Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ajii of American Idol Season 22. (ABC Photo)

Season 22 returned Sunday night with the judging trio of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan back intact.

Here’s more about Ajii.

* He’s a 27-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., who works as a front desk intake specialist at a nursing home. He said he’s also responsible for helping keep the site secure.

* He says co-workers, specifically one named Claire, were responsible for his Idol audition.

* Working the night shift, he also walks the halls of the nursing home singing, Ajii explained. “She heard it and said, ‘Dude, what are you doing here?'”

* Ajii said he grew up surrounded by musical and influenced by multiple genres, though his family didn’t have the means to send him to music school.

* His parents emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan. “They came out here with nothing,” he said. “They’ve shown me just chase whatever you want to do. For them, it was to make sure we had a great life.”

* Ajii auditioned with Teddy Swims “Lose Control,” showing off a deep, slightly raspy tone and delivering an emotional performance.

* The judges, particularly, Lionel, nearly lost control as he sang and gave Ajii a standing ovation when it ended.

* Katy said he has “diamond in the rough stuff.” Lionel said Ajii had him “at the first note” and called his audition “a beautiful, wonderful sight and sound to hear.” Luke loved his humility and predicted he has a “big chance of going pretty far” on the show.