American Idol Contestant Spencer Lloyd

Chris Allen isn’t the only talented Arkansan to make it to the big stage of American Idol. Spencer Lloyd of Bryant, AR recently took that same journey through Hollywood week, into the top 30, and onto our television screens.

Spencer began his journey in 2013. “The first thing I did was audition at the Little Rock bus tour with about 3,000 other hopefuls,” Spencer said. After being selected in Little Rock, Spencer made the trip to Austin, Texas where he performed four songs in front of the celebrity judges Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban.

The judges complimented his “look and demeanor” but Harry Connick Jr. had reservations concerning Spencer’s ability as a vocalist. When the vote was in, Spencer got that coveted golden ticket to Hollywood and continued his quest to become America’s next American Idol.

Hollywood week was much different this year than in years past on the show. As soon as the contestants arrived in Hollywood, some singers were asked to sing for their lives. After 50 plus performed, they were divided onto two buses. One bus took the contestants that were remaining on the show to their hotel, the other bus was headed to the airport. Spencer, however, was not asked to perform that night and was on his way to the hotel where they began Hollywood week.

For his first solo performance in Hollywood, Spencer sang, “Say Something” by A Great Big World, on the piano and wowed the judges. They praised him for “knowing who he was” and picking a song that showed off his vocal range. He was unanimously on to the next round.

Up next, group rounds. Spencer paired up with two female vocalists. They sang a Gavin DeGraw song and after a less than perfect performance, Spencer and one of his fellow group members were on to the next round while the other was sent home. For his final performance of the week, Spencer sang an original song that he wrote earlier this year called “Ordinary Girl.” Ultimately, Spencer was chosen as one of the top 15 male vocalist to make it onto the live shows and possibly sing for America’s vote.

Spencer hasn’t always been into music, however. “The first time I really got into music was with my youth band. My parents got me an electric guitar for Christmas when I was 13 years old and I never really got into it while they had me in guitar lessons. But the very next Christmas they gave me an acoustic guitar, and it pushed me on my way into music. I instantly fell in love with playing guitar, but the singing was something that was still somewhat hidden at this point.”

His story continues, “Then my mother forced me to sing for our church youth band. At first it was forcing, but after some time passed it was something that I couldn’t live without. I have been playing guitar since I was about 14 years old because the entire first year was a struggle between me and my parents to get me to even practice.”

His biggest influence in music is a mix between Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz. “I have always loved how relaxed and chill their music is, and it’s something that I would like to recreate through my music. My music idol is someone quite different: Colton Dixon. Much like me he was on American Idol. After the show he took a Christian route and had instant success. He stood for his faith on and off of the show. He is an inspiration to me musically and morally,” Spencer said.

When the live shows aired in late February, the top 15 girls and the top 15 boys waited to hear their name called by the judges as one of the top ten that were chosen to perform for America’s vote. Spencer was the last male vocalist that was chosen to sing. After his performance, the judges gave Spencer some criticism on his song choice and urged him to return to a ballad.

The following night, America’s vote was in and the top ten were chosen. Spencer was not one of them. He was chosen, however, as one of the judge’s five wild cards and was asked to perform in order to stay on the show. Spencer sang his original song “Ordinary Girl” again and it was his final performance on the live shows. He went home that night.

“The live shows were different from anything that I have ever experienced before. You are in front of everyone and whatever happens happens. If I could go back and do anything differently, I wouldn’t have let the nerves get to me as much and I would have been more of myself,” Spencer said.

Spencer is continuing on his journey to make music his career and is grateful for the doors that American Idol has opened for him. “My ultimate goal in music is to make people happy. I want people to be able to listen to music if they are feeling down, because they know that it will be uplifting. Music is what I want to do for the rest of my life no matter how big of a following I have. In five to ten years I simply see myself performing on a stage, hopefully in front of thousands of people, but no matter where or what it is, I will be doing music,” Spencer concluded.