The American Idol Top 10 did press in Los Angeles for their tour. Examiner.Com talked to all ten Idols. Here is what Danny Gokey had to say.

EXAMINER: Who are your musical inspirations?
GOKEY: I come from a gospel background so Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, then Rascal Flats from when they were up and coming. Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Lauryn Hill even Metallica.

EXAMINER: Who are your heroes?
GOKEY: Martin Luther King,Abe Lincoln. They are historical leaders that we learned about in school. I respect the way that they went about bringing the political views and the religious views by promoting “only” love and not hurt. No hurt to you and your family and you can still spread love and America history showed that. I am the type of people who likes to see a group of people embracing love. Sorry if that is a little deep. I like things that makes you think.

EXAMINER: I like it.

EXAMINER: If you could do a duet with one person or group who would it be?
GOKEY: I will name three. Marc Anthony, Brian Mc Knight and Lauryn Hill.

EXAMINER: Do you have any messages to give to your fans?
GOKEY Be the best you can be, Be Fresh, Be new , Be different. Especially if you are trying to make it say on Idol. They don’t want to see the same old thing. They want different.

EXAMINER: How is it being on tour, adjusting to the tour bus?
GOKEY:This is my dream and when it is your dream you will adjust to almost anything. It is my passion so I am adjusting well.

Gokey just finished the Idols Live tour last month has signed a record deal with RCA Nashville.

via: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-11462-LA-Music-Examiner~y2009m10d1-Spotlight-on-American-Idol-Interview-with-Danny-Gokey

via: http://www.wjyy.com/index.php

Q: What was the most exciting moment of the Idol tour for you?-Martha
A: Going home to Milwaukee. The reception that they gave me was the best I received anywhere in the country.

Q: What do you think about Ellen DeGeneres being named as the 4th host?-Joey, Portland
A: I think she’s going to do great. I really do. It’s almost like, ‘Simon, you might have to move over a little bit…’ They needed someone on the show who has heart. Paula had a lot of heart. Ellen has a lot of heart. I think she will speak more from the heart. She’ll probably be easy on the contestants because she’s any easy-going person.

Q: I know you just signed a big record. Deal how did it come about?-Javier
A: I just signed to 19 Recordings and RCA. I’m very, very excited about it. I didn’t have very much experience in the industry. Doing gospel music, that wasn’t the route I was going to take for my professional career. It’s an awesome opportunity, and I can’t wait to pour my heart and soul into the record.

Q: Are you already in the process of choosing songs?-Tanya, Houston
A: I have started picking some. I’m in the process of writing some more. I want to bunker down and do some writing.

Q: Will you have a different style to your music on the album?-Dusty
A: The genre that I’ve decided to go with is country. I felt like country was the most fitting for me. In the tour, I do a four-song set, and two of them are country. It’s the one I find the most excitement out of – the one I relate to most. I’m a very soulful person. I just want to put my flavor into it and make a great album. I have a lot to learn in the industry, and I feel like I’m a sponge just soaking it up.

Q: Do you have a producer for your album yet?-Pam
A: I personally have one in mind, but I’m working with the record company right now, and we’ll see how it pans out.

Q: What are your memories of Paula on the show? What was she like behind the scenes?-Phil
A: Paula was the only judge who would come backstage and talk to us. She would encourage us, tell us she loved us. She was just a very interactive judge. One time after the show was completely over, she took us all out to eat. We just hung out with her. She was always the judge who came to the tour rehearsals.

Q: What did it feel like when you were eliminated?-Laura, Atlanta
A: I was relieved because the pressure of the show was intense. I felt so proud of myself for what I had accomplished. That I was able to follow my dream in spite of tragedy.

Q: Were you surprised at all the speculation about Adam’s sexuality?-Susan, Chicago
A: I was. I didn’t know that people didn’t know. When you are around him, you assume that people know what you know. He made it the point – that he didn’t want that to be the thing that got the attention, he wanted the attention to be on the music. I think it was a bunch of ladies dreaming and wishing that they had a chance. I think they just wanted to hold out, maybe that they would marry him. Hold out all hope.

Q: I’ve noticed you change up your songs every time you sing them on tour. Do you plan that ahead of time or do you just do it on the spur of the moment?-Pam
A: I ad lib. I’m singing from the heart, so whatever’s coming out of my heart at that moment, I just interject. Lyrically, the songs are the same, but I start flowing over the top since I have the background singers [singing the lyrics].

