10-Year 'Idol' Allure Was, Simply, the Singular Simon
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Sunday, January 16, 2011 ■■■ SECTION E + THE AMAZING Q COMING UP At 77, Quincy Jones is as active as online Helen Schwab, Kathleen Purvis, ever, with a book and an album Carolina Pam Kelley, Carolina Brides. charlotteobserver.com and a legacy to maintain. 2E Good stuff inside: Tracy Curtis gets pet smart; fri The circus is coming Annie Proulx’s new “Bird Cloud”; crossword, chess to the arena! Movies, dining and Sudoku; Kathy Haight’s Love Stories. Living and more! CLT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT charlotteobserver.com/arts PHOTOS BY TODD SUMLIN - [email protected] During an appointment with Dr. Steven Frick, Michael holds a copy of an X-ray of the nail in his left femur. 3 By Elizabeth Leland could walk. His right leg was 2 ⁄4 inches lon- [email protected] ger than his left leg and, at 12 years old and 5 As a nurse wheeled Michael Humphries feet 1, he still had more growing to do. away to the operating room, his parents “This will not be a miracle cure,” his fa- Millimeter teared up, looking helplessly around the ther said. “But there really isn’t a choice.” empty hospital room where Michael had just Michael’s parents suspected something BY been cuddling his stuffed manatee and play- was wrong when they first held him in an ing video games. orphanage in Russia in 1998. He A surgeon was about to was seven months old and didn’t chisel Michael’s left fe- Surgery move his legs. They said the or- mur in half and begin a to extend a phanage staff reassured them it millimeter grueling 2-month process was because Michael had been of lengthening his leg by Charlotte boy’s swaddled most of his life. stretching it a quarter of a He was a sweet-natured, hap- millimeter four times a leg gives him a py child with a big smile and day. dimples, and he thrived after Scott Humphries and second chance they brought him home. Within Robyn Stacy-Humphries a month, he was stretching out had been planning for this at walking his right leg. But not his left. As for years. But when the he grew, so did problems with moment arrived, Scott through life that leg. He didn’t walk until he confided: “It’s scary.” was almost 2. The procedure was considered revolu- Pinpointing the cause became a process tionary when it was invented in the 1980s by of elimination that ended with one possibil- a Soviet doctor. But it has proved so success- ity: Michael contracted polio from an oral ful that people in China have legs lengthened vaccine in the orphanage. The virus killed simply because they want to be taller. nerve cells that supplied his left leg and left For Michael, surgery was necessary so he abdomen, resulting in atrophy of the mus- cles in his quad, hamstring, gluteal and ab- “I’m so proud of you,” Robyn ductors. Stacy-Humphries tells her son Michael. SEE MICHAEL, 3E 10-year ‘Idol’ allure was, The Sunday contest WE ASK, YOU TELL FOR A $60 GIFT CARD, simply, the singular Simon WHO LOVES WINTER? AMERICAN IDOL TV/RADIO Yeah, I don’t remember By Michael Weinstein Our winner Features editor 8 p.m. Wednesday, Fox either, which is fine. Nei- ther one has been rocking After a week like the Last week I miss Simon already, and the charts. last one we have to ask: we asked for all I’ve seen are the pre- But of all the first-name Still enjoying winter? Tell your favorite views. talents, none brought us your favorite thing soup. Boy, do “American Idol” returns MARK WASHBURN more than the singular Si- about winter to win a $60 Boyer you love this week for its 10th season, mon. gift card to Maharani or soup! (Food so long-lived now that people can tut-tut “Idol” spawned a wave of copycat Cuisine Malaya. writer Andrea Weigl will with authority about how they remem- prime-time performance shows, and it E-mail living@charlot- offer recipes and tips in ber when it was good. was Simon Cowell who inspired what teobserver.com. Subject Living Jan. 19.) Upload your Its golden age was full of contestants came to be Hollywood law: Each judging line must read winter; recipes to our database at so likable that we’re all on a first-name panel needed a caustic Brit or all would include your name, city of www.charlotteobserver. basis, people like Clay, Kelly, Reuben, be lost. FOX/MCT residence, daytime phone com/food. Fantasia, Carrie and Taylor. He spoke with unvarnished authority. “American Idol” returns Wednesday with, and restaurant choice. Susan Boyer of Moores- But things fade. Last year’s winner is As the critiques moved down the panel, from left, Ryan Seacrest, Jennifer Lopez, Deadline: 2 p.m. Tues- ville wins a $25 super- hardy a household name. Quick – was it it was always click, click, Bang! Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson. day. market gift card. Her entry: Lee DeWyze or Crystal Bowersox? SEE WASHBURN, 6E SEE CONTEST, 2E +.