Idol 19 - Jason Castro

19. Jason Castro

Season 7, 4th Place

I was one of the few - I think - who considered him as one of the overrated finalists in the competition during that Season. I honestly didn’t get the love he got during the first few week as I thought that his performances were verging on being mediocre. His voice, I thought, was not strong enough for the competition.

Now, coming into the semifinals, he was one of those that they never show sing during the audition round, so I had no idea what was going to come out of him when he first sang, but when I did, I was pleased but not floored. No, he wasn't an amazing technical singer, but I did notice his beautiful tone that was very unique to the show, and he just had an all-around great musical vibe that I thought was refreshing.

Looking back though, his first performance alone - from someone who had literally zero exposure prior to the semifinals - made his popularity shot up and  eventually earned him a bit of a dark-horse to win the whole thing over night. Jason remained a very strong contestant throughout the semifinals, especially when he performed Hallelujah. That was when I realized that he could actually place higher than I had expected.

The problem I had with Jason though, was the fact that he was extremely inexperienced. Sure, that was very endearing at first but things just didn't sit with me that well after a couple of weeks. He became extremely inconsistent and this showed his lack of experience.

Truth be told, the last performance I genuinely enjoyed from him was his flawless rendition of Mariah Carey's I Don't Want To Cry. Everything from after that night on was quite a pain to watch. Seriously. He would have made this list higher if I didn't have to listen to those last five performances, which actually make up 5 of my 6 least favorite performances from him. It's a shame. Frankly, an earlier boot would've been a blessing in disguise.

Good thing, his post-Idol materials have been more than amazing. I mean, his first single alone made me an instant fan. His first studio album was also pretty great for an independent album. Needless to say, I enjoy everything he released since Idol. Good Job!

Favorite performance(s): I liked a lot of Jason's performances, but I truly loved only two. The first would be Hallelujah. I actually thought that it was one of his better performances - minus the bum notes at the end. It was controlled, soothing and he sounded very distinct that probably made him stood out among the other male contestants. The other one that I loved was I Don't Want To Cry. I mean, who would have thought that he can do a Mariah song? His performance was beautiful and haunting. I actually thought that this was his strongest vocal performance and he connected very well with the song. The arrangement suited his voice that his limited range didn’t hinder him to pull off a stellar performance. It was one of his shining moments.

Hallelujah

I Don't Want To Cry

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