Elliott Yamin

January 7, 8 p.m.

Altar Bar

$22 at the door, all… Elliott Yamin

January 7, 8 p.m.

Altar Bar

$22 at the door, all ages

www.ticketmaster.com

Pittsburgh loves its idols, and especially its Idols.

Elliott Yamin, the second runner-up on the fifth season of Fox’s hit singing competition “American Idol,” is about to come to the Steel City for the ninth time.

“I love the city […]— the fans are great there,” he said, adding that Primanti Brothers restaurants stick out as a particularly fond memory.

Yamin will perform tonight at the Altar Bar in the Strip District ($22 admission at the door). The bar acts as one of the first stops on a month-long tour, which began last Saturday in Alexandria, Va. Though the set list will feature many songs from his latest album Fight for Love, released in May, Yamin doesn’t see the tour as strictly promotional.

“It’s been going great so far,” he said. “It’s [going to be] a fully acoustic show with a twist.”

Ironically, one of Yamin’s past trips to Pittsburgh placed him in a role reversal from his origins as a contestant. In April 2007, Yamin hosted the Hillel Jewish University Center’s annual American Idol-inspired Campus Superstar, in which local college students compete for a scholarship.

Yamin’s career began in a season studded with other artists like winner Taylor Hicks, runner-up Katharine McPhee and third runner-up Chris Daughtry. The 2006 season proved surprising in that the majority of the top 12 finalists, and even some semi-finalists, were signed to major record labels.

After Idol, Yamin released his self-titled debut in March 2007 under the Song/ATV Music publishing label, with the hit single “Wait for You” finding success on multiple Billboard music charts. Yamin also released two consecutive holiday albums in 2007 and 2008.

Yamin said Idol had a life-changing impact on his career.

“It was the best experience of my life so far. Why would I regret it? I wouldn’t have a career if not for Idol.”

Yamin said he’s “still very close” to Hicks. The two toured together on the American Idols LIVE! Tour in 2006, and Yamin appeared on a duet track on Hick’s sophomore album release.

Being on Idol gave Yamin the opportunity to perform and collaborate with a number of legendary music artists such as Mary J. Blige, but he notes that Bobby Caldwell and Steve Russell are two of his favorite individuals with whom he collaborated.

“[Caldwell] is an amazing artist, and Russell is really great to work with,” he said.

The recent changes to Idol —the addition of judge Kara DioGuardi and the recent replacement of Paula Abdul with Ellen Degeneres, for example— haven’t phased Yamin.

“It’s not going to make or break the show,” he said.

Yamin doesn’t know what he’ll do when his tour ends. He said a live EP might be in the works, but that he is still trying to “figure everything out.”

“I’m just going to take things as they come and continue gradually,” he said.

Yamin gets particularly excited about his Twitter page, a sentiment shared by many artists wishing to connect with their fan bases.

“I use Twitter for the fans,” he said. “I just want to give back to them as much as possible.”

Since arriving in Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening, Yamin has tweeted about the beautiful weather saying,“its snowin its arse off!”, He has also shared his disdain for The Bachelor and tweeted “That show the bachelor,or fake love, as I like 2 call it, is a joke.” To the delight of Pitt students native to this city, he has also posted a photo of an Eat’n Park — not to mention the frequent plugs for his show at eight tonight.

Fans can follow Elliott Yamin at www.twitter.com/elliottyamin.