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Kris Allen

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Kris Allen

Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985), known as Kris Allen, is an American singer from Conway, Arkansas who is currently a finalist on the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol. Kris has played multiple instruments on the show and is well-known for personally re-arranging many of his songs.


Personal life

Kris Allen was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas to Kimberly (née Wood) and Neil Allen.[1][2] He has one younger brother named Daniel who is a student and cheerleading coach at the University of Central Arkansas.[3] Allen attended Murrell Taylor Elementary School, Fuller Middle School and Mills University Studies High School, where he was active in the school's orchestra as a viola player and later went on to win a spot in his state's all-state orchestra.[2][4]

Along with the viola, Allen taught himself how to play the guitar at age 13, and is also proficient with the piano and the ukulele.[5] In 2007, he self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes with college friends and bandmates Michael Holmes (drums) and Chase Erwin (bass).[6]

Allen is a devout Christian. He was a worship leader at New Life Church[1], in Maumelle, Arkansas, as well as at the Chi Alpha campus ministry of the University of Central Arkansas, where he was a business major.[7] He has done missionary work around the world, including in Burma, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Spain and Thailand.[7]

On September 26, 2008, he married longtime girlfriend Katy O'Connell Allen.[1]

American Idol

Allen auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in Louisville, Kentucky[8] with his brother, who didn't make it to Hollywood[9]. He performed, "I Want You Back," by The Jackson 5, during Hollywood week as part of a group called, White Chocolate, along with fellow finalist and semi-finals roommate Matt Giraud. At the Idol Mansion, Allen was roommates with contestant Adam Lambert.[10] According to the Us Weekly article about the Top 13, Allen stated, in regard to Lambert being a good fit, "We're both neat."[11]

Allen was voted into the finals along with Lambert and Allison Iraheta on February 26, 2009. He has received many compliments throughout the competition for his folk-inspired interpretations of modern pop songs, and has played several instruments during his performances, including the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the keyboard, and the piano. Randy Jackson has compared him to Jason Mraz.[12] His performance of "To Make You Feel My Love" as part of the Top 11 earned praise from the judges, with Simon Cowell commenting "I am genuinely beginning to think you have a shot of doing well in this competition."[13] On the Top 9 show, he performed his own arrangement of "Ain't No Sunshine" on a keyboard, with a few musicians on stage, which earned praise from the judges. Cowell lauded it his "best performance so far."[14] On the first Top 7 night, he chose to sing the Oscar-winning song from the indie film Once. While Jackson described it as "pitchy from note one",[15] Kara DioGuardi declared it "one of your best moments ever."[15] Due to time constraints, Paula Abdul and Cowell did not comment. But on the following night's results show, Cowell stated "Kris, you were brilliant."[16] On the second Top 7 show, Allen brought back the guitar for the fourth time and performed an original, acoustic version of "She Works Hard for the Money", complete with bongo drums and the band on stage. This earned praise from all four judges, with Abdul remarking "There aren’t many men who are willing to shop in the women’s department. You shopped and found a perfect fit." For his second Top 3 performance, Allen impressed the judges with an acoustic arrangement of Kanye West's "Heartless", prompting Jackson to state that he preferred it to West's original and The Fray's cover version. Simon Cowell agreed and said, "I had written you out of the competition but that has changed after that performance."[17]

Season 7 American Idol winner David Cook stated that Allen and Lambert are his favorites of Season 8.[18] Country music singer and actress Reba McEntire has echoed the same opinions, also adding Iraheta to her list of favorites.[19]. Chris Daughtry has also stated that Kris Allen is his favorite finalist of this season.


After being voted into the Top 3 Finalists, Kris Allen returned home to Arkansas and his hometown to film the material for the next 2 American Idol episodes. Allen was greeted by a crowd estimated to be greater than 20,000.[20] Allen performed concerts in Little Rock and Conway, playing many of his popular songs during the competition, including "Man in the Mirror", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Falling Slowly", and "She Works Hard for the Money" at his venues; as well as "Come Together" at the local Fox News studio. He performed all of these songs with his guitar.

