Past season’s drop in TV ratings hasn’t stopped those ‘Idol’ fans

By John Benson

The tour comes to the Wolstein Center in Cleveland on Sept. 4.

Full circle is where “American Idol” season 7 top-five contestant Brooke White recently found herself when the “American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008” played Philadelphia, which is the city the singer auditioned in last summer.

“Oh my goodness, it was a year ago this month and we just played there,” said White, calling from Washington, D.C. “Talk about coming full circle. I stood on the stage, pointed to the section I sat, which was 222A and told the crowd that for 20 hours I waited for my first audition. So to go from sitting up there and standing on this stage within a year’s time, that’s pretty surreal and unbelievable.”

A Los Angeles resident, White said when the reality show held auditions in San Diego last summer, she didn’t feel as though “American Idol” was the right fit. However, within weeks she changed her mind with the encouragement of her husband, David Ray. One red-eye flight later to the City of Brotherly Love, White beat the odds and made the cut.

Then again, beating the odds is really the unofficial theme of “American Idol.” So what’s more surreal for White, success in Philadelphia or making it to the top five?

“The whole time, every step you take and every time you advance to the next level is just highly stressful, and it’s very exciting when you do continue on,” White said. “When I first made it in the first round, it was pretty unbelievable because there were 20,000 people in that room.

“And every time you keep moving, you think, ‘Gosh, how did I get that far?’ And then there was a point where I had a feeling in my gut where I think I’m going to keep going for a little. But making it to the top five, I could never imagine. I didn’t know how well I would be embraced. I’m not much of a vocalist, more of a singer-songwriter. Minus the fact we weren’t doing original material, vocally I’m not the strongest but I felt like I had a certain style and was grateful they were allowing us instruments. I think that made a big difference.”

From the start, White impressed the judges, who often said she reminded them of a young Carole King or Carly Simon. During her “American Idol” run, she performed 13 songs, including Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and The Beatles’ “Let it Be.”

For the “American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008,” which comes Sept. 4 at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University and features “American Idol Season 7” winner David Cook, runner-up David Archuleta and top-10 contestants White, Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro, Carly Smithson, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay and Chikezie Eze, White said she’s performing the latter track, as well as Feist’s “1234” and Coldplay’s “Yellow.”

It’s been an interesting year for “American Idol,” which this past season suffered from a decrease in television ratings. While critics questioned how the downturn of interest in the reality show would affect the current concert tour, White said she hasn’t seen many empty seats.

“Let me tell you, there are a lot of fans here from night to night and there’s a very strong following for the boys on the show this year,” White said. “I feel like we look out into a pretty full audience every night. So there is some ‘Idol’ mania still going on.”

She added, “I think what’s brilliant about the show, beyond the music, is the fans have attached themselves to people behind the music. This show is about investing in a person and their dream. And I think the audience feels like they’ve been able to take a part in that and help make somebody’s dream come true.”