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The Rest of the OATF Story:
OUT AT THE FAIR LONDON CALLING
by ken knox If you ever wondered what became of
Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. when he chose to sing Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy” during the Hollywood Week round of will be one of many LGBT
Keith London, the adorable crooner who confounded American Idol’s 13th season, you’re in luck. London
acts (includingRuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Chad Michaels and
former boy bander Ricky Rebel) featured on the 2016 San Diego County Fair stage as part of Out at the Fair(OATF), a full day of LGBT-themed entertainment and activities now in its fifth
year.The Rage Monthlytouched base with the Detroit native (and soon to be Angeleno) to dish on hisIdol journey, being a queer role model and finding his own sound.
What’s life been like for you sinceAmerican Idol and in what way has that changed life for you? It’s definitely a platform where I was exposed
to thousands of people at the same time, which is kind of a priceless opportunity. Since then, I’m Keith London from Idol and it’s a credible show, so people kind of have higher expectations, which is scary. (Laughs.) But overall it’s been pretty good. When you look back on the show, are you happy with the way it all played out? I wish I would have stayed longer for sure, but I
didn’t want to just be a person that just randomly got cut and was never shown. Half my friends were on the show and weren’t even featured at all. You need to take a chance with every round. I might have waited a little longer to do something like that if I was doing it again, but it is what it is and I got to be seen. What did you learn fromIdol that has supported you in the time since then?
I learned that you have to be prepared for anything, because anything can hit you at any time. You have to learn new songs and work with people that you don’t really want to work with and you just gotta be ready for whatever they throw at you. It’s a sneak peak of what it’s actually really like. It’s really an overwhelming experience. Do you feel like you’ve been pegged as a role model? A little bit in the gay community, sure. I came out
on the show because growing up, the only gay that I had on TV that I could remember was Kurt from Glee. But he was kind of stereotypical of what the world thinks of gay people and my goal was just to be like, “That’s why we have the rainbow flag, because we come in all different colors.” I wanted to take that opportunity to show that the boy next door could like guys, too. You’ve released one E.P. of covers so far. Are you working on anything else and what
FORD DEALERS PADDOCK STAGE LINEUP Hosted by Pauly & Monks 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Local non-profit LGBT organizations exhibits 11 a.m. Tha Most and The DREAMers 1 p.m. Ingenue 2 p.m. Newly Married Game 3 p.m. Christine Sako 4 p.m. Girlboy 4 to 6 p.m. Pride Happy Hour, 17 Hands Restaurant and Cantina 6 p.m. The Dreamgirls Revue: featuring Chad Michaels, Jasmine Masters and Trinna Modele
COORS LIGHT ROCK ON STAGE LINEUP Hosted by Erica Foxx & Bianca St. James 1 p.m. The Social Animal 3 p.m. JayyVon 5 p.m. Keith London 7 p.m. Ricky Rebel 8:30 p.m. Rich’s After Dark, featuring DJ K-Swift and DJ Kiki (21+ only)
BUNGEE JUMP ON THE AVENUE: THE MOST PETRIFYING AND TERRIFYING RIDE AT THE FAIR! Hosted by Bianca St. James 12:30 p.m. Landa Plenty 3:30 p.m. Jazmine Rice 7:30 p.m. Bianca St. James
might it sound like? I’m getting ready to move to L.A., where I’m
going to be working with some writers to get some original stuff out there. It’ll definitely be more acoustic, because I gravitate toward people like Meghan Trainor and Ed Sheeran. Whatever the sound is, it’s going to be what I want it to sound like, so I guess you could say, it’s going to be the Keith London style, but I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that is.
Keith Londonwill perform Saturday, June 11 at 5 p.m. on the Coors Light Rock On Stage at the San Diego County Fair. For more information on Out at the Fair, also on Saturday, June 11, go to
sdfair.com/out.
12 RAGE monthly | JUNE 2016
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