Q: What qualities did you best love about your late wife Sophia, who named your foundation after?-Debbie
A: I created a foundation in my wife’s name. We loved giving to charities, we loved volunteering with community organizations. That’s where our passion lies. When she passed, I created the foundation because I just wanted to keep her legacy alive to help families who’ve been touched by poverty and sickness. Our primary focus is our music and arts program. We are raising money for a facility to now that’s geared to the MTV-driven culture that we are in. We want to leverage that to allow kids to create their own music on their laptops. We just awarded three scholarships to people who have gone through some pretty tough obstacles.

Q: Do you have plans to keep in touch with some of the Idols after the tour?-Pam
A: I definitely plan on staying in touch. We are going to be going in different directions, but I plan on staying in touch long-term.

Q: Are closer to any of the Idols in particular?-Tommy
A: As the tour progressed, I became close to everybody, especially the guys because we were on the bus together. That’s really what it’s boiled down to.

via: http://uinterview.com/experts.php?i=68

Thanks, Pam!

This summer, American Idol kicked off its nationwide tour, featuring the Top 10 contestants from season 8. After many months of being on the road, the tour is about to come to an end, after hitting everywhere from Portland to Tamp. Today, the show made a stop in my home state and I got to sit down with 5 of the Top 10 contestants for an exclusive interview. Read on to hear what Megan Joy Corkrey, Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Matt Giraud, and Danny Gokey had to say about life on the road and what lies ahead for these aspiring singers.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Danny, the support for you by the fans has been crazy! How does it make you feel to know that so many people have been behind you?
A. Danny: It really affirms me as an artist. You really become vulnerable because when you come on the show, you’re subjecting your talent and gift to criticism among the masses. You hear so many different things and it’s nice to see when a majority of them come out positive.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you have any say in what you sing on the tour or did the producers have a hand in it? What are you singing tonight?
A. Danny: I had 100% say in what I picked. I’m singing P.Y.T., Maria Maria, and two country songs by the Rascal Flatts – My Wish and What Hurts The Most.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Has being on tour for so long taken its toll on you physically, mentally, or emotionally?
A. Danny: It’s a grueling schedule to be on tour but at the same time… it’s like we’re locked in a prison but a very, very awesome prison. You can’t go anywhere. When you’re on tour, you’re under contract. You can’t just get up and go home.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How are you feeling now that the tour is coming to an end?
A. Danny: Excited and a little sad. As the tour has progressed, so have our relationships with each other. We’ve become really close. As this chapter closes, it’s kind of sad.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What’s it like to go from being an average person a year and half ago to being well known, to have fans, and to be on tour?
A. Danny: It’s a roller coaster ride, that’s what it is. It’s a privilege. I look at it like a privilege and an honor because think about it. I would just dream about this. You have a dream and you push forward. You see it and walk towards it and you never know when it’s gonna break and for me, it just broke. I treasure it. I really do. It’s something I wanna guard and protect because, just as easily as it came, it can go.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Now that the tour is wrapping up, what are your future plans?
A. Danny: I start my album this month. The single should be released in November, from what I heard from the record label, and the album in March. Before the show, I only did gospel music and being on Idol helps you define who you are as an artist. As the show progressed, I figured it out and I ended up signing with a country label because I feel like that’s where I fit the most. The message, the sound… it fits me and I’m very excited about it.

Read more: http://www.realitywanted.com/newsitem/2412-american-idol-season-8-exclusive-interview-with-megan-joy-lil-rounds-scott-macintyre-matt-giraud-and-danny-gokey

“American Idol” finalist Danny Gokey, whose wife died a month before the audition that led him to third place on the show’s eighth season, says he’s open to dating again and hopes to remarry some day, but is still mourning and isn’t seeing anyone.

Gokey also says country singer Randy Travis, who was a guest mentor on the show, and judge Paula Abdul helped persuade him to make country music the style of choice for his first album. He said he’s already started the song-selection process for his debut disc, and label RCA Nashville wants five songs recorded this month. The plan is for a single to be out in November and the disc as soon s March, he said.

Gokey and the rest of Idol’s Top 10 performed their “American Idols Live” tour Tuesday at Reading’s Sovereign Center and Wednesday at Wachovia Center at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre. The tour concludes Tuesday.

