Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Casey James & Didi Benami Chat with Fans (Video ~ Recorded Live!)

Good News, Fans! If you missed the Live Chat with Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Casey James and Didi Benami, you can watch it now on The Crystal Bowersox Blog! The 2-hour event was recorded live. The Idols answer questions submitted by fans via Twitter.

It's great to see the Idols like this...interacting and having fun with each other, letting down their hair - so to speak, and really letting the fans get to know them. We get a much better sense of who Crystal and Lee really are. They seem so much more natural and at ease sitting around answering questions with their good friends than we've seen in the many one-on-one interviews the Idols have been doing lately.

The Live Chat was organized as a promotion for the American Idol LIVE tour kicking off July 1 in Detroit, Michigan.

The first live chat, held with Tim Urban, Katie Stevens, and Michael Lynche, drew more than 100,000 live responses from engaged fans. The second featured Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia and Siobhan Magnus.

American Idol's Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze & Casey James ~ LIVE CHAT TODAY!!

American Idol fans will get to interact with the Top 10 finalists today, Sunday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.. Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox along with other finalists including Casey James and Didi Benami will answer questions from their fans.

This audience - American Idol finalist’s talk is being organized as a promotion for the American Idol live tour starting off on July 1 at Detroit.


Fans will get an excellent opportunity to tweet their questions to #IdolsLive. The audience has a chance to get an answer to all their queries regarding American Idol and its contestants.

The first live chat held with Tim Urban, Katie Stevens, and Michael Lynche drew more than 100,000 live responses from engaged fans. The second featured Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia and Siobhan Magnus. Tickets for the Idols Live Tour are for sale.

American Idol Live! Tour 2010 Tickets are NOW on Sale!!! Get them HERE!

The Top 10 finalists Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Lee DeWyze, Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus, and Tim Urban will hit the road this summer on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010.

See Crystal Bowersox LIVE!!

America’s #1 show will make 51 stops this summer at a mix of top arenas and amphitheaters across North America giving fans a chance once again to catch their favorite Idols performing live in a town near them. The Live Nation promoted tour begins on July 1st in Detroit and runs through September 14th in Pittsburgh. For the full list of locations.

Simon Fuller, creator and executive producer of American Idol stated, “We are all looking forward to this year’s American Idol Live! Tour. This is always one of the highlights of the year. Each of the Idols have the chance to meet the people that voted for them and perform at incredible venues all over America, another special moment in their developing careers.”

With Crystal Bowersox & 3 other Idols sporting new ink, Season 9's Top 6 talk tattoos

Life offstage had a theme this week and it was new ink. With a rare day off (which Siobhan Magnus described as "like, a big deal"), four of six Season 9 contestants took advantage of the me time and visited a Hollywood tattoo parlor on Friday night. Naturally, we had to ask what inspired the four to mark the occasion and also posed a question to Casey and Aaron, who sat out the inking: What would they put on their sleeve at this moment in their lives?
Crystal Bowersox: Sporting fresh ink on her left wrist -- a beautifully illustrated gadfly-like twist on the classic medical symbol with a syringe down the middle and the words Type 1 Diabetic written across the top, Crystal said she got the tattoo because she is a "diabetic for life" and also "because I am really horrible about wearing medic ID bracelets and necklaces." But beyond practical purposes, Crystal says it sends a message to others and serves as a reminder to herself. "It's important now being in the position that I'm in," she explained after Tuesday night's show. "I have a responsibility to take good care of myself. There's lots of little kids out there with juvenile diabetes who need to take care of themselves, and they need a good role model." As for the art itself, she proudly declared, "I designed my own thing."

Siobhan Magnus: Ever the jokester, Siobhan first tried to convince us she had Michael Lynche's and Lee DeWyze's names written on her butt cheek, leaving "room on the other side for everybody else.... I'm sorry I can't show you," she said with a hilariously straight face. But in all seriousness, she couldn't show us the roman numeral IX she had stenciled on her "hip area," but she could explain the digit's significance: "It's been a really good number for me," said Siobhan. "I was 19 years old when I tried out in 2009 for season 9. And the more I think about it, then the more nines come up. Like memory vomit -- I was 9 years old when I figured out I loved to sing, and I was born in 1990, I could go on and on...."

