A classic underdog story
Growing up, I was that gay fat kid who was relentlessly bullied. And to make it worse, I was cursed with a feminine voice.
Because of that, I became extremely self-conscious of everything I was.
But before middle school, I reinvented myself. I lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise and then decided I would just stop singing even though I had won several youth singing competitions. The prospect of becoming famous from something I was deeply self-conscious about made me very uncomfortable. And besides, there must’ve been a reason why the Korean Pop (K-Pop) industry let go of me. “Nobody is gonna like a fat boy singing like a girl”, I told myself…
I let go of my dreams of becoming a singer and decided to just focus on my studies. I went to Brooklyn Technical High School, got an above average SAT score, and went off to college…
And then I met this guy
I recorded a song titled “Be Mine” for our first anniversary together and he liked it so much that he wanted me to release it as a single.
It’s been 10 years and I still haven’t published that song…
Eric was my first fan. And is my greatest fan.
But it would take SIX MORE YEARS before I would realize how talented I truly was…
March 23, 2020
During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, I lost my job as a software engineer and I suddenly found myself needing some sort of purpose in my life. So I came up with a brilliant idea to stream my karaoke singing on Reddit and Twitch. At first I put on a mask to hide my identity because I was afraid of getting turned into a meme (as we know the Internet is brutal) but the stream gained a decent following - as much as 43,000 concurrent viewers at the peak of the program’s popularity. I would take audience requests through a voting system as well which led to some awful yet hilarious performances. But there were a handful of really great performances that had the audience asking why the hell I haven’t tried out for American Idol…
And one thing led to another and this happened.
American Idol reached out to me in 2021 and my episode aired on April 2022 of their 21st season.
I went from Twitch karaoke streamer to American Idol sensation overnight.
But while American Idol was cool, I was still struggling with social anxiety and severe depression. And I had bills to pay so I couldn’t just quit my job. Reality TV was not going to be good for my mental health so I made the personal decision to walk away. A lot of my fans were disappointed but understood and respected my decision.
It really did feel like my dreams were going to take a permanent backseat. But in 2023, I decided to give it one more go.
I took a chance at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York and tried out for Showtime at the Apollo. I was genuinely afraid I would be laughed at and ridiculed but I told myself this was how I was going to know for sure how good I am.
And I walked up on stage and sang Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You” and to my surprise, the crowd went wild and I took home first place. This was a pivotal moment in my life.
I still remember sitting in the car as Eric drove us home balling my eyes out because I did something I never thought was possible. It was a validating moment for me.
I repeated these victories night after night until I hit the Top Dog rank which meant I would be able to perform at the grand finale.
And then the following year, in 2024, the USKA Texas Chapter President, Robert Olivas, approached me about an opportunity to represent Team Texas in a national karaoke competition hosted by the International Karaoke Federation.
At first, I thought it was just another karaoke contest where it’s less about singing and more about having fun but when I heard that I could win an opportunity to sing at Las Vegas, I said - say less, I’m in.
Out of over 1,200 contestants in just the state of Texas, I came in 4th place - where the difference between me and 1st place was just 2.5 points. And as a team we secured 20 spots in the World Finals which was taking place in Las Vegas at the HyperX Arena.
November 2024, I performed for the first time at Las Vegas in a sold out 30,000 square foot arena.
Where I made the Top 32 at the World Championship level.
That’s out of TENS OF THOUSANDS of contestants.
“One Moment In Time”
by Whitney Houston
And in what could only be best described as nothing short of poetic, one of the judges at the Karaoke World Championship was the casting producer who discovered me and put me on American Idol. And he got to see my major growth as a singer in just two years - from a shy and anxious singer to a vocal powerhouse.
What’s next?
Only time will tell. Maybe I’ll perform on cruise ships somewhere far out in sea and travel the world.