Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The top 11 American Idols are apparently busy making plans for the upcoming summer tour.

The opening date is now less than a month away — July 6 at the Maverick Center in Utah — and the Idols discuss their tour plans in a series of videos you can watch at American Idol. com.

Many of them seem thrilled to be singing a full song for a change after having to cram all of their musical tricks into 90 seconds on the Idol stage.

That should be more time for dancing, says Naima Adedapo. That should leave more time for playing the stand-up bass, says Casey Abrams.

Why, Jacob Lusk figures he might even squeeze a cartwheel, handstand and split into his tour routine. Oh, that Jacob. He was just joking. I think.

James Durbin says he’s always dreamed of a tour like this. In fact, he says he used to try to organize tours of a slightly grander scale for bands he performed with. They never seemed to work out, he said, because “we weren’t good enough.”

Of course, since the Idols will be riding tour buses from stop to stop, he admits his male colleagues might not be thrilled with one item he plans to take on tour — his wrestling DVDs.

That question — what’s the one thing you have to take on tour? — provoked some of the most intriguing answers in these Idol interviews.

For Thia Megia, that would be a teddy bear named Twinkle, whom she wrote a song for when she was 6.

For Pia Toscano, that would be her grandpa’s jewelry, which she considers a good luck charm. Oh, and her makeup and some cute shoes.

For Scotty McCreery, that would  be his Egyptian cotton pillowcase because it’s … well, so comfortable.

Hmm, not sure that’s going to earn Scotty the Body many tough guy points with the Nashville crowd.

The Idols don’t land in this area until mid-August. But local fans will have plenty of choices on where to see them with shows set for Philly, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, D.C. and, in September, Reading.

Go here for dates for each show and links to ticket information.