| Clyde Pickler Sr. is getting by with a little financial help from friends, while Kenneth Daughtry’s boss gave him time off and even paid his way to L.A. from Virginia.
A seat in the studio audience for “American Idol” is free, but contestants’ family members — and sometimes those around them — are paying a price to lend moral support to their favorite singers.
Daughtry, brother of contestant Chris Daughtry, said he was eager to come because his brother’s wife couldn’t make the trip from McLeansville, N.C. (she’s caring for two kids and recuperating from surgery). Daughtry’s boss felt the same way.
“It was something he wanted to do for me because he felt like if it was his brother, he’d want to be out here and support him,” said Daughtry, who flew out for a recent show. “I couldn’t afford it any other way.”
Pickler, grandfather of finalist Kellie Pickler of Albemarle, N.C., is a semiretired electrician and only had to worry about Kellie’s dog back home (the pooch is being tended by his girlfriend, Clyde Pickler said).
He’s staying at a Howard Johnson hotel near the L.A. airport, and friends have helped out with the cost, he said. But he has been using taxis to ferry him the long distances around the city, “and that gets kind of expensive,” he said.
Neither Daughtry nor Pickler are in pricey digs: A room at Howard Johnson goes for about $90, while Daughtry’s hotel, the Tradewinds, lists rates from $39.99 to $79.
For a few family members, attending the show requires only a drive. Los Angeles contestant Ace Young’s look-alike older brother, Ryan, lives in the area, as does Katharine McPhee’s mother, Peisha, and they are usually in the audience.
Meanwhile the singers are bunking in apartments provided by the show. Also taking advantage of the free housing are the relatives of minor contestants who, by law, must have a guardian with them.
Among the parents keeping a watchful eye is Jamecia Bennett, mother of Paris Bennett, 17. A professional singer herself (she has worked with Janet Jackson and others), Bennett said she has put her own work on hold and considers it worth it.
“This is really the first time I can be settled and just enjoy her,” said Bennett, who lives in Deep Haven, Minn., but travels to Los Angeles and elsewhere for recording work. “It’s given me a lot of time to do mother-and-daughter bonding.”
She also offers parental advice to Paris.
“I tell her, ‘Take advantage of this,’ ” Bennets said. “We didn’t have this (‘American Idol’) machine back then. … It can give you all the publicity you need.”
Elliott Yamin’s mother, Claudette, who said she left behind “my volunteer work and maybe a dead battery in my car” in Richmond, Va., has been crashing with various friends in the Los Angeles area.
“I’ve had good couches and good extra bedrooms,” she said.
It’s more than worth the disruption.
“Someone asked me have I pinched myself yet. I said, no, I’m afraid to. It’s like a dream,” she said. “I’m very proud of my son.” | |
