At an undisclosed location in Milwaukee, Danny Gokey was trying on numerous pairs of glasses this morning, trying out a series of poses as a still photographer snapped away at the singer.
That undisclosed business is to keep fans of the finalist from last year's "American Idol" from getting in the way of day of shooting for Wisconsin Vision.
The 29-year-old Gokey recently signed a two-year deal to be the face of the Wisconsin-based company, and he's in town this week for two days of shooting. Eyeglasses have been Gokey's trademark since he started his run on last year's eighth season of the Fox singing competition.
He took a few minutes away from today's shoot to talk about his new job and his old love for glasses.
"I've always loved glasses," he said. "When I was younger couldn't afford so many pairs."
He's not a contact lens guy, rather a firm believer that glasses do more than correct his vision.
"There's a style that comes with it, it can really add to whatever you're wearing, and add an element of sophistication," Gokey said. "Or, kind of like the rocker look. It can really change you up and give you a different look."
That wasn't the case, of course, when he started wearing them as a boy.
"Fifth grade came along and they were a hassle. Now they've become an accessory, kind of like a privilege," he said.
And that privilege is multiplying as he picks up more pairs.
"It's gotta be over 70 now," he said. "I've got to go back and count."
While Gokey's next scheduled appearance in Milwaukee is Summerfest, the Wisconsin Vision deal is another thing keeping Gokey around town.
His family is all here, and he has a house in town. Gokey expects to divide his time between Milwaukee and Nashville, where he records.
"The single's climbing the charts, the album's sold really well, without having a single in the top 10, which is usually when people really start responding to the album.
"For it to be where it's at, obviously 'American Idol' played a huge role in that. I just think everything's working out the way things need to be working out and I don't need to stress out about it.
"I do what needs to be done," he said.
And this week, that means smiling for the camera and selling glasses.
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
