Photo: Instagram
Uche is wowing the judges and audiences on American Idol. Who is he?
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Apr 08, 2019
The field of hopefuls keeps getting smaller on American Idol as the singers are eliminated by the judges. After Sunday’s round of 20, audiences bid farewell to six of the contestants leaving 14 to go on to the next round.
One of the standout performers has been Uche Ndubizu. The 24-year-old Nigerian-America, whose stage name is short for Uchechukwu Walter Ndubizu-Egwimis, has been a professional performer for years before taking to the stage on idol. He has a background in singing and dancing and he’s performed with some major acts in the past.
His audition was so strong that Katy Perry pretended to faint when she heard him and now he’s wowing the audience with covers like George Michaels’ pop hit “Faith.”
Who is Uche Ndubizu? Read on for all the details on the singer.
1. Texan
The 24-year-old was born in Houston, TX and after spending some time in Minnesota as a child, he returned there with his mother and father. He was a child performer starting from the age of 11, mainly as a dancer but eventually, he got interested in singing as well.
He started college at Southern Methodist University, before transferring to Texas State University, and graduated with a B.A. in psychology. These days he spends his time in Sugarland, Texas and performs regularly at venues in Austin, even holding his album release party there. When he made it past the first few rounds of auditions, he told a local eons outlet, “Houston, pay your phone bill because, if we need to start voting at some point, I need y’all to be ready,” referring to the audience voting rounds of the show.
Uche is very close to his mother.
2. Performer
Uche claims to love performing more than anything else. He told the local TV station "I feel like I'm my truest self when I'm on stage. I can be as extra as I want to be and you can't say nothing, because you bought the tickets and you wanted a show."
He says his goal is to stand out from the crowd on Idol and whiners he performs, saying “Kill it, rock that confidence! Rock all the things that stand out and make you different. How are you going to lead if you're just like everybody else?"
He's been performing for years.
3. Commercial Appeal
One time his confidence paid off was when he entered a contest to be in a national commercial. The spot, which for the contact lens brand Acuvue allowed one lucky fan to spend a day being mentored by a professional in their field. Uche was pair up with Joe Jonas.
The gig went so well, that the brand helped Uche release his single “Shoo-In.” In addition to working with Jonas, he has opened for Demi Lovato and Grammy-nominated rapper B.o.B.
He appeared with Joe Jonas.
4. EP
He las already released an EP of original music called “My Generation.” He describes the album as “[It] speaks of the issues I have with my own generation. I meant it to be a musical vehicle that provides fiercely honest social commentary on my generation’s dulled social conscious [sic].” He goes on to say the record “is very honest, which is scary, because you’re putting your personal life out there, but the songs are lit, so the message sneaks up on you.”
5. Wedding Singer
Despite writing his own music, singing covers isn’t new to Uche. Before his Idol turn, he performed with a band called Drywater Band, which has a reputation as one of the best wedding bands in Texas. The band actually has a lot of members and puts together combinations of musicians to best suit the tastes of the clients.
6. Going his own way
While Uche has been wowing the judges so far, he may not want to follow every piece of advice they hand him. They’ve already suggested he tone down the dancing to concentrate more on vocals. But he lists his musical influences as Prince, George David Bowie and George Michael - toned down was never how you’d describe any of their performance. Uche’s natural style is bigger than life and on his website, he says his style is best described as “No apologies, I go hard every freaking time. You haven’t seen a tall lanky dude ‘Get It’ like a short guy can… until now lol.”
Uche has a high energy style on stage.
Will Uche make it to the next few rounds of American Idol? Keep watching to find out.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.