Kris Allen Reminisces About Michael Jackson

Standard response to everything Kris says: awwwwww!

Nice..

Adorable as always. I cannot wait for tour vids. Go KRIS

Kris is obviously a huge Michael Jackson fan. I think Kara was right — he probably does know the MJ catalog better than most, if not all, of the other Idols from this season.

The quote below was from one of his EW.com interviews:

On Michael Jackson and his other favorite artists back in the day
“I was a huge, huge, huge fan of Michael Jackson. Almost too big of a fan. He’s one of the best ever. I would sit in my room and put on a hat and try to dance in front of the mirror. All this stuff on my own, never in front of people. I was too embarrassed. I started listening to him and then started listening to a lot of R&B stuff like Boyz II Men, II. I grew up listening to that. I love that. [Singing] ‘I’ll make love to you’ ¦’  Probably not a good idea [for a 9-year-old kid]. ”

I’ve seen some people in the comment sections on different articles wonder why anyone would bother asking Kris about Jackson’s death, dismissing the idea that someone like Kris could know anything about Jackson or his music. I find that remarkably sad.

I wonder what song Kris had chosen originally…maybe A Song For You? Hmm.

Also sooo cute trying to imagine Kris dancing like MJ!

Aww, 8-year-old Kris dancing like Michael! I wish there was a video or something, haha.

Kris has good taste in music. MJ has deep meanings in his songs and that is what I would expect from Kris. Kris is just telling it like it is with a lot of class.

I love reading about Kris’ passion for music, and what inspires him. I know all of the contestants are passionate about their careers, but with Kris it just seems so tangible. I can’t help but feel creative and motivated whenever I hear him talk about MJ, songwriting, performing, etc.

I’m so glad Newsweek did this. I believe Kris’s love of music, including MJ is contagious.

Kris has good taste in music.

I agree. I liked every song he chose, on the show. Some of them, I didn’t know I liked until he sang them (like MJ’s songs. I wasn’t ever a big fan).

I can’t help but feel creative and motivated whenever I hear him talk about MJ, songwriting, performing, etc.

I know what you mean. He does the same thing for me. I’m not a musician but I have other artistic interests. He has such a pure love of what he’s doing it’s infectious. And I respect him because I think he’s committed to creating, improving, growing, being true to who he is…and many other good things. Cool guy.

@girlygirl – thank you – I saw the rudest comment attached to this article and I was so annoyed – I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. I think MJ’s music was an inspiration to so many of the younger generation in music today.

I love Kris’ unspoiled love of music. He got into the top twelve because he just brought it with Man in the Mirror, when dozens of overprocessed semifinalists melted down or delivered something stilted. Part of that came from Kris finding something genuine in a song by a man who himself was lost in the wilderness. I liked also his take on Do You Remember the Time? but I really loved him leading Alison to Give in to Me. I like Michael Jackson music better if younguns like Kris, Adam and Allison can perform it, heartfelt and carefree.

I thought that he gave a really good answer to this question:

What about all the stuff in his personal life: the trial, him showing up to court in pajamas, how he dangled one of his kids from a balcony.
It never turned me off against his music. Because it was always a separate thing to me. There were always things that I saw, that I’d be like: awww Michael, what are you doing?! But when you put his songs on, you completely forget about that. And the nice things was, my parents would see even more of that stuff than I did, obviously they’re going to watch the news more than me as a kid, and they never turned me off on him.

It kinda is due to MJ that he made it to the top since he sang: I Want You Back, Man in the Mirror, and Remember the time!

I just want to know who sang the song he originally wanted…

Spoken like a true music lover, and he also comes off as thougtful and respectful. I like that he seems like such a normal person. He’s still the stealth Idol.

sleeptalker asked:

I wonder what song Kris had chosen originally’ ¦maybe A Song For You? Hmm

I was curious too. I looked over the top 36 performances. Stephen Fowler in Group 1 was the only other person to sing a MJ song. It was “Rock With You” – so I would conclude that was the one Kris wanted to do.

