Keyser’s interaction with Idol judge Jennifer Lopez was one of the top stories on Yahoo News all morning long Friday.

Keyser, who is from Pompano Beach and works as a server at Carrabba’s Italian restaurant, has been enjoying support from the UCF community. He’s performed on YouTube before, as you can see in the Gavin DeGraw cover he posted, below, but Idol looks to be his biggest break yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOK0yCDQUs

When KnightNews.com posted news of a UCF student on Idol last night, more than 100 students liked it on Facebook.

KnightNews.com will continue updating Knights on Keyser’s progress. We’re also working to find people who knew him at UCF. If you had class with him, were his roommate, or neighbor — or can help us find people like that — email us at news@knightnews.com.

Keyser mentioned that he attends UCF on national TV, getting some publicity for Knight Nation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H3E4JnXLQc

KnightNews.com will continue following this UCF Knight’s progress on American Idol.

Like Us For UCF News Updates on Facebook:

As you can see from the video someone posted on YouTube, judges were impressed. Make sure to like KnightNews.com on Facebook to follow his progress!

First things first, decide on a budget. Figure out how much you intend to spend
and stick to it. We would all love to splurge and buy our valentine a pricey gift but bear
in mind, a gift is rarely valued as much as an experience.

Everyone loves to be ‘wined and dined’ especially on a day dedicated to love.
Instead of spending a fortune at a restaurant, cook a memorable dinner. Buy gourmet
ingredients you wouldn’t normally cook with. Every restaurant on Valentines Day
is packed, loud and the service is usually awful. Skip it and treat your valentine to a
romantic night in. If a certain restaurant has special meaning or significance see if they
have a carry out menu so you can still enjoy the night away from the madness.

If you ‘forgot’ how to cook, don’t worry. Check out the prepared foods section at
Publix near the meat department. Here you can find steak pinwheels with fresh spinach
and mozzarella, bacon wrapped chicken cordon bleu, marinated steak kabobs and so
much more. All of the Publix pre-made items come with instructions so if you burn it
make sure you have Papa Johns on speed dial and order a heart shaped pizza.

Ignore the typical box of chocolates calling your name. In an article titled “From
fancy salt to gourmet trucks, an appetizing look at 2012,” USA Today named artisan
chocolate one of the top food trends for 2012. Look for smaller bars that feature unique
flavors and have a higher percentage of cocoa. One bar may cost the same as a common
supersized bag, but your valentine will not complain about its size when he or she tries it.

Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly, a bakery with specialty cupcakes located
in Waterford Lakes Town Center, is offering a special Valentines Day collection
of cupcakes. Each cupcake is embellished with a handmade custom chocolate to
compliment each flavor of the collection. The Valentines Day collection is offered at $18
for one dozen mini cupcakes.

Try and explore other areas around Orlando. Harry P. Leu Gardens will be
hosting a Valentine’s Movie Night featuring “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Admission is only $5
per person and you can bring your own picnic basket and blankets. The Garden will open
at 6 p.m. and the movie will start at 7:30 p.m. During the day admission is $7 and you
can explore 50-acre oasis in the middle of Orlando. Go to www.leugardens.org for more
information.

Park Avenue in Winter Park features one of the most enjoyable walks in Orlando.
Stroll the brick, tree-lined street surrounded by shops and restaurants. Most of the
restaurants will be at capacity but there’s always Starbucks and a vintage candy store.

Make sure to check out the rose garden next to the six-acre park, a frequent wedding
ceremony location due to its charm.

If you’re too busy applauding the fact that you don’t have to worry about anything
above, you should plan a night out. Regardless of relationship status, it’s still a holiday.
You can sit around, watch Christian Slater movies, play video games and pretend you
don’t know what day it is or you can enjoy yourself. Get a group together, split a cab, and
go downtown where you’ll find other people doing the exact same thing.

Remember to buy a card, or make one yourself. Flowers die, chocolate will
mysteriously disappear but a card will always be there to remind your valentine how
much you care. Don’t let you friends feel forgotten, there’s nothing wrong with buying
juvenile valentines for your friends. If all else fails think thoughtfully, speak kindly and
enjoy the people around you.

By: Sophie Grace

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 3rd at 10:00am!

Mac Miller, with special guests The Cool Kids and The Come Up, will perform at the UCF Arena as part of the Campus Consciousness Tour. The show starts at 7:00pm and doors will open at 6:00pm.

Be sure to get your tickets early as this will likely be a SOLD-OUT event!

Check out a few Mac Miller hits:

Monster Jam consisted of 1,500 horsepower, 10,000 pound monster trucks competing in side by side racing and freestyle competitions. The freestyles included plenty of wheelies, jumps, donuts, and of course, crashes and destruction!

Check out our photos from the event!

Roxy is advertising the night will have sounds by Crespo & Kid Judah, a DJ who became popular at UCF area bars, on 4 turntables.

Once again, Roxy is sending party buses to UCF to drive students to the event. If ordered in advance, $10 will cover the bus ride and cover your entrance into Roxy.

You can text “YOLO BUS” to 754-581-4497 to order tickets. The price increases to $12 for walkups. Cash and credit cards are accepted, according to promoters.

Buses will pick people up from:

- Nike 106 on campus at 10:00 p.m.
- The UCF Arena at 10:15 p.m.
- The Plaza, across from UCF, at 10:30 p.m.

The offer is valid on January 23rd only. For coupon click here

KN: First off, how’s the tour going?
ADL: The Tour’s been amazing, man! I mean touring is fun as it is, but when you get to tour with your best friends it’s even more fun. And not only are The Summer Set some of our best friends, but we’re big fans of their new album and their music, and there’s a lot of other good bands on the tour. He Is We is amazing, Days Difference, Paradise Fears, I mean there’s so many awesome people that it’s just been a blast.

