Where’s Big Mike?
The morning after being named to the elite “Top 24” group of “American Idol” semi-finalists, Mike Lynche, the 305-pound hopeful from Queens and the feel-good story of the season so far, was nowhere to be found.
And with good reason.
Big Mike, 26, was rumored to have been booted from the show last month by producers who were sputtering mad that his father had allegedly confirmed to a Florida newspaper that the ex-football player had made it to the semi-final round.
That’s a strict no-no. The show makes contestants sign confidentiality agreements in order to keep the judges’ choices secret before they air.
Turned out the rumors were not true — but apparently Lynche and his family yesterday were taking no chances.
Fans got to know the big man from Astoria last week because the “Idol” cameras showed him sweating through Hollywood Week tryouts as his wife was giving birth to their first baby back in New York.
Wife Christa Angelelli yesterday would only say that she and baby Laila were doing fine.
The first-time dad is the kind of character that was made for “Idol.”
Lynche was a rising football star at the University of Central Florida, making a big impact on the defensive line as a freshman and sophomore.
But he left the team before his junior season in 2003, the year his mother, a columnist for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, was diagnosed with cancer.
Lynche’s mother died in 2004, shortly before he met is wife-to-be. Suddenly, Lynche lost interest in playing football.
“He was a big, strong kid with a good motor . . . a good kid,” said Bill D’Ottavio, Lynche’s defensive coordinator at UCF who now coaches at Samford University.
D’Ottavio had no idea about Lynche’s musical skill until reporters began calling him yesterday: “I did not know he had this special talent.”
“I remember being high on Michael’s ability, and I thought he was going to be a real good one,” the coach said.
“He never had the chance to hit his stride because off-the-field issues made it a little more difficult for him. But I’m really happy to hear he’s doing well. I’m going to have to watch now.”
“Michael was very musically inclined growing up,” Big Mike’s dad Marque Lynche told The Post yesterday.
“He started showing musical ability at age 3. We got him a guitar that was bigger than him. He’s self-taught.”
The elder Lynche said he regretted causing his son trouble last month when, before the show aired, he confirmed for a reporter that his son had made the semi-final round.
The father said he only told the paper what he had read on the Internet and wasn’t relaying any first-hand information.