Dishing the Idol Finale and Making Music with Justin Guarini

Essential Justin caught up with American Idol first season runner-up Justin Guarini, who is currently hosting Idol Tonight on the TV Guide Channel. Despite his hectic schedule, Justin was gracious enough to spend some time talking with us about Idol, then and now, and the summer of music he has planned.

EJ: You’ve been a busy guy lately. Are you enjoying it?
Justin: Sure, of course! It’s always nice to work, no doubt about that. I’ve been working pretty consistently, mostly below the radar, but now this year, I’ve really gotten to work on a national level with TV Guide Channel and it’s lead to a lot of good stuff.

EJ: That’s great. From what I understand, next week you guys have a lot of Idol Tonight you are going to be doing with TV Guide. It sounds like you’re going to leave no Idol stone unturned.
Justin: (laughs) Exactly. We have four days, two hour shows each day that we’re going to put on the air. Then on top of that, there’s going to be a lot of press, we have radio junkets. We’ll obviously do the MSNBCs, the FOXes, the national news outlets, so it’s going to be very busy. But it’s that way every single year when it comes to Idol and, you know, I don’t mind because it’s an interesting balance because you have a lot of work but with that work comes a lot of exposure. I can’t thank TV Guide enough for helping me out, I mean they offered me this job and I took it and it’s really really helped bring my brand to a national audience again.

EJ: Right, well, they seem to like you, so it looks like . . . .
Justin: (laughs) Yeah, they’re nice. I’d really like to continue working with them. We’re working on hammering something out right now.

EJ: So, let’s talk about Idol a little bit. Very early on, you picked Jordin Sparks as the dark horse, and you’re looking pretty darn astute right now.
Justin: Yeah, yeah I picked Lakisha, I thought Lakisha was going to win because she started out so strong in the beginning, but, I think, yeah, I was (laughs) I was pretty right. But you know what I think it was? I sort of had some inside help, because I did an event in Arizona and was out to dinner and I randomly met some of Jordin’s relatives out there. This was way early in the competition. I think it was just as the Top 12 was getting started. And they were like we haven’t, you haven’t seen anything from Jordin yet, she hasn’t really started to sing yet. I thought, “Well, that’s interesting.” And, I started paying closer attention to Jordin at that point and you know, the numbers added up. She seemed like . . . I was waiting for her to do what her family said she was going to do and as she started to do it, it confirmed my suspicions that she would be a dark horse. And here she is, just like Kelly [Clarkson], actually, in the finale. No one paid attention to Kelly early on and it became evidently clear that she had what it took to be in the finale.

EJ: In fact, that is what I was going to comment on. It’s strikes me that there is a lot of comparison between the finale this season and your finale in the first season.
Justin: Yeah, yeah, you have a woman who is very much a singer, she is a great, great vocalist, Jordin is a great, great vocalist and somebody who is more of an entertainer, who sings well but is more of an entertainer. It’s an interesting parallel. From the top 4 on, it was almost the same thing although you have Tamyra [Gray] being voted off fourth as opposed to Melinda [Doolittle] being voted off third. So there is the same sort of shock value there. But, uhm, yeah, it’s interesting you know. Three girls, one guy, and the guy ends up being in the finals.

EJ: Although, I have to say, I think Blake Lewis ought to count his blessings that he doesn’t have to adapt “A Moment Like This” to his style.
Justin: (loud laugh) Yeah, no, it was tough that first year. They were working out a lot of bugs. Ever since then they have not had the finalists sing the same exact songs because they realize that just isn’t the way to go. They have two very different artists. You can’t make them sing the same songs. But, it’s just, you know, they’ve worked out the bugs and we’re really expecting a great finale this year. I think it’s going to be thee closest in Idol history.

EJ: You think so?
Justin: I’m going to go out on a limb and say that.

EJ: Go out on a limb. It would have to be, what, less than one percent to beat Season 2?
Justin: Something.

EJ: Something like that.
Justin: I don’t know what it is going to be but I think it’s going to be closer than Clay [Aiken] and Ruben [Studdard] even.

EJ: Okay, well, there you go.
Justin: Mmm-hmm.

EJ: So, have you heard anything about the finale you can share with us?
Justin: I’ve heard that Beatles songs have been cleared. So, it’s very possible Sir Paul may show up. I’m not sure, they may just be singing Beatles songs. But they keep very tight lipped about everything that’s going on on that finale, so who knows?

EJ: Even hanging backstage, you’re not getting any of the inside scoop?
Justin: (laughs) No, no, backstage is closed off to everyone but the producers and the contestants.

EJ: Let’s go back a little bit in time this season, because the earlier sensation was of course Sanjaya [Malakar]. And here’s another parallel to your season. The fervor that surrounded him, the pop culture fervor that surrounded him seemed an awful lot like what you experienced in your season. But I noticed afterwards, he’s on some shows, looks like he’s getting some stars in his eyes. It must have been really hard not to lose your head when you have that kind of frenzy surrounding you?
Justin: They kept us pretty insulated from a lot of that during the show and we didn’t see a lot of that during the show.

