American Idol’s Most Memorable Seattle Contestants

January 5, 2016

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American Idol’s Most Memorable Seattle Contestants | Seattle Met

Season 6
Finish Runner-up.
Claim to fame Hella tight beatboxing skills
Best song A rap-lite version of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” that even had the mom of judge Simon Cowell dancing.
Sayeth the judges Cowell famously crowed, “I don’t know if you’re as good as you think you are,” but later admitted Lewis was the best male in the competition.
Where is he now? His most recent album, 2014’s Portrait of a Chameleon, didn’t chart. But he did tour last fall with season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin, so there’s that.

Season 6
Finish Seventh.
Claim to fame A mohawk made of ponytails; a shy, giggly charm that earned him more fans than did his singing.
Best song Consuelo Velázquez’s “Bésame Mucho,” although “best” is a relative term.
Sayeth the judges Cowell threatened to quit the show if Malakar won.
Where is he now? After a short stint slinging pies at Pagliacci, he moved to NYC. Now he’s back in Seattle and is set to release new music in December.

Season 10
Finish Seventh.
Claim to fame A warbling falsetto, shirts that were always a size too small.
Best song Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” which proved to be prophetic: One week later he was eliminated.
Sayeth the judges Chronically kind judge Jennifer Lopez was more interested in his looks than his pipes.
Where is he now? He’s testing the limits of Auto-Tune and thinly veiled cunnilingus metaphors on the single “Lemon Squeeze.”

Season 6
Finish Made it to the top 24.
Claim to fame Her friendly smile? As if the producers knew the Federal Way native wasn’t long for the show, she got precious little screen time before being voted off in the first week of live competition.
Best song The only one we saw, Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Sayeth the judges Simon accused her of having “the personality of a candle.”
Where is she now? In SoCal, where she’s been since 2008, making worship music, but now under her married name, Amy Luna.

Season 9
Finish Made it past the initial audition to Hollywood only to have her ticket revoked when AI producers discovered she was on probation and couldn’t travel.
Claim to fame A tearful admission that years of singing in a cover band in bars and casinos had worn her down.
Best song Her soulful, a cappella version of Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One,” which earned her a ticket to Hollywood.
Sayeth the judges Cowell gushed, “I don’t think you’ve been allowed to be who you should be.”
Where is she now? She’s still in Seattle, although now she’s singing her own songs.

This article appeared in the January 2016 ^[1] issue of Seattle Met Magazine.