I think Jason Castro visited the Philippines (and surrounding area) after S7 too and got quite the reception.  I don’t remember if he performed there or exactly what his visit entailed, and of course it wasn’t on the level of the concert of the Davids, but once again the Philippines supported the idols.  It’s not even just the winners and runner ups.

Thank you for all the videos, iamthepurplewalrus! Much appreciated. :-)

It started in S3 with third-placer Jasmine Trias who is a full-blooded Filipino, down to Ramiele and Camille Velasco.

It makes my quarter Filipino blood so proud that the Idol Tour that comes to Manila were given so much warm welcome and love.Well, not only the Idols,actually,one hint to non-Filipinos, when the audience are singing along , you are in good hands. Big acts from all music genres go to Manila to perform for a night or two of live show and I haven’t heard anyone complaining about the audience being loud and crazy.

Jason did (4) small mall shows here in 2010. I went to 3 of them. :P Yes, he was received well. Most Idols are received very well in the Philippines. :)

I know people here who were fans since Season 2 (I understand Clay Aiken was quite popular here at the time.) However, I think a local free channel started airing (after the US season was over) AI only from Season 3. Idol was really popular by Season 4. I know I used to rush home everytime the show was on (then aired only hours after the US broadcast) to catch Bo Bice (even though I knew from the start Carrie was going to win, heh). Constantine came here after the show and did a couple of small (mall?) gigs, which I understand were also well-received. He is actually the only Idol with public appearances here that I didn’t get to see.

By Season 5, Idol had blown up here and fans had become more active in the social media and public fora, including me. If the AI Tour had come here then, I think it would have been very well-attended, too, as there were a lot of people who would have wanted to see Taylor, Kat McPhee, Elliott (Yaminoy here! ;P), and Chris Daughtry live. Eventually, all of them, except Kat, came here and did shows. Unfortunately for Chris Daughtry, by the time he played Manila in 2009, David Cook had already become too popular and overshadowed him, plus his show with the band was a regular paying concert at an unpopular venue, so it was not as well-attended as it could have been had he visited right after his Idol season. Those of us at the concert were still pretty enthusiastic, though.

The reception here for Season 6 seemed to be a bit lukewarm. It appeared that most AI fans were still hung up on their Season 5 favorites (again, including me). I don’t remember any of the Idols from that season coming here (except Phil Stacey, but I believe he didn’t really have any public appearances Idol fans could have gone to.)

The Season 7 Idols are perhaps the most popular batch here and it’s not because of Ramiele. The David-David concert here is one of, if not the, most well-attended of foreign artist concerts in Manila in recent years. Jason’s and Michael Johns’s mall shows were also hits (as far as mall shows go). To this day, those I know who are Idol fans here still wish the Season 7 (and/or Season 5) AI Tour had come to the Philippines.

From Season 8, Adam Lambert did really well at his solo Manila concert. Kris played shows with the Jabbawockeez and Boyce Avenue in Manila and Cebu.  (Kris, however, though the headliner of the shows, did not turn out to be the main attraction there; it was the Jabbawockeez, which had a number of Fil-Am members, that seemed to be more of the crowd drawer.) Allison Iraheta did an album promo mall show here, as well.

As what also seemed to be the case in the US, Season 9 was another lackluster Idol season for the Pinoy fans. I just don’t remember reading much about that season. Then again, it could just be me. (But I doubt it.) ;P Lee DeWyze came here for a mall show, which drew a pretty modest crowd. To be fair, though, while I wasn’t a big fan of him on the show (I loved Crystal, and thought Casey James was cute, heh), I thought he was surprisingly good live and seemed to be really into the music.

Of course, the Season 10 AI Live Tour came here last year and played two consecutive shows, both of which I attended (I could not resist the discounted ticket price on Groupon for the second show, lol). At neither show was the venue (also Smart Araneta Coliseum) full, but the crowd’s loud cheers made up for the few empty seats. I mostly remember Haley giving me goosebumps from those shows. :P

To end this little novel of a post (sorry…I only get to post here once in a while these days), may I say that, to me, at least, the best voice of all the Idols who have so far played at my side of the world is still Kelly Clarkson’s. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL9nhlKwsyU