KRIS ALLEN

Birth name	Kristopher Neil Allen
Born	June 21, 1985 (age 26) Jacksonville, Arkansas
Origin	Conway, Arkansas, United States
Genres	Pop rock, alternative rock, acoustic rock, blue-eyed soul, CCM
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, viola, piano, keyboards
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Jive/19 (2009-2011) RCA/19(2011-)
Website	www.krisallenofficial.com

Career

Pre-Idol and Brand New Shoes

Allen realized during college that he wanted to play music professionally and began trying to write music. He played his first gig at a local bar in downtown Conway during his sophomore year, and he went on to drop out of college in the middle of his junior year to follow his dream of becoming a professional musician. He worked as a shoe salesman at a sporting goods store during the day to make ends meet and continued playing gigs in Little Rock and Fayetteville at night. In 2007, Allen wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes with college friends and bandmates Michael Holmes (drums) and Chase Erwin (bass). The album's title makes reference to Allen's days as a shoe salesman, and only 600 copies of the album were produced, most of which were given to family and friends.

American Idol

Main article: American Idol (season 8)

Allen auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in Louisville, Kentucky, with his brother Daniel, who did not make it to Hollywood. In the early stages of the season, he was among the finalists (along with Allison Iraheta) that received the least amount of screen time. Only several seconds of his first audition (and neither of his Hollywood Week solo performances) were shown, although his group performance with White Chocolate (including fellow finalist Matt Giraud) was aired in its entirety. The judges also asked him to participate in an un-aired sing-off with another contestant before they allowed him to enter the semifinals round.
Certain commentators labeled the win as an "upset" since runner-up Adam Lambert had received a significant amount of media attention throughout the season and was widely perceived to be the show's front-runner. His victory was seen as highly controversial as viewers and the media speculated about the details of the result. However, during the Top 3 results show, host Ryan Seacrest had revealed that the margin between Allen and Lambert was less than a million votes. Fox and AT&T have stated that they "stand by the outcome" and are "absolutely certain" that "Kris Allen is the American Idol".
This is the picture when he won the American Idol season 8 :