Chris Sligh News

We interrupt our season seven coverage of American Idol contestants, such as Robbie Carrico, to update fans about a singer from last year:

Chris Sligh, the curly haired crooner who was a fan favorite on season six, has signed a record deal with Atlanta-based independent label Brash Music. He has also announced plans to release his first album, titled Running Back to You, on May 6.

Sligh's first single, ''Empty Me,'' will hit the airwaves later this week.

Forget seeing Carrie Underwood in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

You can check out Chris Sligh in Westerly, Rhode Island on the same night!

The season six American Idol finalist will headline the alcohol-free First Night Westerly celebration, by singing at least one song at the local Y-M-C-A. The party will also feature face painting, mimes and a karate demo.

Tickets cost $10 before December 25, but jump up to a $14 after Christmas. Buy now!

Remember Chris Sligh?

We certainly do. He made last season entertaining any time he opened his mouth for a song or a one-liner. TV Guide caught up with this crazy-haired talent during the American Idols Tour recently...

TV Guide: How is life in Omaha?
Chris Sligh: Omaha is actually pretty cool. We've got two days off here, the first time we've had two days off while on tour. I did a lot of scouring [to learn] more about the city and I bought a skateboard, so I've been skateboarding. It's great.

TV Guide: Where have you been skateboarding?
Chris: Just all over. Like, up to the old market here in Omaha, and back down to the hotel. It was a lot of fun. My legs are tired.

TV Guide: Are you a big skater? Do you do that at home, too?
Chris: I used to. I think the last time I skateboarded I was 16 or 17. I used to do a lot of half-pipe stuff.

TV Guide: Did your wife get worried when you told her you bought a new board?
Chris: No. She was just like, "How much did you spend?" I was like, "It was only $120. Come on!"

TV Guide: You should take her out with you next time.
Chris: Yeah. I'm going to pick her up and skateboard while I'm holding her. That won't scare her at all!

TV Guide: You could go on America's Got Talent with that trick.
Chris: I actually thought about going on America's Got Talent this year but the auditions happened too early.

TV Guide: Did you really think about it?
Chris: No. I don't feel like I want to whore myself out to another reality show. But my cousin was actually on America's Got Talent. He made the top 10. He was the guy that did the female impersonations with the dummy. We're a talented family, I'll tell you that much right now. [Laughs] We've got ventriloquists and OK singers. It's pretty awesome.

TV Guide: I heard you have a whole recording studio on tour with you. Is that true?
Chris: I do. I take it around with me mostly just to annoy everyone else. No, I'm working on demos and writing some songs and everything like that. I'm writing some songs for Phil [Stacey]'s album and I'm obviously writing songs for my album. It's going really, really well. I've written some stuff that I'm really excited about and getting ready for when we're actually allowed to record again.

TV Guide: You have to wait to record again?
Chris: We can record demos but we can't record for real until after the tour is over.

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In a conference call with reported, recently ousted contestant, Chris Sligh, offered the following tips on how he'd change American Idol:

1. Let songwriters sing their own songs
2. Let people play instruments. "I know Taylor [Hicks] has talked about this, too, and so has Chris Daughtry."
3. Let t those who enjoy blogging be able to blog about the experience [as they go through it]. "But there are secret parts of the show that they don't want to get out, and that's the reason they [shut down] the [singers'] blogs."

What do you think, readers? What changes would you make?

As is a weekly tradition, the latest American Idol victim recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly. Here's some of what Chris Sligh had to say ...

Have you rewatched the performance?
I went back and watched it like 15 times on YouTube and I was like, ''I really don't think it was off.'' But I had packed my bags Wednesday morning because I know enough about the show to know that you don't get horrible comments like that and get to stay.

Well, maybe you get to bottom three, but were you shocked you were the one going home?
I knew [Phil Stacey] wasn't going home because he did really well. He and I are really close and we're roommates now. And Haley Scarnato has had two or three weeks where she's been on the rise because of her hot pants. With her rising and because of my last few weeks, I knew I was falling, so I was about 99.5 percent sure I was going home.

I hear you made a bet with Phil...
Yeah, I made a bet during the day with Phil Stacey that I was going home so I got $50. But it was good because I went around to Dean and Miles, the hair stylist and clothing stylist, and said, ''I really appreciate everything you've done.'' They were like, ''Why are you saying that? You're not going home.'' And I was like, ''Yes, I am.''

I was so surprised how apologetic you were to the judges because throughout the season you've really spoken your mind to them. Why so meek this week?
I have kept my mouth shut since the whole comment I made to Simon Cowell about ''Just because I don't sound like Il Divo or the Teletubbies....'' I had a blog up before the show that they had me take down, but the comments people leave go right to my email account. I got hate mail from people saying they hoped I would die or get kicked off the show. People took what I said to Simon as disrespectful but it wasn't. It freaked me out. I went, ''Holy crap.'' There are people who are literally crazy over American Idol. So I just really bit my tongue for the past few weeks.

Tell me more about your fondness for crocheting, knitting, and bongo drums. And did you get that fan question from Ryan ahead of time or was that a spur-of-the-moment response?
No, we got the question ahead of time. I came up with something funny but then people took it as being sarcastic. I was like, ''I'm just being silly!'' When did America stop having a sense of humor? But you know the thing that's great is I'm number 10 on this show. It's given me and my band much more exposure than I ever could have imagined without a major-label deal. Yeah, there are people I would have liked to have made it further than, but if I'm smart and make the right choices I won't ever have to work a real job. I'll just be able to do what I love doing.

What were you going to sing during Tony Bennett week?
I was gonna sing, ''Give Me a Kiss to Build a Dream On.'' I was really excited. I thought that might be my comeback.

