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Third place worked like a charm for Elliot Yamin |
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Written by Howard Cohen
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Monday, 16 April 2007 |
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 Elliott Yamin always loved to sing but, as his mom has pointed out in interviews, there was a time he was too shy to do so in front of an audience.
That's a far cry from the flashy "American Idol" stage in California where Yamin, 28, sang his way past fan favorites like Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennett and Kellie Pickler before 30 million viewers — and the hypercritical Simon Cowell — to finish third last May.
To get there, he battled Type 1 diabetes (he was diagnosed at 16), 90 percent hearing loss in his right ear, crooked teeth in a looks-obsessed industry and, of course, Simon Cowell.
"People get emotionally invested with the whole underdog story. Maybe I didn't have the commercial look, I was labeled the underdog. I was always labeled the kid with the potential growing up but didn't realize until now. It's flattering," the Virginia-bred Yamin says from his new home base in Los Angeles.
Now, with a recording deal that could pay off more than any other "Idol's" CD, Yamin has reason to flash the reported $50,000 worth of dental work he's had done. His self-titled R&B-oriented album debuted on The Billboard 200 at No. 3 two weeks ago.
"My goal was to make a singer's record and make it as genuine as possible — make it who I am," Yamin says. "I still have to work on my songwriting skills. I'm green to that process. But I worked with some talented people."
19 Productions, which has signed deals with all the "Idol" winners and a couple finalists, passed on Yamin. But it worked to his advantage: Yamin wound up with an unusual profit-sharing arrangement with Sony/ATV. He and the company share copyright ownership of his material, and the resulting independent label, Hickory Records, represents only Yamin.
"I couldn't have asked for more that I got here," Yamin says. "Most artists come out with their first record and only get from 10 to 20 percent. Here, we did a 50-50 deal ... I don't have to pump out a million records to fare financially well."
A high school dropout and former Foot Locker shoe store clerk, Yamin received an instant education before 30 million viewers and grew accordingly.
"Prior to the show, the decisions I was making were pretty poor. I wasn't heading down the right path. 'Idol' was what I needed to change my life for the better," Yamin says. "I think people connected with how close I am to my mom. To see her out there every week, people can relate to that. Touched a personal spot in people's hearts. It wasn't a gimmick."
As such, fans rallied around Yamin and defended him against perceived slights such as the fifth season finale when they felt Yamin was slighted by a haughty Mary J. Blige. She barely yielded Yamin a line to sing in their duet of U2's "One."
Yamin insists he's OK with that.
"That's the way it was supposed to be," he says. "Even Nigel (Lythgoe) and Ken (Warwick, "Idol" producers) were trying to get Mary to kind of sing less and let me shine more but she said to them the song was recorded this way and 'I'm doing it the way I did it with Bono.' Just the fact I was up there with her was crazy in a great way.
"For me, there were no lows (to the "American Idol" experience). The only low was the hectic schedule that they throw at you at one time, but I'm very thankful for that," he says. "That was the best schooling that one can receive on how the business works." | Only registered users can write comments.
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