Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Anyone who watched much of Season 8 of American Idol probably recalls Jamar Rogers.

He was Danny Gokey’s best friend, another of the early front-runners among the Idol guys that season.

But while Danny went on to finish third on Idol that year, Jamar got cut in Hollywood, formed a short-lived partnership with another ousted contestant, Frankie Jordan, and landed in relative musical obscurity.

He says the only thing that lured him back to a reality singing competition was the fact that his all-time favorite artist, Cee Lo Green, is a judge on The Voice.

And when Jamar sang “Seven Nation Army” during his blind audition for the second show of the season, Cee Lo was the lone judge to spin his chair.

Meaning Jamar got his wish — to become a member of Team Cee Lo on the show.

During his pre-performance interview with The Voice, Jamar, 29, of The Bronx, admits that he made his share of mistakes earlier in his life. He was addicted to crystal meth, wound up HIV positive as a result, was dealing drugs and was homeless for a time, he told the show.

Music helped change his life around. And, in his spare time, he now volunteers at a soup kitchen.

“You can have a second chance if you want it bad enough,” he told the show, adding that he needs to do well on The Voice to give his career a boost because “I’m not good at anything else.”

If he survives the battle round, he has high hopes for his collaboration with mentor Cee Lo.

“I’m a pretty funky, artistic dude, if I can say so myself,” Jamar says. “I think if we put his crazy with my crazy, there’s just going to be a whole lot of crazy on the stage. And I think people will really get it.”

To check out a little of what Jamar’s been up to since his appearance on Idol, head to his MySpace page, where he classifies his music as rock/soul.

You can head here for Jamar’s official Facebook page with The Voice. On Twitter he is @Jsquidward.

“Bad Romance”

“This Can’t Be Real”

The Voice audition — “Seven Nation Army”