Sligh 'Almost Dropped Out'

Mar 30, 09:05 AM

Current Headlines: By Steven Snyder, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Mar. 30--"American Idol" delivered its biggest shock of the season Wednesday night when Chris Sligh, an early favorite, was voted off.

But perhaps even more shocking: Sligh says he thought about dropping out of the competition that he says is less about making good music than making good reality TV.

"I never came into this wanting to win it," said Sligh, 28, of Greenville, S.C. "Winning 'American Idol' would hurt what I am really going for. What solidified it in my mind was when I was universally trashed for my arrangement of 'Endless Love.' That's when I thought: 'This isn't a competition for me.'

"I almost dropped out."

And as he explained yesterday during a conference call, it was far more than just an idle thought. He started asking people affiliated with the show whether he would still be asked to join the "Idol" singing tour if he made it to the final 10 contestants and then quit (he was told that no, he would have to be voted off).

So it was when the competition was reduced to 12 contestants -- the start of "Idol's" finals -- that Sligh said he began changing his strategy.

"I started to realize in order to win this competition, I would have to make song choices I didn't want to make," he says.

Sligh, who says he plans on returning eventually to his rock band Half Past Forever, said since he wasn't able to hold or play his guitar, his rhythm -- a frequent criticism of the judges -- was thrown off. He also said that since he wasn't allowed to perform his own music, he felt forced to take "pop songs that sound great at four minutes and stuff it into a minute and a half."

He implicitly acknowledged that his "Hi Dave!" shout-out on last week's show was aimed at the founder of VoteForTheWorst.com ("I don't know if I should answer that question," he told a reporter while chuckling), but was quick to say he regretted the move. "It was a poor choice because certain people took it as disrespect for the show," Sligh said. "Sometimes with a snarky sense of humor, it can come across as that, but I sincerely didn't mean that ... it was stupid."

As he stressed how difficult it is to be an "Idol" competitor, he defended the other 12 finalists he befriended, even the much-maligned Sanjaya Malakar. "I think that people underestimate Sanjaya. [He's] actually a very good vocalist. Most 17-year-olds would be having an identity crisis right now; he's doing a good job. I do not envy his position at all."

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