Tabloids have suggested Gokey, 29, a Milwaukee music ministry leader, was back in the dating field and has been linked to Christian singer Rachel Lampa and “Idol” contestant Casey Carlson.

But in an interview before the Reading show, Gokey laughed off the rumors and said he’s not seeing anyone. In fact, he said the past week has been very melancholy for him for some reason – perhaps that the tour is winding down or the announcement he has signed a record contract with RCA Nashville for his debut album.

“This past week has been very difficult for me, very sentimental,” he said. He said because of the hectic schedule of the show and tour, “I haven’t been able to mourn or grieve. This week, I’ve been letting it out more than usual.”

Gokey, 29, and his wife, Sophia, had been a couple for 12 years, and he has credited her with persuading him to audition for “Idol.” She died during surgery for a congenital heart disease.

But Gokey said that, “in the future, I’m open to the idea” of dating again.

“I will get married again,” he said. “I want a family and that’s what my wife would want me to do. She’d want me to be happy.”

For now, what makes Gokey happy is the prospect of making the country album, though he admits the choice of styles was a surprise to his fans who knew him for performing soulful or gospel music – and to himself.

“The music’s always been great,” he says. “And country is one of the last places I can say what I want to say, where I can talk about my faith. The message is so broad. This is what I want to do.”

Gokey said he was hesitant to become a Christian artist because “I didn’t want to exclude people.” He said he considered pop, but “it wasn’t a good fit.”

But he said he planned to move to Nashville after the show to concentrate on his music. And after Travis’s appearance on the show, the singer “pulled me to the side and said, ‘Listen, you should really thing about going country.’ But I didn’t know whether I would fit, whether they would accept me.” But when Abdul later told him the same thing, Gokey says, he began seriously considering the idea, and then he was approached by the label. He said he prayed about the decision.

“It was a coming together of the puzzle,” he said. “In my mind, things were pre-destined.”

“Country music is really expanding is borders and reaching out” to artists of other genres, Gokey said. He mentioned Hootie and the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker, whose solo debut is country and who just was nominated for the Country Music Association’s New Artist of the Year.

“Who would have thought it?” Gokey said. “And country music has never had soulful edge. My album is going to be soulful. I’m excited. I know some people might not understand it, but I ask them not to dismiss it.”

Despite his excitement about country, Gokey said he’ll do a gospel album “down the line. That’s where I started. I can’t forget about it. That’s too important. My faith plays a big part in my life, period.”

via: http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2009/09/american-idols-gokey-says-hell-marry-again-abdul-helped-him-go-country.html

by Jacki Witkowski

Madison (WKOW) — I met up with 6 of the top 10 from American Idol season 8 tour at their stop in Madison and found out what they love to eat when it comes to home cooked food.

via: http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11095406

Although Danny originally planned on putting out an album of soulful R&B music with a Latin twist, things have changed in recent weeks for him. Danny has found a niche in the country music genre, and even sings a couple Rascal Flatts songs on tour. Discussing his upcoming country album, Danny said, “There probably won’t be much of a Latin twist, but I am a versatile singer and I like all types of music. My prerogative with my music is my message first, and country music is great for sharing a message. The music will still have a lot of soul in it. I will put my heart, my soul, and my mind into the music to really make a good album.”

Nashville, Tennessee is the home of country music, but Danny is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “I plan on living in both cities,” Danny shared. “My foundation, Sophia’s Heart Foundation, is in Wisconsin, but the record label is in Tennessee. Part of Sophia’s Heart’s staff is in Tennessee, so that will be good too.”

After spending a summer touring in 50 cities, the American Idols Live! 2009 tour will wrap on September 15 and the ten finalists will work on their careers. “I’m going to miss the relationships and connections we all formed the most. It’s really been a beautiful thing. We’ve become like family. We all have individual things we have to pursue so we will be going our separate ways. I really hope we all stay in touch.”

MyIdol member americanidol22xo wanted to know, besides the set he performs on stage, what is Danny’s favorite part of a typical concert day. “The second best thing about being on tour is meeting the fans. There’s so much excitement from them. We meet really nice people and I’ve made special connections with many of them. It’s a very hands-on experience. I heard about the fans while I was on the show, but now I get to experience it.” Danny is grateful for the gifts his fans have given him. “I have received so many nice gifts. It’s nice to see that there are a lot of people out there who support us. I’ve learned about fans’ unique experiences. It’s great to meet everyone.”