EJ: But afterwards . . .
Justin: Afterwards, for me, it was just work. I worked for almost a year, straight, going from the Vegas show to the tour to my album to trying to promote my album, and that little movie. It was straight work so I didn’t really have time to go to parties and do the things that Sanjaya is doing. But, you know, it’s was interesting, it really comes down to how you were raised and who you surround yourself with while you are going through that kind of craziness. Sanjaya seems like good people, very nice, and I hope he realizes that this is, uh, fame and fame is fleeting if you don’t respect it. And so, I think we’ll see some good stuff out of him, he’s a just nice guy on top of being a pop culture (laughs) sensation.

EJ: Enough about Idol, let’s talk about the music you are working on. I understand you are going to do some recording today. You released a “teaser” of a new song, “Eventually,” so . . .
Justin: Yeah, yeah!

EJ: Just how long do you plan to tease us?
Justin: (loud laugh) Well, trust me, I’d love to put all the music out right now but it’s, it’s coming together. The picture is coming together. I don’t want to rush it. Honestly. I’m going to the UK in about a month, writing and working over there for a couple of weeks, and it seems the more and more I write, the more and more I travel, the better and better the songs get. So, I’m just, it’s kind of like, uh, it’s kind of like a nice turkey. You know? (laughs) It’s just you gotta wait a while but it’s just so good at the end. Oh, that’s a horrible analogy.

EJ: Yeah, it was! (laughs)
Justin: (laughs) It just keeps getting better and better the more and more I work and write and as soon as Idol is over I’ll really be able to focus more on the writing process. It’s just, and you know, the picture is becoming clearer and I’d like to have an album out next year, but I’d really like to do it properly. I’d like to spend the next couple of months really writing and putting together a great demo. Then I’ll go and shop it to the labels both here and abroad. And we’ll see who bites. But it’s a process, you know? It was a process that was rushed the first go round and you see the results, so I am not going to make that mistake again. Fortunately for the people who want to hear the music, I’m going to be doing concerts over the next couple of months, and I’ll definitely be sneaking some of those songs in there.

EJ: Are you still considering some of the songs you did in [in concert in] September or are you evolving beyond those?
Justin: I think we’ve really, I don’t know. Those are on the table, but I think it’s more evolving beyond that. I love what Greg [Gordon Smith] has done. Greg is a phenomenal writer and a great arranger, and he is going to be at the concerts. He’s still my go-to guy for being my musical director. So he’ll be there and you know, we’ll probably put some of that stuff in the concerts. Kinda the good music. The picture just constantly evolves, the music is constantly evolving, so we’ll see.

EJ: I take that to mean when you say concerts, then, you mean actual concerts this summer?
Justin: That’s what I’ll be performing at, the festivals and the shows. It won’t be me touring alone. Concerts, festivals, things like that.

EJ: What I meant was that your band will be with you at these concerts?
Justin: Oh, yeah, yeah! Not all of them. Some of them, they will be, yeah. Actually, I think I don’t (laughs) I have to figure out which ones they’ll be at and which ones they’re not. I have to talk to [my manager] Nelly, she has all that information, I’m just so Idoled out right now, I don’t know much what’s going on beyond next Wednesday. (laughs) But there are definitely going to be some concerts that have the band there.

EJ: I know your fans are looking forward to that. I know you have to run, so let me just sort of wrap up a couple things here. You’ve got some concerts coming up, you’re traveling to the UK, what else are you going to do this summer? Do some hanging out at the pool?
Justin: Traveling to Japan in July, it’s going to be pretty crazy. Then, I’m just focused on the music, 100%, really, over the next couple of months, and I’ll be traveling the UK, Japan, and then around the US doing some festivals and some arena shows.

EJ: Are you going to be working on your music in Japan or is that a personal trip?
Justin: That’s actually for the Heart Expo. It’s another thing I’m doing with Cealo, the monk I wrote the hymn for. It’s going to be more of a personal trip, actually for for him. I promised him a year ago so I’ll be making the trip.

EJ: One last question. You have the movie, Fast Girl, coming out. Any news on its release?
Justin: Oh, yeah, you know what? I don’t know when it’s coming out. They’re just really finalizing everything right now. It should be out probably in the next couple of months. They are going full bore on it last I heard from the producers. It should be done inside of a month and then they start to distribute it and that will probably take a month, so I’d say easily before the end of the summer it will be out.

EJ: We got a message from someone who had seen a rough cut of it and she was very excited about it.
Justin: Oh, good. I’ve seen a scene from it, a scene, but it’s like movies can go, the only people who really see the movie before it comes out are the producers, until it’s finally finished.

EJ: Okay, then, well, thanks so much.
Justin: No problem.

EJ: Looking forward to seeing you [on Idol Tonight] next week and then hopefully catching you in concert this summer.
Justin: Definitely. Thank you so much and tell everyone I said hello.

Idol Tonight airs on the TV Guide Channel Monday through Thursday next week. Check your TV listings for air times in your area. Also be sure to catch a special Close Up, Justin Guarini, which premieres on the TV Guide Channel Saturday, May 19, at 3:00 p.m. eastern and repeats several times.

photo credit: JEBexcited4J