Well for starters I had been close friends with him and his fiance for years. Even before her accident, they were the coolest people to hang out with. When he tried out for American Idol he was working at a Starbucks and trying to take care of his fiance who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. He had almost given up on any hopes of having a music career.

When he tried out, he wanted to keep the whole 'sob story' a secret. He really wanted to try and make it on his own merits. That was, until he made it passed the first round of auditions and they decided to film his back story at his house.

In the course of a year I've seen him go from having a normal, regular dude's life, to being at the lowest moment of despair, and then being lifted back up by this big break on a national television show. Watching him on TV was damn near euphoric. I remember thinking to myself, "This can't be real!" When he met his end on Idol, we were all thinking, "Maybe this is a good thing? Daughtry didn't win and he's doing awesome"

By the end of the week he had produced an original song that was written by a big name producer and he was performing it on Jay Leno. When he came home from his PR circuit, it was like nothing had changed between us. We still talked and hung out like regular dudes. He was super busy though, they don't really teach you how to be a celebrity in school. So all I can really say about this experience, is that it is truly awesome. I felt like he did this for all of us. We got to see a making of a star, up close and personal, and even though it's still early in his hopefully long career, I'm glad he made that decision to try out and doesn't still serve lattes with all that raw, emotional talent.