Edit: I read the article wrong, I thought it was another MJ song he wanted to do. It could have been any of the other songs contestants chose…but I would think it was someone in Group 1 or Group 2 that beat him to his first choice. Ricky Braddy did sing “A Song for You” in Group 1.

My interest in Kris keeps growing. I thought he was boring on the show, but now I find him to be very genuine and sweet.

“A Song for You” was not covered by Michael Jackson or the Jackson 5 to my knowledge.

‘A Song for You’  was not covered by Michael Jackson or the Jackson 5 to my knowledge.

I don’t think anyone said it was.

I can buy that it was Kris’ first song choice, given that he did it in his audition and another contestant performed it during the semis. Ah, well, “Man in the Mirror” was good enough to get him into the top 13 so maybe he’s better off for not getting to do his first song choice anyway.

Note to the Allen parents: Do you have footage of 8 year old Kris dancing around the house? If so, please share

this is what MJ should be remembered for: the infectious music so many adored.

the rest of it — the plastic surgery, the addictions, the family dysfunction, the stuff with kids (his own and others) — I’d be happy to have the media just ignore rather than feed on. Enuf is enuf.

I wish that this interview was going into the print version of the magazine.

Regarding the song choice–I read Kris’s answer as if there were some urgency. If the song he wanted had been chosen by someone in Group 1, he would have had a week to pick another song.

I think it was someone in his own group. that night the following songs were sung: Love Song, Viva la Vida, This Love, And I’m Telling You I’m not Going, Alone, Man in the Mirror, Put Your Records On, If You Could Only See, Bette Davis Eyes, What Becomes of a Brokenhearted, Drops of Jupiter, and (I can’t get no) Satisfaction.

I’m so curious. Of those songs, I can imagine him singing This Love (Maroon 5), Viva la Vida (Coldplay), Love Song (Sara Bareilles–actually, I think Kris would do a nice job on that), or maybe Drops of Jupiter.

Nice interview. I really like Kris. Sounds like he was a true lover of MJs music. I can spot em cause I’m one too! Good luck Kris… looking forward to your music.

For fun… man that dancin…wonder if Kris ever danced to this one???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC1TTz2bMmM&feature=related

girlygirl “I’ve seen some people in the comment sections on different articles wonder why anyone would bother asking Kris about Jackson’s death, dismissing the idea that someone like Kris could know anything about Jackson or his music. I find that remarkably sad.”

These people are shallow blog rats and maybe mad because their idol didn’t win or something. In general the art of discussion is dead. The superficial blog comments are mostly attacks on somone else’s opinion or obscenity. Even here people still call Kris the guy who won to show their disrespect. I always hope that maybe some of Kris’ intelligence, kindness and respect for music rubs off. I believe in karma.

I think Kris’ original song choice was probably from group 1- he saw someone do it already and realized that he couldn’t do it again so that’s why he had so little time to choose another one. Unless maybe he wanted to do I’m Yours but it was sung as the group song? Or maybe it was I Don’t Wanna Be by Gavin Degraw? Ahh! I really want to know! hehe

I wonder what song Kris had chosen originally in top 36…..That would be a good Twitter question!
Just love his passion for music! And he’s sooo good at communicating the lyrics of a song

I just read an MTV article where they wonder why “Man in the Mirror” is the top MJ song on Itunes among all his big hits!!
Surprising that they don’t make any connection to Kris singing it and the fact that it was broadcasted again yesterday!!

I wish they had played Man in the Mirror last night when they did the replay tribute to Michael Jackson. That was one of my favorite Kris Allen songs of season 8 and the version on I tunes is outstanding. Without meaning any sacrilige, I really liked Kris’s version better than Michael’s. Michael had all those weird little signature vocalizations between the words that I found distracting in this particular song. I listen to Kris’s version a few times every day. This was a nice little tribute to Michael Jackson. I remember Paula saying that Kris new Michael’s catalog better than any of the other contestants and that was why he was able to help Allison and others pick songs. Funny that he had to wait for the last minute to pick one for himself. (By the way, I love that picture of Kris on the No Boundaries download advertisement. Nice look with the little bit of scruff.)

