"Idol" rocker brings it home

Simon Cowell would have been proud.

At the end of a summer when Kelly Clarkson canceled her tour and Britney Spears flubbed her big MTV comeback, Chris Daughtry put a little faith back in the world of pop music when he showed up Monday night at the Puyallup Fair.

Amid the smell of hay and fried fair food, Daughtry stepped off the television screen and rocked Puyallup with those goose-bumpy ballads that have made him "American Idol's" most famous fourth-place contestant. Wearing a snug T-shirt, ripped jeans and a thick leather band on one wrist, and hanging on the microphone, he fronted a four-piece rock band that shares his last name.

The mixed crowd — kids on shoulders, young couples and even grandmas — greeted him by waving the bright screens of their cellphones back and forth in the humid night air.

The North Carolina native was fresh off the plane from the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. That might have been why his vocals sounded noticeably forced in the first few songs from his 2006 self-titled album, making one of his most famous hits, "It's Not Over," slightly disappointing.

But once the pipes were warm, Daughtry pushed out smooth, strong vocals that broke through the venue's less-than-great acoustics. The slow-burning "What About Now" caught even the most die-hard fans by surprise, showcasing the talent that has sold millions of recordings.

Though the lyrics to the songs were clean, there was nothing soft about the music. "Feels Like Tonight" and his latest song to get radio play "Over You," carried an emotional punch. But the song that really got the fans screaming was "Home." Likely the group's most well-known song, it's now the soundtrack played on "American Idol" when contestants are voted off and forced to watch a teary montage of their Idol experience on live television.

Daughtry may have gotten his start on reality music television, but Monday's performance made it clear that he doesn't need creative editing or special effects to rock out. He may not have clinched "American Idol," but with one of the top-selling albums of the year and a solid stage show, he's still a winner.