Think way, way back to the beginning of the seventh season of American Idol. During Hollywood Week, two singers struck such a strong chord in me that I was passionately rooting for them both to make it to the Top 24. The first was Kyle Ensley, the one I called the governor of Oklahoma and who Simon Cowell wanted to keep but who was kicked in favor of Colton Berry (who was one of the first of the Top 24 to be sent packing, proving that I was right in wanting to keep Kyle instead). The second standout I cheered valiantly for was young Josiah Leming. You may remember him as the sweet-faced kid who was tragically sleeping in his car.

Leming made the monumentally brave choice to sing without the band for his last Hollywood audition, a decision which ultimately led to his demise on the show. After Hollywood, Josiah Leming returned to his parents’ home in Tennessee. But he did not stay there for very long.

“I signed my deal with Warner Bros. about a month and a half ago, and I’m glad to finally announce it,” Leming told reporters recently, as he sat in an LA studio. “This is everything I ever wanted,” Leming gushed on the turn of events which led to his newfound success.

And what about American Idol? “It’s like glorified karaoke,” Leming said of the nation’s number one series. “I love those people there. They were great to me, and it gave me a great kick-start to my career.” But….“they pick people with pretty faces and pretty voices, and they don’t let them write their own songs.” Leming feels that Idol “lacks passion, it lacks emotion and it lacks the things that set an artist off from being good to being great.” Say about Idol what you will - it’s still getting mind-boggling ratings even when it’s suffering a slump.

“Looking back now, things could not have gone any better,” Josiah said of his early Idol exit.