Performances/Results

Week # Theme Song choice Original artist Order # Result
Audition Auditioner's Choice "A Song for You" Leon Russell N/A Advanced
Hollywood First Solo [not aired] - N/A Advanced
Hollywood Group Performance "I Want You Back" The Jackson 5 N/A Advanced
Hollywood Second Solo "Everything" (not aired) Michael Bublé N/A Advanced
Top 36/Semi-Final 2 Billboard Hot 100 Hits to Date "Man in the Mirror" Michael Jackson 6 Advanced
Top 13 Michael Jackson "Remember the Time" Michael Jackson 6 Safe
Top 11 Grand Ole Opry "To Make You Feel My Love" Bob Dylan/Garth Brooks 3 Safe
Top 10 Motown "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" Marvin Gaye 2 Safe
Top 9 Top Downloads "Ain't No Sunshine" Bill Withers 9 Safe
Top 8 Year They Were Born "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" Don Henley 2 Safe
Top 7 Songs from the Cinema "Falling Slowly" - Once Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova 6 Safe
Top 71 Disco "She Works Hard for the Money" Donna Summer 2 Safe
Top 5 Rat Pack Standards "The Way You Look Tonight" Frank Sinatra 1 Bottom 3
Top 4 Rock and Roll Duet
Solo 		"Renegade" with Danny Gokey
"Come Together" 		Styx
The Beatles 		3
4 		Safe2
Top 3 Judges' Choice (Randy Jackson & Kara DioGuardi)
Contestant's Choice 		"Apologize"
"Heartless" 		OneRepublic
Kanye West 		2
5 		Safe
Top 2 Contestant's Choice
Simon Fuller's Choice
Coronation Song 		TBA
TBA
TBA 		TBA
TBA
TBA 		2
4
6 		TBA


  • Template:Fnb Due to the judges using their one save to save Matt Giraud, the Top 7 remained intact for another week.
  • Template:Fnb It was only announced that Allison Iraheta received the lowest number of votes this week. The other member(s) of the bottom two or three were never revealed, and the safe contestants were announced in random order.

References

  1. ^ a b "Idol Finalist has Local Ties". The Webster Progress Times.
  2. ^ a b Hendricks, Christy (March 23, 2009). "Jacksonville Native a Week Closer to Win". The Arkansas Leader.
  3. ^ "American Idol Top Three: Kris Allen Has Another Simon Cowell?". The National Ledger.
  4. ^ Jeremy Baker (14 May 2009). "Kris Allen's high school music teacher is proud of Kris". Fox.
  5. ^ "Top 13 - Secret Talents". Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  6. ^ http://www.musicistheheartofoursoul.com/2009/03/kris-allen-brand-new-shoes-ep.html
  7. ^ a b Elliot, Peter (May 5, 2009). "Arkansas Pastors Shed Light on 'Idol' Finalist Kris Allen". Everyday Christian.
  8. ^ "Top 13 Contestants - Season 8 - American Idol". Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  9. ^ "Kris Allen Almost Missed His 'American Idol' Audition". Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  10. ^ "Allen discusses roomie Lambert, bidets, and his wife in his Top 9 Video Confessional". Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  11. ^ "Idols move into the Idol Mansion". Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  12. ^ "Kris Allen - Season 8 Contestants". Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  13. ^ Santilli, M. J. (April 28, 2009). "Idols iTunes shocker: Kris second wave", New York Post. Retrieved on 2009-05-16.
  14. ^ Belcher, Walt (April 1, 2009). "'Idol' takes on iTunes", The Tampa Tribune, p. 2.
  15. ^ a b Berman, Craig (April 14, 2009). "Simon slams Lil Rounds on ‘Idol's’ movie night", msnbc.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-16.
  16. ^ Lang, Derrik J. (April 16, 2009). "'Idol' judges save Matt Giraud from elimination", Associated Press. Reprinted in Forbes.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-16.
  17. ^ Montgomery, James (May 12, 2009). "Kris Allen Covers Kanye, Simon Feuds With Kara On 'American Idol'", mtv.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-16.
  18. ^ "Adam Lambert, Kris Allen are [[David Cook]]'s "American Idol" faves". Retrieved 2009-04-14. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  19. ^ "Reba McEntire favors Kris Allen and Adam Lambert for American Idol". Retrieved 2009-04-22.
  20. ^ "American Idol Finalist Kris Allen Returns Home To Arkansas, Parade". Retrieved 2009-05-11.

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