These people are shallow blog rats and maybe mad because their idol didn’t win or something.

Or maybe they don’t get the connection between Kris and MJ. He wasn’t really one of the standouts during Michael Jackson week on AI and the title of the article is a bit confusing before you read the Q and A and realize he’s a big Michael fan.

“Man in the Mirror” by MJ being #1 on itunes has nothing (IMO) to do with Kris. It has been at the top since Thursday night (day of his death) on iTunes. I don’t think a connection could be made since Kris’s iTunes sales, when they were released, did not have his Top 36 Idol performance of MitM anywhere near the top of the numbers for him. If there were hundreds of thousands of people buying Kris’ version of MJ months ago (and there is no indication that they were), that is certainly not the reason they catapulted MJs version to #1. It just must have been a sleeper hit, that now new generations are discovering or older adults are remembering how much of a classic it truly is.

Sorry, umm, we’re (us in the Idol bubble) not that powerful…

I wonder what song Kris had chosen originally in top 36

Probably it was “And I’m Telling You” but Nick nabbed it. LOL.

Seriously, I don’t know but I bet it is something that somebody sang in Group 2. I’m not sure they would disallow something that was sung the week before. Last year, they let people sing the same songs on Top 24 week the next day. Both Brooke and David Cook tackled “Happy Together” while Chickezie and Alaina did “More Today than Yesterday”. In Season 6, both Leslie and AJ were eliminated during Top 20 week after they sang “Feeling Good”. And then there was Season 2, when Clay and Josh both sang “To Love Somebody” during the BeeGees week (yeah, I don’t think they let them do that anymore). Perhaps Kris wanted to sing “This Love” by Maroon 5. Or it might have been “Love Song”. Or maybe he was saved in more ways than one when Matt stole “Viva La Vida”.

Anyway, it worked out that Kris sang a song that got him from almost zero air time to the finals and on to his win, so it it’s all good. I enjoyed reading his comments on MJ in Newsweek.

I was thinking that Kris didn’t want to repeat something that was sung already and that’s why my theory was that someone from group 1 had the song he wanted. hehe. We just figured out all the other stuff he sang that wasn’t shown (For Once In My Life, Everything) and now there’s an new mystery! haha..

@mandabutter
Yeah and it’s ‘Remeber the time’ that was rebroadcated yesterday on AI. My mistake..
However, there are quite a number of hits on youtube for Kris perf of it. In my opinion, it helped but as you said it looks like a sleeper hit

Sorry, umm, we’re (us in the Idol bubble) not that powerful’ ¦

We are all powerful, hear us roar!!!!! LOL.

Seriously, Idol fans can drive a song to number one. They did that with “Hallelujah” last year and lots of Idol coronation songs. Even “Crush” went to number 1 on iTunes after a couple of spins on one radio station.

So, it can be done. That said, I don’t think that Kris singing “Man in the Mirror” 4 months ago drove this song to number one this past week (well, we’ll know if it was number one for the week tomorrow).

Here is the effect that Kris had on the song the week he sang it:

146 Michael Jackson ‘Man in the Mirror’  11,048 (559%; lw 1,676) Total: 265,676 (OFF) – Kris

That was the second highest percentage increase of any song sung by an Idol contestant that week (the highest being “Alone” which was sung by Allison). The biggest selling song that was sung by an Idol contestant was “Viva La Vida”, but it was already selling well before and actually saw a 6% decrease in sales that week. Anyway the numbers for that week are here.

The only thing that the rise in “Man in the Mirror” this week shows (IMO) is perhaps that Kris has a knack for knowing what will resonate with audiences today.

