Idol Chatter & Voice Views

In one of the radio interviews Josh Sanders has done since first appearing on American Idol, he jokes about his 3 seconds of screen time in the Savannah audition episode.

In fact, we saw very little of the 23-year-old rocker from Kannapolis, N.C.

Which is a shame, because Idol Season 11 seems a bit short on rockers.

But don’t misjudge this one.

“I’m not necessarily what you see,” says this long-haired, bearded singer. “I’m a rocker, through and through, but I’m a big softy.  I rescue animals when I can.  Probably too many.”

He also had an unusal start in music for a rocker.  His father is a Baptist preacher, and Josh started singing in church when he was about 8 years old.

Eventually, he filled in musically wherever needed, playing the drums, then guitar, bass and keyboards.

And singing of course.  He’s been in a number of bands, most recently a rock/southern rock group known as Preacher Stone.

And while friends and family encouraged him to audition for Idol, not all his rocker friends thought it was a good idea.

“A bunch of buddies and band members said,  ‘It’s a sell-out.  Don’t do it.  It’s not your style,'” Josh admitted in his golden ticket interview.  “Having got this far, I don’t see it that way.”

Josh got farther, too.  He survived Hollywood.  He got a yes from the judges after his group performed Blue Suede Shoes in Vegas.

But he must have been one of those final Vegas cuts, because he’s not among the final 42 contestants listed on Idol’s website.

Not to mention, he’s launched his own website and has a number of gigs scheduled in the North Carolina-South Carolina area in March and April, not exactly the schedule an Idol contestant can keep.

As for his music, Josh describes himself as “an old soul” interested in mixing grunge, blues, country and rock.

Since we didn’t see much of Josh on the show, here’s a song he wrote and sang for a Preacher Stone CD.

You can also head here and listen to Josh do covers of “Whipping Post” and “You’re No Good” for the Independent Tribune newspapers. “Whipping Post,” by the way, is the song Josh auditioned with in Savannah.

As a special treat, I’ve also embedded a duet of “Some Kind of Wonderful” that Josh did for Kiss 95.1 FM with none other than Brittany Kerr, the NBA dancer who made it to all the way to the last day of Hollywood on Idol.  Go here for their Friday interview at the radio station.

Editor’s Note: My profiles of American Idol contestants omitted five Vegas contestants, including Molly Hunt, Marissa Pontecorvo and Josh Sanders. They’ve now been added. Coming later today:  Amber Holcomb and Tenna Torres.

“Judge Me Not”

“Some Kind of Wonderful” with Brittany Kerr