A Quote by Danny Gokey

I tried out for American Idol, I got a record deal, and now it's like my best days are ahead of me. — © Danny Gokey
I tried out for American Idol, I got a record deal, and now it's like my best days are ahead of me.
This is basically the last resort. I've been painted into a corner, and now I've sort of got to lay it all out in order for things to be straightened up. I've tried to move on with my life and my career for the last two years and do my own thing, and 'American Idol' and FOX, they've just been making it really tough for me to do that. So in order for me to get through all the red tape and just allow people to just get at my talent, I've got to set the record straight. And you can't set half the record straight; when you tell it, you've got to tell it all.
Back in college, when I got kicked out of school, I was still in school, I'd just written the song that got me my record deal. If I hadn't gotten kicked out of school I wouldn't be where I am now. Three months after that, I got my record deal and the rest is history.
I've been wanting to sing for a long time. I've been singing all my life, and I've tried different record companies, but it seemed like - it was such a struggle and so hard to get out there. So, I said, 'I'm gonna go on American Idol and see how far it takes me.'
I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.
I tried out for 'The Voice,' and I also tried out for 'America's Got Talent,' and both them, like, reached out to me. I had, like, little singing video on YouTube, and they were like, 'Come out for an audition.' I did, and I got a callback for both of them, actually, and, uh, didn't get anything after that. I was so heartbroken. But look at me now!
It was actually really hard to get a record deal after 'American Idol.'
'American Idol,' for me, is fizzling out. They can't package me, man... I'm an artist that's created this concept but used the 'American Idol' machine as a marketing tool.
Yeah, back in 2003, I went to 'Australian Idol' the first day as a boy, and I got knocked out. So I went back the next day in drag and made it into the Top 12 and got a record deal and toured around Australia.
Way before we got a record deal, we were playing clubs seven nights a week, three one-hour sets a night. Then we got the record deal, and we took off on the road and stayed out.
What made 'American Idol' different from 'The Voice' and all these other singing competitions... 'American Idol' just gave regular old normal people like me and like Trent a chance.
Business fits me best. The only reason I went into modeling originally was to help out my family, because I knew that money gave you freedom. I tried acting and all of the arts, I even put out a record album, but what I like the most is business, which is where I am now.
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountaintop. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.
These days the whole 'American Idol' and 'The X Factor' and all that stuff has opened up doors for songwriters like me. I get songs on their albums.
It's a sense of pride, a sense of you set out to get a record deal, and we got that. We set out to get a No. 1 record, and then we got that. Then you say, 'Wow, that was impossible and now even more impossible is to stay No. 1 and stay current and put out new records that people care about,' and we really stuck to that.
I always said, if I got a record deal, I'd want to record the best songs I could, whether I wrote them or not.
When I tried to get a record deal, only one label wanted me. The rest said 'oh, we've already got a girl with a guitar.' Can you imagine them ever saying that to a guy?
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