Man In the Mirror was not one of my favorite MJ songs and was surprised it was doing so well on I-tunes. The message is powerful, and when Kris performed it, I felt his connection with that message. After I found out about his mission work, building houses in Thailand, performing at a Mozambique prison, all that “philanthropy stuff”, I appreciated his performance so much more.

I must admit, I did wonder if Kris’s performance of Man in the Mirror spurred on younger viewers to download it from I-tunes after Michael Jackson’s passing, recognizing that song from AI. It’s not improbable. I’m certain that’s the last thing Kris would even think about or assume.

These people are shallow blog rats and maybe mad because their idol didn’t win or something.

Or maybe they don’t get the connection between Kris and MJ. He wasn’t really one of the standouts during Michael Jackson week on AI and the title of the article is a bit confusing before you read the Q and A and realize he’s a big Michael fan.

They’re blog rats. The comment in question was just the usual nasty crap. These people search articles about Kris and just spew negativity.

@Kirsten
thanks for the numbers! That’s interesting
When he did Falling Slowly, the song had a major increase in sales

I don’t know about the numbers. I just know what I like and Kris’s version of Man in the Mirro really rocks. It is a great, great version and sounds better on I tunes than on the original performance. It was his first televised solo of season 8 and he started out a little nervous and rocky and then got into the song and did a great job. That isn’t noticeable at all on the download on i-tunes where is sounds great throughout.

If they don’t get the connection between Kris and Michael Jackson they don’t know much about Kris. On the AI site he lists Michael Jackson as one of his musical influences. On the show he was credited with knowing the Michael Jackson catalog better than anyone else. He is the only one, I believe to perform two Michael Jackson songs over the course of the season 8, and in interview he has mentioned his love for Michael Jackson’s music on more than one occasion.

So wait. I’m not understanding. Here are the statistics for the week that Kris sang Man in the Mirror on American Idol:

146 Michael Jackson ‘Man in the Mirror’  11,048 (559%; lw 1,676) Total: 265,676 (OFF) – Kris

Downloads of that song went up 559% from 1,676 the week before to 11,048 the week following his performance and you don’t think Kris’s performance had an impact on the numbers? What am I missing?

It looks to me like it had a huge impact. I remember I looked it up because I didn’t remember the song before I heard Kris sing it. I listened to the preview of Michael Jackson’s original on I-tunes but decided I liked Kris’s version better so I didn’t download Michael’s.

The thing I like about Kris’s comments is that it focuses on the MUSIC.

I’ve become so tired about the freak-show coverage of MJ’s death, which just seems to go on 24/7. In the last week there was a coup in Honduras, the U.S. is withdrawing more than half its troops from Iraq, things are nuts in Iran, and for a while the only news you could get on even the all-news channels was about MJ’s autopsy, weird lifestyle, children, etc. It was ghoulish, repetitive and after a while ridiculous.

The main reason anyone cares about MJ stems from his musical talent. After “Thriller” he lost me, but I’m grateful to Kris that I finally understood the essence of “Man in the Mirror,” and could enjoy “Remember the Time.” I think he captured the joy in MJ’s music that was eventually buried under a whole lot of other crud.

Anyway, Kris is just a breath of fresh air in so many ways. I think Idol lucked in on having recent winners who not only have genuine talent, but also genuine humility and poise — especially David Cook and Kris Allen.

I just read an MTV article where they wonder why ‘Man in the Mirror’  is the top MJ song on Itunes among all his big hits!!

Perez posted a cover on Man in the mirror by James Morrisson the day after MJ died. Might have helped some (it was very good),

CHRIS_DaughtryFollow my man! @KrisAllen4Real
about 14 hours ago from TwitterFon

chris is asking his fans to follow the other kris! and he also says this

CHRIS_DaughtryYes the Kris Allen acct is real

reality rocks interview of Matt is just up

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/247080/matt-giraud-on-the-scene-at-the-idols-tour-rehearsals/

Kris is darn adorable! i love his sincerity and his pure love of music…and i love that he separates music from personal life….

kris has a very deep knowledge of music and has deep love to it, this will guide him to more success!

