A British Columbia teenager wowed the judges of the popular American Idol show and earned the first platinum ticket of the season.
Tyson Venegas, 17, thus benefits from a pass for the show’s first round of eliminations in Hollywood.
The teenager captivated the jury with a piano part interpretation of New York State by me. “He pretends to be 17 but he sings like he’s 45,” said Lionel Ritchie.
Inspired from a young age by the judge of the popular American competition, Tyson prefers to stay away from current pop songs in order to sing more old hits. That’s why his former singing “coach” Camille Henderson wasn’t surprised that he chose the song, recorded in 1976, for his audition.
“We actually worked together on this song a long time ago. He’s had that in his repertoire for a long time. Tyson had some really classic song choices that were mostly his own,” she said in an interview with the Vancouver Sun.
The teenager usually likes songs that are less popular with these friends.
“I mainly teach adults but when it comes to kids I’d say Tyson is probably the most natural talent I’ve ever seen and there are a lot of adults I’ve worked with who are incredible and somewhere were close with him, but he’s a bit of an anomaly,” added the one who gave him singing lessons for four years.
Despite his more classic song choices, the teen managed to charm the judges, who said “perfection was there.”