Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Elijah McCormick of American Idol Season 21

American Idol returns to ABC on Sunday, Feb. 19 for its Season 21 premiere.

Here’s more about Elijah.

* He’s already secured America’s Platinum ticket. When the American Music Awards aired in November, snippets were aired of three of Idol’s Season 21 auditioners — Elijah, Haven Madison and Duncan Laurence.

* Elijah sang “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts and received the most votes. That means he’ll have a leg up his colleagues during Hollywood Week. Last year’s platinum ticket recipients got to skip the first round of competition and select their partners for the duet round.

* Elijah’s a 2019 graduate of Pinecrest High School in North Carolina and arrived for his Idol audition with a heck of a back-story as well.

* Three hours after his high school graduation — with an audition for The Voice in the works — he was involved in a head-on crash and flown to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

* In fact, he wound up spending 79 days in the hospital, spent time on a feeding time and on dialysis and underwent 10 surgeries.

* He’s fully recovered now and a student at Sandhills Community College, where he’s studying medical billing and coding.

* Elijah also sings at weddings, birthdays and in church and works as a technician for an ophthalmologist, according to his hometown newspaper.

* While attending Pinecrest, he was a soloist with the school’s chamber ensemble.

Elijah on social media:
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