Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jason Castro just announced a tour featuring free shows at malls across the country.

And the dread-locked, fourth-place finisher from season seven will be coming to this general area twice.

Next Tuesday, he’ll be at the Center Court Mall at Steamtown in Scranton for a 6 p.m. on-air interview and performance.

The following moring, he’ll perform on radio station WKRZ in Wilkes Barre at 8 a.m. The station is holding a contest giving listeners a chance to join Jason in the studio.

And on Oct. 20, Jason will perform one of those free shows at the Potomac Mills Mall in Washington, D.C. More details on that appearance should be available at a later date.

Jason, of course, is gearing up for the release of his first-post Idol album, due out Nov. 17. Pre-orders for the album are now being taken on Jason’s Web site.