Blake Lewis: Behind the Beatbox

By Brooke Tarnoff Posted Sep 4th 2009 12:19PM

The success stories of 'American Idol' are hardly limited to the eight season winners - some of its biggest stars, like Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry, didn't leave the show with top honors. Now season six runner-up Blake Lewis is poised to join the ranks of superstar 'Idol' alum with his sophomore effort 'Heartbreak on Vinyl,' and we have the honor of debuting behind-the-scenes footage of Lewis and famed producer Dave Aude. We spoke to Lewis exclusively about the recording process, the video for his new single 'Sad Song,' and his thoughts on Ryan Seacrest's salary.

On working with Aude: "Aude is a pro. He and I worked on two songs for my album, 'Love Or Torture' and 'The Remedy.' Both of them are very melodic and Dave has a great ear for chord structure and arranging. We've been friends for a couple years now and had been wanting to work together for a while. These songs were the perfect pairing for us to be creative in the studio together."

On the upcoming video for his first single: "It's very film noir, with a lot of things pulled from the '80s - like that Maxell shot with the tie going back, in the chair. Stuff like that. Very classic, in a 'Chinatown' meets 'Dick Tracy' way with neon signs. My leading lady, Casey Carlson, was on 'American Idol' this last year. The song [Sad Song] is an anthemic breakup song, an anthem for the heartbroken."

On Paula Abdul's departure from 'Idol': "I call her The Sweetness. She's a sweetheart. She really cares about the contestants and actually cares about the show. I think it's dumb - they should all get paid the same. Ryan Seacrest getting paid so much for that show is kind of ridiculous."

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Blake Lewis Photos

Singer and 'American Idol' season six runner-up Blake Lewis. See more pics >>>

Michael Loccisano, FilmMagic.com

Blake Lewis Photos

NEW YORK - JUNE 24: Singer Blake Lewis poses before performing at the Canal Room June 24, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Will Ragozzino/Getty Images)

Will Ragozzino, Getty Images

Singer Blake Lewis appears on MTV's "TRL" at MTV Studios in New York City's Times Square on December 17, 2007. The air date for this show is December 19, 2007. "Gossip Girl" Cast, Blake Lewis, John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer Visit MTV's "TRL" - December 17, 2007 MTV Studios New York, NY United States December 17, 2007 Photo by Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic.com To license this image (15253606), contact FilmMagic: U.S. +1-212-812-4100 / U.K. +44-207-659-2813 / Australia +61-2-9006-1785 / Japan: +81-3-5464-7020 +1 212-202-7732 (fax) sales@filmmagic.com (e-mail) www.filmmagic.com (web site)

Michael Loccisano, FilmMagic.com

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Singer Blake Lewis arrives at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 8, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

AMERICAN IDOL: Blake Lewis performs on AMERICAN IDOL Tuesday, April 17 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Frank Micelotta / FOX

Frank Micelotta, FOX

On being famous for beatboxing: "It's great. I was very fortunate to be on this huge television show that allowed me to expose people to an art form that has been not really relevant in the United States. I mean, it's very relevant in Eastern Europe and Western Europe especially - it's huge over there, it's a respected art form. I didn't really beatbox that much [on 'American Idol']. I think it was the arrangements that people fell in love with. I threw in some beatboxing and that kinda took it over the top."

"They didn't really focus on me producing everything - they did a couple times, but I arranged my own music. I've been producing for year. With this record, people will actually get to see the true light, and there's some beatboxing on it."

On someday returning to 'Idol': "I would love to go and do arrangements with everyone. I'd love to produce there one day. That's how I looked at it when I was on the show. I was producing my own show. I didn't think of it as - I was on 'American Idol'. I thought of it as the Blake Lewis Show every week. I do everything out of the box, so I tried to make it my own. I'd love to come back and help all the contestants do the same thing for them. A lot of those producers are like, "You should sing this song!" And then [the contestant] will get voted off for singing that song they didn't want to sing in the first place. That's really stupid."

"I think it's the best experience I'll never get to have again, unless they invite me back."

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PopScene: Week's Hottest Pics

Rihanna attends the Intermix celebration of Fashion's Night Out at Intermix Soho on September 10th in New York City.

JP Yim, Getty Images

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Comments

(26)

Saturday 12 September

By Dwightnathan

Vote down Vote up Report this

I can`t decide who has more talent, Mr colon cleanse or Blake Lewis!.

By stanfla

Let's not prejudge his musical skills. I know the order in which u finish idol does not correlate with how popular an entertainer you will be. And the gay comment form out of nowhere re: Rhianna's glassess is par for the course. i am a psychologist, and i can tell you from most of the people that are fixated on calling anything different gay usually(99.9%) turn out ot be gay and come out w/in a year or they remain miserable and in the closet until sometype intervention occurs.

By sushi

uv got 2 b kidding! no singing talent; maybe useful for commercial sound effects ;-)

By swimrunn360

k i think he needs to change the Remedy title due to the fact that there is a son called "The Remedy" by Jason Mraz.

By bethb430

I really liked Blake when he was on the show. That show has gotten so damned boring and the singers all sound alike after a while so at least he was different. Another one I loved was Fantasia she was awesome and deserved to win. Otherwise they are all the same.

By peanut

He's right about one thing... Ryan Seacrap making that kind of money is ridonkulous. Ryan Donkeybuttt Crest. Hee hawwwwwwwww

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