Pop star Justin Guarini hears the question nearly every day - "How's Kelly?"
Ever since they appeared on the first "American Idol" in 2002, Guarini and singer Kelly Clarkson have been linked together as a duo.
But Guarini says that the poor box-office performance of their post-"Idol" movie "From Justin To Kelly" brought all that to an end.
"The Justin and Kelly personae worked well for a while," said Guarini, 25, during a telephone conversation from his home in Los Angeles. "But for me, it's been a challenge to establish my solo career."
Guarini brings his solo act to town appearing with pop singer Aaron
Carter at Kid Fest Kidd Jam, 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Ford Arena,
located in Ford Park, 5115 Interstate 10 South in Beaumont.
Back to the "How's Kelly" question, Guarini said she's fine.
"We've both been so busy we haven't been able to hang out, but I
called her on her birthday," he said.
A lifelong music fanatic, Guarini joined the Atlanta Boys Choir when he was 4 and has been singing ever since. "My parents gave me a free reign when it came to listening to music," he said. "I've grown up listening to all sorts of sounds from jazz and R&B to rock. I like to keep open-minded."
After leaving college in Philadelphia, where he studied vocal performance and theater studies, he moved to New York to focus on combining his acting and singing. Within a few months he was approached by scouts from Broadway and offered a role in "The Lion King."
Then 22, he joined the cast, but had a feeling that something even better was waiting in the wings. His mother told him about "American Idol," and several weeks later he joined more than 1,000 other hopeful contestant in line.
For 10 weeks he performed live to a TV audience of millions and became the runner-up to the winner, Clarkson. "My defining moment was my first performance in front of a live audience," he said. "I knew immediately that this was where I wanted to be, and I felt at home."
Guarini has been spending most of his time meeting with songwriters for his upcoming second album. He said he's going to "mix a lot of old-school flavors" on his new album and hopes to get some stage experience - in addition to all his other plans.
"I loved the experience of doing 'American Idol' and the movie
and would like to go into some more film and television work," he
said. "I've mastered the art of persistence, and things are
starting to take off again."
Guarini said that he met fellow pop star Carter "once a long,
long time ago" and respects him.
"I've not seen him live yet - but I've heard some of his music," he said. "He's perfect for his demographic - which skews young."
But Guarini said that Carter's target audience is not necessarily the same as his.
"What I'm going for is the 18-34 demographic, which is the hot demographic now," he said. "But I would never want to exclude anyone younger or older."