Idol Chatter & Voice Views

OK, here are two words I never figured to use together as an American Idol blogger: Crystal and Broadway.

Yep, Crystal Bowersox, the singer-songwriter runner-up from Season 9 is Broadway bound.

But at least it’s in a role that makes sense.

She’ll be portraying Patsy Cline in a musical entitled “Always… Patsy Cline,” the producers announced Tuesday.

Coincidentally, today also marks the release of Crystal’s second album, “All That for This.”

As for the musical, it features 27 hits from the country star who died way too early, in a plane crash at age 30 in 1963.

According to the press release, performances will begin in July with an official Broadway opening planned for sometime in August.

The production will also feature Annette O’Toole as one of Patsy’s biggest fans.

As for the album, I haven’t even gotten to listen to all 12 tracks yet. But when the dust settles from 2013, I’ll predict that it’ll be ranked among the top five Idol albums of the year.

Crystal is that good.

The lead single, “Dead Weight,” is great. Other favorites include the rollicking “Til the Whiskey’s Gone” and a wonderful sounding duet with Jakob Dylan called “Stitches.”

Here’s a live version of “Til the Whiskey’s Gone.”