Idol Chatter & Voice Views

You have to figure Johnny Keyser is one of the male singers on American Idol most likely to make the semifinals in Season 12.

After all, he came within a whisker of doing it last year.

The 24-year-old from Pompano Beach, Fla., was actually eliminated during the group round in Vegas in Season 11.

But producers thought enough of Johnny to make him one of four contestants considered for a 13th spot in the male semifinals, along with David Leathers, Richie Lawson and Jermaine Jones.

Jermaine, of course, got the spot, only to be disqualified from the show a couple of weeks later.

As for Johnny, he released a seven-track album called “From Where I Stand” in May. It features his Season 11 Idol audition song, “A Change is Gonna Come” and six originals, some co-written by fellow former Idol contestant Amber Caparas.

It’s also still available on iTunes.

And now Johnny is back on Idol, featured in an audition episode for a second straight year and determined to take care of “unfinished business.”

“It means a lot more to me this year,” he says in his Road to Hollywood video. “I feel like there’s a higher bar, higher expectations.”

He apparently met those expectations during this year’s audition, singing “Try a Little Tenderness,” turning Nicki Minaj’s head with his looks and Mariah Carey’s ear with his voice.

Mariah complimented him on his “gift” and his “star quality” before the judges unanimously put him through to Hollywood.

Last year on Idol we learned that Johnny’s parents split up when he was young and he was raised mostly by his father.

This year, he told Idol it’s his grandmother who pushes him creatively. She’s a painter and songwriter, he says.

As for his music, he refers to himself as a “blue-eyed soul singer.”

“Nothing is going to deter me from being me this year,” he adds. “I think last year I had so much on my mind, trying to be who everybody wanted me to be. This year, I’m just going to be me.”

Three of Johnny’s performances appear below. “Early Morning Rain” is from that aforementioned 2012 album.

For more, go here.

“Early Morning Rain”

“Yellow”

“Barton Hollow”