Meet American Idol contestant Naomi Gillies

February 2, 2012 By Mark Franklin 7

What the heck was Naomi Gillies doing auditioning for American Idol in Portland?

She attends Berklee School of Music in Boston, where she majors in performance and music business.

And, check this out, she’s from nearby Lancaster, Pa.

Apparently, she’s quite the versatile performer, too. On Facebook, she lists her genre as rock, country and R&B.

Of course, that might come from the fact that she has performed with a wedding band named K2 that performs all over New England. That tends to call for a wide range of music.

If you liked what you heard on Idol, you can listen to lots more of Naomi’s music.

Head to that Facebook page, and you’ll find videos from two cover performances posted in the last month, including Def Lepperd’s “Bringing on the Heartbreak.”

Head to her MySpace page and you can hear covers of “Cryin'” — that’s right, the Aerosmith song she performed on Idol — “Stay” and a very sassy “Son of a Preacher Man.” There’s also a country song called “I Will Be Here” I’ve never heard before.

On MySpace, you’ll also learn that her love of music began when she attended the private Waldorf School, with its heavy arts curriculum, at age 10.

Naomi later attended Lancaster Catholic High School, won a Lancaster Headliners talent competition in September 2007 and helped welcome 2008 later that year by performing at the Countdown Lancaster New Year’s Eve celebration.

And apparently Noami still keeps close ties to Lancaster. As recently as Dec. 29, she posted on Facebook about geocaching around the country roads of Lancaster County with her brother.

Now, having watched Idol for years, I’d never recommend anyone try the Steven Tyler shriek on the show. It’s seldom been done well.

But Naomi turned in one of the most impressive vocals during the Portland audition, drawing high praise from the judges, Steven included.

Here’s video of two cover songs from Naomi. Look at that, I even found “Cryin’.” And remember to check out those links.

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