Mount Prospect musician gets back at 'American Idol'

"American Idol" may have an age limit, but YouTube does not.

Last summer, Michael Riser traveled from his home in Mount Prospect to Chicago to audition for the popular reality television show. He was in line when he heard the show had an age cutoff of 29 years old.

"Let's just say, I'm closer to 40 than I am to 30," Riser said. "So I got out of the line."

To protest, Riser made a four minute video called "Too Old For Idol," which makes fun of the show's age limit. In the video, Riser mocks his age by pretending to get Botox, bleach his teeth and apply for Medicare. More than 1,000 people have seen clip, which was posted a few days ago to correspond with the launch of the show's new season Tuesday.

"What's it take to get this geezer on TV?" Riser sings "Last I checked, I'm still not a member of AARP."

Although Riser has been a musician for 10 years, he decided to get serious and record an album only a year ago. He and some friends worked on the YouTube clip off and on for two months in Chicago, Riser said.

"It was my wife who convinced me to do it," he said. "After I couldn't audition, she was fuming mad and told me to write a song about it. It's a funny video and I didn't take it too seriously."

Riser and his wife have two daughters, ages 10 and 7 years old. Both make appearances in the video.

"Who knows, maybe the age limit was a blessing in disguise," he said. "I've heard from a lot of people who really like the video."

Riser mainly performs in Chicago and the Northwest suburbs.

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