Curly-haired Chris Sligh is one of the contestants to watch this year on American Idol. In the short time we’ve known him, he’s already managed to annoy Simon Cowell more than once, and he’s had multiple opportunities to show off his sense of humor. But there could be more to him than meets the eye.
According to Chris’ official bio on the American Idol web site, he’s an alumnus of Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian college in South Carolina. However, that’s the only religion reference you’ll find in Chris’ bio, a rarity on a show where many contestants credit God for their singing ability. On Chris’ personal blog–which went offline shortly before he made the Top 24–he admitted that he attended BJU because it was the only school his religious parents would pay for. But as soon as Chris distanced himself from religion, he performed a song by Christian rock band dc Talk. What gives?
It looks like Chris’ strategy might actually be brilliant. He chose a dc Talk song that isn’t overtly religious. Any diehard fan would know the song, but an audience member who isn’t into the Christian rock genre probably wouldn’t have noticed.
If Chris has been paying attention to past seasons of the show, he probably knows that past winners like Carrie Underwood and Fantasia Barrino won lots of votes from Christian viewers, who are a valuable demographic to have on his side. He’s trying to court the Christian vote while simultaneously win the favor of kids who think it’s punk rock to sing “obscure” (read: not Stevie Wonder) songs on the show. If his strategy works, he could make it all the way to the top.
posted March 14, 2007 at 5:21 am
I noticed that Chris sang the DC Talk song, which I thought was cool. However, he also sang “Typical” by Mute Math, also a Christian band (or a band made up of Christians). http://www.myspace.com/mutemath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waw8dJ9GZWk
posted March 14, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Given Bob Jones U’s controversial stances on race, wouldn’t that cost him more Christian votes than it would win him?
posted March 14, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Don’t forget about Melinda D, she and Mandisa are good friends and you know Madisa was a strong believer…remember, actions get you to the place to say what you want…actions speak louder than words and in Melinda’s case…her voice. Vote for Melinda D!
posted March 15, 2007 at 1:24 am
The world will better “swallow” Christianity when fed in smaller bites. It would be awesome if they were able to “jump-in” to Christianity, but we know that is not the case. We need more ROARING LAMBS to get to the mainstream arts. It is not selling out–it’s taking back what God gave.
posted March 15, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Give the guy a break! I have friends that went to BJU. Some still carry the legalistic views that they were taught is some areas of their lives, others don’t but that doesn’t make them any less a Christian. Would you expect him to part is hair on the side, cut very short I might add, wear a tie and carry his BIBLE on stage, that would just be wierd. I am strong believer in Jesus Christ, I truly believe that Chris is too. Go Chris and God Bless! One more, so quickly you forget that Antonella’s friend said that God blesses good people,, talking about her and Antonella. That showed to be a regretable comment for them.
posted March 24, 2007 at 8:55 pm
What is all this about? I’m from Greenville SC and know that Chris is on staff at a local Christian church and is a strong Christian.
posted April 25, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Chris said he watched the Grammys before going on Idol and saw a bunch of obviously non-Christian performers thanking Jesus for their success. He thought the world would just loop him in the same boat as them and that would actually do more harm than good for the kingdom. So he decided to not talk about Christ while on the show, and rather just focus on doing Christs work. He didn’t want people to think he was Christianity to win votes as some have alleged of other competitors in the past.