So Nice, that Bo Bice

Having not really watched American Idol last season, I held no opinion of runner-up and fan-favorite Bo Bice. But that changed two weeks ago in Hollywood, when the southern-fried hippie did me a solid. Shannon Smith and I were scrambling to find a guest for a last minute satellite shot when the affable performer wandered up and chatted at length without even a cue. Impressed by his on-camera etiquette, I popped off a great still-shot of the singer and made a mental note to pay him some respect on-line. But later that evening, while fumbling with my Fuji in the dark, I mistakenly deleted the picture. Honestly, I was just trying to flush a shot of that lecherous boob Constantine when I fat-fingered the wrong button. Oh well, chalk up that loss to jet-lag, jittery digits and Jim Beam.

So imagine the fun today when I tore my attention away from a scintillating report on lottery tickets to stalk the very vocalist as he dropped in on the noon news. Working the local press circuit in support of his new release, Bo ambled mannerly through yet another building filled with excited strangers. Before he and his buds boot-scooted out the door, the Birmingham rock singer turned American Idol poster boy yucked it up with the talking hair-do's, plugged his new CD and even did a little green-screen weather schtick. This, is one cool cat. Somewhat humbled by his near-coronation as last year's Idol, Bo Bice seems to aggressively appreciate his fans. Either that or someone taught him a long time ago how to work a room. During his brief stop at El Ocho, the pony-tailed vocalist smiled for a hundred photos, be it with hyped-up account executives, swooning interns or just a lowly lenslinger who knows good blog-fodder when he sees it.