tú vs. usted in the Rocket Spanish course

I have a question about the use of tú in the Rocket Spanish lessons. In Lección 2.3, Amy is supposedly a reporter interviewing the famous singer, Señor Evlampieff. Though she addresses him as "Señor Evlampieff," she uses the second person familiar, both in the verbs and in asking about the name of his band. I was under the impression that a reporter meeting someone for the first time would use Usted (especially if the reporter addresses the person as "Señor" or "Señora"). Why does Amy use tú?

Hi there! Mauricio and I have discussed this one. My intention with the interview was to mimic the style of MTV interviews, where the reporter--even though they've never met a particular musician before--quickly falls into familiar banter with the musician, pretending that they're old friends. We agree that without any real context, though, the use of tú can be really confusing. So we're fiddle with the lesson to make everything more clear. Thanks a lot for the comment!

Hi, folks! Just wanted to inform you that Mauricio and I have re-recorded the Interactive Audio Lesson 2.3 with the conversation in question. I hope that it makes the feeling of the interview (chatty and friendly) clearer. Download it now in the Members Area!

Hola Amy. Yes, I think the revised version makes it much clearer why you're using tú with the renowned Señor Evlampieff. I'm impressed with how responsive you and Mauricio are to suggestions made here in the forum. I'm also delighted with the help that the two of you provide here. Muchas gracias!

Thanks for re-recording Lesson 2.3. I came across this post by accident. Would it be possible to put a note or include the dates that files are modified in the members' area to make it easier to check for changes and then be able to identify and download the new files? Tony

Great idea, Tony! I've been thinking the very same thing. We'll make sure and do that. FYI, we also just uploaded a new version of the Beginners (Grammar) Book with some errors in the Exercise Answer Key corrected. So any of you who are using the Beginners Book, make sure to download it!

All right, there's a new section now on the Bulletin Board where all updates will be listed. You can't post to it--it's just for administration purposes--but check there to see the latest changes!

A minor problem with the section about updates. When I tried to read it, there was an error message: "Sorry, but only moderators can read topics in this forum." Thanks for being so responsive to user's suggestions. I'm really enjoying the course and will recommend it to all my friends. Tony

Thanks, Tony! Sorry about that. I think it's fixed now. Check it out and get back to me. :-)