Lil Rounds' No. 1 fans wait and watch

Photo by Dave Darnell // Buy this photo

David Coburn, father of "American Idol" contestant Lil Rounds.

In the break room of an industrial-looking building in the Medical Center, a handwritten message on the chalkboard reminds employees to vote.

The candidate is known to millions of Americans, but she has a special group of supporters here in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's maintenance building.

Photo by Dave Darnell/The Commercial Appeal

David Coburn, father of "American Idol" contestant Lil Rounds, made his first plane ride to watch his girl sing.

LilRounds

Lil Rounds is not just another contestant on "American Idol": She's also the daughter of paint shop supervisor David Coburn.

Nothing in the 27 years since he has been at the job has quite prepared Coburn for the attention he has received for his daughter's sudden claim to fame. She's now among the eight competitors remaining on this season of the hit Fox reality show.

"I like the fact that people have been congratulating me," says the modest Coburn, who lives in the Frayser-Raleigh area. "There's been such a positive response about the show."

One by one, family members have made their way to California to attend the live broadcasts of the program.

Coburn's visit was three weeks ago, when Rounds performed Martina McBride's "Independence Day" during Grand Ole Opry Week.

It was the first time the 50-year-old man had been on an airplane.

"No one else could make me do it," Coburn said. "I told her 'You better be glad Daddy loves you.'"

That night, Coburn was among the people booing Simon Cowell as he criticized Rounds' song choice. Coburn also got pulled up on the stage during a commercial break. He doesn't elaborate on what happened, but says it was embarrassing.

On Tuesday night, the contestants performed music from the year they were born, and Rounds, born Oct. 20, 1984, chose Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do With It."

The judges were sharply critical of the interpretation. Paula Abdul observed: "This was the week I thought you needed to take your own liberties and go outside the box."

Watching here in Memphis, her parents agreed that Rounds has yet to come into her own in the contest.

"She's trying to please the judges," said her mother. "I told her the last time I talked to her: 'You've got to be you.' She can take a microphone and do it anyway she wants. She's going to have to become Lil Rounds."

Rounds, 24, is the third of Coburn's four daughters from a 27-year marriage.

He and his wife, Dolline, met in church. He spotted her in the choir, singing "Jesus Can Work It Out."

He has been "working it out ever since," joked Coburn.

Dolline Coburn, a financial secretary at Whitehaven Elementary, says she speaks with her daughter every day.

"We tell her to do her best and to keep being herself," she said. "She always asks about her family. She's used to being criticized, but the night she saw her children in the audience, it broke her up."

At UT, the maintenance staff has taken to wearing Lil Rounds buttons and T-shirts in support of the contestant. They are among her large Memphis fan base.

"We're helping her get there," said Mariann Hollis. "And we've also been helping the family, taking up collections for the plane tickets."

what do you think?

"American Idol" airs at 8 tonight on WHBQ-TV Channel 13. To voice your opinion on the performances, go to the GoMemphis.com home page and click on the icon for the Memphis "Idol" Watch page and blog.

© 2009 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.