When Garet Johnson auditioned in August for the popular Fox television show "American Idol," he sang Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

He has been feeling the love ever since. Especially after being featured on the program three times in February, including a segment in which producers showed him working on his parents' ranch in Veteran, near Torrington and the Nebraska line.

"I'm really happy with what happened," Johnson, 18, said Thursday from Veteran. "I'm just as happy as can be."

In its fifth season, "American Idol" has become a pop culture phenomenon. The reality show sends three judges to cities across America to pick promising pop singers from among thousands of hopefuls.

After the judges pick 12 male and 12 female finalists, viewers vote on which contestants are cut each week. The final remaining singer is crowned American Idol and enjoys instant stardom.

Cut by judges in Tuesday's episode, Johnson narrowly missed making it into the coveted group of 24 finalists. But his appearances on the show captivated fans and producers alike, and gave him an experience he says he'll always remember.

The trip to Hollywood was Johnson's first airplane flight, and in Santa Monica he saw the ocean for the first time.

The program showed an overwhelmed Johnson frolicking on the beach and crying tears of joy, or at least stress, earning him the nickname, "the crying cowboy."

"They put you through some torturous things," said Johnson's mother, Casey Johnson, explaining his tears on the show. "The pressure gets to be more and more at each step in the process."

Earlier, producers showed him singing to the turkeys on his ranch, which was how the home-schooled Johnson tested his voice before singing for friends and family. That segment earned him the nickname "turkey boy."

"That's just a part of it all," Johnson said. "I was thrilled to have a nickname. Only the top of the top have nicknames on the show, so it was a huge honor that people were calling me 'turkey boy' and 'crying cowboy."'

A quirky nickname is a small price to pay to launch a music career after only a year of singing practice. Though he has since taken up voice lessons, Johnson already has been fielding offers for record deals.

"He's gotten two or three offers," said his mother. "He can't do much for about six months, because he's bound to the Idol contract, but it's giving him a little time to get the lessons he needs."

In the meantime, Johnson remains the focus of a minor media maelstrom.

A crew from the entertainment news show "Access Hollywood" taped a segment with him Thursday, and People magazine is sending a writer and a photographer to Veteran. He even got a call from comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

But the biggest response has been from scores of Internet fans calling themselves the Cowboy Crew. Mostly young women, they write at length about Johnson's boyish good looks, denim outfits and omnipresent cowboy hat.

"I've gotten 20 calls from 20 ladies, all saying they want to have my baby, so that's weird," Johnson said. "But, as weird as it is, I also think it's pretty cool."

Though ranching has been Johnson's life, his time on "American Idol" has him thinking about a future in music.

"I don't know what's going to end up happening," Johnson said. "But from what's happened so far, I'm not going to trade singing for anything in the world."