My 15 Minutes With Blake Lewis: Throwing Objectivity Out the Window

One of the main rules about being a journalist is to be objective, but let’s face it. Sometimes it’s hard…

Over the last few years I’ve been doing this, I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of cool people and I usually try pretty hard not to gush. But sometimes, I just can’t help it.

And yesterday was one of those times, as I got to talk to one of my all-time favorite Idols, Blake Lewis…

I just couldn’t help it, because I will always feel a personal connection to Blake. Not just because I texted my fingers off for him when he was on the show. And not just because I screamed my head off for him when he came to Huntington as part of the Idols tour. No, it’s more personal than that. See, it was Blake’s CD, “Audio Day Dream,” that got me through the worst time in my life—the eight weeks my mother was sick before she passed away.

I live an hour away from home, so when I got the phone call that she was at the hospital, I had to make that long drive all the while having no idea what was going to happen when I got there. “ADD” was in my CD player. I hit play and listened to the entire CD from beginning to end. Without it, I think I would have gone insane. And during those numerous trips to the hospital, it was songs like “1000 Miles” and “I Got U” that kept me together…

I promised myself that if I ever got the chance, I would find a way to tell Blake thank you. And yesterday, I got the chance. I admit, I debated it, but I threw objectivity out the window and told Blake that it was his music that got me through a rough time in my life and I just wanted to tell him that. And he very graciously thanked me in return.

It was the most unjournalistic thing I’ve done in my journalism career, and I’m sure that if any of my journalism professors are reading this, they’re raking me over the coals as we speak. But it made me feel better…

Probably freaked out Blake, but it made me feel better…

Tomorrow I’ll have more from my interview with Blake, including the personal story behind his new album and some thoughts on what went wrong with the first one…

So Stay Tuned…