2009 Lookback | Kris Allen Does Post-Idol Winner's Press, May 2009

So it's May 21, 2009, and Kris Allen just won American Idol.



Now it's time for him to do a TON of press. Back in 2009, American Idol was still a BIG thing and the finale, with its "upset" winner, got a lot of attention. In this post, we'll look back at some of those interviews... Full disclosure. May 2009 was a busy time in my life, and while I made time to watch Idol, in a lot of cases, writing this post will be the first time I watch most of these interviews! Hopefully for those of you who have seen them before, you'll enjoy some fond memories or pick up on some new items. I also have a lot of mp3s of live Heartless and No Boundaries in this post. So sit back, and check out all the media from May 2009 after the break. And if I missed anything from May of 2009, please comment and I'll add to this post!

First up...the immediate press conference after the finale! This is a really interesting interview because he's answering off the cuff.



Back in 2009, there was a cable network called the Fox Reality Channel that had this fun show called American Idol Extra. So they got the first interview with Kris, and here are the segments they showed after the finale:





Then it was time to hit the talk shows and the morning shows...

He started with Ellen. Ellen starts by shouting out to Adam and asking if Kris was shocked. He was. He enjoyed performing with Keith Urban and Queen. She asks him about being shocked every week he was there. He realized during Ain't No Sunshine top 9 week that he would be sticking around. Ellen praised his Heartless performance. Kris talks about learning to play guitar when he was 13 and his past singing experience, and how his wife Katy pushed him to keep pursuing music.



Kris also continued to work on No Boundaries and make that something he could actually sing. I liked his acoustic take on it he did for the Ellen show. [mp3 of Ellen NoBo]



Of course I liked Heartless better [mp3 of Ellen performance]:



Kris joined his fellow season 8 idols for a great interview with Larry King:





Off to New York City where he appeared on the Today show with Adam Lambert:



Here's Kris on Live with Regis and Kelly and acoustic No Boundaries keeps getting better, followed by an interview with Kris. Kara is Regis' cousin! Kris was not that intimidated by the Idol judges. Simon did not talk to him after the finale. Michael Orland is there too and Kris gives him a shout-out.



Kris ended this whirlwind post-finale tour by... going to Disney World and singing Heartless [mp3 of Disney performance]!





On May 28, 2009, Kris and Adam appeared on VH1's Best Day Ever. I miss this show!



Next time on our 2009 Lookback: We have some 2019 Kris shows in the pipeline next week! So the lookback post will take a break until June, and will include things like his appearances on Huckabee, the NBA All-Star game and the Walmart stockholder meeting, as well as Idol tour preparations. If you have any suggestions or requests for a particular interview from June 2009, leave me a note in comments or hit me up on Twitter (@KrisAllenLists).