'Idol' Gokey describes run as 'tragedy to triumph'

Thousands of screaming fans, being asked to sing the national anthem at a major league baseball game and a parade: It was all too much for "American Idol" finalist Danny Gokey, who recently returned to his hometown of Milwaukee.

During the parade on May 8, the 29-year-old truck driver cried.

"It's unbelievable," Gokey told former "Idol" contestant Jamar Rogers.

The 29-year-old Gokey, who was voted off Wednesday, said he was grateful to the show and that his "life has turned around: I can't say that enough." With the vote, "Idol" now pits dark horse Kris Allen against early favorite Adam Lambert.

Gokey has come far in his transformation from an unknown widower to the third-place finisher on the popular Fox singing show.

"From tragedy to triumph," he said.

Less than a year ago, Gokey's wife, Sophia, died after surgery for a congenital heart defect. He was so shocked, he couldn't cry at her funeral.

Sophia had been an "American Idol" fan, and they had agreed he would try out. Gokey, then 28, reached the upper age limit for the audition, but a month after her death, he auditioned in Kansas City.

Gokey, a volunteer church music director who knows mostly gospel music, had to learn new songs every week. He also tailored his image, turning his collection of more than 50 pairs of funky glasses and the heart symbol he makes with his hands into his signatures.

He has said he decided long ago to put away bitter feelings and enjoy life, which recently included being tutored by actor and singer Jamie Foxx, complimented by Simon Cowell as "one of the best" and adored by Paula Abdul, who cried when he was voted off the show.

"My whole testimony is overcoming," Gokey said. "Overcoming the impossible in my life, and now I want to take that message and tell people, 'If I can do it, you can do it.'"

Gokey plans to take that message on the road this summer when he tours with the show's top 10 finalists and in charity work for Sophia's Heart Foundation, which he started after his wife died. He said he also wants to make a rhythm and blues CD, although he hasn't yet signed a record deal.

Gokey's 34-year-old brother Charles said his family was devastated by the vote, but that Gokey was now free from "Idol" contracts to do what he wants, including more foundation work.

"I'm a little sad, but at the same time it's a new beginning," said Charles Gokey. "It's a happy beginning for what he can accomplish, with all the exposure he's had."

"I was a nobody, and this show turned me into somebody and I'll always be thankful for the roots that I came out of because I do believe that still the best has yet to come for me," Danny Gokey said on a recent conference call with reporters. "This is not the end of the road."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PEOPLE_DANNY_GOKEY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-05-17-22-48-48

"Idol" Danny Gokey expected his elimination

He gained a following with his soulful singing and snazzy glasses, but ousted "American Idol" contestant Danny Gokey said on Thursday he foresaw his elimination from the competition's top three.

Gokey, who sported different pairs of stylish eyeglasses during his run on "Idol," said he began the season with 15 pairs and ended with 50. "I really would like to start a Danny line or a Gokey line of eyeglasses," he said.

Gokey, 29, said he had a sense all day that he would be cut, especially when rival Kris Allen, a presumed underdog, was tapped to advance and Gokey was left standing with the judges' favorite, Adam Lambert.

"I knew it was it for me, I was very confident in the fact that it was it for me," Gokey said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday.

Gokey, a widowed church music director, also said he understood why judge Simon Cowell in the Tuesday broadcast urged viewers to vote for Lambert, and made no such plea for Gokey, who was eliminated on Wednesday.

"I've got to be honest, it doesn't make me mad, it doesn't disappoint me, that's what (Cowell) believes is going to make the most money," Gokey said.

Gokey appeared to be talking about the commercial appeal of Lambert potentially winning the final and a record contract.

And Gokey had praise for the 27-year-old Lambert, a musical theater actor known for his bold performance style.

"He's very creative, he lives creative, he dresses creatively, he talks from that perspective," Gokey said.

As for his musical plans, Gokey said he wants to make a soulful album with R&B beats and a hint of Latin flavor, the latter coming from the influence of his late wife, Sophia, who was of Puerto Rican descent.

Gokey lost his wife last July to heart disease, and he said that raising money for charity in her name will be part of his musical mission.

"I would personally like to start a movement with my music," Gokey said. "Maybe it sounds so big of me or maybe cocky even, but the dream that I have ... is to really revolutionize the culture, to change people's hearts."

With Allen and Lambert facing off next week, the winner of the "American Idol" 2009 title will be decided in the two-part finale on May 19 and 20.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE54D0KU20090514

'American Idol' Fans Think Kris Allen Is Heading Home

Anything could happen on Wednesday night's (May 13) second-to-last "American Idol" results show. Onetime dark horse and fast-rising fan fave Kris Allen might get the heave-ho. Danny Gokey, who's gone the entire season without being relegated to the bottom three, might see his luck run out. Even Adam Lambert, who had a bottom-two scare during Rat Pack week last month, might go from glam front-runner to glum castoff.

