Chris Daughtry
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Chris Daughtry will guest-star on the 100th episode of CBS's CSI: NY.

The 100th show will air in November. It centers on the pursuit of a serial killer who targets people named Mac Taylor – the name of the character played by the show's Gary Sinese.

Daughtry – who is slated to shoot his role on Monday – has been cast as Machiavelli Taylor, described in the production notes as "an attractive 30-something year old musician."

Former American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry has been chosen by CNN to provide the theme song for the network's League of First Time Voters initiative.

The song of choice? Foreigner's hit "Feels Like the First Time," of course.

"Getting to rerecord a classic song like this was a real honor for us, and we hope it helps inspire people to vote,” said Daughtry. "We strongly believe that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you vote."

Foreigner's Mick Jones, who wrote the song back in the late '70s, gave the Grammy-nominated band his seal of approval, saying their version is "very cool" and "more than captured the essence of the original."

The single, set to premiere on Campbell Brown: Election Center today will also appear on Daughtry's upcoming expanded version of its album, Daughtry Deluxe, due out September 9.

Following a wildly successful debut album, Chris Daughtry admits that the pressure is on for its follow-up.

"I don't want to put out anything that is second rate or be accused of going through a sophomore slump," Daughtry told Entertainment Weekly. "So we're taking our time on it."

What can fans expect from the band's second CD, likely to hit stores in the late spring of 2009?

"It's going to be a big huge rock album. We are working with the same producer — Howard Benson [All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance] — same band and some of the same writers so it feels very comfortable this time around."

We can't wait.

At a pre-Grammy party over the weekend, Chris Daughtry said he's watched a bit of this season's American Idol. And he even has a favorite, referring to one as a "dude that could really do some damage."

We think he's referring to David Cook.

Meanwhile, while Daughtry didn't win American Idol or any Grammy awards Sunday night (he was up for four), the rocker remains one of the best-selling acts of the past year.

"Last year, it was like [being] a freshman in high school who wants to hang out with the seniors," he said while surveying his surroundings at the party, which included a logjam of celebrities including Janet Jackson, Fergie, and Whitney Houston.

"This year, we're still new to the game, but we feel like we're slowly but surely graduating to our senior year."

Chris Daughtry and his band are nominated for a handful of Grammy awards. The ceremony airs this Sunday night, but the rocker found time to talk with TV Guide first...

TV Guide: You're up for four Grammy awards, including Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album. Which one would mean the most to you?
Chris Daughtry: Rock Album. Because that's what we are, and I want people to realize that. Whether it be rock with pop sensibility, we are a rock band.

TV Guide: You covered Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" on Idol — and now you're competing against them for a Grammy. How does that feel?
Daughtry: [Laughs] It's an honor to be in a class of people that you couldn't get away from on the radio growing up. Those guys are still in the game and it's an encouragement to us, in that maybe we can be that act people are listening to 20 years from now.

TV Guide: Your album Daughtry hit No. 1 on the charts in 2007. How do you explain your success?
Daughtry: I can definitely say it had a lot to do with being blasted all over TV every week [on American Idol]. I think there's a huge group of people hoping to see us do well. Some art­ists explode no matter what, and some artists would probably do very well if people paid attention. I think, with us, people paid attention because they already had a vested interest.

Read the full interview now.

Chris Daughtry, one of the leading acts of 2007 despite NOT winning American Idol, says the the show that made him famous "in a state of decline."

The Daughtry frontman recently spoke with Rolling Stone about the series. Considering that three well-known Idol finalist - Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Katharine McPhee - have all been dropped by their record labels over the last month, it's easy to see where he's coming from.

But Daughtry probably went overboard when he said that if the show doesn't right itself, "it's probably not gonna last too much longer." Ratings still soar for American Idol, Chris.

Overall, though, we agree with his assessment that the show’s woes are largely due to its emphasis on untalented singers.

“People get tired of seeing people that suck,” he says. “It’s funny at first, but come on. They spend three weeks on people that can’t sing, and that’s what they’re banking it on. [They should] find some people that you can really invest in.”

Chris Daughtry certainly proved in 2007 that you needn't win American Idol to be a success.

The finalist's band, Daughtry, sold 3.2 million copies of their self-titled debut, making it the most popular album of the year. Well done, Chris!

American Idol fever was boiling at the 35th Annual American Music Awards last night.

While the striking writers left four-time host Jimmy Kimmel to make up his own jokes, American Idol alum Carrie Underwood, coming off her wins at the Country Music Association Awards earlier this month, picked up three more trophies.

"This is one heck of a night," she gushed, accepting the award for favorite country album. She also won favorite country female artist and an audience text-in award for favorite artist.

Chris Daughtry, the other nominated American Idol, joined his eponymous band, Daughtry, at the podium three times as they won favorite pop-rock album for Daughtry, as well as breakthrough artist and adult contemporary artist.

"Wow. I can't believe we're in the category with Justin Timberlake and Linkin Park. It's pretty awesome," Daughtry said.

We agree. Congrats to both these amazing artists!

A trio of past American Idol favorites are up for American Music Awards. In the ceremony, to be broadcast live from L.A. on November 18, you can tune in to see if any of the following took home trophies.

Chris Daughtry received three nominations. He's up for Favorite Breakthrough Artist and Favorite Artist: Adult Contemporary Music. The self-titled album, “Daughtry,” is up for Favorite Album: Pop or Rock.

Daughtry will also be performing on the show.

Also, American Idol 4 chamption Carrie Underwood is up for Favorite Female Artist: Country, while her album “Some Hearts” is nominated for Favorite Album: Country.

Lastly, American Idol 3 winner Fantasia is up for Favorite Female Artist: Soul/Rhythm & Blues.

We wish them all the best of luck!

Chris Daughtry and his band performed at the University of Alabama Friday night. The school's newspaper, The Crimson White, had a chance to speak with the former American Idol finalist...

"Who am I? I'm just a normal dude that got lucky, I guess," said Daughtry on Friday night, just before he was to perform.

"I've been doing this for eleven years, playing the same bars over and over for the same people, and I finally got my break," Daughtry said, referring to his appearance as a finalist on American Idol.

Throughout the interview, Daughtry continued to emanate that same sort of humble attitude, though he admitted that his musical ability and perseverance played a part in his rise to fame.

"I decided [if] people aren't coming out to see me, you know, from record labels, I might as well go get seen," he said, pointing out that had he not auditioned for American Idol, he would likely still be an unknown playing in bars.

Being from North Carolina, it would be only natural for Daughtry to be included in the football-obsessed masses that make up a significant portion of the population of the region. But somehow, Daughtry said, that never happened.

"It's weird," he said. "My whole family is into sports, football, basketball, baseball, and actually it's something I never really got into. I don't really know why. I just never really got sucked into sports."

Daughtry was quick to say that even though he is not actively interested in sports, he also does not actively dislike them.

"Being at games, I always enjoy them," he said. "It's always a lot more fun being there than, for me, watching it on TV."

Daughtry said when he was growing up, rather than being involved in sports, he would draw.

"I was always drawing," he said. "I was a nerd. I was reading comic books. I thought that's what I was going to do, like be a comic artist."

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