'Idol' road ends for Milwaukee's Danny Gokey
In a Journal Sentinel interview just before making it into the finals, the Vincent High School graduate recalled his wife pushing him to try out for her favorite show. It was a program he became acquainted with only after the couple got a DVR.
"My wife had a heart condition her whole entire life, endured two surgeries when she was younger. She went through this third surgery that she didn't live through," he said.
"She didn't live life like she had a condition. She didn't let any limitations be put on her life. That's what I think about when I sing. I have such a passion to tell people, 'Get up, get out of your situation that has brought a lot of heartache to you and move on, move forward.' "
He and Jamar Rogers, a pal from Faith Builders International, the church where Gokey is musical director, traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to audition for "Idol."
The song that got Gokey through the audition and out to the next round in Hollywood was Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," the first glimpse TV viewers got of his confident soulfulness when the show began airing in January.
It also was the first time viewers heard his story. In the weeks that followed, "Idol" producers played up the tragedy, leading to Internet speculation that he was capitalizing on his loss.
But Gokey wasn't the one bringing it up. In a February conference call with reporters just after becoming one of the 13 finalists, he spoke about the matter.
"It's only been seven months since she's passed," he said. "It's not that I throw it in people's faces, but I get asked about it all the time.
"Honestly, this is a sob story I don't want. But it is shaping my life, and it is causing hope for a lot of people. Not only that, it's causing hope for my life."
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