No matter who took the torch last night on "American Idol," Jim Verraros knows one thing: There will never be another Kelly Clarkson. He wasn't put out when local powerhouse warbler, LaKisha Jones, stumbled her way out of the competition. He could care less about Blake Lewis – a ballsy beatboxer with, as Verraros puts it, little else. Really, he's had his heart set on the underage hipster, Jordin Sparks. Still, Verraros notes, there's a common missing ingredient: Where's the personalities that lit up the stage during the bare-bones premiere season?
"We were very much ghetto 'Idol,'" Verraros says from Chicago. "We didn't have the money backing us up; we didn't have the notoriety that the seasons after us have gotten. So I think, for me, I was more sort of enjoying the moment and enjoying the opportunity. There was nothing to compare it against."
Verraros, who was the second top-10 hopeful to get axed, also didn't get vocal coaching from Diana Ross, or Gwen Stefani, or Jennifer Lopez. In fact, much of what Verraros got was knocks for his geeky look, ultra publicity for being gay and stinging jabs from "Idol" judge Simon Cowell.
After Cowell snapped, "If you win this competition, we will have failed," Verraros bit the bullet, but now readily admits, "It was a beating."
Now recovered from Cowell's heart-stabbing cracks, the openly gay season-one finalist, who was 19 when the sing-off stormed over America, is reaching higher notes.
"When you're in the real world and you start to develop your sound and develop your voice, and once you make the top 10, it's all up to you on what direction you want your career to head toward," Verraros says, recalling how Cowell's comments pushed him harder. "If you don't capitalize on that moment, you're missing out. … I thought about recording my own music (after the show) and just kind of stepping away from what Simon had said and just believing in myself."
These days, Verraros isn't so idol – picking up film roles, like in the campy comedy series "Eating Out," and recording his follow-up to the groove-heavy debut, "Rollercoaster." The sophomore set, which Verraros wrote 25 songs for over six-weeks in Los Angeles, will be a more cohesive project, he says, and enlists the same hitmasters behind Kylie Minogue and Enrique Iglesias. Justin Timberlake, boozy-Brit Amy Winehouse and George Michael all became muses for the more-mature (think Sheryl Crow-type ballads) disc.
But Verraros wants to make something clear: He was inspired by Winehouse's Motown-sound, not her wasted ways. "No, I don't get fucked up on stage or anything," he laughs. "I dig her – alcohol problem or not. But no, there's no heroine, no nothing."
As Verraros, now 24, transitioned from geeky guy to hip heartthrob, he's become the gay "Idol" poster stud. Just watch "Eating Out," and the upcoming DVD release "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds," where Verraros, though more reserved than his big-gunned shirtless co-stars, unleashes a sexual flame that never sparked on "Idol." But, though his character plays straight to score a hetero (?) hunk (played by Marco Dapper), don't think Verraros was begging to film more takes.
"It's acting," he insists, "so I guess I just come from a different thought process with it. Like, I didn't get all excited. It's just a movie, and from the outside looking in I can see why people would be like, 'Ooh, how was it?' It's just – it's work. Somebody's gotta do it."
To woo his new pal, his character's chick sidekick pretends to be his girlfriend. It's a scenario Verraros has never pursued – and never will. "That whole thing has never really worked for me," he vows. "I've never really been attracted to straight men simply because of the fact that they're straight. I know a lot of men who are like, 'Oh, they're just three beers away.' I was never really that kind of gay guy."
The verdict's out, though. Critics seem to agree that eye candy (no matter how sweet it is) can't overshadow tired attempts at cheap laughs, and Verraros knows that. He admits, shamefully, that he's read the reviews. "This movie is not to be taken seriously," he says. "… It's just a fun, college, campy sex comedy."
Gee, what would Simon say?
Verraros howls with laughter, "He would probably get off on it."
Jim Verraros: Quickies-and-Bits
On Paula Abdul's spacey ways
"I mean, when you're on the number one show like that you're demanded lots of things – a lot of press, a lot of time – and I'm sure that puts a lot of stress on her. If she looked a little crazy, that was the reason why."
On what his mother would say if he tried to go straight
"She would probably ask me, 'Are you sure?' And then I would be like, 'No.' And then she would say, 'OK, thought so.' But no, my mom's been great, I came out to her when I was 18 and then publicly when I was 19 with The Advocate. She's been really wonderful about it. She's quite the fag hag and we've gone to a gay bar together and she's just awesome about it. I'm just lucky that I have her support."
On the no-frills first season of "American Idol"
"Well, when I was in the first season it was very, very different from what it is now. We didn't get any of that (guests judges, etc.), but the thing is we're still a part of history at the end of the day. We were the first season, and we were the pioneers and I think a lot of people forget that had it not been for the first season it wouldn't have become what it is."
On Simon Cowell behind the camera
"He definitely puts on a little bit of an act more so than in person. But that's the show. It's his show, and I think if we had three Paulas it wouldn't be as good. Simon just kind of fills a roll and he's a great, smart business man so you gotta hand it to him."
