You gotta get a gimmick …

We’re told Michael is far from a roughneck. While he’s been working the oil fields for a year and a half to support his two kids and stay-at-home wife, he is a musician and performer at heart. We can’t blame the guy for playing up his “rough” edges though. Bikini girl and Norm the lounge singer prove that Idol producers love a good gimmick (err.. storyline).

We’re told that when Harvest church members first “discovered” Michael in 2001, he was singing at a football game, dressed in an all-leather suit (maybe he should have gone with a bad-ass Elvis impersonator gimmick instead?)

Michael has worked primarily as a music minister for the past 7 years. First at Harvest Church in Jasper and then at Victory Christian Center in Houston. When the Houston gig didn’t work out, Michael’s father-in-law Dennis Smith, a manager at Lowe’s in Jasper, found him the job on an oil rig. He was later rehired at Harvest Church.

So we say, good for you Michael. It’s worth some time in the world’s fifth most dangerous job if it gives you your big break. But isn’t working with Simon Cowell the world’s MOST dangerous job.