Kris’ new single ‘The Truth’ feat Pat Monahan is now available for purchase at itunes!

Purchase it here.

Kris Allen fans have been waiting for months for an announcement about a followup single to his platinum-selling debut ditty, “Live Like We’re Dying.” But the recent decision by Jive/19 to serve radio with a recut rendition of “The Truth” — it’s now a duet with Train frontman Pat Monahan that’s slated to hit iTunes on May 11 — has met with its fair share of controversy. I caught up with the American Idol season 8 champ to find out who cooked up the idea for a reconfigured track, how the duet came about, and whether or not he’s upset that despite having cowritten nine of the 12 tracks on his self-titled disc, his label has now chosen two singles he didn’t have a hand in writing. (For the uninitiated, both versions of “The Truth,” with and without Monahan, are embedded after the jump.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s talk about your new single, “The Truth.” The album version of the song contains your vocals only. Now it’s been re-recorded as a duet of sorts with Train’s Pat Monahan (who co-wrote the song with Toby Gad). How did that come about?
KRIS ALLEN: It came about through an idea from the label. Their idea was that Pat wrote the song, so why not get him involved in it in some way. And obviously Train is doing really well right now, and I don’t think that can be ignored. Everyone thought it was a good idea.

The song wasn’t written as a duet. How did you decide which parts of the song Pat would be singing?
Right, it wasn’t written as a duet, and I think the plan was to make it not seem like a typical duet. It wasn’t like, “Hey, I can sing a verse, then he can sing a verse.” ‘Cause then maybe we’re breaking up with each other, and that’s not what we were trying to convey. So we thought it would be good idea to just put him on the bridge.

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The second single off Kris’ self-titled album is ‘The Truth’. Kris posted this on twitter earlier today.

The new single “The Truth” is out everyone so call in to your local radio stations and request. Thanks to the ones that already have.

Let’s help Kris out and request the song on your local stations.

Kris will be on tour in support for the Barenaked Ladies starting in July. You can check out all the dates at Krisallenofficial.com.

6. KRIS ALLEN, ”Heartless” (Season
It was the final week before the season 8 finale, and Kris found himself in the position of plucky upstart, trying to thwart the judges’ dream of a Danny Gokey vs. Adam Lambert matchup. He needed to be vocally flawless. He needed to be artistically inventive. But nobody would’ve said he needed to cover Kanye West. That, however, is exactly what the Arkansas native did; clad in a sparkly black Henley, Kris took an R&B ditty that had been performed on the Idol stage by the original artist only a couple months prior, stripped it down to its acoustic bones, and made the lyrics come to life in a way they never could have through the cold filter of a vocoder. You could tell from Kris’ sly grin going into the final chorus that he achieved exactly what he set out to do: Prove to Simon (and the Idol audience) that he possessed the killer instinct, the creativity, and yes, the vocal firepower to make it to the Nokia. And that’s exactly what he ended up doing.

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Kris Allen on his return to Idol: It’s not about me…

Thursday evening brings the first live results show back to American Idol for this ninth season, but more than that, it brings the return of Idol Gives Back, a mega-hit in 2008 and that was all but forgotten last season. The very special episode was thrown together a bit hastily in response to the devastation in Haiti after the earthquakes earlier this year. On the behest of Simon Fuller, season 8 winner Kris Allen went down to Haiti to witness the devastation for himself and will return to the Idol stage on Thursday to perform and premiere a video package of his time helping the UN with their relief efforts down in Haiti.

Allen’s trip was a whirlwind: he left last Friday and only got to spend about nine or ten hours in the country. While he dug through rubble and handed out food, water, and clothing and all of the “hard labor” work, Allen said the most lasting memories for him came from just getting to spend time with the people who were affected. “For me, it’s always the kids, you know? I got to go into this women’s tent, and it felt like a really safe place. They were taking care of the babies, which were, like, from newborn to two, and I got to sing a song for them and hold a couple of babies…There was a lot of happiness and hope in people’s eyes; it was a really cool experience.”

And Allen lending his name to charity does not begin and end with Haiti. In the past he and his wife have taken quite a few mission trips, and he even visited Thailand after the terrible tsunami a few years back. Allen found a lot of similarities between Thailand and Haiti in terms of the level of destruction and yet the sense of hope from the people. “They know everything is going to be okay. It’s going to take a long time but everything is going to be hopefully better than it was,” he says. Allen will also travel to Rwanda this spring with the Toms Shoes Foundation and hopes that he can return to Haiti to help even more when he has a little bit more time.

