Tyler Sloan, 21, said the pop star life wasn't his cup of tea, but he gave it a shot and passed the preliminary rounds and was approved by the celebrity judges.
"It's definitely not my cup of tea, the whole pop-star-type thing," he said on WDUN's Afternoon News Wrap. "I've been hearing it all my life, people say 'Go try out for American Idol!' but I'm like, 'Uh, I don't know about that.'"
Sloan, who started in the business by writing his own music five years ago, said he wasn't doing anything else at the time, so he decided to audition for the Idol judges. Plus, he wanted to meet other musicians.
"I performed a Sam Cook song on my guitar - 'Bring it on home to me' - and then I sang acappella an original song I wrote called 'Up or down' and I was very pleased with my performance and they really liked it," said Sloan.
Sloan received praise from judge Harry Connick Jr. "He said that he would pay money to come see me play," Sloan said. "He told me that in the music industry people will try to change me, my image and everything, and personally he'd like me to stay the way I am."
The North Hall High graduate is one of 164 contestants so far who are heading to Hollywood to compete to be the next American Idol.
Tyler Sloan, courtesy of American Idol
http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/1/270403