The Chaparral: How has the tour been going so far?
Anoop Desai: It’s been going great. You know, it’s a routine that you have to learn to get into, but it’s been going really well so far.
TC: Any tour bus shenanigans, crazy stuff going on?
AD: [laughs] No, not really. I think by the time we’re on the bus we’re too tired to do anything. We’re lucky because we all get along really well.
TC: Well, the ratio to guys and girls is a little unfair, as far as how many guys there are compared to girls.
AD: [laughs] Yeah, they have a couple extra people on their bus, too, so it sort of works out.
TC: Oh good. What’s your favorite performance on Idol that wasn’t your own?
AD: That’s not my own? [long silence] Man, you know, that’s a really tough one, actually. I love “Mad World” (Adam Lambert). I loved when Kris [Allen] did the song from Once.
TC: “Falling Slowly”?
AD: Right. And when Kris first did “Aint No Sunshine,” I remember sitting in sound check and just being like, that’s amazing. I don’t know, there are a lot [of favorites].
TC: Is there a favorite one of your own?
AD: Umm, not sure I can answer that, I don’t know. I didn’t really have a favorite, to be honest with you. [laughs]
TC: How has the album progress been going on the road, have there been any offers?
AD: Well, hopefully the tour is the medium in which I’ll get a deal. That’s what I’m looking forward to now. I haven’t been contacted by anyone with specifics yet, but hopefully by the end of the summer that will work out.
TC: Excellent, I can’t wait.
AD: Yeah, I can’t wait either.
TC: If you were an executive producer on Idol, what change would you make to the show?
AD: I would make it a little less hokey. I think at certain points it gets a little corny. What I would want to see if I was at home watching—and what I have seen, and what I like about the show, is the fact that it takes people and it molds them. And I think there can be a lot less focus on the commercial aspect of it and a lot more focus on what people are doing as singers. I think a lot of times that gets lost in the Ford commercials and the group numbers and whatnot and all that.
TC: What is the CD soundtrack of your life that you could listen to a million times over again?
AD: Oh, man. You mean just one album? [long silence] See, these questions are always hard, because I have so many favorite albums that I listen to. I love all of Sam Cooke’s stuff. I can never get tired of Sam Cooke, and Donny Hathaway’s stuff. In terms of albums, Amos Lee’s first album is definitely one of my favorites.
TC: There’s too many to choose from. Is there anyone you dream of collaborating with?
AD: I’d love to work with Ne-Yo or Chrisette Michele. I really, really like their styles and that’s the direction I want to go in.
TC: And what direction is that?
AD: It’s pop, definitely, with a soul/R&B tinge to it. What Chrisette Michele is doing is really, I think, revolutionary, because it’s pop, R&B, jazz, everything.
TC: Has there been a crazy fan experience or crazy gift that has been given to you?
AD: Well, I did get a tweet one day on Twitter from someone who was outside my house in North Carolina. That scared me.
TC: That’s going a little too far.
AD: That’s going way too far. So that didn’t make me too happy. [laughs]
TC: That brings me to my next question. Twitter has really, really broken down the fourth wall more than any other season of Idol before. Do you think that helps or hurts?
AD: No, I think it definitely helps. We’re able to stay in touch with people. I think if you’re looking at it from a very basic level, it keeps interest in us and what we’re doing, which I think is always helpful. But there is a certain degree of pressure and a certain degree of familiarity that people wouldn’t have ordinarily. That takes a little bit of getting used to, when someone can contact you directly and say, “Hey, I want you to…” or “Hey, why didn’t you do this…” A lot of times you just don’t respond to it. But we’re all trying to make our fans happy. That’s why we’re here, to make and to keep fans. In the big picture, it’s definitely one of the best things we could have done.
TC: Is there a message you’d like to pass on to your fans?
AD: Just that I love them. And you know, I think my fans are the most dedicated ones out there. They are on the ball and they’re organizers, too, which is amazing. I love you guys, just keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully I’ll have something to give you soon.
TC: Well, we look forward to it.
AD: Thank you.
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