For now, though, he is focusing on his immediate return in front of Simon, Randy, and Kara. When asked how he feels about stepping in front of the judges once again, he is quick to point out that “It’s nerve-wracking!” But if he was ever going to come back– to perform or mentor or just visit– Allen is glad it could be to help the UN raise funds for such a good cause.

“This is for a completely different thing; it’s not about me at all. Every time I was on that stage last year, it was about me, and this time it’s not. It feels like a really good thing to come back for.”

And just what will Allen perform on Thursday night: is it the cover of “Amazing Grace” he performed for that children’s ward in Haiti or “Live Like We’re Dying,” the first single off his debut album that has even more significance when put up against such a serious backdrop? Well, first Allen played coy and teased that it would be “inspirational and uplifting.” But he also should have mentioned that it was a song beloved by many across generations: the Beatles’ “Let It Be!”

Allen also previewed that the performance will be available on iTunes with the proceeds benefitting all the good, hard work the UN is doing down in Haiti. Throughout the show, fans will also be able to text donations in to a very specific number. While item donations are welcome, too, right now, money is still the most effective asset someone can give, as there are many, many Haitians who have lost not just their homes, possessions, and family, but also their jobs and will need help with basic survival until things are begun to be rebuilt.

Of course Allen has been too busy to watch the current season of Idol and try to formulate an opinion on any possible frontrunners, but his advice for each and every one of them is the same: “Just go out and do your best. It’s a pretty general thing to say, but I think they need to hear that. Just go out and do what you do!”

IMPORTANT:
Allen also previewed that [Thursday's] performance will be available on iTunes with the proceeds benefitting all the good, hard work the UN is doing down in Haiti. Throughout the show, fans will also be able to text donations in to a very specific number.

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All proceeds from this Habitat for Humanity hardhat autographed by Kris Allen will go directly to help families affected by the earthquake in Haiti, providing children and families with much needed shelter, and a safe and decent place to live. With YOUR help, the artists in the RMFHaiti video http://bit.ly/rmfhaiti and who have donated hardhats to this auction are raising awareness and funds in order to REBUILD HOPE. REBUILD HOMES. REBUILD HAITI.

Just one week after the tragic earthquake in Haiti, Ricky Martin traveled to Port-au-Prince to visit earthquake-ravaged neighborhoods in the capital city. Later that day he announced the creation of the Ricky Martin Foundation / Habitat for Humanity Haiti Recovery Fund (RMFHaiti), the latest program in an ongoing partnership between the Ricky Martin Foundation and Habitat for Humanity, and Ricky then reached out to friends and colleagues in the entertainment community to join him in his call to action.

Kris Allen responded to that call, and not only donated a hardhat to the “Hardhats to Haiti” auction, but also participated in the RMFHaiti Video, a unified call to action to rebuild homes in Haiti, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the Ricky Martin Foundation.

To bid on the auction and to read other information, click here.

Kris’s AOL sessions are finally online! Click here to view them!

Just two days after musicians of all genres gathered together for the Hope For Haiti Now telethon (which raised roughly $60 million for Haitian earthquake aid), American Idol Kris Allen has announced that he is journeying to Haiti next week to personally participate in the relief efforts.

During a radio interview on B97 FM in New Orleans before performing the national anthem at Sunday’s NFC Championship game, Kris revealed: “I am actually going to Haiti. Obviously, I wanted to do something to help out. I was actually going to do that telethon thing, but then somebody hooked me up with going [to Haiti] and just helping out in the next couple days.”

Kris in fact has an extensive history of doing missionary work overseas. Long before he was crowned season 8′s American Idol, the former church music director traveled to Burma, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Spain, and Thailand, “just doing kind of philanthropy stuff, just trying to help people out.”

Kris explained during his B97 interview: “This is the stuff that means the most to me, going out and helping people. And obviously, the thing that happened in Haiti was just a tragedy. I feel blessed that I get to go over there and help people out.”

Fast-forward to the 3:34 mark of the B97 interview clip below to hear Kris’s discussion of his upcoming Haiti trip:

If there was ever evidence that Kris Allen is a true American idol–and a real American hero–this is it. Kudos to Kris for making American Idol and America proud, and good luck to him in Haiti.

Audio Interview.

Congratulations to Kris for Live Like We’re Dying being number one this week on VH1 Top 20 video countdown!