Season 9’s third place finalist, Casey James, is currently touring around the country with the American Idols LIVE! 2010 Tour. He took time out of his busy tour schedule to talk about the upcoming Texas shows, performing on no sleep, and what was in that mystery box!

Casey is having a wonderful time on tour. “I love everything about it! Obviously the music is what it’s all about. Getting to meet the people and see new places has been great.”

MyIdol member Danna1988 wanted to know which of the tour stops was most interesting and why. Casey said, “Once you get into the rhythm of being on tour, it’s kind of the same thing everyday. There’s no big difference from town to town, except that the people give you a sense of where you’re at. We got a day off in Washington D.C. and I got to see the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Arlington National Cemetery, and it was all really cool. I walked 10 miles around D.C. that day.”

During Season 9, Casey always put on a mini-rock concert with his performances. PoisonIvyRed wanted to know how Casey manages to have so much energy when he’s on stage even though he is getting so little rest. “Every single time I’m on stage I’m energized for my performance. Our last show was in Georgia and I got zero sleep the night before. And the night before that we were in Kentucky and I hardly slept. I can be dead tired, but once I get on stage I’m rejuvenated. It all sinks in when you’re on stage – you’re so thankful and excited about what’s going on. But once I get off stage it’s like being hit by a ton of bricks.”

The Texas tour stops are coming up, and Casey is looking forward to being in his home state. Although he won’t be able to go home and see his dogs, his family and friends will be coming out to support him. “It will be good to be in Texas and play for the people that were voting for me back home. I used to play shows 10 minutes away from where we’ll be, and now I’m playing at the American Airlines Center!”

During one of the semi-final shows on Season 9, Casey said he wouldn’t tell America his pre-show ritual of what was in the mysterious box unless he made Top 10. Well, Casey came in third place so I got him to tell us (shout-out to LittleTenderness). “It’s not a great, exciting story,” laughed Casey. “A producer thought it would be funny to do some skits about my pre-show ritual. They edited it and made it look really funny and they turned it into a secret, but they never brought it up again. My pre-show ritual is just that I would plug my ears when the judges gave their feedback. There wasn’t actually anything in the box.”

What are Casey’s post-tour plans? “After the tour I will continue doing what I’ve always done – making music and performing – and I will use the exposure the show has given me to make an album. My band is ready and pumped up and excited to move forward. I’m excited about the future.”

When we told Casey that Season 10 auditions are happening right now, he couldn’t believe how quickly time has passed. His advice to the Season 10 hopefuls is “Just do it and see how it goes. I came in prepared to do my thing with the mindset of just being myself and doing what I do. At auditions I heard people talking about what the judges are looking for, but you can’t analyze it. People will see right through you. Having confidence in yourself is important.”

To all of Casey’s fans he says, “I’m super thankful and I’m going to spend my whole life making music, and you made it possible to do the things I love. Thanks for making all of my dreams come true.”

Before hitting the road with the Top 10, Casey shared his Idol thoughts with us. Watch the interview.

Read our exclusive tour interview with:
Lee DeWyze