Even people who hadn’t read the spoilers knew that weepy car-living hopeful Josiah Leming wasn’t going to crack the American Idol top 24 as soon as the package leading up to the judges’ decision on him quoted him as expressing confidence about his chances. (Silly Josiah! Hubris is never rewarded on the show; just ask Antonella Barba.) Something tells me, though, that the fan of Britpop, DC Talk, and Mika is going to join the pantheon of People Who Didn’t Really Need Idol To Be OK; his MySpace page is racking up the comments (50 in the last hour alone!) and he’s the only person who appeared on last night’s Idol to crack the current Google Trends chart. After the jump, a YouTube embed of his track “Bad News Baby,” which YouTube commenters are comparing to Bright Eyes, Death Cab For Cutie, and, um, the Fray.
Will Saddle Creek sign him, as one YouTube commenter hopes? Stay tuned!
Josiah Leming: OUT!: [YouTube]
Josiah Leming [MySpace]
Considering he’s the only name I remember from this season so far and that Google Trends thing you mentioned, I think Idol really fucked themselves with this one. I was so looking forward to hearing what he’d sing each week instead of, ya know, the same ol’ Whitney and Celine songs.
I actually purchased several of his tracks from his MySpace page. The more I’ve listened to them, the more I’ve realized he sounds a helluva lot like James Blunt. So Idolators, you’re welcome to start hating him now.
Wouldn’t it be great if Kill Rock Stars signed him and sent him on out tour with Colin Meloy?
*out on tour
I think part of the reason that Josiah was kicked off is that Randy, Paula and Simon have very little awareness of the current pop landscape. If they did, they’d immediately realize how easy this kid would’ve been to market/promote – especially with the Clive Davis/J Records machine behind him – to teenage emo girls torn between Fall Out Boy and the Plain White T’s, fans of mopey piano-based pop like Keane or Coldplay, or even the CCM crowd, all markets that Idol hasn’t really tapped into yet.
Also, if Katherine McPhee should have taught them anything, it’s that finding the “standard” popstar/diva package (something they once again seem to be doing with this bland Top 24) is irrelevant – and bound to fail commercially – unless you hook’em up with state-of-the-art pop songwriters/producers of the caliber of Ne-Yo, The-Dream, Timbaland, Danja, etc. – which never happens to even the top idol contestants.
My wife loved him. But as I told her last night, perhaps getting disqualified from American Idol is the biggest career break he’s ever had. Saddle Creek should indeed sign him.
Wait, is this studio in the back of his car?
@deadohiosky: If this is the alternative, then I’m starting to understand why he lives in the car.
I wasn’t crazy about him, BUT he probably had a better chance of being successful and famous than the final 24.
American Idol is more about POPularity. I think the judges let him go because they dont want him to be POPular. They want him to be extraordinary, he is too unique to be an Idol. Idols are cliche, they adhear to specific popular genres. You can put a label on them. Even if you do NOT like Josiah, like Simon said, “I will remember that one.”
God, what a ruckus that song is. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt from having only been able to show what Idol would let him show, but I only made it about 30 seconds into “Bad News Baby”. I don’t mean to be an ass, but he isn’t a good singer. His voice isn’t “unconventionally good” in an indie way– it’s just tuneless and screechy.
Also, is there a reason he speaks in a British accent a third of the time?
Wow! Funny how you claim Josiah will “join the pantheon of People Who Didn’t Really Need Idol To Be OK” but who would have EVER heard of him without Idol? Give me a break.
I dont know what it is about this kids voice but I love it. I can listen to the song TO RUN and One Last Song also his audition singing the Grace Kelly song- over and over and over. I just love the accent too. I even had my daughter fix me a myspace just to be able to comment on what a great voice and song writer he is….and to be able to keep up with his careet.I sure hope this young man’s career continues on higher than he ever dreamed. I also wish he could do a concert in my state Ohio.
melissa
Clearly Josiah is not going to have any problems with his career; he may turn out to be the biggest all around star idol has ever produced in fact. At least with Jenifer Hudson, the judges could claim that the voters sent her home. It will be interesting to hear why they say was the reasoning for sending Josiah packing. I have a feeling they will say he didn’t seem mature enough or he wasn’t “right” for the competition. There is more on Josiah Leming here
jviz.blogspot.com/2008/03/josiah-leming.html
I was actually surprised that Josiah didn’t make the top 24. I figured his story alone would make him compelling enough for the producers to want him in. But in the end, they may have done him a favor.
It’s incredible how quickly he’s taken off since then. He really made the most of those few minutes he had on the show.
This is why I like Idol and why I am excited about the power of the web to spread information and talent. It’s great that people like this can get the word out so widely and so fast.
[www.systemsthinker.com]