The debate over who will be sent home has been raging within MTV News, but we wanted to know what you had to say. So we popped down to Times Square and asked your opinion about which "Idol" hopeful will soon be sent packing.

"I think Danny's going to go home tonight, because Adam and Kris have more presence — more of that pop thing," said Natalie Joos, 34. "They're cuter."

A bunch of you argued that Allen will be the last man standing. "I think Danny or Adam are going to go home, because I think Kris has already got it in the bag," said Jillian Snyder, 23.

But the majority of you are certain that Allen will be getting the boot from the "Idol" voting public. "I think Kris will be going home tonight, because I just don't think his style is appropriate anymore," said Junior Kennedy, 18. "Adam and Danny — they're definitely the two guys that are in charge of this competition."

"I think that Kris is going home because Adam is amazing and he's gonna win," Morgan Gentry, 18, said. "And Danny's just that much better than [Kris] is."

"I think Kris is going home because he more possesses a producer quality rather than a singer quality," Raymond Martinez, 25, told us.

Mark O'Reilly, 19, went so far as to question the manhood of the boyish Southerner Allen. "I think Kris is going home because he's got to pick up the pace," he said. "You got to man up! It's man-up season!"

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1611315/20090513/story.jhtml

What Do People Have Against Danny Gokey?

They say you are the company you keep. And if that's the case, I hang out with total jerks. That's because everyone I know positively hates Danny Gokey.

On the surface, it's easy to see why so many people loathe the "American Idol" semifinalist: His glasses. The heart symbol he makes with his hands. The fact that he dresses like a cross between a figure skater and Charlie Sheen on "Two and a Half Men." His demeanor — which seems to flit between humility and cockiness — doesn't do him many favors, either. When he's being humble, people call him a phony. When he's being cocky, they call him a jerk. Danny Gokey, it seems, cannot win.

Of course, this is all superficial, speculative stuff. It says nothing about his vocal ability (which is — even I will begrudgingly admit — pretty great, so long as he's not singing Aerosmith) or the fact that he's one of the final three contestants left on the show (so, you know, he must be doing something right). I don't know anyone who's actually hung out with Danny Gokey, or served him coffee, or interacted with him on any level in between. I have no first-hand accounts of him being a jerk. Yet, I — and pretty much everyone I know — seem to believe that he is. This probably isn't fair. But it is kind of true.

Because I have written plenty of nasty stuff about Gokey (check the last line of this column about Adam Lambert for proof) without ever meeting him and have been congratulated by my friends and co-workers for doing so. And this probably says more about me — and people like me — than any of us would care to admit.

Do we dislike Gokey for any tangible reason? Is he a bad tipper? Mean to the elderly? No, we hate him because he sometimes appears to be a jerk on a televised singing competition. And that apparently gives us license to say all sorts of nasty things about him, to accuse him of wearing his wedding ring or using the death of his wife to curry the favor of "Idol" voters. And that's crazy. And pretty mean.

Perhaps Danny Gokey is proof that we hate without reason. That we are given to jealousy. That we dislike those who are naturally gifted (and dare to acknowledge that fact). That we are all, on some level, elitists, and within us all lies a superiority complex, a bias against those in the so-called "red states" who somehow find Gokey's story, struggle, faith — and even his voice — inspiring and uplifting.

But maybe I'm just writing about myself now. After all, last year, I penned a column, in which I called David Cook "the reason we are obese and ignorant ... the reason the rest of the world hates us." (It was not, shall we say, one of my finer moments.) And I kind of feel the same way about Danny Gokey — only this time, I'm not going to allow myself to go down that path.

Do I want Gokey to win "American Idol"? No. Would I ever buy one of his albums? Probably not. But do I think he's a terrible person? Someone worthy of scorn or ridicule? Everything that's wrong with America? Most definitely not. Because he's taught me a little something about myself. He's exposed an ugly part of my subconscious that I really don't like. And so I'm working on it. I'm not going to hate on Danny Gokey anymore. It will make me a better person.

Because Danny Gokey is what's great about "American Idol." He is the opportunity to learn about ourselves, to grow and to come together as one. To cast aside age-old divides and forge a better tomorrow. He is unity and hope, in spectacles. He's already taught me a new way — and he can do the same thing for you. Embrace him, even if you don't want to. And even if he might be kind of a jerk. Or because he is.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1611245/20090512/story.jhtml