Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ethan Thompson was one of the American Idol contestants brave enough to sing an original song during his audition.

The tune is called “Stand My Ground,” and the performance went well enough for the Phlllip Phillips look-alike to be Hollywood bound on Idol.

Ethan Thompson earned a golden ticket to Hollywood at American Idol’s Boston auditions. (FOX Photo)

Ethan is 23 and from Whitefish, Mont., but was auditioning in Boston for good reason. He attends the Berklee College of Music.

And, as for playing an original song, Ethan has won a number of songwriting contests and was recently a finalist in a John Lennon Songwriting competition, according to his website.

He also explains his approach there.

“I write my music with a positive outlook on life and try always to leave my listeners with a better mood than when they walked in the door,” he writes.

He also describes himself as a “Montana-raised forest boy.”

In his Road to Hollywood video, you get the impression that Ethan sang two songs for the judges, who found the first one a little too “gimmicky.”

The original apparently was much better received.

“Songwriting is something that I just can’t put down,” he says in the video. “It’s something I’m always doing. And I write in all genres. It makes it hard to pick which one I want to settle down in, but I get more and more of that feeling every day.”

Since we heard only a snippet of “Stand My Ground” on Idol, I’ve embedded a video for that song below along with two of Ethan’s covers.

If you’d like you hear more of his original music, head to the aforementioned website, his YouTube channel and his Reverbnation page.

And here are the links to Ethan’s Facebook page and his Twitter account (@ethantmusic)

Now, the music …

“Stand My Ground” (original)

“Just Give Me a Reason” (cover)

“Kiss Me” (cover)