‘Idol’ stars take victory lap

The tour will make stops in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Recently, “American Idol” Season Eight top-10 singer Scott MacIntyre watched his life come full circle.

Nearly a year to the day that MacIntyre auditioned for the popular Fox-TV show “American Idol,” the singer returned to the same venue – Jobing.com Arena located outside of Phoenix – as a touring member of “American Idols Live! Tour 2009.”

“I really kind of envisioned when I auditioned for ‘American Idol’ what the outcome could be, and I never assumed that I would be here,” said MacIntyre, calling from Rochester, N.Y. “I never took it for granted, but I knew it was possible that when I auditioned, especially to show people what I was really bringing to the table, I had a good chance of sticking around for a long time. But I never assumed that would happen.

“I think each of us, when we’re first standing in that big stadium [auditioning], we dream about performing on the stage. That’s really the goal for us to be auditioning in the first place, we want to be live performers, we want to share our music night after night with the world; and it’s such a privilege to be able to do that.”

This year’s annual summer victory lap-esque jaunt, which features top-10 contestants Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy, Michael Sarver and MacIntyre, plays in Pittsburgh Saturday and in Cleveland Sunday.

For the classically trained MacIntyre, who has numerous album releases to his credit, the tour allows him to show off his singer-songwriter style performing songs by Keane, Vanessa Carlton and Billy Joel. He has high hopes for his new album, “View From Above,” which is due out in the fall and is in the pop- rock style of John Mayer, Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Carlton and OneRepublic.

While the “American Idol” highway is littered with top-10 contestants who have quickly fallen into obscurity, this singer-songwriter’s optimism is slightly different. To say MacIntyre has overcome adversity would be an understatement. Granted, anyone who becomes an “American Idol” contest has overcome hurdles, but the Arizona native was dealt an extremely tough hand. Not only is he visually impaired, but in 2006 MacIntyre was diagnosed with kidney disease. A year later he received a kidney transplant. Naturally, such life experience has made an impact on his songwriting and performance.

“It definitely translates in a lot of ways into my music,” MacIntyre said. “The vocal is one thing, and the songwriting is the other thing. And people are seeing a lot more of the vocal side of things, even on the tour. I will say it’s a great representation for the first time for the type of music people can expect from me in the coming months as an artist and a songwriter.

“So I feel like the experiences I have been through in my life really give me a large perspective on life and this whole situation. It helps me to even keep the ‘American Idol’ competition in perspective. I was never going to walk away from that show feeling defeated no matter how far I got because I never hinged my whole life on the show.”

Somewhere along MacIntyre’s amazing journey, a funny thing happened to the artist. Not only is he envied for making the “American Idol” Season Eight top 10, but his struggle to overcome life’s adversities has turned him into a role model for others to follow.

“That’s what I’m hearing,” MacIntyre said.

“It’s amazing to tour America because you finally get to meet the fans. We really live in a secluded state while we’re doing the show, and then you leave and realize America was watching and people were looking up to you. Especially in my situation because of the challenges I’ve been through, a lot of people identify with that.

“Whether or not they have a physical challenge or not, I think there are a lot of people who do look up to me in that regard. So I’m very humble, and it just inspires me in turn to be the best person I could be. The entire time on ‘American Idol’ I strived to be the same person I am on camera that I am off. If I can’t do that, then it’s not worth anything to me.”

if you go

What: “American Idols Live! Tour 2009” featuring Michael Sarver, Scott MacIntyre, Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Megan Joy and Kris Allen

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh; and 7 p.m. Sunday, Wolstein Center, Cleveland

Tickets: $38.50 to $66.25 (Pittsburgh); and $38.50 to $67.50 (Cleveland), at Ticketmaster outlets