April 21, 2012 
When I watch this video, it absolutely blows my mind that DeAndre Brackensick
was voted off American Idol Season 11 during the Top 8 Results show.
You really have to laugh or else you cry. This guy is so loaded with talent he puts current superstars to shame with their auto-tune, lip-synching approach to the art of performing.
In this video, he reveals every glorious element in his vocal gift. His free, ringing counter-tenor range glistens with a rich purity that is very unusual to hear in a male singer.
In fact, the most renowned classical counter-tenors are a very elite group of artists and, should DeAndre decide to move into this genre, he would enjoy major international success. But, that’s another blog topic.
And, how I love the occasional dip into his lower range when he sings the words “when you ARE blue” at the 1:11 – 1:12 mark. Listen to the clarity of that lower range – that head voice is still there, lightening and focusing his sound with perfect pitch.
And then, there is the performing aspect. DeAndre embodies the joy and passion of a gifted musician. He doesn’t have to think when he sings – he just lives and breathes the music, the phrases ebbing and flowing with musical ease and artistry.
Honestly, what a gift he is to all of us. At least American Idol can take credit for that. Without this show, we would not have had the opportunity to hear this young artist.
And – trust me – we are going to hear a great deal from DeAndre in the years ahead. His talent is unstoppable.
Special thanks to MCL reader, Aubry, for making me aware of this video. MCL readers rock!
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MCL, I so love I’m your puppet. I listen to it daily. The resonance and ringing quality are so beautiful to my ears. Counter Tenor I need to look that up.
You may also appreciate this performance
Turn the Lights down low. Also one of my favs of DeAndre.
It is a shame that Dre did not last longer on Ai because I long for more music from him. Hopeful some big record exec isn’t a nucklehead like Lovine is.
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MCL It please me that someone as educated in voice as you are also feels DeAndre is special.
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Thanks again Aubry. I am always happy to support and promote a great talent like DeAndre. Thanks for the new link. My bedtime lullaby. 🙂
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You should hear Ms. Celie’s Blues- his cover blows my mind! And of course his hawaiian singing. Right after he sang Reasons, I immediately looked up all of his covers and was hooked.
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And how do we get america to see what they missed? His fans already know about everything- if only more of the american idol audience had looked up his youtube covers… thank you again for your posts about deandre!
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LJ I haven’t found Ms. Celie’s Blues. I would love to hear it. Dre’s This Women’s Work as sung at 15 blew my mind. I keep hoping for a full version of that to suface now that he is 17. I so wanted DeAndre to sing Over The Rainbow like Izz.
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LJ – we just have to keep promoting and promoting and promoting and…. Well, you get my drift. If you can get a hand on Ms. Celies Blues, please send it my way. 🙂
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LC the idol tour will show America what they missed. Dre will get 2-3 songs minimum. The reviews will be read by labels and music execs.
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This blew my mind away.
What’s amazing to me too, is how he can make his voice go from silky smooth to raspy instantly. Haley Reinhart did that with her voice a lot last season too.
But Miss Celie’s Blues…better than anything we’ve heard on idol. This season
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Thank you Lynn. Two bedtime lullabies thanks to you and Aubry. 🙂
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I was wondering what DeAndre’s actual voice type is? My first thought would be tenor, but at times he sounds like a baritone because he can go really, really low when he wants to, even his speaking voice can be really low. And other times he sounds like a counter tenor because his falsetto is so pure and can go so very high…
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It’s fascinating to hear Deandre acappella on his own. He sounds better than he did on the show. I am grateful that Idol gave this young man a showcase. I always thought that he never had the chance to really show what he can do vocally. These videos show us all of the potential. He is relaxed and in his element and having a great time singing. So nice to see!
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I absolutely LOVE Ms. Celie’s Blues. I hope he gets a recording contract with someone. American really messed up with this one!!!
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Louise – this is the mess-up of the century. I have never seem such blatant sabotage of such an enormous talent like what DeAndre experienced. His talent is one of a kind. They should be embarrassed.
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Lynn, that is amazing. I have never heard that song before. WOW is all I can say about Deandre’s performance. It is truly a shame america did not get to hear all the colors of DeAndre’s Voice. We need to stay positive and just share Dre’s talent with others the best we can. Start a grassroots movement of support and then watch as the tour has Dre finally acknowledged as a great singer and performer. I for 1 truly believe that with all my heart. Dre’s talent is too special and too massive to be ignored. Not many vocalists can do what Dre does in these youtubes.
