Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Rayvon Owen impressed all three American Idol judges with his cover of a Katy Perry song at the Season 14 auditions in San Francisco. (FOX Photo)

The 23-year-old singer and vocal coach from Richmond, Va., performed Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake,” showing off great range and control during an audition that gave Jennifer Lopez the “goosies.”

It also drew rave reviews from Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban.

Keith complimented Rayvon on a tone “that’s so beautiful” and said he loved the performance. Harry said he sounded and looked great.

Pre-audition, Rayvon said his mom is his biggest supporter. His family survived some rough times when he was a youngster, but he said his mom worked two or three jobs at a time, whatever was necessary to make ends meet.

“She always made sure me and my sister were taken care of,” he said. “We didn’t know we were broke. We were eating spam and cheese and we were just happy kids.”

What the show didn’t show: Rayvon started singing at a young age, singing in choirs and touring with gospel artists, according to his website bio. He now classifies his music as R&B / Pop.

He attended Belmont University in Nashville, studying commercial music and music business and also performed around the greater Nashville area.

At one point, he was at the Hollywood World theme park in southern Indiana, according to the FOX affiliate there.

On Twitter, he classifies himself as “made in Richmond, assembled in Nashville, available in L.A.” Quite clever.

If you liked what you heard in the San Francisco auditions, you can download Rayvon music now. He released a single called “Brand New Day” in 2012 and a four-track EP called “Cycles” last August.

Here are some Rayvon links, followed by samples of his music, including a track from the aforementioned EP.

Website
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @RayvonOwen