If you haven’t heard of Alejandro Aranda, you soon will. Just a little over a month ago Alejandro Aranda was another unknown starving artist. However, a few auditions on American Idol have changed all that. If you haven’t been tuning into this season, Alejandro Aranda has been a stand out contestant earning universal praise from the judges, fans and music legends alike. So how did Alejandro make this leap? More importantly who is Alejandro Aranda? Here’s what we know so far.
The Details
He’s 24 years-old and hails from Pomona, California. Alejandro has only been playing music for about four years primarily busking on the street for extra cash. Before American Idol, Aranda was an aspiring musician toiling away at various odd jobs such as a dish washer. Unassuming and soft spoken, you could easily mistake him for that kid in class. The one who was nice, quiet and unassuming, yet unbeknownst to all uber-talented. Which gets us to his skills.
The Skills
Aranda is multi-instrumentalist. He has an ability to play guitar and piano. Oh, and then there is the voice. A smooth and silky virtuoso voice. He counts Trent Reznor, Chopin and Bach as his musical influences. Critics (however few there are) have noted that he seems to provide the same type of performances as being repetitive in tone and feel. Citing his jazz-folk cover of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”. His fans are having none of it and are eating up his every performance.
The Material
While Aranda has performed a number of cover songs from established artists like Justin Beiber and Post Malone. He has a number of original compositions which he’s performed during various rounds and are available on Spotify, under the stage name ScaryPoolParty, where you can find “Out Loud” and two more tracks, entitled “10 Years” and “Fading Away”.
The Response
Aranda has garnered universal praise from the judges. Luke Bryan has stated, “I don’t know, in the history of the whole show, has there ever been somebody like you.” Katy Perry predicts Aranda will wIn the entire competition calling him a “humble genius”. The show’s producers hailed his original track “Out Loud” as the best in the show’s history. Yet, it’s not just those in the Idol universe that are singing his praise. After Monday night’s episode, music legend Steve Nicks via here Instagram account hailed Aranda stating ““When he started to play the first chords, I started to cry. I cried all through his guitar song and all through his piano song. My prophecy: He will play and sing across the great stages of the world. He will play with 60-piece orchestras and he will play alone. I felt, as did the judges, that I was suspended in some sort of magical grace that was just simply overwhelming. My tears did not stop until he stopped. So, Alejandro, let me welcome you to the grand stage that will be your home for the rest of your extraordinary life.”
What’s Next
Despite all the buzz and praise, he’s still got to get past the next round. Currently in the Top 20, but a handful of contestants will have to go home next week. We will have to see if he makes the cut. But, something tells us Stevie Nicks is spot on when she says the grand stage will be his for the rest of his life!