Kicking off his concert set with Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.” Danny said, “People love that song. Michael Jackson has gone down in history and this is a small way for us to acknowledge him and pay respects. Everyone is always on their feet during that song.”

To the Season 9 hopefuls, Danny offered up the following suggestions: “Number one, be yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. And number two, be something fresh and new. Be something unique that no one else possesses. The industry doesn’t want a carbon copy.”

Danny would like to say to his fans, “I love you from the bottom of my heart. You are the reason for my success, and I wouldn’t be here without you.” Danny will stay true to himself and his fans – “I won’t change anything. I will always make good music. Thanks for everything.”

via: http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/pid/1839

The American Idol Tour made a stop in Madison Friday. Before they took the stage, several of the singers met with media.

When we asked Adam Lambert to choose Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre, he said, “I plead the 5th. I know nothing about sports. I know Brett Favre is an athlete. He’s a football player, right? I guess I’ll go with him because I know who he is. I don’t know the other guy!”

Allison Iraheta didn’t know of Favre or Rodgers.

Milwaukee’s Danny Gokey, of course knew all about both players. He chose Rodgers without hesitation. “Aaron Rodgers, for what he has done – It’s amazing. I feel like he can break every record out there! I’m a big fan of Aaron Rodgers.”

Gokey’s only criticism for Rodgers? He says Rodgers should lose the mustache he sported in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Titans.

via: http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11085166

Getting a good sleep isn’t always easy. But sometimes it’s worth it.

Just ask Danny Gokey.

As one of the top 10 contestants from season eight of the reality TV show, “American Idol,” Gokey is a member of the American Idols Live Tour 2009. His time is now spent traveling and performing.

The tour has 52 scheduled shows throughout the U.S. and will play at Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

In a recent interview, the third-place finalist spoke about being a cast member of the show and tour. He also talked about his late wife, Sophia, and how her unexpected loss inspired him.

Employed as a worship director at his church, and also working with nonprofit groups through the church, Gokey said he worked evenings and had little time to watch “American Idol” when it first aired.

Sophia, however, was a big fan. He said when they purchased a DVR and he was able to watch the show, he loved it. He auditioned for the show one month after Sophia’s death.

Gokey began singing at a young age when attending church with his family. Having a love for music his entire life, he said being part of “American Idol” was something he could only dream about as a child.

His fondest memory from the show came in the finale, when he performed duets with Lionel Richie of “Just Go” and “All Night Long.”

“That was my greatest moment on the show,” he said. “I loved it.”

Gokey said he feels privileged for the opportunity to perform on the tour. It’s something he cherishes and protects.

“I love it, it’s a dream come true,” he said. “To get paid to do what you love is awesome.”

He said even though he now has more experience performing before large crowds, he still gets nervous every time he goes on stage. He believes it’s a good thing because it adds excitement to the performance.

Gokey said he will sing “Pretty Young Thing,” “What Hurts the Most,” “Maria, Maria” and “My Wish” in this year’s show.

When asked if he disliked anything about the experience, the only thing he could come up with was the lack of good sleep. He said it’s difficult for him to sleep on the bus when they travel at night.

“Sometimes I can’t fall asleep,” he said. “It’s not a good sleep.”

Gokey said he became bitter and depressed after Sophia’s death. Instead of hanging on to the good things they had together, he focused only on “why did she have to go?”

He said he had always been a person of faith and that’s what pulled him through. He learned to let go, which is now his personal philosophy. He said letting go is about changing your mindset on things, about living life and doing it the right way.

“It was a hard lesson to learn, a lesson I didn’t want to learn,” he said. “You can’t stop bad things from happening to you, but you can stop them from stealing your heart from you.”

With money received unexpectedly from a life insurance policy provided by Sophia’s job, Gokey launched the Sophia’s Heart Foundation, to benefit disadvantaged children, last Dec. 3.

He said because both he and Sophia loved children he wanted to do something to keep her legacy alive.

“It doesn’t have to be the end of her on earth,” he said. “She’s still having a profound impact on people’s lives.”

via: http://www.standardspeaker.com/news/idol_tour_at_arena_wed

By John J. Moser

Danny Gokey wants to be the new Miley Cyrus. Or Darius Rucker.

