Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Mac Royals, 30, of Wrightsville, Ark., sang “Gravity” by John Mayer: Mac’s impressive opening to the song had chairs turning in a heartbeat, beginning with Niall Horan and John Legend. And Mac kept on impressing even after the chair turns, especially with a heartfelt ending. John called it a beautiful rendition of the song. Niall called his performance “amazing.” Reba said she knows what it’s like to be from a small town and have musical aspirations like Mac does. She also loved his poise. Mac pulled a bit of a surprise and joined Team Reba.

Here’s more about Mac:

* A former American Idol contestant, Mac bills himself on his website as “an internationally recognized creative- singer, songwriter, photographer, and social media influencer.”

* You’ll find two singles there that you can download for $1.99 apiece — “At Odds” and “Universe.” Because streaming sites pay artists so poorly, Mac says he “chose to go another way” in marketing his music.

* He’s from Wrightsville, Ark., where he started singing in church and playing violin in first grade. He says he’s a classically-trained vocalist. “Music was always my happy place,” he says in a 2021 interview with an Arkansas TV station.

* Back in 2014, he competed on Season 13 of American Idol under his real name, Malcolm Allen. He was 21 at the time of his audition.

* He dazzled the judges with renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” at his audition. Jennifer Lopez said the performance was worth three yes votes from her alone. Malcolm wound up advancing all the way to the semifinals before being eliminated.

* “American Idol taught me, more than anything else, that as long as I have belief in myself, I can literally do whatever I want to do,” he said in a 2022 interview with another Arkansas TV station.

* After Idol, he eventually moved to L.A. and was busking there when he appeared on the popular Terrell YouTube show multiple to demonstrate his impressive vocal skills.

* He took some time away from music following the 2020 death of his father, but “continued to push, because he’s the one who gave me this drive” with “a rebrand” show called “Return of the Mac” in August 2021 in Little Rock, Ark.

* On his website, Mac says he’s had the good fortune to work alongside P. Diddy, Silk, Kelani, Mario Winans and a host of other popular artists.

* He also started a charitable effort called the 365 Arts Foundation to bring art opportunities like those he witnessed in L.A. to the youth back in his home state.

* Mac has 113,000 followers and more than 1 million likes on his TikTok.

Mac on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube