggest strategy for me, don’t compare myself to everyone else, because we’re all so good at different things.", because it emphasizes that each person is uniquely talented and even in a competition, he took the time to realize this and complement the others about their talent. That's what I hate the most after the season is over, is so many fans tend to continue to make it a competition, and I feel it should be about just appreciating the talent there is in this world.
Thank you, great interview!

[Marla]

Hi Fred,

Once again, I loved your interview. Inasmuch as an avid Kris fan may already know so many things about Kris, I loved how you went more in depth into the facts. I loved how both you and Kris seemed to focus on Kris' as a musician, rather than Kris the personality, while at the same time bringing the focus of the interview on only Kris.

Thanks again, Fred for a great interview.

[dave858]

Kris is too Karaoke for my taste..I am afraid he is going to fade fast..Nice kid, but not much showmanship..nothing out of the ordinary...I think his 15 minutes are up.

[Masieta]

Thank you for a great interview. You're asking the questions that we want answered. It IS about the music. I grab my husband and make him dance with me every time I hear Kris' version of "To Make Me Feel Your Love." (My husband doesn't mind... ) It is so sweet and pure... makes us forget we've been married for 37 years and takes us back to the beginning... I'm looking forward to Kris' long and successful career... and lots more songs to slowdance to!

[San]

Great interview! As a Kris fan and a music geek, I was hanging on every word. I just love to hear the artist's perspective on the music itself in his own words.

[wm]

Dave: I find it interesting that you don't like Kris but you read all of his articles and always seem to post a negative comment or two.

[Sonnie]

As usual, Kris is boring. He has no appeal in both performances and interviews. Everybody knows he won because the Arkansas cheated.

[Tish]

I love Kris' version of To Make You Feel My Love better than Garth Brooks, and if he had been born years ago to record Just the Way You Look Tonight when Sinatra first recorded it, his recording would've outsold Sinatra's. Back then they would've called him a heart throb, and would've said that he made the girls swoon when he sang it and wore a suit on AI.

[farahlily]

the best section of the whole interview, personally. we get to know who he is as an artist and we get to appreciate Kris more as a musician and songwriter. It is obvious that he's really passionate about his craft and as much as I detest Kara for using the word "artistry" excessively throughout the season, I must say that Kris totally possess that.

As much as comparisons may come and go, both Kris and Adam are special in their own way: Adam is a brilliant singer and ever the extremely entertaining showman, while Kris is an excellent musician who's ruled by his heart and passion for crafting music. These two, although are as different as night and day, actually has brought in another dynamic to the somewhat lacklustre show. The way they managed to find a common ground and supporting each other throughout the whole process is exemplary. Something that we do not get to see that much in the music industry nowadays, when everyone is concerned with the competition on who's going to rise way up on the charts and record sales, these two helped each other to master their crafts and building up good friendship in process.

I believe we may have the best and most profitable Top Two in the history of Idol with these two.