Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Julian Kalel, 19, El Paso, Texas performed “Lone Guitar” (an original): Accompanied by his sister Karyssa on violin, Julian displayed a great singer-songwriter vibe and a compelling backstory about his struggles with anxiety. In fact, he auditioned last year and was so impressive that Luke Bryan predicted he could win the show. But Julian dropped out because of those struggles and his audition never aired. He said he just had to give the show a second try. Luke says he has “the magic.” Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie were also thrilled to see him return.

Here’s more about Julian:

* He describes himself as a 19-year-old singer-songwriter and mental health advocate from El Paso, Texas.

* On his website, he says he began writing songs at age 16 “to quiet the chaos in my head. I realized those same chords could become ropes for others to grab onto.

* “My music is where brokenness meets hope, where Americana grit connects with modern country soul,” he adds. “These songs are my truth. The struggles, the faith, the hard-won hope. If you’ve ever needed music that understands what you’re going through, you’ve found it here.”

* And you can listen to it now, because Julian has already released five singles since 2024. “Surrender,” released in 2024, has more than 325,000 streams on Spotify. He released two very good singles in 2025, “Made to Sing to You” and “Lone Guitar.”

* In fact, he just released his most recent single, a song called “Daring to Dream.” You can check out a snippet below. And it’s a wonderful song certainly worth checking out.

* Julian writes that the song “is about living with your mistakes, your lost battles, your scars — and still waking up every day willing to try again, no matter what the world tells you, no matter how impossible your journey feels.”

* In an interview with The City magazine, Julian said a turning point for him came when he was involved in a head-on automobile collision. No one was injured, but he felt like he’d been given a second chance in life.

* He poured himself into his music. And instead of fretting about others perceptions of him, he decided to adopt an “I’m going to do what I want to do mentality.”

* Julian announced his Idol audition in mid-January, writing: “Since I began writing music, I dreamed of one day being on a stage where others who fought everyday battles could see how vulnerability and struggle can carry meaning beyond pain, and that staying another day is about more than survival — it’s about believing in yourself.”

Julian on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube