Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Of course, Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban put a little star beside his name after an impressive audition, so that might bode well for his Idol future.

Manny, a 20-year-old worship leader, was born and raised in Flushing, Mich., but now calls the Chicago area home.

He showed up at the Idol auditions determined to make an impression on Jennifer Lopez in particular, with his look, with his vocals, with his rhythm.

Once in the audition room, he launched into a performance of Maroon 5’s “This Love.”

And he accomplished his mission, impressing not only Jennifer, but Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. as well.

Harry said he knew Manny was a talented musician within milliseconds. Jennifer said he sounded great and complimented his “joyous energy.” And Keith liked the fact that his energy was both controlled and focused.

Judging from his Musicpage.com bio, this isn’t Manny’s first attempt at a singing show.

He auditioned for Season 3 of The Voice. “Sadly, all of the 64 spots to be on the show were taken before I had my chance to audition,” he writes.

Manny also explains that his father was a pastor, so he got his musical start in church, playing drums with a youth band. He eventually learned piano and guitar as well, then turned to singing.

At the time the bio was posted, Manny was working on an EP. If it was released, it’s not available on iTunes under his own name. But you can check out some originals and several covers through the music page on Manny’s website.

You can also follow him on Facebook. On Twitter, he is @MannyTorres_.

Meanwhile, here are a couple more Manny Torres videos.

“Real Lies”

Cover of Passenger’s “Let Her Go”