Last January, in a classic "American Idol" preseason meltdown, the hyper-emotional Josiah Leming was sent home -- which in his case meant his car.
Now, less than a year later, in one of "Idol's" unlikely turns of fate, the high school dropout who'd left his ailing mother, out-of-work stepfather and eight siblings in Morristown, Tenn., is back, living the high life in Los Angeles and poised to release his first album on Warner Bros. Records.
"I was kind of down and out," said Leming, now 19, over a burger and fries at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles of his decision to audition for "American Idol." "So it was kind of like, 'What the hell?' Nothing to lose, really."
Despite his diminutive stature, baby face and boyish clothing, Leming is magnetic in person, his naked lack of inhibition at once disarming and electrifying. And then there's that inner heartache.
"All of his emotions go into his songs," said Warner Bros. Records' Senior Vice President of A&R Perry Watts-Russell. "He has that gift to turn pain into music."
At first, it seemed as if "American Idol" would become a showcase for his raw talent rather than another lesson in hardship. At his initial audition, he bowled over the judges with a fiercely passionate performance of a self-written song.
Then, at Hollywood Week, his playful rendition of Mika's "Grace Kelly" led the usually unflappable Simon Cowell to announce, "I think out of all the auditions, this is the one I'm gonna remember."
Then the golden boy faltered. At the end of Hollywood Week he was unceremoniously dispatched without explanation. To Leming, however, it was very clear.
"The real story is that the producers didn't like me," said Leming, who lived out of his car during his "Idol" experience. " 'Cause I wanted to do my own songs, and I wanted to have complete control."
And of the show that brought him to the world's notice, he added: "The producers pretty much control everything. You know, it's all kind of rigged, and hands are coming in from places you don't see. You just see the hand. It's a dirty hand. And you don't want to eat the food that that hand touches."
"American Idol" producers declined to comment for this story.
With his "Idol" dreams dashed, Leming crawled back to Tennessee and waited for the auditions to air. "I applied for a job, like, taping boxes for a postal service or something," he recalled.
