Sherman Pore Calls

What a pleasant surprise the other day. Phone rings at work and it's Sherman Pore on the other end, calling to thank me for including his Idol audition among my Top 10 Idol Best moments of 2007.

At first he says, "You may not know who this is but let's see if you do now..." and he proceeds to sing the old standard You Belong to Me on the phone. Cute. Got it right away. "Sherman?"

Sherman, you'll recall, is the 64-year-old who auditioned for Idol upon the encouragement of his longtime love, Melissa. The two garnered signatures for a petition urging the producers to allow him to audition. She loved how he'd serenade her and she'd tell all of her friends about what a good singer her mechanic boyfriend was. Sherman, ever the romantic, would call her at work just to croon a tune on the line to brighten her day. He says whenever someone was down in her law office (she was a clerk) she'd have him call the person up and sing a song. Brightened their day, too.

Alas, she died days before the audition but he got on anyway and captivated the judges and America. At 64, he couldn't make it onto the program because of the age limit (29) but he has just released a CD of standards, For My Lady Love, and he tells me he hopes it does well enough so he can cut a CD of Christmas favorites asap.

He's a heartwarming man. May be tough for him to compete with the younger and better marketed Michael Buble, but Sherman can definitely carry a tune on this independently released disc and this romantic collection of oldies should go over well with folks who remember these songs. Get it here. It's on iTunes, too.

"I never had the gumption [to sing publicly] until I met this lady," Sherman said. "I was broken down, I went through life as a maintenance mechanic, dirt under my nails, I still do that. ... My head is spinning, my feet haven't hit the ground since the [audition] showed."

Since then Sherman's appeared on Larry King Live and is performing a benefit concert in Los Angeles at a performance organized by AI:5 finalist Ace Young's brother. Sherman also performs to raise money for City of Hope.

  Simon was quite taken with Sherman and, it appears, the feeling's mutual: "The guy's a pussycat," Sherman says. "I'd love to meet him out of the framework of judging. He's doing his job, he's an entertainer and he keeps the show on line."

I'd love to see Sherman get his wish to see this CD sell and afford him the chance to cut his Christmas CD. "During her last few weeks she convinced me to make this album, it's really hers and it's dedicated to her. She accomplished a lot."

Somewhere Melissa is smiling.

You go, Sherman!

PS: If Idol had any class -- and it doesn't -- it would have invited Sherman to be on the finale rather than bestowing air time on the losers and freaks from the failed auditions. Shame on them.

Comments

[Lane]

HoCo, I hate to say it, but listening to the snippets I-Tunes lets you preview, Sherman's not too hot... he's still da man bit the songs don't sound too good.

[Susi]

I love Sherman, his Cd is fabulous, and this is what real talent sounds like. The media that jumped all over him with interviews after he made such an impact with auditioning, needs to now come and have him on their shows and let him sing and promote his CD. After all, 10 percent of all sales go to Cancer research.
The finale of American Idol was insulting in the manner that they would rather have people in the spotlight to make fun of than to have some real talent come back, such as Sherman.
I'd like to see some real publicity spread for this man, HE IS A WINNER.
Susi
Lakeland, Florida

[johnny]

man, I was telling myself the same thing during the horrible torturous season finale that "the best show on television" had put together. I was hoping that they would invite sherman to the show, but no!! I guess.... heck I don't even remember who was on the show.