http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=482028
Tried and tested in the public eye
'Idols' still carrying their tune together
By TIM CUPRISIN
tcuprisin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 10, 2006
As the "American Idol" finalists gather in Milwaukee this weekend, for what's certain to be the high point of their summer, they have a long couple of months behind them since Taylor Hicks picked up the crown on May 24.
Among their shared experiences, off the concert stage, has been a July 28 visit to the White House to meet the commander in chief, although it's not clear whether President Bush watched the show.
So how'd they get from the stage of the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles all the way to the Oval Office?
Susan Whitson, who taught ninth-grade English to Taylor Hicks in Birmingham, Ala., is now Laura Bush's press secretary.
And of course, the Nielsen ratings magic associated with Fox's "Idol" can't hurt the president's poll numbers.
That knowledge of the power of "Idol" extends from the federal level to the states. The Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel announced this week that it's putting up half a dozen billboards saluting Hicks, "Idol" second-season winner Ruben Studdard and last year's second-place finisher, Bo Bice. All three, of course, are from Alabama.
That leads to the state's new "Idol" slogan: "Where America finds its voice."
This year's top half-dozen finalists, from winner Taylor Hicks on down, are working to find their voices, and spin their "Idol" appearances into gold:
Taylor Hicks: The winner of the fifth installment of "American Idol" started his summer all over our TV screens, twitching in a Ford commercial that, mercifully, seems to have disappeared.
While there's no evidence that Tay-Tay - hey, that's what finalist Paris Bennett calls him - has sold any Fords with his annoying "Possibilities" spots, Random House's Crown Publishers is banking that he can sell books, giving him a reported $750,000 advance for his life story.
Katharine McPhee: Less visible has been the more watchable runner-up, who's had a couple bouts of bad luck since coming in second.
First, she had to drop out of the tour because of bronchitis and laryngitis - an affliction that could help some of the "Idol" performers. Then she revealed to People Magazine that she's been battling bulimia.
Her McPheever broke just in time for a July 27 appearance on ABC's "The View," where she again sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and rejoined the gang that evening on tour.
Then, just last week, McPhee fractured her foot. But the plucky Californian (if she'd been a plucky Alabamian, she would have won) apparently took the whole "break a leg" thing literally and didn't let it stop her from performing.
Elliott Yamin: Maybe the McPhee-less phase of the concert tour has been grueling for Mr. No. 3, along with the usual TV visits and public appearances.
That could explain why he was way late for the official "Idol" photo shoot in the backdrop known as the Oval Office.
His excuse for showing up 45 minutes late: He was sleeping.
Yamin told his hometown newspaper, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch: "I had press to do this morning. My sleep was interrupted, and I was trying to make up for it. . . . The tour manager called me at the last minute and said, 'We'll have a taxi to take you there for the photo.' And that's what I did."
That's right, blame the media.
Chris Daughtry: Nobody looked more surprised than Chris when he got cut on May 10. But he's wiped the shock off his face and gotten busy over the past couple of months.
First, he didn't join any existing bands, like Live or Fuel. Instead, he says he's going to form his own band and, of course, has a record deal, thanks to producer Clive Davis.
In a bit of personal news, The Associated Press reported this week that Daughtry had bought a $690,000 house in Oak Creek, N.C., just north of Greensboro. The 3,782-square-foot home has a swimming pool and a putting green.
Paris Bennett: She sang the national anthem before the May 30 Detroit Pistons-Miami Heat conference final game in Detroit. But the biggest news out of the 17-year-old powerhouse was her word to fans in her native Rockford, Ill., that she's got a jazzy Christmas album due out this fall.
Telling hometown fans about the pluses of being an "Idol," the Rockford Register-Star quoted her as saying: "You have fun every minute of every day. You get free stuff. You meet a lot of legendary people that you never thought you'd meet."
Kellie Pickler: The bottom five got to go to the White House as well, and none of them was late. You have to be top-three busy to get away with something that.
Peppy sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler got the biggest bounce to her post-"Idol" career with her own guest shot on the panel of ABC's "The View."
Whether she's in the running to fill the chair vacated by Star Jones Reynolds, Rosie O'Donnell blogged at
www.rosie.com that "THAT KID," Pickler, was "PERFECTION!!!"
Yes, Rosie - who takes over the departing Meredith Vieira's "View" chair next month - likes to use capital letters.
If You Go
What: "American Idols Live 2006"
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bradley Center
How much: $39.50 and $49.50; available at the Bradley Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, (414) 276-4545 and
www.ticketmaster.com
Linear Mode
