Carolina 'Idols'

What makes Tar Heels finalists? Sweet tea, tenacity, talent

Three North Carolinians could make up one-fourth of the "American Idol" finalists when tonight's 8 p.m. installment ends.

So what is it about Tar Heels on this hugely popular show? Whatever it is, it has made winners so far out of:

* CHRIS DAUGHTRY, 26, of McLeansville. Bookmakers call him a probable finisher, thanks to his powerful hard rock voice and professional chops.

* KELLIE PICKLER, 19, of Albemarle, who is winning over viewers and judges with her sassy vocals and countrified charm.

* BUCKY COVINGTON, 28, of Rockingham, a less likely finalist who sings Lynyrd Skynyrd and talks about biscuits and sweet tea.

People who work in the state's music industry, or just study it, say it's a mixture of talent, musical heritage, Southern geniality, and maybe the lack of any other real crack at the big time. North Carolina's singing wannabes also can draw inspiration from 2004 winner Fantasia Barrino of High Point and 2003 runner-up Clay Aiken of Raleigh. The "Idol" audition call at Greensboro Coliseum in October was another motivator.

Professor Bill Ferris of UNC-Chapel Hill teaches about Southern culture and folklore and has studied the state's musical history. He said it makes sense that North Carolinians are doing well on "Idol."

"This is a state that has a very rich musical legacy -- from blues to bluegrass to gospel," said Ferris, 64. And even though it might seem as though today's MTV-saturated youth are removed from those traditions, Ferris said they pop up in everyday places.

"They grow up in the church, usually, which is filled with music," he said, adding social picnics and music festivals to the list of common North Carolina childhood influences. "They are surrounded with music from the time they can walk."

But when it's time to run, where do they go? For an aspiring singer from North Carolina, the big time can seem like a long shot -- except on "American Idol."

Struggling bands

For years, Covington and Daughtry slogged around the club circuit with their respective bands, mostly over a small geographic area. That gave them a forum to practice their craft, but little hope of taking it further.

Getting on "American Idol," however, opens some doors. Covington told The News & Observer recently that even if he gets cut from the show, that doesn't mean he'll go back to Richmond County to work at his father's body shop.

"I'll probably go to Nashville," he said. "I might stick around [California] for a little bit, you know. If you want it, you got to go while your name's out there."

Daughtry's Burlington-based hard rock band, Absent Element, which is on hiatus until his "Idol" fate is decided, regularly has played three- and four-hour sets at clubs/restaurants like Blue Gator Oyster Bar & Grill in Burlington. The band also played music venues like the Brewery in Raleigh, as well as a couple of Christian rock shows. Bassist Ryan Andrews said playing never felt like more than a hobby, despite the band's higher aspirations.

"We were spending more money to play clubs than we were making," Andrews said. "Short of 'American Idol' and [Daughtry] going out there, it would have been very difficult to keep going,"

'Just regular folks'

Pickler took another route. She tried the pageant circuit as a teenager and had some success, although she said she felt a bit out of place when she competed for Miss North Carolina in 2004 as Miss Stanly County. She didn't win.

"I was a mess," she said, laughing. "I was like, 'All I want to do is talent night,' and that was it. I had to do swimsuit and all those other phases of competition, too. So it was embarrassing. And all that makeup. Whoo! And big hair!"

Her next shot at exposure was at WSOC-TV's "Idol"-style "Gimme the Mike!" competition in Charlotte in 2005. She didn't win that either, but she made an impression on Paul Schadt, 46, the morning man at Kat Country WKKT-FM 96.9 in Charlotte.

Schadt was one of the judges on the show, and he pointed out that, sometimes, it's about more than just the singing.

"If you look at the people from North Carolina, they were all very likable, just regular folks," he said. "You see Kellie talking about the calamari. And you saw the other fellow, Bucky, just talking about how he'd rather just have a biscuit instead of some of the stuff he's been getting. And Chris, who married a gal with a couple of kids and took on that responsibility."

Raleigh music producer Dick Hodgin, 55, is a judge on WRAZ Fox 50's version of "Gimme the Mike." Hodgin said that success begets success -- that when hopefuls see "American Idol" winners and near-winners from North Carolina, it generates a buzz that brings in worthy contenders from the area.

"It's like a band," he said. "When there's a great band in Richmond, there are more people in Richmond who go and see bands."

Finally, of course, there's the "duh" reason there are so many serious North Carolina contenders on "American Idol."

" 'Cause they're good," Hodgin said. "Simple as that."