Gokey, the church music director who finished third on this year’s edition of ”American Idol,” announced Wednesday he signed with RCA Nashville Records, and his debut disc will be country music.

But Gokey says it will be more in the contemporary country vein of former ”Idol” winner Carrie Underwood, Rucker or Taylor Swift.

”I would say even Miley Cyrus is country,” Gokey told Entertainment Weekly magazine. ”And I believe that’s the take they’re going to take with me.”

But before Gokey begins recording this month, he’ll finish up the ”American Idols Live” tour, which stops Wednesday at Reading’s Sovereign Center and Thursday at Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre.

Gokey, 29, says he was late announcing his contract — Season 8 winner Kris Allen, runner-up Adam Lambert and even fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta announced theirs in June — because the others were better at defining their musical style.

”I’ve done church music my whole entire life, we focused on God,” he says. ”When I came to ‘American Idol,’ I had to learn to put my focus out toward the audience, which was a brand new experience.”

Gokey also blames that lack of focus on why he didn’t win, despite being an early favorite. He says his early strong performances may actually have worked against him — as did the attention he got for having lost his wife, Sophia, to congenital heart failure a month before his audition.

”I think there was a lot of hype on me going into the show — kinda put on a very high expectation,” he says. ”But I let the pressure get to me and I couldn’t perform at the full level that I could perform. There was more in me that I just didn’t show on the show.”

Gokey adds, ”I think also the level of talent on the show this year — there’s some amazing people on the show that I was competing against.”

Allen and Lambert, Gokey says, were ”very smart. It’s like they know how to go into a show and calculate it and know how to make the right decisions. I feel like I didn’t have that, I didn’t show that. I feel at times I didn’t make a right decision or I could have made better decisions.”

Considering Gokey’s religious beliefs, he’s asked how he feels about Lambert’s announcement that is gay. In fact, the issue flared on the Internet when Idol finalist Michael Sarver posted a video in which Gokey says he loves Sarver ”to pieces,” then quickly added,” in the right way … in a godly way.”

”It doesn’t bother me at all,” Gokey says about Lambert’s sexuality. ”How can I say this the right way so that people don’t misunderstand me? Honestly, I just think that it’s his choice. And dude, I like the guy regardless of what he does.

”Obviously I have my spiritual foundations, but my spiritual foundations aren’t to be put on anyone else. My only objective that comes from my biblical foundation is to love people,” he says.

”You know, if you want to push someone away, just start condemning them. And that’s not my responsibility, it never was. … I’m glad you asked the question, because Christians are learning just like everyone else is learning. We don’t have all the answers.”

Gokey says he hopes to use his career to not only entertain people, but inspire them, too.

”My thought on it is simply this: People need more than just entertainment,” he says. ”We also have a compassionate side, a side where we want to be inspired or a side where we want to be just touched. And that’s how I see myself with my music.”

Gokey — who seemed to never wear the same pair of eyeglasses on the show, also hopes to develop a line of eyewear. ”I sat down with a company, had a meeting with them a couple days ago,” he says.

He says a dispute has been settled in which a company was using his name to sell an eyewear line with promises to donate some proceeds to the Sophie’s Heart Foundation that Gokey started in his late wife’s name to help school music programs.

Gokey says his foundation is as important to him as his musical career.

”We’re very serious — this foundation will touch a lot of peoples’ lives,” he says. ”That’s the bottom line, that’s my take, that’s my heart. My music is my entertaining side, my foundation is my inspiring side. You almost could say it’s my religious side, too.”

via: http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/all-d-a.7009332sep05,0,4297891,full.story

… And it has a hair chest close-up! What can be better than this?! wlki fanning herself:

via: www.1037kissfm.com

Danny Gokey encountered tragedy and came up singing.

A month before the Milwaukee native was set to audition for TV’s “American Idol,” his wife Sophia died during surgery from an existing heart condition. It was the last year Gokey could try out for the show because the age limit for the competition is 28, his age at the time.

Gokey brushed away his tears in order to follow his and his wife’s dream of him competing on the show. His soulful voice and confident stage presence kept him on until the “top three” week.

Read the rest/interview: http://www.newstimes.com/ci_13263067