So wait. I’m not understanding. Here are the statistics for the week that Kris sang Man in the Mirror on American Idol:

146 Michael Jackson ‘Man in the Mirror’  11,048 (559%; lw 1,676) Total: 265,676 (OFF) – Kris

Downloads of that song went up 559% from 1,676 the week before to 11,048 the week following his performance and you don’t think Kris’s performance had an impact on the numbers? What am I missing?

It looks to me like it had a huge impact. I remember I looked it up because I didn’t remember the song before I heard Kris sing it. I listened to the preview of Michael Jackson’s original on I-tunes but decided I liked Kris’s version better so I didn’t download Michael’s.

I don’t think anyone said that. I think the earlier poster said that Kris having sung MITM back in the semis probably did not have an effect on MITM being the No.1 song on iTunes this week, after MJ’s death. It clearly had an effect on MITM’s numbers the week Kris sang it, but that did not come close to propelling it to #1 like MJ’s death did this past week.

Downloads of that song went up 559% from 1,676 the week before to 11,048 the week following his performance and you don’t think Kris’s performance had an impact on the numbers? What am I missing?

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I’m pretty sure that the increase in numbers that week can be attributed to Kris singing the song on Idol, but that was back in February. I’m sure it moved a few units this past week as well, but I don’t think it was the major factor for this current week’s sales. Memories tend to be a little short.

When he did Falling Slowly, the song had a major increase in sales

Yes, that was the increase in sales that week:

51 Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova ‘Falling Slowly’  32,015 (1910%; 1,597) Total: 360,833 (OFF) – Kris sang it

That is so nice that Chris Daughtry has taken such a liking to Kris Allen.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I’m pretty sure that the increase in numbers that week can be attributed to Kris singing the song on Idol, but that was back in February. I’m sure it moved a few units this past week as well, but I don’t think it was the major factor for this current week’s sales. Memories tend to be a little short.

Makes sense that sales of the original Man in the Mirror would go up after Kris performed it on AI. This same thing has happened to a lot of songs after they were performed on American Idol — and other popular TV shows. It happened a lot when David Cook did songs last year, Kris and Adam this year, etc. It really isn’t surprising if 30 million people (adding in online viewing) see a song covered and like it, some of them buy the original.

Kris is definitely all about the music. I appreciate that. I’m glad he won AI.

I love that EW bit. Such a genuine guy, I like how passionate he’s about the music and his artistic influences. My favorite AI Champion!

Ross said:
“They’re blog rats. The comment in question was just the usual nasty crap. These people search articles about Kris and just spew negativity.”

Yep. There are people who seemingly dedicate every waking hour to Kris-bashing….google the name “Kerry Kolsch”.

And the nice things was, my parents would see even more of that stuff than I did, obviously they’re going to watch the news more than me as a kid, and they never turned me off on him.

I truly love Kris, but I think I might love his parents more. Evangelicals who don’t make me want to whack myself in the head with a hammer. They probably would have welcomed Jesus into their home, too, even though he was a rebellious rabble rouser. :tongue_wink_ee:

Yep. There are people who seemingly dedicate every waking hour to Kris-bashing’ ¦.google the name ‘Kerry Kolsch’ .

lol, i did! and holy crap…talk about “passionate”. i think she might be one of the fans that adam describes as crossing the line. scurry scurry

back to Pocket Idol…what i enjoy most about him is his appreciation of music. thats why his version of man in the mirror won him a top 13 spot…he was FEELING the song with so much conviction, that you couldnt help but be drawn in. the man knows and loves music and it shows in his performances.

and im always in awe by his poised and thoughtful answers in interviews……mamma and papa allen did a great job with their boys!

I wish Kris would sing Man in the Mirror on tour. I loved that performance of his.

Thanks:- I wish Kris would sing Man in the Mirror on tour. I loved that performance of his
MÃ ¼zik