St. Pete contestant turns up on ‘Idol’

Posted Feb 4, 2010 by Walt Belcher

Updated Feb 4, 2010 at 11:46 AM

St. Petersburg native Michael Lynch, who reportedly made the top 24 on “American Idol” and was dropped, was shown on the Wednesday night episode of the reality competition.

The program was the last show of the auditions phase of Season 9 and showcased the best and the worst of the auditions so far.

With clips taken from all the audition shows, “American Idol: The Road To Hollywood” contained a moment with Lynch, who sadly may have been disqualified. He was one of only 181 contestants out of the more than 100,000 who auditioned to make it to Hollywood.

Lynch, who now lives in Oueens, N.Y., was shown singing “Unchained Melody” and flexing his muscles. He seemed so happy. The 26-year-old father-to-be was beaming. He said he was a personal trainer. He impressed the judges during the Orlando auditions. 

But what we saw last night took place long before the former football player was rumored to have made it to the top 24 and then reportedly was dropped from the show after his father revealed it to a newspaper reporter.