Season 9’s “saved” Idol, Michael Lynche, bounced back after the judges saved him from ninth place and he made it all the way to the Top 4. We caught up with Big Mike at the Los Angeles stop on the American Idols LIVE! 2010 Tour, and he opened up about his family, his future, and late night sandwiches.

Michael shared what he loves about touring, saying, “My favorite part is getting to see the people because they’re really who make the show special. Getting this opportunity and getting the chance to have a career after is due to them. As long as you sing the people’s good graces, you can be successful. That’s the really outstanding part. The toughest part is probably just being away from my family as much as I have to be. They come out with us, but whenever I have to send them away it’s tough. They’ve been out a bunch with us and they’re here now and they’ve been with us all week. To be back here in Los Angeles on my daughter’s 7 month birthday is really the culmination of a year’s worth of work.”

What has been Big Mike’s favorite tour stop? “I live in New York, so it’s always nice to go to a place you live – especially a big city like that. The support that I got in New York was amazing, but I grew up in Florida. That’s where my family is. Some of my family had never seen me perform before the show, and they didn’t know this side of me. They only know me as an athlete. So that was nice for them to come out and see me in Florida. And people have supported my wife and I since we left Florida to pursue music in New York five years ago, so for them to come and see me on the big stage was really cool. I love Tampa and New York.”

Mike has shown America that he can sing all different genres of music, so what kind of album does he plan on releasing? Mike said, “R&B is really my bread and butter and where my heart is always. Regardless of what I was singing while on the show, it always comes back to that. It’s kind of where my heart lies. I can’t wait to get back to the studio and be recording and creating again. It’s fun to be on tour and singing these songs, but I want to be singing my own songs and I look forward to that.”

While traveling across the United States and to Canada, Mike has met some amazing people along the way. “The fans are the best. My fans are crazy! Phoenix was crazy. There were some ladies freaking out. It was kind of fun. The fans give me a lot of gifts for my baby which is cool. And any sandwich making materials because I have these sandwich videos that I do.”

We’ve all been wondering how Mike’s Late Night Sandwich videos began and he explained it to AmericanIdol.com. “My wife and I were laughing about it the other day because I make videos. I’ve made videos like that forever. Even if it’s just of me walking around my house narrating stuff. It’s the only food we have on the bus – we have chips and sandwich stuff – so after we get off stage performing we meet the fans and then it’s nice to have a little sandwich. So we took that and I thought it would be fun to put it up and now people have caught onto it.” When we expressed to Mike that it’s great to see the Idols during their downtime on tour, he agreed and said, “It’s really about seeing us interact with each other. It’s fun when we see some hardcore fans of Didi or Aaron or whomever and they’ll say ‘Put Didi in the video! Put Aaron in the video!’

Big Mike would like to say to all of his fans, “I love the fans. I always have, I always consider myself a man of the people and I hope I am for years to come. I want to thank them so much for giving me this opportunity. It’s outstanding.”

View photos of Mike’s L.A. performance.

Read our exclusive tour interviews with:
Lee DeWyze
Casey James
Crystal Bowersox
Katie Stevens
Siobhan Magnus
Aaron Kelly
Didi Benami
Andrew Garcia