The American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the eighth season of American Idol. The 52-date tour spanning 50 cities began on July 5, 2009 in Portland, Oregon and ended on September 15, 2009 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
This year was without a sponsor as Kellogg's Pop-Tarts dropped its sponsorship.
The show essentially followed the format of season seven tour where the performances were presented as a series of mini-concerts, starting from the 10th-place finisher and ending with the winner. As with season seven, each half of the show ended with a group performance, the first half consisting of a medley by the first six performers, and the last half ending with all ten performers.
Michael Sarver - "In Love with a Girl" (Gavin DeGraw), "Closer" (Ne-Yo)
Megan Joy - "Put Your Records On" (Corinne Bailey Rae), "Tears Dry on Their Own" (Amy Winehouse)
Scott MacIntyre - "Bend and Break" (Keane), "A Thousand Miles" (Vanessa Carlton)
Lil Rounds - "Be Without You"/"Just Fine" (Mary J. Blige), "No One" (Alicia Keys) and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (Beyoncé Knowles)
Anoop Desai - "Always on My Mind" (Willie Nelson), "Mad" (Ne-Yo) and "My Prerogative" (Bobby Brown)
Matt Giraud - "Hard to Handle" (Otis Redding/The Black Crowes), "Georgia on My Mind" (Ray Charles) and "You Found Me" (The Fray)
Group medley - Megan & Lil "Can't Take My Eyes off You" (Frankie Valli), Matt & Scott "Tell Her About It" (Billy Joel), Michael & Anoop "Suspicious Minds" (Elvis Presley), Anoop, Matt, Lil, Scott, Megan & Michael "Beggin'", (The Four Seasons/Madcon)
Intermission
Allison Iraheta - "So What" (Pink), "Cry Baby" (Janis Joplin), "Barracuda" (Heart)
Danny Gokey - "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Michael Jackson), "Maria Maria" (Santana), "What Hurts the Most" (Rascal Flatts), "My Wish" (Rascal Flatts)
Adam Lambert - "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin), "Starlight" (Muse), "Mad World" (Tears for Fears), "Slow Ride" with Allison Iraheta (Foghat), David Bowie medley ("Life on Mars?"/"Fame"/"Let's Dance")
Kris Allen - "Heartless" (Kanye West), "All These Things That I've Done" (The Killers), "Bright Lights" (Matchbox Twenty), "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers), "Hey Jude" (The Beatles)
Top 10 Group song - "Don't Stop Believin'" (Journey), "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (Steam / Bananarama)
The tour was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the "Choice Music: Tour" category.
The Season 8 tour equalled in its success to Season 7. Despite a slightly lower number of total tickets sold at 484,434, it averaged slightly higher in attendance percentage capacity and yielded a higher gross of $30,139,328 million. It was ranked number 28 in Pollstar's year end list of North American tours.
Number of shows - 52 (8 sold out)
Total gross - $30,139,328
Total attendance - 484,434
Average attendance - 9,316 (86%)
Average ticket price - $62.22
