Idol Chatter & Voice Views

On a night when female singers stole the limelight in Idol’s audition episode from Texas, Cortez Shaw offered a ray of light for the guys.

OK, the start of  his version of Adele’s “Someone Like You” wasn’t that great.

But once he hit the chorus … wow.

Cortez brought with him a hard-luck story that never hurts on Idol.

He and his brother were raised in a single-parent household run by his mom

Cortez described it as a “hard childhood” punctuated by two years of homelessness during which he got made fun of a lot at school because he had to live with friends.

But Cortez sounded downright philosophical when he said “no one can put a definition on your life. Only you can determine what happens in your future.”

And then he sounded like an Idol commercial by adding:  “American Idol is opportunity at its greatest.”

After an endorsement like that, you just knew Cortez was Hollywood bound.

But he earned it, drawing especially high praise from Jennifer Lopez, who called him “good looking. Sweet. And you have a great voice.”

Cortez, 20 at the time of the Idol auditions, is from Richardson, Texas.  Idol’s blue bar described him as a college student and warehouse worker.

Those clearly aren’t the limit of his aspirations, because he describes himself as a singer/model/actor and dancer on his Twitter profile.

“A guy with a dream to catch and to remain humble as I achieve my dream” is the way he describes himself.

Here’s some of his music.

Speedin’

Can’t Be Friends

Ain’t Thinking About You