Country music newcomer Chuck Wicks was hoping Cinderella would help him upset a pair of "American Idol" runners-up at this year's Country Music Television Awards.
"If I can beat out two 'America Idol' people, we're doing something right," the 28-year-old Smyrna, Del., native said in a phone interview last month.
She didn't. Wicks lost his bid for a fan-voted CMT Breakthrough Video nod against former "American Idol" contestant Kellie Pickler.
Though he's never been a contestant of "Idol" or the country version, "Nashville Star," Wicks was the star of a short-lived Fox TV reality show "Nashville." The show followed him around in the months leading up to the release last September of his debut single, "Stealing Cinderella."
"It aired for two weeks. Apparently, 3 million viewers is not enough for Fox Television," said Wicks, who just got off a 20-date tour with Brad Paisley and will perform at this weekend's Country Thunder festival. "But then again, it was on Friday nights in the middle of high school football season. That's not going to work out really well."
People are also reading…
The show was a docu-drama: "My part was the docu part. The other people were the drama."
So there was no crying?
"No. But you know what? I did cry. But I had a good reason."
Someone pinched you?
"No. I cried when I first heard my song on the radio."
You're not afraid to cry?
"No, I'm OK. I watched 'The Notebook' and I cried. Does that count?"
Did you read the book?
"No. Do people get naked in it?"
Not a lot of nudity. And you know I'm getting a pretty scary visual.
"I was hoping to ruin your entire day with visuals of naked people."
Congratulations on the album and the single.
"('Stealing Cinderella') went to the Top 5 and it stayed in the Top 10 two months. I couldn't ask for a better way to start my career."
What inspired that song?
"(My girlfriend's) summer gig from college was playing Cinderella at Disney World. That's where the whole image of Cinderella came from. Her dad had these old reel-to-reel tapes with no voices. And it was these images of her dancing with her dad, riding her first bike, literally running through the sprinklers with a perfect Popsicle grin — all these things are real."
What happened to the girlfriend?
"She's still around."
Are you still together?
"Oh yeah. We're just not engaged or anything. I'm taking the long route."
What does she think of the song?
"Well I'm in trouble now because I wrote a song about getting engaged and we're not engaged yet."
Is it in the plans?
"It might be. I don't want to give you too much information."
You're going back out on the Paisley Party Tour, right?
"Oh yeah. And I'm going to get him this summer."
That's right. He punked you when you were singing "Cinderella."
"He totally got me on the last day."
Guys in tutus pirouetted around you and kissed you, right?
"That would be correct."
What was your reaction?
"I started laughing."
You didn't cry?
"No. I almost cried when he tried to kiss me. That was a little awkward, I'm not going to lie. What do you tell your mom and dad?"
So how are you getting even?
"I'm putting some deep thought into it. I want to make sure the prank makes sense. He does have a song out called 'I'm Still a Guy.' So there's plenty of opportunity to get him with that song. But I can't give you any details. He's got his ear to the ground."
