American Idol News

posted by Administrator on Jun 24

Simon Cowell admits that Josiah Leming should have been an American Idol seventh-season semifinalist, however he’s placing the blame for why it didn’t happen on his fellow judges.

“We should have put him through,” Cowell told the Knoxville News Sentinel in a Friday report. “I was all for it. I wanted him in the competition.”

Leming auditioned for Idol’s seventh season last summer in Atlanta and wowed the judges with “To Run,” a song he wrote. He made it through to the Hollywood Round and continued to impress the judges with both his vocal ability and piano-playing skills on “Grace Kelly.”

However he faltered badly during his final Hollywood Round performance when he was ill-prepared and sleep deprived, singing a rendition of “Stand By Me” with no musical accompaniment.

While Randy Jackson called it Leming’s “worst performance” and Paula Abdul added it “didn’t work,” it’s not as though Cowell was completely blameless, as he characterized the 18-year-old as being “a teensy-weensy bit annoying” and singing with “overconfidence.”

Still, Cowell said he wanted to send Leming through to the Top 24 only to be shot down by both Jackson and Abdul.

“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Cowell told the News Sentinel. “I wanted him through.”

Idol’s loss worked out pretty well for Leming, who recently signed a recording and publishing contract with Warner Bros. Records. His debut album is currently scheduled to drop in September.

“I think I was proven right,” Cowell told the News Sentinel.

posted by Administrator on May 28

Josiah Leming, a would-be “American Idol” contestant from Tennessee, reportedly has landed a record deal with Warner Bros.

Leming, 19, was living in his car when he auditioned for the singing competition show with an original tune.

Although he didn’t make the cut for the top 24 contestants last season, his MySpace page, which features his music, has since gotten 2 million hits. He also was invited to appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

USA Today said that his most recent success is bittersweet, however.

Leming, who began work on his debut album for Warner Bros. last week, is hoping the CD comes out before his mother Sharon succumbs to terminal cancer.

“It’s a difficult balance between moving forward with my career here in Los Angeles, which makes my mom really happy, and trying to be with her as much as I can,” Leming told USA Today. “I want her to be here when the album comes out.”

With the advance he got for the album, Leming bought a truck for his father, a construction worker who quit his job to care for his wife. Leming also rented a house for a week so his family could enjoy a trip to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the newspaper said.