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‘It’s going to be a big learning experience,’ says ‘Idol’ champ Phillip Phillips of the 45-city tour. By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Kelly Marino Phillip Phillips at the ‘Idols Live’ Rehearsals Photo: It’s hard enough for bands with one singer to get their musical heads together for a major summer tour. Just imagine coordinating a band with 10 lead singers and you can begin to see how much work goes into getting ready for this summer’s American Idols Live! Tour featuring the top singers from season 11. The top 10 have begun getting things together for the tour, which kicks off on July 6 in Detroit. They gathered in a studio in Los Angeles on Wednesday to continue getting their act together. During an a cappella run through One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” a smiling Phillip Phillips 
 stood in the back of the pack as fellow finalist Colton Dixon mussed up his pal’s hair. “I’m really excited, you know it’s all of our first time being on a real tour … it’s going to be a big learning experience,” said Phillips, just a few weeks removed from surgery to repair a chronic kidney problem 
. “I’m feeling good,” he assured MTV News of the surgery, which followed eight surgeries during the run of the show to deal with recurring stones. For a period it was unclear if Phillips would be healed in time for the tour, but he’s clearly healed quickly enough make the trek. Phillips recently told the Associated Press that he’s “getting better each day, so that’s a good thing. I’m just walking around, getting my strength back together. It was tough, you know, those first few days, but I’m getting to where I can pick the guitar back up and write a little bit.” Runner-up Jessica Sanchez was reveling in getting the old crew together again. “It’s so much fun … it’s just like the old days when we were first auditioning and everyone was just a big family and just jamming out.” Her pal, country gal Skylar Laine, added, “Every day we come in here and rehearse and just sing our songs and do our group songs and it’s a blast.” Dixon promised that the live show is “completely different” from what viewers saw on TV. The experience will also be new for the singers, since instead of a few thousand in a studio audience, they will be looking at more than 10,000 screaming fans in arenas. “We’re gonna be like, ‘what do we do with that?’,” he said. Rocker chick Elise Testone promised that you will see the contestants singing backup for one another, performing duets and group songs and putting more of their personalities into the songs. “It’s a perfect mix between favorite moments form the show …. And a whole mix of new stuff too,” Erika Van Pelt said. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 11 Performances

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‘American Idol’ Top 10 Tune Up For Idols Live! Tour