\n\tBorn: Oct. 23, 1998 \u2013 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Musical Influences:\u00a0Brandy, Taylor Moore
How He Consumes Music: Apple Music, YouTube
First\u00a0Idol\u00a0Experience:\u00a0Watching season 10 at his best friend\u2019s house
Favorite Alums:\u00a0Carrie Underwood, Scotty McCreery, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Ruben Studdard<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Jordan McCullough was four years old, he heard his church choir sing and noticed the microphone and knew what he wanted to do with his life. \u201cThe first song I sang was \u2018Falling in Love with Jesus\u2019 and they had to have a step stool for me to stand on, because I was too short. You couldn\u2019t see me over the banister. I was there to sing my little solo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tGrowing up, the Tennessee native heard music from the best of two worlds. \u201cMy dad introduced me to a lot of country music. George Strait and Randy Travis were staples in the house. And my mom listened to a lot of R&B groups, like SWV, Xscape and Boyz II Men.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe continued to sing in church but there was also a demand for his vocals elsewhere. \u201cI remember getting pulled out of middle school to sing at funerals. I probably sang at over 250 funerals in my life and I didn\u2019t know any of the (deceased). But people would say, \u2018We want the kid to come sing for my grandmother\u2019s funeral\u2019 and I would say, \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll be there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs far as a career path, McCullough says, \u201cI always hoped that it would be music, but I jumped into my skill set of administration, because I was insecure about chasing the dream. I knew I could do paperwork. I didn\u2019t know if I could be a singer, but I thought it had to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThis season is not McCullough\u2019s first chance to compete on American Idol. \u201cThe opportunity presented itself a few years ago and I said no, because I didn\u2019t think that the show wanted a singer like me, a male with a big voice. You see that a lot of times with women who have big voices and can belt it out. I never thought that translated for guys, and so I said, \u2018You don\u2019t want me,\u2019 and I counted myself out. This year, it happened again.\u201d Inspired by season 23\u2019s emphasis on songs of faith, he felt more appreciated. \u201cSo I came in with a song of faith and it led me to the top 14.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLike the other contestants, McCullough\u2019s Idol journey began long before he was seen on television screens, with the audition process. What has he learned during his time with the show? \u201cThat I\u2019m enough. I have a strategy and I do a lot of research when it comes to picking songs. People fell in love (with me) because I just sit there and sing, not because I was dancing, doing backflips and everything else. I can\u2019t. I have stage presence, because I was enough. That\u2019s the biggest thing that I\u2019ve learned and it has given me the confidence to go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWinning the show would mean confirmation, McCullough acknowledges. \u201cI was very insecure chasing the dream and I decided to go by faith and winning the show would mean I took the right step. Professionally it would open the door for me and my big voice, to make room in the industry for things that I don\u2019t see, things that I don\u2019t hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLooking ahead, McCullough sees touring in his future. \u201cGetting to be with people, fans, giving them hope, singing with them, having fun with them, meeting them where they are. A lot of people tune in (to Idol) on Monday nights, but I want to go and extend that, where people feel a further connection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born: Oct. 23, 1998 \u2013 Murfreesboro, TennesseeMusical Influences:\u00a0Brandy, Taylor MooreHow He Consumes Music: Apple Music, YouTubeFirst\u00a0Idol\u00a0Experience:\u00a0Watching season 10…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[12287,88,92,49142],"class_list":{"0":"post-569649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-american-idol","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-tv","11":"tag-tv-film"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}