American Idols Live! Tour 2008
American Idols Live! Tour 2008 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the seventh season of American Idol, which aired in 2008. This tour followed in the tradition of other American Idol summer tours following the completion of the season in May. The 53-date tour which covered 49 cities started on July 1 and ended on September 13.
The tour was sponsored by Kellogg's Pop-Tarts and Guitar Hero.
Performers
Show overview
In a departure from previous tours, where the shows consisted of many duets and/or group performances, shows from this tour were crafted as a series of mini-concerts for each contestant because of the diverse talent working in different genres. Each performer performed their own set of songs – three songs for the tenth-place finisher Chikezie, increasing up to five songs for the winner, David Cook. Each of the two segments of the show ended with a group number.Most of the finalists on the tour chose to reprise at least one song they had previously done on American Idol, apart from Ramiele, who selected a whole new set of songs. Others chose songs they had wanted to perform on the TV shows but were unable to, or performed but not shown, such as David Cook's "My Hero", and Jason Castro's "Crazy".
The participants of the tour themselves had planned on an ensemble performance as revealed by David Cook on EW.com's Idolatry, where the possibility of a live collaboration of "Barracuda" featuring himself on guitar, Jason Castro on drums and Carly Smithson on vocals was mooted. The suggestion was however rejected by Idol tour producers.
Set list
- Chikezie: "I Believe to My Soul", "Caught Up", "So High"
- Ramiele Malubay: "I Want You Back", "Love Will Lead You Back", "If I Never See Your Face Again"
- Michael Johns: "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions", "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right", "Dream On"
- Kristy Lee Cook: "Squeezin' the Love Outta You", "God Bless the USA", "Cowgirls".
- Carly Smithson: "Bring Me to Life", "Crazy on You", "I Drove All Night"
- Brooke White: "Let It Be", "1234", "Yellow"
- 10th – 5th place contestants: "Pride "
- Jason Castro: "Over the Rainbow", "Crazy", "Daydream"
- Syesha Mercado: "Umbrella", "If I Ain't Got You", "Listen"
- David Archuleta: "Angels", "Apologize", "Stand by Me" /"Beautiful Girls", "When You Say You Love Me"
- David Cook: "Hello", "The Time of My Life", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "My Hero", "Billie Jean"
- All 10 contestants: "Don't Stop the Music"
Additional notes
- Kristy Lee Cook sang "Anyway" in place of "God Bless the USA" in the Toronto show.
- Michael Johns did a short a cappella version of "Light My Fire" on the anniversary of Jim Morrison's death at the Fresno show.
- David Cook and Michael Johns did a short dance together, different for each show, at the final group song for most of the shows. The producers stopped their dance performance for a few shows, but relented due to fans' demand.
- During the intermission, a video of the Top 10 performing "We're An American Idol Band" in 70s outfit was shown as part of Guitar Hero World Tour rockumentary, and a Guitar Hero contest for the some members of audience was held.
Tour dates
Response
The 2008 tour was far more successful than 2007's. Sales were up 38% in revenue per date and average attendance number up 35% compared to 2007. The average percentage of seats filled was 85.1% compared to season six's 68.4%; and 9 out of 53 shows were sold out.It is ranked as the 24th biggest grossing tour of 2008 on Billboard's Year-End Music Charts, earning $29,906,507 from a total of 493,296 tickets sold.
Tour summary
- Number of shows – 53
- Total gross – $29,906,507
- Total attendance – 493,296
- Average attendance – 9,307
- Average ticket price – $60.63
- Highest gross – Rosemont, Illinois – $773,060
- Lowest gross – Evansville, Indiana – $230,814
- Highest attendance – Rosemont, Illinois – 13,101
- Lowest attendance – Evansville, Indiana – 3,940
Idols in Concert for the Holidays
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| November 29, 2008 | Pittsburgh | United States | Byham Theater |
| December 1, 2008 | El Paso | United States | Plaza Theatre |
| December 4, 2008 | Englewood | United States | Bergen Performing Arts Center |
| December 10, 2008 | Salem | United States | Salem Civic Center |
| December 11, 2008 | Mobile | United States | Mitchell Center |
| December 19, 2008 | Akron | United States | E. J. Thomas Hall |
| December 20, 2008 | Davenport | United States | Adler Theatre |
| December 21, 2008 | Waukegan | United States | Genesee Theatre |