Flu throws off 'American Idol' contestant

Christian Lopez isn’t too embarrassed that most of his face time on “American Idol” was more about falling victim to the flu than his singing voice.

“I kind of assumed they were going to use it,” Christian said laughingly during a telephone interview from his Martinsburg home.


The 16-year-old Martinsburg High School junior won a spot in Hollywood for season 11 of the Fox reality show after winning a slot at the Pittsburgh auditions in July.

In September, he had to survive another round of auditions before he officially was asked to move onto the Hollywood auditions. The semifinals weren’t until December, forcing Christian to keep mum about the results until “Hollywood Week” aired this month.

Christian said he wasn’t about to spill the beans.

“People begged, but you had to stick to not telling,” he said.

In fact, he said “it wasn’t too bad” making sure that he not only talked about the results, but that his family, friends and girlfriend also had to make sure not to say anything.

He also had a little incentive of a contract. Christian said if he had said anything, he would have had to pay up.

“It would not have been good,” he said.

Viewers saw Christian during the Feb. 8 episode during the grueling group round. This year, the contestants had to form a group with members who auditioned during both day one and day two. Auditioning started immediately after the group selections and lasted until the wee hours of the next morning.

Christian said he already was pretty sick by the time group selection began.

Making matters worse for contestants, the flu bug had swept through the large group, even causing some to be taken to the hospital. Christian caught the flu during the rehearsals.

“I was sick, so when they released us to the auditorium (for groups), I just sat there because my legs were shaking,” he said.

Unable to actively find a group, Christian said, “the group kind of found me.” The result was Those Girls and That Guy, which included polarizing contestant Alicia Bernhart, a St. Louis police officer who asked people, “Do you like cops?” before deciding to be part of a group.

Christian said they started rehearsing at 11 p.m. (it took him until midnight before he could join the group) and decided to quit at 3 a.m. so he could get some sleep before they had to be up the next day.

Looking back, Christian said they could have used additional rehearsal time, but they ran out of time.

The group decided on performing Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue,” which Christian said he had never heard of before. And because he was sick most of the time, he wasn’t there during song selection.

“I was so sick and so out of it. You just have to do the best you can,” he said.

The group sang in front of the panel of judges during Wednesday’s airing of “American Idol”