What was your take on the comment that a Bob Jones University spokesman made about being disappointed with the musical direction you went in?
I'm trying to think of how to put this in a way that's nice... It's a sect of Christianity that puts their heads in the sand and doesn't want to engage the world around them. I've talked about it on the show, that I was not able to listen to pop music growing up. To them, it's literally a sin for me to sing pop or rock music. I almost feel sorry for them because life is so much bigger than what they're seeing but at the same time I can respect their beliefs and say, ''God bless you.''

That's very turn-the-other-cheek of you. On another deep topic, do you think taking your glasses off a few weeks ago did you in?
Glasses off was a bad choice. But I didn't want to be against trying new things and trying to improve upon my look. There were several people on the show who were like, ''Yeah! Try it without glasses!'' At least if you look at the songs I did, I took a lot of chances. That was the way I wanted to go out. I would have rather done ''Every Little Thing'' than ''Give a Little Bit.''

It wasn't a huge shock last night when Chris Sligh was given the boost on the American Idol results show. The 'Fro Patrol had lost a lot of momentum over the last few weeks.

Still, we think Phil Stacey - despite his solid performance Tuesday night - shows less charisma and has less of a future in the business than Sligh does.

But it doesn't matter how we feel. Chris is gone. And, as you can see below, Haley Scarnato is quite relieved it wasn't her.

Thanks to The Christian Post for this look at three American Idol finalists ...

Several Christians made the big cut to make it as the final 12 competitors in this year's American Idol: Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle, and Chris Sligh have all sang their way into America's homes - and each of them share a link to the Gospel Music Association (GMA) to some degree.

The trio stands as an achievement for Christians as they help break stereotypes in mainstream media, which has often looked down upon the Christian genre as lower in quality. Moreover, in addition to proving that people of faith can sing, these contestants are also becoming witnesses for Christ.

“I want them (non-believers) to know that God loves them, Jesus died for them, and that God has a plan for their life,” explained Sparks in her online e-profile at the GMA website. “I want them to see and hear that being a Christian and singing about it isn't weird!”

Each of the three artists has strong Christian accolades backing themselves.

Sparks and Sligh both have roots back to the GMA Music in the Rockies - a showcase event for aspiring, often unsigned, songwriters and artists in the Christian music industry. Today's renowned professional artists also attend to help these amateurs mature.

Sligh took home first place in the Pop-Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Song category during the conference in 2003 for writing "Only You Remain."

Sparks became the Overall Spotlight Winner at the 2004 GMA Academy in Washington, D.C., and grabbed top prize in the Country/Southern Gospel category.

As for Doolittle, she has performed as a backup singer in Nashville, home to most of today's Christian chief artists.

Now that they have all reached the current round, the twelve remaining singers on American Idol will all compete together and be eliminated one by one every week until a winner is crowned.

Last week, Sligh resonated one of Christian music's greatest hits by singing dcTalk's "We Just Wanna Be Loved."

Chris Sligh, the early favorite to take home this year's title, recently talked to Tvgrapevine.com. Here are a few excerpts:

Question: I thought it was funny when you said on the show that you wanted to be on American Idol so you could make David Hasselhoff cry.

Chris Sligh: When I tried out this year, I didn't really know that much about the show. So I started to research it and saw all these American Idol blogs talking about (Hasselhoff) crying. And I thought 'Man, that's really genius.' I saw a video of Taylor Hicks singing "Do I Make You Proud" and they cut to David Hasselhoff and he's got a tear rolling down his cheek. I thought, 'That's pure genius.' So when I walked in, that was the first thing that came out.

Q: What was the reaction of the judges?

CS: Well, Simon (Cowell) didn't get it. I guess he hadn't watched the tape back of the show. Randy (Jackson) laughed pretty hard. I had to explain it to them and they laughed even harder.

Q: I heard that your fan base is called the "Fro Patro."

CS: It's definitely an homage to Taylor Hicks' Soul Patrol. Taylor and I both have very distinctive hairstyles, mine happens to be a 'fro. Some of my friends said "You should call your fans the Fro Patro."

Q: Is it true that you changed your hair recently into the 'fro?

CS: In May 2005, I shaved my head. I thought, "I'm going to let it grow and see what happens." So, I haven't had a haircut since May 2005.

Q: A writer for Entertainment Weekly proclaimed you one of the top contenders in this contest. How does that make you feel?

CS: That's pretty odd. I look at the guys, the guys are my competition right now, and holy cow, every one of these in the top 12 could have won last year. It feels incredibly satisfying and a little bit scary to think I'm a front-runner with all these incredible people.

Q: You've tried out for American Idol twice before?

CS: I tried out in Orlando in 2005 and in Chicago last year. Got cut in the very first round both times.

Q: Why do you think you've come so far this year?

CS: Mainly, because of my chubbiness. I'm bringing chubby back. It's also the hair. I grew the hair out and it made me automatically recognizable.

Q: Are you saying you gained weight for this role?

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You've heard Chris Sligh sing - both on the show and on the clip we provided readers of his band, Half Past Forever.

You've also heard Chris Sligh crack jokes that even make Simon Cowell laugh. Now, thanks to the series' official website, you can read a bit more about this American Idol favorite.

To wit:

• When listing his favorite male pop artists, Sligh goes with well-knowns such as Ben Folds and Adam Duritz ... as well as fellow Idol contestants Blake Lewis and Rudy Cardenas.

• The goofy man's best talents, other than singing? Song writing, basketball - and kissing. But, sorry ladies, he's married.

• Gina Glocksen is one of Chris' favorit female pop singers.

• Before going on stage, he pees.

That's probably all the information you need to know now, huh?

Before wowing judges at his American Idol audition, Chris Sligh was part of a band known as Half Past Forever.

Here's a clip of them in action: