The five females who managed to snag coveted Top 10 spots on the seventh season of American Idol recently talked with reporters about the aftermath of the show and the beginning of the summer tour.

The tour kicked off in Arizona, the first of 49 cities which will soon welcome the group of crooners. Diminutive Ramiele Malubay feels positive about the tour, saying there will be “no one to say you sang horrible.”

“It’s not about what a judge is going to say. It’s about the music and the fans connecting and having a great time,” offered Brooke White.

Carly Smithson also felt cheerful, saying “it’s amazing. Nobody is going to judge us after we sing.” Third-place finalist Syesha Mercado likened the tour to “a mini-concert for each person.”

“We sing three songs each,” Brooke White said of herself and her fellow females, “David Cook five, Archuleta will sing four. I think a lot of people had the impression it was going to be a bunch of group numbers, but it’s not. We actually are going out as individual performers and do our own set, our own music.”

But after weeks of doing their own thing (and being released from the LA compound where Idol contestants are all but held hostage during episodes), it must be weird for the girls to get together again…right? “We’re like sisters!” Malubay cried during the interview.

“Do you really feel like you’re my sister?” The question was posed by Syesha Mercado.

But Idol’s seventh season never really seemed to belong to any of these girls - it was the year of the men as the press, the fans and the votes continued to support male contenders for the crown. “My fan mail was like, three letters,” Malubay admitted. “The boys would get boxes, stacks,” said White.

“At the most I got like, six letters. That’s at the most, six letters a week,” recalled Mercado. And she made it all the way to the Top 3.

But in many ways, all Idols are encased in their own small world when competing on the show. They don’t read a lot of press or spend a bunch of time surfing blogs for comments. Family time is severely curtailed, as grueling production and rehearsal schedules leave few minutes free. “Our MySpaces were all taken away from us,” informed Carly Smithson.

Kristy Lee Cook, by the way, was present at this gathering, but was on prescribed vocal rest. Kristy will be recording an album during the same time she’s touring with her nine fellow finalists, as will winner David Cook and runner-up David Archuleta.