Chris Daughtry Offered Gig with Fuel

Wednesday night’s shocking elimination of Idol frontrunner Chris Daughtry created headlines around the world, and the buzz just seems to be getting louder. Fans are calling foul, claiming voting irregularities, and Chris is not exactly bowing out gracefully. In his “morning after” interviews, he pulled no punches, freely admitting that he was utterly devastated by his elimination and didn’t see it coming.

But it appears that all is not lost for Chris. Thursday morning, Ryan Seacrest called Chris to let him know to expect a surprise later in the day. Ryan told Chris that there was a certain band that wanted him to be their new front man, and tried to get Chris to guess the name of the band. Ryan went on to tell Chris that the band was going to be making an offer to him via the television show Extra, and urged him to watch.

Chris, who was still smarting from his experience the previous night, wasn’t ready to play twenty questions with Ryan, and said that he would have to consider all his options.

The band, of course, is Fuel, whose song, “Hemorrhage (In My Hands),” Chris sang during the second round of the semi-finals on March 1. Several days after this performance, Randy Jackson said in an interview that Fuel had been in contact with the show, and had expressed an interest in Chris. At the same time, the band announced on their website that they were auditioning for a new lead singer, and stated that they had been very impressed by Chris’ performance of their song.

Thursday night, Fuel bass player Jeff Abercrombie and guitarist Carl Bell made their televised offer. "Chris, if you are watching,” Abercrombie said. “We've talked about this before, and if you want to entertain it again we'll take it and go.”

To reports that an offer was pending, Chris said, “I don't know if I'm in the position right now to make that decision, just because of my mindset.” Clearly still upset about his ouster, Chris said, "At this point, I just have to really take everything into consideration and be really careful because I don't want to make a rash decision and regret it later."

Fuel was formed in 1989 by Bell and Abercrombie along with Brett Scallions. They started out in Tennessee, but moved to Harrisburg, PA, in the early 1990s. Coming up, the band did the typical bar and nightclub circuit, but the 1996 release of their first EP, Porcelain, which featured the single, “Shimmer,” gained the attention of Sony’s 550 Music. In 1997, the group’s second EP, Hazelton, was released, followed by the 1998 release of their first full-length CD, Sunburn.

The band’s second album, Something Like Human, was released in 2000 and went platinum, and the single “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” hit #17 on the Billboard Top 40. Since then, Fuel has released Natural Selection in 2003 and The Best of Fuel in December 2005.

In February 2006, Fuel announced that Brian Scallions had chosen to leave the band. This left them with an unfinished new album for which all the tracks had been laid down instrumentally, but for which no vocals had been recorded. Fuel let it be known that they needed a new lead singer, and were in the process of beginning auditions when Chris appeared on Idol and sang their song. In the aftermath of Chris’ performance, downloads for the single spiked, and the song shot up on several of the Billboard charts.

Even if he wanted to sign on the dotted line, Chris is currently not free to do so. According to reliable reports, all of the finalists are under contract to the show for three months after the airing of the finale. Unless 19E agrees to let him out of this contract, Chris would be unable to enter into an agreement with Fuel until late-August. In the meantime, there will most likely be other opportunities out there for Chris to consider.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent American Idol articles on Foxes On Idol and RealityNewsOnline:

Donna Reynolds is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, New York. While entertainment sustains her emotionally, she earns her daily bread by writing and editing web copy. Check out her new website at www.idolthoughts.net. Donna loves mail, so shoot her an email at foxydonna@earthlink.net.

Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Nashville Star, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows.

For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol and Reality TV Fever!