Some Idol Chatter On The Road
Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times, October 15, 2002

Sure, the kids competing on "American Idol" looked gracious and chummy on TV last summer. But on tour, there has to be some backstabbing and bickering backstage, right?

Not if you believe the contestants, now on a national tour that'll bring them to the Allstate Arena on Wednesday.

"Everyone wants to believe we fight, but we're really a family," said Tamyra Gray, the show's third runner-up. "We've become best friends and get along really well. Plus, we've got all sorts of things on our buses to keep us occupied if we want to be alone--books, laptops, DVDs, everything you can think of. But it's really fun to sit around and talk to each other and catch up."

You don't really expect us to believe that, do you, Tamyra?

Laughing, Gray says, "Think of it this way. We're all we've known for the majority of the summer. It would have been silly on our parts not to be friends. And these people are really, really nice people to hang out with."

Now if they had been asked to share the bill with the winners of "Pop Star" and "Making the Band," there may have been some problems.

"We'd definitely have to get into a 'Celebrity Deathmatch' then," joked second-place finisher Justin Guarini, referencing MTV's claymation series in which stars fight each other. "The girls may look small and petite, but they're hellcats. Nikki [McKibbin] is a Texan. She alone could handle a good three girls and probably a guy or two. She's tough."

Not as tough as Simon Cowell, the cantankerous "American Idol" judge who wasn't shy about expressing his distaste for some of the competitors. He's probably not pleased that Crystal Lake's Jim Verraros even has a spot on this tour. Cowell's infamous words must still ring in Verraros' ears: "If you win this competition, we will have failed."

"I actually thought [Cowell] was very fair," Gray said. "I can't speak for the others, but he was a great guy. It was an honor to audition for him."

Of course, it's easy to be nice to someone who didn't slam you on national television. But Guarini said the risk of being humiliated in front of millions of viewers was worth the benefits of getting name recognition.

Like "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson, who already has a record deal and scored a No. 1 single with "A Moment Like This," Guarini has signed a contract with 19 Recordings Limited, which is headed by the show's creator, Simon Fuller.

"I'm so excited about making the record it's not even funny," said Guarini. "All of us have done the cover songs on the show. This is a golden opportunity for us all to branch out. What's amazing to me is the amount of creative control I have making my record."

How much creative control he actually gets will be heard when the album is released. Though Guarini said he has written some material, it's likely the majority of songs will be penned for him or co-written with an established stable of songwriters.

"There are some things that are a secret, but we're toying around with a bunch of different ideas," he said. "It's a good bet that the main diet will be funk, soul and some really hip, new dance elements. I want it to be something that makes people sit back and say, 'OK, this is different.' "

As for Gray, her acting career will get a nice kick-start when she appears on at least four episodes of David E. Kelley's "Boston Public." Producers haven't determined yet if her character will sing on the show, but she is expected to make her debut during the February sweeps.

"David asked me to audition for him so I did, and I guess he was happy with it 'cause they asked me to appear," said Gray. "I've done theater and commercials before, so acting isn't totally new to me, but I was little nervous. It was a great experience, though--another road in my journey."

Gray, who describes herself as a little shy and a big goofball, still has one dream left.

"Hopefully I'll get to see Oprah one day," she said. "I heard tickets are really hard to get though."

Somehow, we're guessing it won't be that difficult for America's latest idols.