KN: I saw on twitter you went to Disney World. How was that?
ADL: I went today! It was a blast! I try to go every time I come to Orlando, even if I have to lose sleep I try to sneak in and go on a few rides. It makes me feel normal, cause when you get on tour you get in a routine and it’s like you do the same thing every day. It’s like same thing, different city. You know what I mean? So I just like to kind of feel like a kid, or just feel like… I don’t know. I just like to have fun!

KN: Both of your albums have been incredibly diverse as far as the type of songs that are on them. How important do you feel such diversity is for a band?
ADL: I think diversity is super important! You know when you listen to bands that have an album of 13 of the exact same songs it’s just boring. It takes away the fun as a listener. You don’t want to know what to expect in the next song. If every song sounds the same, how are you calling them an artist? They’re an artist that draws the same painting over and over again. And as an artist or musician you want to make it fun, you want to experiment with different sounds, (John Gomez, Guitarist/Vocalist in The Summer Set, says, “You want to get laid.”) and you want to get laid. And you don’t get laid if you write the same song over and over again.

KN: There were a ton of co-writes that took place for Symphony Soldier – with only a handful actually making the album – can you talk about how some of those co-writes came together, which were your favorite, and why you picked the ones you did?
ADL: Yeah, I mean Maroon 5 has been one of the biggest influences to The Cab for probably 8 years, ever since the band started. So that was always just on our dream “to do” list, and we got to do that, which was a dream come true. Then Bruno Mars was another favorite, and it’s like a no-brainer. When you write songs with Bruno Mars, you don’t write bad songs, you know what I mean? Bruno Mars does not write a bad song, so that was obviously making the album. The song we did with Adam in Maroon 5 turned out amazing. Then “Bad”, our first single, we did with Martin from Boys Like Girls. And I think the reason they all turned out so good is because we’re all friends. We became friends with Bruno, we have been friends with Martin forever, so it’s so easy to get in a room and to write with your friends. There’s no pressure, there’s no over-thinking it, you’re hanging out and you’re just making music, just doing what you love to do.

KN: Are there any you wish would have made the album, but didn’t?
ADL: Yeah, there’s a few songs in general. There’s a song called “I’m Gonna Break You” that I wish would have made the album, there’s a song called “Crown” that will be released at some point, a song called “Cool Me Down” that I loved. We wrote like 200 songs for the album, so there is probably 40 songs that I wish could be released that are just sitting on a shelf somewhere. They might make it out eventually, or they may just die. We’ll see!

KN: There were rumors a while back that you were working on a possible collaboration with Justin Timberlake. How did that come about and is there any update on that idea?
ADL: We run into Justin all the time, and every time we run into him we always talk about it. But we’re just constantly touring, we tour 9 or 10 months out of the year, and Justin is Justin. He’s always filming movies or working on music. The dude is like the most successful guy in the industry, so it’s like he’s busy and we’re busy so it’s just trying to find the right time and the right politics. It will come together I’m sure some day. It’s my number one dream, so if that happens then I can die happy. But we’re huge N Sync fans. For example, tonight at the show Chris from N Sync is coming out and that on its own, the fact that he is coming to support our band because he is a fan of our band and that I grew up listening to them, it’s just the fact that things come full circle like that is insane.

KN: What was it like working with someone like John Feldmann?
ADL: Feldmann is insane (laughs). He drinks about twenty cups of coffee a day, doesn’t drink soda, he is a strict vegan, but you would think that the dude is on caffeine and drugs and all the above but he’s not, he’s just naturally insane. But I think some of the best producers are just naturally insane, like you have to be a little but out of your mind to come up with some of the sounds and some of the ideas that he comes up with. He’s great because he’s a friend, he knows how to bring out the best in you, and he’ll come to the studio one day and come up with these crazy sounds. He’ll be like, ‘dude, I just recorded my daughter laughing and I just tweaked it into a sound’, or like ‘dude, my dog was running across the hardwood floor and I recorded his paws scraping and I made it into a percussive loop’ and we’re like ‘Jesus Christ, you’re insane!’ (Laughing) Who thinks to record their dog running across a hardwood floor? Only Feldmann, and you listen to his albums that he did with The Used and the production is just so unique. He’s very rock, but he also has pop sensibility, which is what The Cab is. It’s pop, but it also has that rock, edgy side to it, so Feldmann definitely brought it out and he was a huge part of the record.

Alexander DeLeon of The Cab at The Beacham in Orlando Florida on January 20, 2012

KN: Today the music industry lost a huge icon in Etta James. How do you feel about that? And being a singer, did Etta James have an influence on your music?
ADL: Of Course! I mean obviously it’s tragic. It’s just one of those things in life that happens to everyone, and it’s so sad. A lot of people our age, or even younger, don’t know who she is. Some might now because she’s on that new Flo-Rida song “I Got A Good Feeling”. The thing about Etta James is that not only was she such a good talent and such a good soul, but artists like Adele and Beyoncé, some of the biggest artists in the world right now, Etta James is one of their biggest influences. So if kids don’t know necessarily Etta James or who she is, they know who she’s created. It’s like they’re listening to Beyoncé and Adele and it’s like vocally, Beyoncé and Adele wouldn’t be who they were without Etta James. She just had such a big impact on music and on soul and R&B and all of that in general that it’s a sad day in music.

KN: Well, thank you for your time and I can’t wait for the show tonight!
ADL: No problem, man. Thanks for coming out!