Tifton buzzing about American Idol contestant Michael Johns

TIFTON — Phone lines are buzzing and e-mails are flying around Tifton about Michael Johns, the American Idol contestant, who once lived here. The buzz about Johns is especially loud in the tennis department at ABAC.

Evidently singing is not Johns’ only talent. He was recruited from Australia to play tennis for ABAC in 1998 and stayed at the local college for two quarters before moving to Atlanta to pursue his singing career.

ABAC Athletic Director Alan Kramer is one of the people who has gotten caught up in the “Idol mania” about Michael Johns. “I’ve voted 12 times,” he said. Kramer said he was not Johns’ tennis coach. “I was on the women’s side then,” Kramer said. “Coach Hill was his coach.”

Former longtime ABAC tennis coach Norman “Red” Hill is not only voting for Johns, he is asking Tifton residents to get on those phone lines and vote Johns all the way to the top. Hill has been watching American Idol closely and has decided Johns has a disadvantage being from Perth, Australia: He doesn’t have an American home town pulling for him.

“Like that girl from Douglasville (Alexandrea Lushington),” Hill said, “That whole town will vote for her.” Hill wants Tifton to do the same for Michael Johns.

“I’m proud of him,” Hill said. “He was a pretty good tennis player and he loved to sing. One time I told him, ‘You might want to pursue that instead of tennis.’”

“He’s a clean-cut kid,” Hill said. “People like him if they ever meet him, not just the girls, the guys, too.” Hill said Johns is a well-rounded person and comes from a broken home.

Keen on Johns getting named American Idol, Hill has been watching the comments by Idol judge Simon Cowell very closely. “Last week he (Cowell) said he (Johns) was the best they had,” Hill said.

Hill said he was a lot like Simon Cowell because they both “tell it like it is.” “Why beat around the bush?” Hill asked. “He (Cowell) might make them cry. That’s life. But he’s got a track record. Look what’s he’s done — and he’s looking for someone who can make it to the top.”

The twenty-nine year old Johns is now residing in Buckhead and auditioned for American Idol in San Diego. He was known as Michael Lee while he was at ABAC and said of the school: “The people at ABAC are so friendly, with endless help from the teachers! The guys on the tennis team are great and I hope to make some lifelong friends.”

He did just that. Johns made a number of friends while in Tifton and the relationships have continued to this date. Jay Slocum, son of Dr. Jeff Slocum, is a good friend of Johns as is the entire Slocum family.

“Michael met my ‘would be’ brother-in-law in the Atlanta airport in the summer of 1998,” Slocum said. “Unbeknownst to either of them, they were both coming from Australia to play tennis at ABAC. Their airport meeting was completely random, although I’m sure they would have met once arriving in the huge metropolis of Tifton.”

Slocum said his future brother-in-law (von Helens) and Johns decided to room together at the ABAC dorms because neither of them knew anyone from Tifton.

“Well, soon my older sister, Julie, discovered this Erik von Helens guy and started hanging out with the ABAC tennis crowd. Julie would bring Erik over to the house and Michael would come with them. Sometimes he would come over by himself just to hang out. Seeing Michael around the house got to be extremely common and my family fell in love with him and his amazing voice. My father, especially, would always try to make him sing something every time he came around. He would say, ‘Michael, Michael, give me some Free Bird!’”

Slocum said that although Johns left Tifton to pursue his singing career he still came back often to hang out with the Slocum family at Lake Blackshear “or stop by the house just to say G’day!” Slocum said he has spent a lot of time with Johns over the past 10 years and even spent a few days with him in L.A. in the summer of 2006.

Slocum said Johns had been through a lot of ups and downs over the past decade and said he is glad to see his hard work paying off.

“Please encourage everyone in Tifton to vote for Michael Johns,” Coach Hill said. “Oh yes! Vote! Vote! Vote!”

To contact reporter Jana Cone, call 382-4321, ext. 208.

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