It’s the last round of auditions on American Idol. On the March 25 episode, judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will listen and watch to Idol hopefuls looking for the last golden tickets to Hollywood. The aspirants include a choreographer from Tennessee, a hostess from Colorado and a 28-year-old personal assistant from Pine Level, Alabama named Samuel Swanson. For his American Idol audition, Samuel wears a tall black turban. It’s similar to the one he wore in June 2017, when he won first place at Amateur Night at the Apollo. See video below.
At the Apollo, Samuel Swanson sang the ballad “Always and Forever” which the late Luther Vandross did a cover of in 1995, and won a Grammy for it. “Always and Forever” was first released in 1977 by the R&B/funk/disco band Heatwave. The Englishman in the band, Rod Temperton on the keyboard, wrote the song and Heatwave’s other big hit “Boogie Nights.” Temperton went on to write songs for Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson including “Thriller”, “Off the Wall”, and “Rock with You”. Check out the groovy Heatwave video below. American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
