Mike Hughes on TV

Each spring, my blog becomes a sort of Idol Central. There are comments after every show and interviews with each ousted person. Now I wanted this interview with Scott MacIntyre.

He finished eighth in 2009, which was one of the good years, crackling with the firepower of Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta and Lil Rounds. (The show sagged in 2010, then rebounded strongly this year.) Now his life seems packed with music, speaking appearances and his recent engagement. Here's the story I sent to papers:

By MIKE HUGHES

For many “American Idol” finalists,
the what-next phase is perilous. They scramble for their first deal,
first recording, first record release.

Scott MacIntyre, however, had cut
through all of that. “I had self-produced six or seven albums by
then,” he said. “My first album was when I was 11 years old.”

The exact number is variable. There
were five by MacIntyre alone, a sixth backing his brother, a seventh
with the MacInyre Family Singers.

That group includes his mother and his
brother and sister, both younger. “My dad auditions every year,”
MacIntyre said. “And every year he gets rejected.”

Hey, rejection is rare in his family.
The most important moment came this winter, when MacIntyre proposed
to Christina Teich; she said yes and they plan to marry sometime this
spring. Meanwhile, he's busy giving talks, doing concerts and
finishing his first book.

MacIntyre, 25, was born with a
congenital disease that leaves him virtually blind. His sister has
the same ailment; their brother doesn't.

For as long as he can remember, he's
been fascinated by music and the piano. “I was sneaking out of bed
at night and trying to figure out melodies,” he said.

He started playing the piano at 3,
started classical lessons at 6. The main changes came when his dad –
who works on the business side of Honeywell's aerospace projects –
moved the family.

At 10, MacIntyre moved to Toronto and
studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music; at 14, he moved to
Arizona, where he met Teich. “She had seen me perform and we were
both in a show.”

She was 14 then, in a community
production of “The Music Man”; he was 18 and playing Mayor
Shinn. “We became great friends,” MacIntyre said. “Seven years
later, I asked her out.”

The Disneyland date went well and he
was soon proposing. In between, his life had transformed.

MacIntyre graduated summa cum laude
from Arizona State at 19, landing a Marshall Scholarship. He added a
Master's degree from the Royal College of Music in London and reached
the 2009 “Idol,” where Paula Abdul called him “an inspiration
to the world.”

He finished eighth and did the tour.
“It was even bigger than I thought it would be, 52 arenas.”

MacDonald returned to perform on “Idol”
last March, the dau “Heartstrings,” his sixth (or seventh, or
eighth) album debuted, reaching No. 18 on iTunes. (All are at
www.scottmacintyre.com,
plus his subsequent Christmas album.) He also signed for the book and
with Premiere Speakers Bureau.

“Nothing is really scripted,”
MacIntyre said of his talks. “I love to have a grand piano on stage
and have an inspirational program.” Right now, he has a lot to talk
about.