This year's crop of "American Idol" finalists stop in Milwaukee on the second night of their post-show tour, July 2, at Summerfest.
And the woman who almost won, second-place finisher Crystal Bowersox, tells me she's looking forward to the outdoor venue on a hot summer night, as well as connecting with some Milwaukee friends.
"I'm a summertime girl," she says. "I like the sunshine, I like bein' all sweaty and gross."
It's the kind of answer you'd expect from the 24-year-old Bowersox, who finished just behind Lee DeWyze, the suburban Chicago singer who picked up the ninth "Idol" crown last month. From her audition and through the process that ended just two weeks ago, she's always seemed comfortable with who she is.
"I kind of agree with that statement," she tells me in a phone conversation during a break in rehearsals for the coming tour. "I've been comfortable in my skin for a long time, I know who I am as a human, as a person and a musician."
I follow up with my theory that it's, in fact, better that she finished second. Without an "Idol" recording contract, she'll have more freedom to do her music.
"I don't think by Lee winning that he has any less freedom," she says. Bowersox clearly sees a kindred spirit in the 24-year-old DeWyze.
"We're from the same school of music, singer-songwriter," she says. "I think our voices fit really well together. "
The pair did a memorable duet near the end of the competition, and while she says both are concentrating on their solo careers, she could see performing with him.
For now, she's in the very beginning stages of putting together her own solo album after signing a contract with Jive.
"We've started talks about what songs are gonna be used, what kind of vibe we want," she said.
While she was clearly comfortable on the "Idol" stage, she says her own music might be a little different.
"My original music is more lower-key, a more folky vibe," she explains. The songs are "autobiographical," and her voice is "sweeter" than the raspy tone she did in the big songs she did on the show.
While she was comfortable in those performances, it appeared that she was uncomfortable at times with the competitive nature of "American Idol."
"I would say that's a true statement. To me, music's more about expression. The idea of a competition about music is strange to me."
But she knew what she what the competition was all about when she auditioned. "It's the nature of the beast," she says.
Bowersox's advice for the next crop of "Idol" singers: "Be prepared for a lot of changes in your life. You can't just hang, with a sun-up to sun-down schedule."
Her suggestions for improving "Idol" are few. She would have liked the chance to do her own songs, and "move the band down from the risers and have them on the stage."
Other than that, she admits it's a "well-oiled machine."
After her chat, it was back to rehearsals, including those group numbers. Bowersox always looked uncomfortable in those, but says she actually enjoys them.
"Nobody believes me when I say it," she admits.
On TV: In addition to the countless eyes pointed skyward for the Blue Angels performance, there will be a series of cameras following the Navy unit. Milwaukee-born Vaughn Halyard's production company, Des Moines-based StoryLounge Media Group, has been filming with the team for a public TV show called "The Science of Thrill."
- Mike Jakubowski, the Marquette men's basketball public address announcer, will get some ESPN exposure later this month in his day job with the Professional Bowlers Association. He'll be doing the play-by-play for the "Manufacturers’ Cup" bowling action June 27, July 3, July 4 and July 11.
- David Hasselhoff is the next target of a Comedy Central Roast. It's scheduled to air Aug. 15, after taping sometime this summer in L.A.
- Fox has pulled "Past Lives" off the schedule again. The show was canceled, but the network was burning off episodes of the show, only to decide that wasn't a good use of its airtime.
- "Idol" winner Lee DeWyze has joined Twitter, quickly gaining 21,000 followers. So far, he hasn't had much to say.
One last look at Crystal and Lee: Here are Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze together doing "Falling Slowly," on "Idol."
Talk about chemistry:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
