The show essentially followed the format of season seven tour where the performances were presented as a series of mini-concerts, starting from the 10th-place finisher and ending with the winner. As with season seven, each half of the show ended with a group performance, the first half consisting of a medley by the first six performers, and the last half ending with all ten performers.
Setlist
Michael Sarver - "In Love with a Girl", "Closer"
Megan Joy - "Put Your Records On", "Tears Dry on Their Own"
Scott MacIntyre - "Bend and Break", "A Thousand Miles"
Lil Rounds - "Be Without You"/"Just Fine", "No One" and "Single Ladies "
Anoop Desai - "Always on My Mind", "Mad" and "My Prerogative"
Matt Giraud - "Hard to Handle", "Georgia on My Mind" and "You Found Me"
Group medley - Megan & Lil "Can't Take My Eyes off You", Matt & Scott "Tell Her About It", Michael & Anoop "Suspicious Minds", Anoop, Matt, Lil, Scott, Megan & Michael "Beggin'",
Danny Gokey - "P.Y.T. ", "Maria Maria", "What Hurts the Most", "My Wish"
Adam Lambert - "Whole Lotta Love", "Starlight", "Mad World", "Slow Ride" with Allison Iraheta, David Bowie medley
Kris Allen - "Heartless", "All These Things That I've Done", "Bright Lights", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Hey Jude"
Top 10 Group song - "Don't Stop Believin'", "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"
Additional notes
"No Boundaries" was dropped from Kris Allen's set starting on July 10, 2009 in Sacramento, California due to "poor audience response." The song was replaced with "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers.
Kris Allen did not perform on the Bridgeport, Connecticut show on September 10, 2009 due to an illness but he did return for the rest of the tour after his recovery.
Megan Joy did not perform the last group song in Los Angeles, California on July 16, 2009 due to food poisoning and being sent to the hospital shortly after her set but she did return for the rest of the tour after her recovery.
Tour dates
Nominations
The tour was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the "Choice Music: Tour" category.
Response
The Season 8 tour equalled in its success to Season 7. Despite a slightly lower number of total tickets sold at 484,434, it averaged slightly higher in attendance percentage capacity and yielded a higher gross of $30,139,328 million. It was ranked number 28 in Pollstar's year end list of North American tours.
