Meet and hear Elijah Liu of American Idol

Elijah Liu, Season 12

February 12, 2013 By Mark Franklin 1

Elijah Liu refers to himself as “a late bloomer.”

But even though he’s only been singing seriously for about two years, he’s accomplished a great deal.

Last year, the 18-year-old from Rowland Heights, Calif., made it to the group round in Hollywood on American Idol before being cut.

This year, he’s one of 28 guys still standing with hopes of making the Vegas round.

We haven’t seen a whole lot of Elijah so far on the show.

But his group was featured in one of the Hollywood episodes. Decked out in leather jackets, Young Love — Elijah, Cortez Shaw, Nate Tao and Zach Birnbaum — delivered a version of “Some Kind of Wonderful” that had the judges smiling.

Group round Season 12. No problem for Elijah.

And while he might have only been singing seriously for two years, we get the feeling from his Facebook page that he delved into music at a much younger age.

“Way back when I was just a lad, I got my first guitar,” he writes. “The house was never quiet again.”

He writes that he’s since learned the electric guitar and ukulele as well, loves songwriting and “hope to have a few hits out one day.”

Oh, and despite the ukulele and the last name, he’s notes that “I’m not from some remote island in the East, lol … Representing the melting pot that is L.A.”

As for what makes Elijah unique?

“When I perform, it’s not about all the time being vocally precise,” he says in his Road to Hollywood video. “It’s about that connection you have with the audience. I think whenever I perform or whenever I sing, I can connect with who I’m singing to.”

Judge for yourself. Here are three videos of Elijah performing.

“Young Girls”