Yidio Exclusive: 'American Idol' Runner-Up Blake Lewis Tells Us 'Casey Got the First Vote I Cast This Season'

I guess you could say that “American Idol” runner-up Blake Lewis is a Casey guy.

Though the multi-talented, fauxhawk-wearing, heavily-tattooed, beat-boxing dance music phenom won’t say who his favorite is for the entire season, he did tell Yidio in an exclusive interview that Casey Abrams "got the first vote I cast this season” for his risen-from-the-Idol-dead performance last week.

“The thing is, he got saved, and then he redeemed himself and ended up giving a terrific performance. I think a lot of the audience votes for who’s the cutest or who they like, but it’s really about who gives the best performance every night, and he killed it. He got twenty votes from me,” said Lewis.

Lewis also said that he thinks "Pia is doing a great job, but it will be boring if she just does ballads," and that "Jacob and Haley gave really strong performances too."

Lewis will be performing live at the Reality Rocks Expo this weekend in Los Angeles, and he spoke to Yidio about the event, his time on the show, and how being an “American Idol” runner-up has shaped his life.

Unlikely “Idol”

Season six runner-up Lewis is arguably one of the more unlikely contestants to succeed on “Idol.”

Known as much for his considerable beat-boxing capabilities (check the amazing video of Lewis with legendary Roots' beatboxer Rahzel below) as his vocal abilities, he was raised up on club/rave culture in Seattle, and was a bit of a reluctant participant in the show.

“Before I auditioned for the show, I’d never really seen it,” says Lewis.

“I really disliked reality TV (or the lack of reality, really) and I was worried about it. I was a little worried about sacrificing my integrity. I never wanted to be on television, and in fact had written songs when I was younger that were anti-television. But what ultimately turned me on about the show, though, was that it's live and in front of this amazing audience. You're performing in front of America. Not that I'm being overly patriotic or anything, but it's just a really amazing experience."

While Lewis was a little wary about the promotional aspects of "Idol" initially, he warmed up as soon as he hit the stage.

"I’m not at all comfortable being a politician or a playing salesman for myself, but I am really comfortable with a mic in my hand. I just decided to be myself, and it all worked out.”

Audience First

Since he was not able to perform using any instruments due to show rules, Lewis, who lost out to Jordin Sparks in Season 6 of “American Idol,” was insistent on arranging his own songs. While he’s effusive in praise of the show’s producers, he admits that he had to fight to get this music on the show, and advises contestants on the show to remember who will determine their fate in the end.

“The producers of the show really produce and they will definitely tell you to do what they want to do. They didn’t always like my choice of songs, and I had to respectfully tell Nigel (Lythoge) and Ken (Warwick) to respectfully F off on some things in order to do what I felt was the right thing. Ultimately, I decided to worry about performing well and let America decide. “

How does Lewis think he’d fare on “American Idol” with the current judge’s panel of J Lo, Stephen Tyler and Randy Jackson?

“I think I would have done fine just based on the fact that I’m a different kind of contestant. Naima is more my style. Stefano is also from Washington, where I’m from, so he’d definitely be my competition,” said Lewis, who is currently blogging about this year’s season for TV Squad.

“It’s hard to tell, the level of talent is so high this year and they’ve done a really great job of connecting the contestants with quality producers who I think are really helping them learn how to perform in the studio, which is so important” said Lewis.

Life Post-Idol

While many of his fellow Idol contestants have gone on to focus on pop or country, Lewis has found success primarily on the dance charts.

“Electronic music is such a community,” says Lewis, “where you really get to know people. It’s very different from the pop world, where people don’t really know each other.

Lewis released “Audio Day Dream” on Arista, then moved over to Tommy Boy, the label that launched the careers of De La Soul and Afrika Bambaata for a more hip-hop and electronica influenced record, “Heartbreak on Vinyl,” which opened at #10 on the Billboard dance charts.

He seems to have found his stride creatively by focusing on dance music, recently releasing a video for a song he just did with DJ Dan called “Operator” that sounds better than anything he’s done in the past.

Lewis performed a beatbox version of “America the Beautiful” alongside Michelle Obama at a First Lady’s Luncheon, and continues to collaborate with other artists (like Rahzel) on projects, which he promotes heavily through his YouTube channel and other social networking venues.

Connecting with Blake Lewis

“I’m putting a lot of work into my YouTube channel lately, and I want to tell people to be patient with me. I do the editing of the videos myself, which takes time because I’m not really an editor. I love being able to interact directly with my fans, though. I think a lot of times when they Tweet or post something on my site that it’s going to someone else, but really, seriously, that’s me up there on Facebook and Twitter!”

Check out Blake Lewis at his YouTube Channel, Facebook page, Twitter, or, better yet, see him perform in person at the Reality Rocks Expo this weekend in L.A.