Elliott Embraces His "Idol" Status

“Entertainment Weekly” also had a chat this week with Elliott Yamin, whose album is approaching gold status—soon to overtake Katharine McPhee and outpacing the sales of Taylor…

Elliott said that after “Idol” he called 19 Entertainment guru Simon Fuller personally to thank him for everything he had done for him and to pass on any possible deal with 19. Elliott said Fuller told him, “That’s cool, just don’t put out a record before Kat, Taylor or Chris.” Elliott said he was relieved because “they were trying to manage a lot of people at one time and they didn’t indicate that in the future, away from ‘Idol,’ they’d give me 100 percent of the attention that I need. It wasn’t the right fit.”

After doing a jingle contest with Oscar Mayer, Elliott is now working on a Christmas album with Target.

When “EW” asked him if he has come to terms with the fact that he’ll be talking about ‘Idol’ for the rest of his life, he replied, “I’ve accepted it. I know I’ll be forever synonymous with those two words. But so what? I knew what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know the magnitude of how big it was, but I’ll talk about it until I’m blue in the face. So many doors have opened because of it. Now, I get to do what I love every day.”

Elliott is also gracious to “Idol” for the support the show gave his single, “Wait For You.” “It wouldn’t be where it is today if not for performing on that show. One-hundred percent. Thirty million people saw it! There was an 87 percent increase from one week to the next. I was really pumped.”

Which makes you wonder why they gave the spot to Elliott instead of Katharine, one of their own artists, doesn’t it? Granted, Elliott’s is a better song, but still…

Could it be that Elliott is a nicer person?...