Ryan Tedder Talks Idol (Producing Stefano Langone, Working with Adam Lambert and David Cook)

THR spoke with songwriter and OneRepublic frontman, Ryan Tedder about his work with the Idols.

Ryan has written songs with and for a diverse set of Idols including, Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, Adam Lambert, David Cook and Kelly Clarkson.

This week, while he had a little time in LA he swung by the Interscope studios to produce an Idol track. He was originally set to work with Pia Toscano, but was suddenly pulled away to work with Stefano Langone instead.  It was bit of adjustment, but in the end was full of praise for Stefano.

After the jump, check out what Ryan had to say about working with Stefano, Adam Lambert (funny and goofy as hell) and David Cook (don’t worry Cook fans,   “The Last Goodbye” is NOT a crappy ballad. Heh)

  • Ryan saw Stefano Langone sing “Tiny Dancer” last week and was “blown away” by his voice. “Stefano is one of the most talented male vocalists that I’ve ever worked with, Idol or not, ” says Ryan, “He actually blew me away. I didn’t go in with any expectations but I couldn’t believe how good he was in the studio. He seemed like a seasoned pro who knew what he was doing.”
  • On working with Adam Lambert “He’s still super funny and goofy as hell. We just have fun in the studio. He doesn’t take himself seriously at all. It’s still fun and cheeky and sarcastic, but he definitely knows what he wants.
  • On working with David Cook, “David was, like, “I want to do something uptempo, ” so his first single, “The Last Goodbye, ” you would never know that I wrote it. It’s really emotional and it hits you with the chorus about 40 seconds into the song, so it’s just immediate. ”  Ryan says he got over writing “big sweeping ballads” like Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone”  about a year and a half ago.
  • David Cook as a songwriter: “more than any singer I’ve worked with, he contributed enormously lyrically and musically – he can play, he knows voicing, chords and arrangements as well as lyrics. He’s a full-on writer. I love David, he’s a great guy.
About mj santilli 35158 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!