Many tears were shed on Wednesday night when the results were read.
By Gil Kaufman
Photo: Getty Images
It was only fitting that Brian Friedopfer and a big group of Lee DeWyze's friends gathered at the Glenview, Illinois, karaoke bar Potato Creek Johnny's on Wednesday night to watch the finale of "American Idol."
After all, it was the place Lee and his pals went on an almost-weekly basis to try out their favorite rock tunes. But as his friend stood on the edge of victory after years of slogging his gear around the Chicago area playing gigs in pursuit of his rock and roll fantasy, Friedopfer said the two-hour finale felt like an eternity. "Man, it felt like eight hours," he said on Thursday morning (May 27). "Once it got to where they were standing onstage and Ryan was about to read the result, me and his close friends were holding onto each other,...
By Gil Kaufman
Photo: Getty Images
It was only fitting that Brian Friedopfer and a big group of Lee DeWyze's friends gathered at the Glenview, Illinois, karaoke bar Potato Creek Johnny's on Wednesday night to watch the finale of "American Idol."
After all, it was the place Lee and his pals went on an almost-weekly basis to try out their favorite rock tunes. But as his friend stood on the edge of victory after years of slogging his gear around the Chicago area playing gigs in pursuit of his rock and roll fantasy, Friedopfer said the two-hour finale felt like an eternity. "Man, it felt like eight hours," he said on Thursday morning (May 27). "Once it got to where they were standing onstage and Ryan was about to read the result, me and his close friends were holding onto each other,...
- 5/27/2010
- MTV Music News
'I had no doubt Lee would make it to the finale!' says DeWyze's former high school teacher Amy Silverman.
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze on "American Idol"
Photo: Fox
Just about anywhere you went in Lee DeWyze's hometown of Mt. Prospect, Illinois, last week, his fans, friends and supporters weren't shy about telling you that their guy was going to make it to next week's "American Idol" finale, and that he'll probably even win.
Well, on Thursday (May 20) morning, they were feeling pretty pumped up now that half of that prophecy has come true.
"I had no doubt Lee would make it to the finale!" crowed his good friend and former high school teacher Amy Silverman. "Although we all know anything can happen, Lee not making it to the finale would have been comparable to Chicago being hit by a tsunami! Really, he is the best! And the...
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze on "American Idol"
Photo: Fox
Just about anywhere you went in Lee DeWyze's hometown of Mt. Prospect, Illinois, last week, his fans, friends and supporters weren't shy about telling you that their guy was going to make it to next week's "American Idol" finale, and that he'll probably even win.
Well, on Thursday (May 20) morning, they were feeling pretty pumped up now that half of that prophecy has come true.
"I had no doubt Lee would make it to the finale!" crowed his good friend and former high school teacher Amy Silverman. "Although we all know anything can happen, Lee not making it to the finale would have been comparable to Chicago being hit by a tsunami! Really, he is the best! And the...
- 5/20/2010
- MTV Music News
'There is no doubt in my mind, and never has been, that this kid is going to the finale,' Amy Silverman tells MTV News.
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze
Photo: Fox
Nobody wants to get too cocky, because, well, you never know how America is going to act, but on Wednesday morning (May 19), Lee DeWyze's supporters were feeling pretty bullish about the former paint-store clerk's chances of making it to the "American Idol" finale next week.
"Seriously? What can I say, but unbelievable!" said Amy Silverman, Lee's close friend and former teacher at Forest View Alternative school, which the 24-year-old singer attended after dropping out of his more traditional high school. "He is truly the greatest that has ever been on that stage, and he proved that last night with 'Simple Man' and 'Hallelujah'! We had over 500 people that filled the entire restaurant/bar. Goose bumps and tears...
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze
Photo: Fox
Nobody wants to get too cocky, because, well, you never know how America is going to act, but on Wednesday morning (May 19), Lee DeWyze's supporters were feeling pretty bullish about the former paint-store clerk's chances of making it to the "American Idol" finale next week.
"Seriously? What can I say, but unbelievable!" said Amy Silverman, Lee's close friend and former teacher at Forest View Alternative school, which the 24-year-old singer attended after dropping out of his more traditional high school. "He is truly the greatest that has ever been on that stage, and he proved that last night with 'Simple Man' and 'Hallelujah'! We had over 500 people that filled the entire restaurant/bar. Goose bumps and tears...
- 5/19/2010
- MTV Music News
'High schools don't necessarily have courses that tap into that kind of talent,' Dean Patricia Tedaldi-Monti recalls of 'Idol' finalist.
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze
Photo: Amy Silverman
Mt. Prospect, Illinois — You wouldn't think so by looking at him on "American Idol," but there was a time when Lee DeWyze was a teenage rebel. Though he's shown a quiet, respectful demeanor in his climb into the "Idol" top 3, like many teens, DeWyze struggled with authority in high school and, according to those who knew him at the time, his headstrong determination might be responsible for setting him on a path to potential musical stardom.
"Lee was the first student we had, and maybe the only student, who said, 'I can't do this, I can't do this high school the way it's set up, I need to go somewhere else,' " recalled Dr. Patricia Tedaldi-Monti, dean of students at Prospect High School,...
By Gil Kaufman
Lee DeWyze
Photo: Amy Silverman
Mt. Prospect, Illinois — You wouldn't think so by looking at him on "American Idol," but there was a time when Lee DeWyze was a teenage rebel. Though he's shown a quiet, respectful demeanor in his climb into the "Idol" top 3, like many teens, DeWyze struggled with authority in high school and, according to those who knew him at the time, his headstrong determination might be responsible for setting him on a path to potential musical stardom.
"Lee was the first student we had, and maybe the only student, who said, 'I can't do this, I can't do this high school the way it's set up, I need to go somewhere else,' " recalled Dr. Patricia Tedaldi-Monti, dean of students at Prospect High School,...
- 5/18/2010
- MTV Music News
Friends, family and fans sport their 'Lee-shirts' as they cheer on the former paint salesman.
By Gil Kaufman
Photo: Gil Kaufman/ MTV News
Arlington Heights, Illinois — More than two hours before "American Idol" aired on Tuesday, the party room at the Fox and Hound Smokehouse restaurant was already filling up, as superfans angled to get a table close to one of the five big-screen TVs that would soon be beaming in images of hometown hero Lee Dewyze.
One long table was crowded with joyful moms hawking Dewyze T-shirts and red foam fingers that read "Dewyze Choice - Believe!" which, like the shirts, had a smiling picture of Lee in place of the "L."
"When you see [Lee] live, whether it's at a karaoke bar or in the corner of a bar downtown, he's just got this thing about him, he just lights up the whole room," said Brian Friedopfer, 27, about the...
By Gil Kaufman
Photo: Gil Kaufman/ MTV News
Arlington Heights, Illinois — More than two hours before "American Idol" aired on Tuesday, the party room at the Fox and Hound Smokehouse restaurant was already filling up, as superfans angled to get a table close to one of the five big-screen TVs that would soon be beaming in images of hometown hero Lee Dewyze.
One long table was crowded with joyful moms hawking Dewyze T-shirts and red foam fingers that read "Dewyze Choice - Believe!" which, like the shirts, had a smiling picture of Lee in place of the "L."
"When you see [Lee] live, whether it's at a karaoke bar or in the corner of a bar downtown, he's just got this thing about him, he just lights up the whole room," said Brian Friedopfer, 27, about the...
- 5/12/2010
- MTV Music News
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