Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jamal Roberts of American Idol Season 23

American Idol returns Sunday, March 9 with Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie returning as judges. They’ll be joined by Carrie Underwood, who replaces Katy Perry.

Here’s more about Jamal.

* He’s a gospel singer in his mid-20s from Meridian, Mississippi.

* And he’s familiar with singing competitions, having competed on two seasons of BET’s Sunday’s Best.

* Jamal made the show in Season 9 (2019), but was cut at the Top 20. With his young daughter Harmoni watching from home, Jamal said that left him feeling defeated.

* Wanting to prove to his daughter that you don’t have to take “no” for an answer, Jamal returned for Season 10 at age 22 in 2020 and dazzled the judges with his audition performance of “Oh, How I Love Jesus.”

* This time, he did much better, finishing Top 3, though Sunday’s Best had to transition to virtual performances because of the Covid Pandemic.

* Jamal released his only single to date — “He’s Preparing Me” — in the summer of 2020, on the heels of his Sunday’s Best showing. It’s still available on streaming sites.

* He’s been promoting new original music since then, including a possible album, but it’s yet to materialize.

* In a March 2024 interview with ABC affiliate WTOK, Jamal said he started singing at a very young age and his grandparents were the first to recognize his talent.

* His current day job is as a physical education teacher at Crestwood Elementary School in Meridian, but Jamal finds plenty of time to sing during the school day.

* In an adorable video clip, one of his students proclaims he’s “better than Usher, better than Mariah Carey, better than everybody.”

* Oh, and Jamal already has a substantial social media following, with nearly 120,000 followers and more than 750,000 likes on his TikTok.

Jamal on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube