“American Idol” Kris Allen may seem like the quiet unassuming one, especially standing side-by-side a glammed up Adam Lambert during the Season 8 finals, but he does manage to turn up the heat.

As he takes the stage at the press conference for Musicfest 2010 at the Eastwood Mall Open Park on Feb. 3, the excited local fans that turned up on a breezy Wednesday afternoon welcome their idol with all sorts of cameras clicking up in the air.

“It’s definitely warm here,” Allen attempts to joke. Knowing that “American Idol” has a lot of fans in the Philippines, Allen—who visits the country for the first time—says in gratitude, “It feels really good [to be here]. It’s great to see you guys.”

Headlining Musicfest 2010 alongside YouTube sensations-turned-mainstream act Boyce Avenue and the sensational, jaw-dropping dance crew Jabbawockeez, Allen is expected to perform cuts from his 2009 self-titled album.

With some urging from both the media and the fans, the Jackson, Arkansas-born singer/songwriter gives in to doing an a capella demo of what the concert holds in store for attendees. Singing the first few lines from his album’s opening cut, “Live Like We’re Dying,” must have sent those still without tickets on a bee-line to the reception table selling them.

While it seems the Filipinos have openly declared Allen as their new idol, Allen is still just getting used to the idea. “I have a friend that’s Filipino-American… that’s kind of it, though,” he says when he is asked if he’s had any sort of Filipino influence in his life.

We’ll leave it up to the Filipino fans to leave their mark with Allen and his band when they finally take the stage and rock it at Musicfest 2010.

The Kris Allen primer:

It’s not enough to know the tunes. For fans, these little details are just as important. Here are the things we learned during Kris Allen’s short meet with the media and the fans on Feb. 3:

Kris rocks it with his band composed of Cale Mills (guitar/keyboards), Ryeland Steen (drummer), Chris Torres (bass) and Andrew DeRoberts (lead guitars).

During the press conference, Kris jokes about Cale being a Cosmo Bachelor of the Year. A quick search online reveals that Cale has indeed landed on the list of Cosmo Bachelors 2009. His profile even has his email address, so what are you waiting for, girls?

Kris Allen’s dream collaboration: with Sir Paul McCartney. “I’m a huge fan of his,” he says. “But it’s definitely a dream, though. It’s not gonna happen.”

Kris still has no clue on what would be the second single off his album. “But you know what’s funny… I was in a car earlier today [after doing a promotional appearance] and I heard ‘Before We Come Undone’ on the radio and it freaked me out…” Guess Manila’s radio stations beat his label to it!

Gone are the days when pop stars would never reveal that they were married. Kris does not mind discussing it… to an extent. While he reveals music may not have played into starting his relationship with wife, Katy—he says he’s never serenaded her—he does admit that she played violin and he played viola in the same band. “Don’t applaud that, it’s not cool,” he says with a lazy smile.

Kris reveals how his song, “Red Guitar” came about: “I bought a red guitar [for my wife] and hung it on the wall ‘cause she never played it. So I took it and started playing and that’s what came out.”

“Live on TV is the worst thing in the world,” he declares. When press conference host Mo Twister asks how he’s able to concentrate during the “Idol” live shows, Kris replies, “I got in trouble a lot when I didn’t look into the camera when they wanted me to…”

According to band mate Andrew, “Kris would rather get up and play without a set list than make one.” Kris, meanwhile, says he prefers playing shows than being on TV because, during shows, they can do pretty much what they want.

His favorite past “Idol” winner is Kelly Clarkson. “She’s incredible… [She’s] been through a lot of crap thrown her way… it’s incredible. She’s the queen of ‘Idol’…”

When asked to weigh in on Simon Cowell’s announcement that he’s leaving “Idol” soon, Kris says, “It’s going to be sad just because he’s been there since the beginning, but I think the show’s gonna go on…”

And when asked how he thinks he would have fared if Ellen DeGeneres had been a judge during his season: “I would like to think that she’d like me… I think she would be hard on me, though, just because she likes me…”

What he’s got on his music player: “Oh geez… a lot of different things. I listen to MGMT a lot. [I listened to the] Switchfoot record the other day… it’s good.”

The one thing that a fan should never ever do: “I had a girl stick a tongue inside my mouth. That was the craziest… That was a little too much,” he says, shaking his head. The man’s got a wife, people!

Musicfest 2010 featuring Kris Allen, Jabbawockeez and Boyce Avenue happens on Feb. 5, 8 p.m. at the SM Cebu North Open Parking 2 and on Feb. 6, 2010, 8 p.m. at the McKinley Hill Open Grounds.

For Cebu tickets, call Ticketworld at 255-4041. For Manila tickets, call 891-9999.

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