Josiah Leming made a huge impact at his audition for American Idol. His voice was perfect, his story was one made in PR heaven, and Simon Cowell told him after his first Hollywood Week song that of all the year’s auditions, Leming’s would be the one he would remember. But the adulation didn’t last, and an emotional Josiah was sent home before the final 24 were chosen.

Leming is 19, but doesn’t look it. He’s not very big and has a face much younger than his years. He doesn’t look like a star, which likely had something to do with his dismissal as is the norm for American Idol. But he’s talented. Talented enough that Warner Records gave him a record deal in the following year and Josiah was able to move out of his car and make his dying mother proud. But not if American Idol and 19 Entertainment has anything to say about it.

Leming, 19, who didn’t make the show’s top 24, received an official letter from “Idol” threatening legal action if he puts out his record in January as planned.

“Idol” contestants must sign strict contracts with the show’s producer, Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, promising to record only with the label chosen by “Idol” – Sony/BMG. The 19 Entertainment shop also retains exclusive right of refusal for management and merchandising.

When the smash-hit show began in 2002, only finalists had to sign the contract – but now it’s mandatory for all contestants.

A rep for Leming, who grew up in Tennessee as one of eight siblings, said, “Josiah was the only ‘Idol’ contestant ever to get a record deal who didn’t make the top 24, and one of only four contestants to get a deal this year. He has personal reasons for getting his music out, threat or not.”

[From New York Post]

Leming is releasing his album on January of next year whether Simon Fuller or Simon Cowell approve, because there’s only one person who’s opinion on the record matters to Josiah. Leming’s mother has terminal cancer, and he doesn’t have much time to put a record out that she will be able to witness. 19 Entertainment had no desire to do anything with Josiah, he was a reject as far as they were concerned. No one from 19, Sony/BMG, or American Idol contacted him after they put him on a plane and sent him back to Tennessee. Now he stands to make a name for himself and their hands aren’t in the pot so they’re calling him on the paper he signed in order to be a part of the Hollywood Week where they decided he wasn’t good enough.

Josiah came from next to nothing. He was living in his car when he auditioned for American Idol. When he was sent home from Hollywood he was applying for factory work and living hand to mouth. Worst of all, he has very little time left to do what his mother wants so badly to see: her son’s name on an album cover. And that’s all that matters to Leming. He can take the threats, he can even take the lawsuits if they come. It’s not like they can take the more important things away from him when it’s all said and done.

Here’s Josiah Leming performing on American Idol: