Brett Asa "Ace" Young (born November 15, 1980 in Denver, Colorado) is an American singer and was the seventh-place finalist in the fifth season of American Idol.

Biography

Early career

Young was born at a Denver hospital^[1] and raised in Boulder. Reportedly, he lived in the same Boulder neighborhood as Jessica Biel and American Idol Season 2 contestant Samantha Cohen. Young was named after his great-grandfather, Asa, and has always been called Ace. He was also named after George Brett. He never knew his birth name was Brett until he was six years old– in kindergarten when his teacher called on Brett Young he didn't respond. He plays football, baseball, basketball, and runs track. He is the youngest of five children and has four older brothers: Josh, Duff, Marc, and Ryan. His closest brother, Ryan, is 3½ years older and 6'7". Both of Young's parents were opera singers. He and his family are spiritual non-denomination Christians, meaning they believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour but are not affiliated with any particular denomination. He is of German and Irish descent [1]. He plays piano, writes music, acts and dances. He has been singing since he was nine years old performing at local shopping malls and recreation centers. Young graduated in the class of 1999 from Fairview High School in Boulder. It was the year that the Columbine High School massacre happened in Denver. He did athletics, choir, and was in International Baccalaureate classes. He then started his website, acemusic.com, to assist with a music career. From there he performed at various venues in Colorado and other Western states. He has opened for Brian McKnight and New Edition. His original song, "Reason I Live" was featured in the 2000 film The Little Vampire.^[2] Young is also a model. He is credited for writing music for Chicago rapper Tha Villain. He has guest-starred in an episode of Half & Half as Ace Blackwell.

Later to present life

Young moved to Los Angeles, California in 2003 and worked in sales and home remodeling as a day job. Young is 6'1" (185 cm). He has been doing philanthropic work in the Children's Hospital of Denver singing to hospital-bound patients every Christmas for the past seven years.

His fans are called Highrollers. In American English vernacular, a high roller is an active gambler who bets large sums.

He is of no relation to the first Pop Idol winner Will Young.

American Idol

Young auditioned for American Idol in Denver wearing a beanie and singing Westlife's "Swear It All Over Again". Paula Abdul approved him. Randy Jackson also approved and said Ace Young was the best singer he had seen. Simon Cowell disagreed but passed him on with a small "yes" nonetheless. Not long after he passed the auditions, season 4 winner Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts album was released on his 25th birthday. Young was one of the 24 to make it to the semifinals. In his Idol top 24 interview in February 2006 he said Some Hearts was "the album people will be surprised he owns". His genre varies between rhythm and blues and pop. Along with Will Makar, Young was one of the male pop singers who attracted most tweens and teens, as observed in Cowell's commentaries. He was also compared to season 4 contestant Constantine Maroulis because of his long hair. He copied some of Maroulis' stage antics: such as a "sultry" gaze. Also they are both tenors, actors, writers, have older brother(s), have similar musical styles (crooning) and each are friends with a rocker on the show who finished further. On March 9, 2006, Young made it into the top 12 of American Idol. On the March 15, 2006 results show, he was placed in the bottom 3 along with Melissa McGhee and Lisa Tucker, but was not eliminated. On March 29, 2006, he was placed in the bottom 3 a second time with Katharine McPhee and Tucker, and was not eliminated. The following week on April 12, 2006 marked the third time he was ranked in the bottom 3, with Elliott Yamin and Bucky Covington. Covington was eliminated while Young advanced to the final 7. On April 19, 2006, he was placed in the bottom 3 (alongside Chris Daughtry and Paris Bennett) for the fourth time and was eliminated. Although his speaking voice is slightly lower, Young's vocal range is a high tenor or countertenor as he demonstrated in "Butterflies".

A montage shown on the April 11 show revealed a clip of Queen guitarist Brian May condescending Young, though two days later May claimed on his blog that he was misrepresented by the producers of the reality television series.^[3] After Young left the show, he stated in an interview that it was the first time he had seen the clip, at the same time it was shown to the public. He also stated that he was told that his performance was to have a laser light show as with all the seven other contestants, but he did not and all of his lights were kept on. In addition, his tour with the show's top 10 finalists skips Denver despite Young's request. The four finalists who auditioned in Denver are also the majority of auditioners of a single city who made it the finals.^[4] This is an example of Idol producers editing and manipulating original content. According to the show's personal release form that all contestants seen on the show signed and agreed to, producers are legally entitled to do so.

American Idol performances

Semi-Finals

• Week 1 February 22, 2006: (Male) "Father Figure" by George Michael
  • Cowell said that Young had the "X-Factor" after this performance. It is his cover of a studio version of this track (approximately 6 minutes) for American Idol Season 5: Encores.
• Week 2 March 1, 2006: (Male) "If You're Not The One" by Daniel Bedingfield
  • Young received mixed reviews for this performance.
• Week 3 March 8, 2006: (Male) "Butterflies" by Michael Jackson
  • The judges loved this performance. He peformed this song again on Live with Regis and Kelly and Ellen DeGeneres.

Finals

• Week 1 March 14, 2006: (Songs by Stevie Wonder) "Do I Do" (Bottom 3) - was one of the bottom 3 contestants, along with Tucker and McGhee, but was voted safe.
  • Young received mixed reviews for this performance.
• Week 2 March 21, 2006: (Songs from the 1950s) "In The Still Of The Night" by The Five Satins
  • The judges loved this performance, Randy loved it, Paula thought it was the sexiest performance he has done all season, Simon thought it was one of his strongest performances.
• Week 3 March 28, 2006: (Songs from the 2000s) "Drops of Jupiter" by Train (Bottom 3) - was one of the bottom 3 contestants, along with McPhee and Tucker.
  • Jackson said it was the wrong song choice for him and he sang it badly. Abdul was also disappointed with the song choice but said he sang well, nonetheless. She pointed out Young's scar. He said it was from playing basketball when he tripped and fell on a bar that was supposed to hold a tree up, the bar bent down with him and narrowly missed his larynx. Cowell said the performance was not a great vocal and "quite karaoke," and was not impressed.
• Week 4 April 4, 2006: (Country music) "Tonight I Wanna Cry" by Keith Urban
  • Young received mixed reviews for this performance. Abdul said the song was perfect for his range and he sang an adequate rendition of a contemporary country music hit.
• Week 5 April 11, 2006: (Songs by Queen) "We Will Rock You" (Bottom 3) - was one of the bottom 3 contestants, along with Yamin and Covington
  • Young also received mixed reviews. Abdul liked the performance, though she mentioned it was a bit pitchy at times, Jackson thought it was OK, and Cowell did not like it, "I think it was a complete and utter mess. It didn't work—it was all over the place. You were forgetting your words. I mean, it was 'We Will Rock You Gently'. I really, really, really hated that."
• Week 6 April 18, 2006: (Songs from The Great American Songbook) "That's All" by Bobby Darin (Bottom 3, eliminated)
  • Jackson commented that Young stumbled in the middle, but did well overall. Abdul commented how much she liked the "new Ace" and called it "a magical night." Cowell said "it wasn't bad," but while he said the middle was a bit nasally, he called the performance "charming." The following night Young was placed in the "bottom three" with Daughtry and Bennett and was eliminated.

Post-Idol

On April 26, Young performed on Total Request Live as a guest performer where he sang an original song a cappella, called "Don't Go" and will be included in his upcoming album. He has also appeared at the grand opening of The Camden House Of Beverly Hills, an event reserved for rising young stars 30 years old and under. Young was also invited to the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. His debut album is said to release in the fall of 2006.

Discography

Clips

References

External links

Corporate

• Ace Young's American Idol profile
• Ace Young at The Internet Movie Database
• Ace Young at MySpace - promo site courtesy of Fox's americanidol.com with News Corporation
• Ace Young at TV.com

Personal

• Ace Music
• Ace Young at MySpace