Published: March 08, 2007 01:25 pm         

The next American Idol?

Contestant has ties to Cedar Creek Lake area

Mention the popular “American Idol” show to David Sligh and he will quickly tell you about his favorite Idol contestant, Chris Sligh. Chris is Cedar Creek Lake area residents’ David and Marie Sligh’s nephew.

Although Chris grew up in Germany and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina, with his wife, Sarah, he still has strong ties to Texas.

David’s brother, Chuck Sligh, who is Chris’s dad, was born in San Antonio. Chuck and David’s mom (Chris’s paternal grandmother), Norma Sligh, who passed away several years ago, was very proud of being a "born and bred" Texan. Norma met and married Chris’s granddad, Al Sligh, while Al was stationed at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Chris, who has quickly become a frontrunner in the singing contest, due to his great voice and funny disposition, spent most of his growing up years in a U.S. military community in Wiesbaden, Germany with his two brothers, Jon and Allen, and his parents, Chuck and Susan Sligh.

The 28-year-old musician caught the eyes and ears of American Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paul Abdul and Randy Jackson during auditions in Birmingham, Alabama and is now one of the final 16 contestants who will vie for a $1 million recording contract as the next American Idol.

According to some of the online bookmaker gambling sites, Sligh is the odds-on favorite to win the talent quest. One gambling site puts Sligh as a 4-to-1 favorite to win the crown.

For his Birmingham audition, Chris Sligh sang "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal and was quickly put through to Hollywood. But the young crooner might have an alternative career as a comedian.

Before his audition, he told the cameras, "Some people tell me I look like Jack Osborne, some people say that I look like Jack Black, but when I look in the mirror every morning, it’s not those people I see; it’s Christina Aguilera that I see in the mirror, and I think that’s who my body looks like most."

However, Chris’s best line came when Randy Jackson asked him why he was there. Sligh said, "I really want to make David Hasselhoff cry," referring to how Hasselhoff cried when Taylor Hicks won last year’s American Idol 5.

Numerous videos about Chris have popped up since Chris first appeared on TV during the early auditions of American Idol. One site says people are developing a condition called "Slighitis" — they are so busy surfing the net for blogs about Chris, they can’t get any work done!

Another site has a news video with people wearing wigs and "Chris-like glasses" and declaring themselves to be the "Fro Patro’." The "Fro Patro" is related to the way Chris’s hair looks since he let it grow out for American Idol.

He knew he had to find a way to stand out, so he let his naturally curly hair grow longer.

"The big thing for me was image," he says on one website. "The 'fro definitely makes me instantly recognizable. I think that it adds to the personality, too. When people think about Chris Sligh, they think about the 'fro, they think about the funny lines. And hopefully with the semi-finals coming up, they will start thinking about the voice, also."

All in all, it’s been an exciting American Idol season for David and Marie Sligh, who are realtors with Johnson Monroe Realtors and agree 100 percent that Slighitis is a serious condition that is sweeping the nation.

David says that being on Idol has long been a dream of Chris’s. He also stated that, aside from being Chris’s uncle, he feels "Chris, who is a young man with morals and a commitment to his family and faith would be a great American Idol number six." But it won’t happen without the votes coming in.

Viewers have a chance to vote for their favorite male and female contestant each week — as many times as they like until the lines are closed.

Chris is the Praise and Worship Leader at Seacoast Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Pastor Chris Surratt has been attending the live television broadcasts throughout the show.

Chris auditioned for American Idol the previous two seasons, says Don Chapman, a collaborator who drove Sligh to the auditions, including the one in Birmingham last fall that got him to Hollywood, as stated in a Greenville newspaper article.

The article goes on to say, “The audition process is intimidating. In Birmingham, 8,000 people showed for a chance to appear before the celebrity judges, Chapman says. He watched as Sligh stood before producers along with three others and was given 10 seconds ‘to sing something.’

“This was his last chance. The "American Idol" age limit is 28.”

After learning in Birmingham that he was going to Hollywood, Chris said he calmly walked over to the judges and shook each one's hand. Later, in the elevator, he celebrated with a scream.

"I don’t think anyone is fully ready for what American Idol has for you," Chris told The Greenville News on Feb. 20. "Nobody is completely ready."

The Idol contestants and their immediate families are not allowed to speak to the press at this time, but his Aunt Marie said, “We just want people to vote for him. He wants it so bad, and he’s just a good, good kid.”

     

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