Las Vegas Weekly

April 13, 2010 · 5:58 PM

First photos: Elvis night on American Idol with Adam Lambert

By Robin Leach

The Top 9 contestants of Season 9 of American Idol at Viva Elvis in Aria.

Photo: Ana Dobrijevic/Cashman Photography

Tonight is a big night for the American Idol Season 9 contestants, so it’s only appropriate that they drew inspiration from one of music’s biggest icons, Elvis Presley, right here in Las Vegas. The Top 9 contestants traveled to the Strip last weekend to set up camp in the home of the newest Cirque du Soleil production, Viva Elvis at Aria in MGM’s CityCenter.

The nine remaining contestants getting fully immersed in the music of Elvis are Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Katie Stevens, Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus and Tim Urban. Upon arrival at the Elvis Theater lobby, the Idol hopefuls were greeted and mobbed by fans trying to take photographs as they entered the theater ahead of the audience.

Before curtain up, the contestants were greeted by some of the Viva Elvis dancers, and Andrew even got up from his seat and showed off his best Elvis moves for the cast’s welcome girls. After the show, the contestants were escorted backstage to meet the Viva Elvis cast, and Ana Dobrijevic of Cashman Photography snapped these photographs. There was mutual applause from one cast to the other, our spywitness said.

QUOTES FROM BACKSTAGE

Katie told Sean Lord, an acrobat from “Got a Lot of Livin’ to Do,” that she thought the superheroes in the act were absolutely amazing. She wanted to get up on the trampoline and jump with them! Andrew told cowboy Loop Rawlins that the gun spinning and fire ropes were awesome.

Viva Elvis singer Jennlee Shallow said the contestants were inspired by their renditions of the Elvis music and that they couldn’t wait to perform the songs themselves. Six of the nine contestants will be performing songs featured in Viva Elvis on the Fox megahit tonight.

The next afternoon, the contestants returned to the Elvis Theater for their mentor sessions with Adam Lambert, Season 8’s runner-up to Kris Allen. When Adam arrived and greeted the contestants, he admitted to being nervous. Each contestant performed for him and received his feedback, which they’ll use in this evening’s show. During the free morning, Siobhan headed to the Luxor to get photographs of the sphinx.

Our spywitness reported: “In addition to attending Viva Elvis, the contestants toured Aria and dined at the resort’s gourmet buffet. Several of them joined the American Idol crew out on the casino floor for a little gaming at the tables and slot machines. For some of the contestants, it was their first time in Las Vegas. Every one of them loved their visit.”

It’s two nights of American Idol for Adam. He is the mentor tonight, and he will be the guest performer tomorrow during the results show. Two contestants will be axed tomorrow night, as judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres used their only save last week to keep Michael in the competition.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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