Usually, I do a profile of the person just ousted from "American Idol." This week, however, the interview with Casey James was a day late. As a result, I've folded his profile into an overview of the finale. Since I put all my "Idol" stories in this blog space, I'll put it here; this is the story I sent to papers:
By MIKE HUGHES
As “American Idol” heads into its
finale, its global politics have wobbled.
The finish has Crystal Bowersox and Lee
DeWyze performing Tuesday, with one named champion on Wednesday.
“It's going to be a crazy, amazing show,” said Casey James, who
finished third.
He's from Texas, which is where we
expect to find “Idol” winners. Bowersox and DeWyze, both 24, are
from near Toledo and Chicago respectively.
That means the South is missing in the
finale for the first time since – well, ever.
Kelly Clarkson, a Texas waitress, was
the first winner. In the next years, both finalists were from the
South or a border state. It was Ruben Studdard (Alabama) over Clay
Aiken (North Carolina), Fantasia Barrino (North Carolina) over Diana
DeGarmo (Alabama), Carrie Underwood (Oklahoma) over Bo Bice
(Alabama). The winners that followed were Taylor Hicks (Alabama),
Jordin Sparks (Arizona), David Cook (Missouri) and Kris Allen
(Arkansas).
People have scrambled for an
explanation: Through weather and tradition, the South has more of a
performance culture. It has more pageants, festivals, clubs, porches.
Whatever the reason, Wednesday will
bring the first Northern winner. “Northwestern Ohio has been in a
bit of a slump lately,” Bowersox said on the show. Now it (or
Illinois) will get an emotional boost.
Bowersox has Chicago links, too. She
lived there for a while, singing for tips at train stations. At the
Chicago auditions, she befriended DeWyze.
She was an early starter, doing gigs
when she was 10; she plays harmonica, guitar and piano and has pushed
(unsuccessfully) to do original songs on the show. DeWyze started the
guitar at 16; he cut two independent albums in Chicago, while working
at a paint store in his home town of Mount Prospect.
They thrived on “Idol,” during a
year when ratings dropped. “The show is going to be off about 9
percent this year,” said Fox president Peter Rice, who says it's
still an overwhelming No. 1 in the age group (18-49) advertisers
want.
He also grants that the show will have
more trouble next season, if it can't find the right replacement for
departng judge Simon Cowell. It needs someome “who provides both
music credibility and an incredible entertainment value.”
The choice will come before September,
when auditions begin. They'll include several cities – Nashville
and New Orleans were two of the first announced – that can re-stock
the Southerners.
This year, they came close. Aaron Kelly
(Texas) was fifth, Michael Lynche (Florida) fourth. James, who
finished third, is a towering – just over 6-foot-3 – Texan with a
down-home casualness.
“My marketing skills are obviously poor,”
he said, “or I wouldn't have been doing the same bar gigs for 11
years.”
He's not influenced by the big-city
media; in fact, he hasn't had a TV for 20 years. “Lightning struck
my mother's house and knocked out the antenna. I guess it wasn't that
important to us. I didn't see what … other people thought was cool,
so it kind of led me to be my own person.”
James has the same casual approach to
discussing the near-fatal motorcycle accident five years ago. A car
signaled for a right turn, he said, but instead did a U-turn when he
was on the left. “I hit him doing 70, 75 … and broke a lot of
bones and flew a long ways …. No one seemed to think I would make
it.”
He did and revived his guitar skills.
He became the top Southerner in a Northern year.
– “American Idol,” Fox
– Tuesday: Final performances, 8-9
p.m.; then viewers vote
– Wednesday: Finale, 8-10 p.m. Guest
performances, return of the final 12, send-off to Simon Cowell. Then
the winner is announced.