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The mystery surrounding what band is offering a job to ousted American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry is now solved: A press release in our inbox confirms it's Fuel. (Which we predicted earlier, then quickly dismissed due to being promised a "major," "big deal" name.) So Daughtry now has a very important decision to make: Let a bland, radio-friendly hard rock outfit who haven't had a hit in half a decade ride his coattails back up the Billboard charts, or let 19 Entertainment repackage him as bland, radio-friendly hard rock solo artist. And while Daughtry has been candid about his disappointment in his post-mortem interviews today, it's the folks back home who just about break your heart. Reports the LAT:

"Everybody is just real sad," said Dr. Raymond Cooke, the principal of the 350-student school. "You see some tears on the kids, and our staff is just as disappointed as the students."

"I think personally it was rigged,'" said Salem Lowdermilk, 10, in a thick southern accent.

Taylor Leamey, who is also 10, said he was in shock. "I couldn't really move because I was like, 'He got voted off." It's very scary. It was like, 'They have to be kidding.'" [...]

"I called Savannah my next door neighbor, she's in Ms. Pleasant's class," [Lowdermilk] said. "I was like 'Why did he get voted off?' We were like something must have gone wrong. I thought I was going to die."

That wasn't hyperbole: The small town with seemingly nothing else going for it (at least according to the LAT) had so much riding on Daughtry's wings that the shocking disappointment of his elimination did nearly lead to a community center Kool-Aid drink-off. Luckily, the welcoming, familiar voice of Ryan Seacrest encouraging them to catch the conclusion of Unan1mous reminded them there were still indeed things worth living for.