Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Wondering how the American Idol summer tour opener went?

Well, there were apparently lots of empty seats in Detroit Friday night. Billboard and the Detroit News both report lots of empty seats in the rear lower deck of the Joe Lewis Arena and that most of the upper deck was curtained off.

Ouch! Not a good sign for opening night, when you’d think interest would be at its highest.

But both sources also report several highlights and a few surprises from the show.

The surprises included an original song from Colton Dixon named “Never Gone,” a cover of Usher’s “Nice and Slow” by Phillip Phillips and a performance of “Moves Like Jagger” by Erika Van Pelt, Hollie Cavanagh, Joshua Ledet and Colton.

Yep, “Moves Like Jagger.” As in the Maroon 5-Christina Aguilera smash hit.

As for the highlights, Joshua got another standing ovation for “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and both sources agreed Phillip was in fine form fresh off kidney surgery.

He performed his coronation song “Home,” of course, this time accompanied by Colton and Deandre Brackensick.

There seemed to be a whole lot of group numbers going on during this year’s tour. You can head here for the most organized set list I’m come across, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

The Detroit News provides a splendid song by song account of opening night, complete with critique, here. And here’s a link to Billboard’s coverage of the show.

The Idols will be back at it tonight, performing at the AllState Arena near Chicago, Ill.

Now, for some video highlights …

Colton Dixon — “Never Gone”

Phillip Phillips — “Nice and Slow”

Jessica Sanchez — “Best Thing I Never Had”