Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Not too many contestants have been called “mysterious” during the Season 13 auditions.

But that’s the label Jennifer Lopez gave to D.J. Bradley.

D.J. Bradley was one of the American Idol contestants who earned a golden ticket at the Salt Lake City auditions. (FOX Photo)

D.J. performed Adele’s “Hometown Glory” for the judges.

J-Lo also said he has a “quirky thing going on, but I like it” and dubbed his voice “pleasant” to listen to.

Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. were a little bit harder to impress, but at least one of them ultimately voted in D.J.’s favor.

In his Road to Hollywood video, a smiling D.J. recalls his somewhat confused reaction to leaving the audition room with a golden ticket.

“It was in between ‘I am so stressed out,’ ‘I am done stressing out’ and ‘I’m so excited.’ Plus I’d had so much coffee. I was so confused about life. But I knew I was happy about it.”

Idol’s identification stamp, superimposed on the screen while D.J. was performing, listed him as unemployed. And he told his local newspaper, The Daily Times, that he was actually homeless at the time the Idol bus tour stopped in Knoxville, Tenn.

He’s a 2011 graduate of Maryville High School and previously played in a band called The Turncoats.

As a musician, D.J. thinks one of his strengths is that “I convey my message pretty clearly. That’s the beauty of music. I can express my quirkiness or my uniqueness, and people seem to really connect.”

Even if D.J. doesn’t make the voting rounds on Idol, he found a new friend in Salt Lake City in fellow Maryville, Tenn., resident Johnny Newcomb, who also earned a ticket to Hollywood.

They had never met before the auditions. Now they’re performing together as a duo called Arcane Fables.

If you’d like to follow D.J., here’s a link to his Facebook page.

I’ve embedded three videos of him performing below, including one of D.J. and Johnny performing together.

For profiles of more than 90 other Season 13 contestants, head here.

Original (title not given)

“The Heart of Life” (John Mayer cover)

Performing with Johnny Newcomb