Michael Lynche: Big Mike's gigantic guns both got new decoration. On his left arm, three stars, each about 3 inches tall. On his right: the word "Dream" in script. "They're healing up good," said Mike. "I'm just into reaching for the stars, you know? As silly as it is, I'm reaching as high as you can go and just dreaming big dreams. I'm sure all of us want to be stars. It resonates in my spirit, so I put it on my arm."

Lee DeWyze: Fans first spotted Lee's adornment at a "Shrek Forever After" screening over the weekend. Lee explained the symbol: "I got a silhouette of the Chicago flag ... (because of) everything that's happened to me there, and that's where this all started for me."

Casey James: When it comes to future tats, the wheels are already turning in Casey's mind. One of which, he teased, involves "a symbol from a movie" on his arm. He later 'fessed up: it's a Star Wars thing, which he'll share with his brother and cousin. "I've got a few (tattoos) drawn up that I'm getting when I go back home," said Casey. "My brother has one on his arm that's my initials on music bars, and I'm going to get his, which is BC."

Aaron Kelly: Though he's now one year closer to 18, Aaron's mother would likely not approve of a tattoo on her little guy -- even if it said "Mom" -- but if he were to go under the pen? "I'd probably go (with something) like Siobhan's," said Aaron. "But she did a roman numeral IX and I'd probably get the (number) 9 for season 9 of American Idol."

SOURCE: Shirley Halperin, LATimes.com

Jermaine Sellers, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche and Todrick Hall perform

Season 9 contestants Jermaine Sellers, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche, Todrick Hall and Thaddeus Johnson perform on American Idol Hollywood Round #3

Crystal Bowersox and Andrew Garcia emerge as American Idol Front-Runners In Hollywood

After group night, Katie Stevens, Didi Benami and Haeley Vaughn are also drawing attention.

Yes, the first two rounds of Hollywood Week have just ended, and there's plenty of drama that will undoubtedly unfold before we make it to the top 24. But that has not stopped us from tagging some of the breakout stars that have emerged so far on season nine of "American Idol."

If you can survive the dreaded group round and still have the judges smiling at you, you've already won the first battle, and these singers seem poised to rise to the top ... for now anyway.

Among those who appear to have skated through the first few rounds with nary a scratch is is dreadlocked single mom Crystal Bowersox. The Chicagoan with the Janis Joplin growl, guitar chops and a winning personality, got a rare thumbs-up sign on Tuesday when the audience joined in and provided impromptu backing vocals on her cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," which ended in a standing ovation.

Another seemingly certain shoo-in Andrew Garcia. The sweet young dad with the neck tattoo, former gangbanger parents and a buttery soul vocal attack has already proven that he's got that certain Adam Lambert-esque shine thanks to his radical acoustic reworking of former judge Paula Abdul's "Straight Up." If this kid doesn't make it to the top 24, we'll be shocked.

With her Colbie Caillat-like groove, Los Angeles native Didi Benami is also an early audience favorite, and it probably didn't hurt that she covered a Kara DioGuardi-penned tune, Katharine McPhee's "Terrified," on Tuesday night and killed it. She's doing "Idol" in memory of a friend who passed away, and her Carrie Underwood-esque good looks and sunny attitude could take her far.

Haeley Vaughn seems determined to become the first black female pop/country artist to break through on the show. Rocker mom Mary Powers appears to be a bit controlling and hard to work with, but works a gritty, Pink-like vibe that has a certain charm. And teen Katie Stevens is emerging as a judges' favorite. DioGuardi told her she could win it all after the group performance of Alicia Keys' "No One."

The judges also seem to like Tampa, Florida's all-American blond Janell Wheeler — who reportedly dated Florida Gators legend (and controversial Super Bowl ad star) Tim Tebow — and her Sheryl Crow-meets-Pink take on Estelle's "American Boy" was impressive. Cougar bait Casey James, the hunky cowboy working a nice-guy singer/songwriter vibe, seems promising.

Backflipping, former Fantasia co-star Todrick Hall, who clearly has the creative chops to survive but is starting to come off as a little gimmicky. Siobhan Magnus. Magnus, a quirky Massachusetts 19-year-old, uses her powerful pipes in a band called Lunar Valve.

Who knows? They could all be gone next week, or one of them could be your next American Idol.