Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Mike Parker, 23, of Gainesville, Va., performed “So Sick” by NE-YO. It almost appeared his passionate performance would go unrewarded, but then Jennifer Hudson turned her chair at the last second. She praised Mike for not giving up and for continuing to push himself vocally during the audition.

His background: Mike says football was his life in high school. As a junior, he was ranked among the Top 5 recruits and eventually had 13 scholarships in front of him. But Mike says his grades were “crap” and he lost them all because he didn’t want to pay attention in class, letting down himself and his family in the process. He now operates heavy machinery. But he says he still felt a void and filled it with music. He’s been gigging and performing at open mics, hoping for a chance like The Voice.

On being on Team Jennifer: “For me there is no other coach I would want to be with right now because of the similarities in the genres,” he told Media Hub. “And she’s Jennifer Hudson. Who would not want to be vocally coached by Jennifer Hudson?”

What the show didn’t show:

* As a high school junior, he excelled as a 6-foot-4, 200-pound defensive back and wide receiver at Kettle Run High School in Nokeville, Va. He was named all-conference junior season, scoring five touchdowns on offense and making six interceptions on defense, helping lead Kettle Run to a state semifinal berth.

* As a result, he was recruited by some of the top football colleges in the region, including Ohio State. He eventually committed to first Maryland, then Virginia Tech, then Arizona State, only to have the scholarship pulled.

* As it turned out, the only post-high school football he played was for Atlanta Metropolitan, a sister school of Georgia. But he still uses his high school jersey number (12) as part of his Instagram handle.

* Though his focus was football in high school, Mike said he owes his interest in music to his parents, who were in a band during the 1980s.

* During a conference call with the media, Mike told Voice Views he started singing in church around age 9 and participated in his high school talent show every year.

* In a Media Hub interview, Mike describes his music as “neo soul on the R&B spectrum,” adding: “I’ll sing a rock song, but I’ll make it my own just by adding the soul and the church. I was raised in church.”

* As a singer, he’s released one single, “Raise a Glass,” released Sept. 1, 2017. You can check out a snippet of the song below.

* He has teased two other originals on his Instagram account — “Galaxy” and the appropriately titled “Put Me in the Game.”

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