by Gina Scarpa

 

In season 6 of American Idol, Blake Lewis won over millions of fans with his beatboxing and cool, laid back style. His performances, "Somewhere Only We Know", "You Give Love A Bad Name", and "She Will Be Loved", took him all the way to the finale, where he ultimately lost to Jordin Sparks. He continues to work on his music, currently blogs about American Idol for AOL, and will be appearing at the Reality Rocks convention next month, happening April 9-10 at the L.A. Convention Center.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I've read that you had some reservations about initially trying out for American Idol. What made you change your mind?
A. Blake: It wasn't so much reservations. It was just that I had never seen the show before. I was never a fan of reality television. My opinion of American Idol was skewed and I thought it was kind of lame, like another talent show. The only time I had ever seen anything was maybe one of the final performances of the first season, like five minutes of it. I really didn't have the greatest opinion about the show. My friend called me up the day before the audition and asked what I was doing tomorrow. I was working on my first album at the time. My friend was like, "Hey if you're not doing anything, I'm going to American Idol and I'm dragging you with me." It was just the right time and I was just going to support my homie. I ended up getting in and he didn't.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How difficult was it to maintain your individuality in the competition, given that there are themes each week that you have to adhere to?
A. Blake: It's not so much the themes. It's the producers behind the camera telling you what to do and trying to manipulate you. There was me trying to sing country and that was kind of different but I had fun on that show. I had fun every week because it was a challenge for me. I grew up with electronic music and dance music so I looked at American Idol as a remix competition. When I got to the show, I was like, "I can't do these R&B runs. I have a different voice." I was going up against Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle. I had to use my attributes. It put me in front of a live audience, which is my favorite thing in the world.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Was there an aspect of your musical journey, post Idol, were you not prepared for or perhaps came as a surprise to you?
A. Blake: Yeah, definitely. I wasn't prepared for the aftermath with the fame. They don't prepare you when you're on the show for the critics. When you're on the show, you're in this bubble. I was not good at press. I don't bite my tongue. I wasn't prepared for that. And I also wasn't prepared for the notoriety of being on television. It was weird coming back to Seattle. In Seattle, there's no real pop culture. Being in Washington, I was one of the biggest things to come out of Washington besides Sir Mix-A-Lot. Seattle is very underground and that's where I come from.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You're now writing about American Idol, for AOL. Tell us a little bit about how that came about.
A. Blake: They contacted me and I said yes. I did it last year for USA Today. I did it last year and didn't really care for the show. There were only three people that I really liked and they didn't make it very far. This year, it's a completely different show. Production is great. Everything that I wanted to see happen with the show, they're doing. I'm like, "Did they read my blogs?!" If I produced the show, it would come out how it's going now. They picked an amazing cast with great vocals.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What do you think of the vibe this season on Idol? It's very different than when you were on it.
A. Blake: I miss Simon because now, Ryan just gets to make fun of Randy with no comebacks. It's kind of sad, actually. I miss that Simon ripping on Ryan, you know? I liked that every week. Simon puts people in their place and these people aren't doing that at all but that's why I love Jennifer. She gives the best constructive criticism.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: If you had to pick a favorite right now, who would it be?
A. Blake: It's getting harder every week because now, it's weekly, everyone has to do amazing. I think Pia is fantastic. She's gonna sell a lot of records. Jacob Lusk... vocally. I like Casey Abrams a lot. I've been writing every week that I'm sick of him screaming. He gave one of the best performances in Hollywood and went to screaming every night. He started losing his fan base. That's why he got voted out. He's really cool, though. He just needs to listen to what the judges have to say. Of course, Stefano cause he's from my home town. He's been killin' it as well. Those are my top. I like Naima as well because she's a performer and uses the stage to her advantage.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You'll be appearing at the Reality Rocks convention next month. What can fans expect from you there?
A. Blake: The nice thing about my fans is that they can expect the unexpected. I get them to participate when I perform. I have them beatbox, I pull them up on stage, I make them perform. I like getting them involved. I like having it interactive. I'm performing Sunday at 2:30 on April 10th. I hope a lot of people come out.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's going on with you musically?
A. Blake: I make dance music and it's going really well. I did some studio sessions last week to write some new music. It's sounding great. Lots of dance music. I just released a video called "Operator" on my friend's, DJ Dan's, album. People are responding to it. I'll probably perform that one at Reality Rocks. I might do a song that I did on the show as well as stuff from my first album. I don't do a lot of stuff from my first album. My sets are always different.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Where can fans find you if they want to keep up on you?
A. Blake: I run my own Facebook and Twitter, as well as my YouTube channel. It's youtube.com/blakelewistelevision. I talk to my fans every day! I comment on everybody's stuff. I'm a very accessible musician.

 

Stay tuned for more interviews with stars appearing at Reality Rocks!

 

Don't forget that RealityWanted will have a booth at RealityRocks for both fans and members of the reality industry to check out our service! Mark Yawitz, co-found of RealityWanted, will be in attendance and also serves on the honorary advisory board for the convention.

 

(Image courtesy of Blake Lewis)

 

Follow Blake @blakelewis and Gina @ginascarpa