Milwaukee was on a big national stage Friday as "American Idol" took over and showcased our city to its massive Fox audience. There was a buzz in town that echoed through the weekend and resulted in a ton of national coverage including a lengthy recap of Danny Gokey's hometown visit from People.com.
What's even more impressive is the way Milwaukee turned out. Estimates of more than 25,000 on the Summerfest grounds smoked the numbers of the two other finalists Kris Allen (3,000 for a concert in Little Rock) and Adam Lambert (7,000 for a concert at his high school in San Diego).
Many people like to poke fun at "Idol," but you can't deny its popularity. I've said before that I don't watch the show, but I'm watching this week to see my city and its people party and show off our ability to look great and have fun. Great work, Milwaukee.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
