By Lauren Bishop
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Matthew Metzger, the 23-year-old Oxford resident who was an American Idol semifinalist this season, is making the move from reality TV to unreality TV.

Metzger has landed a part on the ABC soap One Life to Live (2 p.m. Monday-Friday, Channels 9, 2), confirms Lauri Hogan, a spokeswoman for the show. He'll play Duke Buchanan, the teenage son of Kevin Buchanan (Dan Gauthier), beginning Aug. 23.

Kevin Buchanan is the adoptive grandson of oil tycoon Asa Buchanan (Phil Carey), the patriarch of one of the families on which the 36-year-old show centers.

"He's part of a very powerful family," Hogan says.

Metzger's character last appeared on the show as a baby in the early 1990s, Hogan says. Until now, he's been living with his mother, Kevin Buchanan's ex-wife LeeAnn (Yasmine Bleeth) in Texas, she says. The soap takes place in the fictional town of Llanview, Pa.

Hogan says Metzger is under contract with One Life to Live, but declined comment on the details of the agreement. The Daytime Emmy Award-winning soap, named Outstanding Drama Series in 2002, is filmed in New York City.

Metzger couldn't be reached for comment, but the Miami University graduate had said he wanted to pursue a career in show business if he didn't become the next American Idol.

Metzger was one of 32 semifinalists on the top-rated Fox TV show. After his performance of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" in February, viewers' votes placed him third behind Diana DeGarmo and Fantasia Barrino, who went onto the next round.

DeGarmo and Barrino ultimately became the finalists, with Barrino winning the title.

E-mail: lbishop@enquirer.com.