Chris Daughtry Dropped From 'American Idol'

American Idol is the show where dreams can come true. It can make things happen that you never thought possible. For Chris Daughtry, it did just that. He never thought he would be cut from the final four, but to his surprise, along with everybody else, that's just what happened last night.

People quoted the stunned Idol victim as saying "It was definitely a gut-wrenching moment. I wasn't expecting it, not even a little bit." In fact, his initial reaction was that host Ryan Seacrest was kidding, in order to build the suspense. "I thought he was building it up to be like people thought I was going home and then say, 'Chris you can sit down.' I thought there was going to be some sort of 'just kidding' factor there."

Chris Daughtry scored lowest in the voting this week, with 21-year-old Katharine McPhee coming in second last. The American Idol judges were also taken aback. As CBS News reports, "even the judges, usually unflappable, didn't foresee Daughtry's ouster: Simon Cowell's jaw fell slack; Paula Abdul's eyes filled with tears."

As ABC News reports, Ryan Seacrest asked a visibly shaken and off-guard Daughtry, "Surprised?", to which Daughtry could only answer "Yes" Even the other three American Idol hopefuls were stunned by the announcement.

Forbes reports that on the Elvis Presley theme night on Tuesday, "Daughtry's cover of The King's Suspicious Minds drew rave reviews from judges, including Abdul, who said 'See ya in the finals.' Cowell called his second performance - a rendition of A Little Less Conversation - 'flat' and 'not as good as the first.'" Daughtry's reviews were much better than those for Katharine McPhee, who "stumbled with some of the lyrics in her Hound Dog/All Shook Up medley on Tuesday's program. Cowell derided the performance as 'shrieky,' comparing it to a 'desperate, manic audition.'" (See Elvis Night on American Idol)

On Thursday, Chris Daughtry gave his reaction to his dismissal from American Idol. USA Today ran an interview with Daughtry, in which he tried to understand why he had been cut. "Maybe people thought I was safe and didn't vote as much. It's really tough." Daughtry maintained a positive attitude, as he said "It took a while for it to really set in, and I don't think it really has still. I'm just going to make the best of it and use it as time to launch my career." And, at an opportune time, the rock band Fuel has announced they are the ones who want Daughtry to become their newest frontman. Daughtry covered their song "Hemorhage" on March 1st. Despite being voted off, this offer might make Chris Daughtry the true winner of this season's American Idol.

Since its U.S. inception in 2001 on Fox, American Idol has turned a variety of everyday "average Joe" types into household names, including such singers as Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, Constantine Maroulis, Bo Bice, Nikko Smith, and Carrie Underwood, even UC Berkeley student, William Hung for his awful yet lovable rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." To date, American Idol has only produced one bonafide pop superstar in Kelly Clarkson with Clay Aiken following close behind with his own loyal fan base.

[Additional Sources: People, CBS News, ABC News, Forbes, USA Today]