MCL why do you think that Idol sabotaged Dre as they did?
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Well, now I’m definitely a fan – glorious souful a capella singing. America really did blow it. But it’s not the first time & I suspect it won’t be the last.
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Oh that’s easy.
Did you watch what Haley Reinhart did last season? She came into the show, full of potential and with a dynamic stage presence. But the show expected her to be fodder because she seemed young and inconsistent and she didn’t get much airtime prior to the live shows.
Then she had her Bennie momement, and then Rolling in the Deep went Viral..and suddenly she was getting the second highest amount of votes every week. (behind Scotty)
She wasn’t supposed to do that. She was suppposed to be a spring board for Pia (and then later Casey) to get into the top. And more importantly, she was never supposed to get more votes than Lauren. (Which I’m almost positive was happening. And it took a Tornado in Lauren’s town, the extreme death song that is “You Oughta Know” and subtle bashing from Jlo to finally get rid of Haley. It’s was brilliantly done bussing after the fails of the previous weeks.)
The point, because this dynamic incredibly talented performer got herself some momentum, she overtook the show. Nigel and company lost control of their show (very important for them) and no matter what they did, they couldn’t stop it. Week after week, ONLY Haley would be criticized.
Nigel wasn’t going to let that happen again. Doesn’t this season seem more “manufactured.” They learned from previous seasons. You can’t get rid of people with judging. (And LOL at getting JLo or Steven to criticize DeAndre. It wasn’t going to happen. Jennifer got a lot of credit for being a DeAndre fan, but Steven adored him too. If you watch the after video of DeAndre where he’s talking to the judges Steven could barely say anything to him. All he could do was repeatedly hug him. There’s no doubt in my mind that the producers told them not to use the save, but if Randy had said “okay” Steven would have saved him.)
What they did instead, was sabotage his song choices. (Giving him Endless Love, Only the Good Die Young.) And letting him make his own mistakes. (Reasons, Sometimes I Cry, I Like It) …and paying close attention to performance order. (They tried to get rid of Scotty that way last season, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Because, Scotty – along with Haley – was also the unstoppable train. It was just that the producers knew there was nothing they could do about it, and packaging Lauren with Scotty would be easy. ) Where Dre was in the first part of the show every episode except top 13.
Why? He beat Joshua top 13 week. He had the elements available that Haley had. The dynamic stage presence, the musicality, the TALENT. If he ever picked the right song and performed later in the show the people splitting votes between Joshua and Dre, would have automatically switched to Dre. And that’s a problem, because Dre wasn’t only getting the “RnB/soul” votes, he was also getting the Philip/Colton “cute guy with instrument” votes. Meaning, he’d start taking theirs too.
The reason why they pimp Joshua to high heaven is because they know Jessica can beat him. Jessica can’t beat Skylar (which is okay, they’ll take Skyler.) And she can’t beat PP. She wouldn’t have been able to beat DeAndre. And actually, the reason Hollie has been “bussed’ as much as she has, is because people actually tend to like Hollie better, even though Jessica’s performed better.
It’s just all a game. They learned last year that things can get out of control, and they weren’t going to let that happen this season. DeAndre (followed by Hollie) was the biggest threat to the top people. So they never let those two get any sort of momentum.
(sorry for the long post. I’ve just been watching idol for so long, I know this game.)
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Lynn – you have summarized the Idol game perfectly. Now we all understand why people like DeAndre are bussed so early in the game. This show is all about money and they use these talented young people in a shameless and unforgivable manner. Despicable.
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Well for me (for you) I love love love love Deandre’s voice, but there’s a certain disconnect with someone his age singing the kind of music he wants to sing. I can’t wait until he’s about 20 and the believeability factor comes into play.
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DeAndre … Wow!! What a l talent. (Thanks MCL for the videos). He was one the top male singers on my chart. I’ve never changed any of the singers talents ratings on “This years winners is” once they got to the top 24 (that was the plan) because I knew they were going to have off days and have to sing songs that just weren’t their style. But when I heard DeAndre sing “Reasons” I was tempted to break my rules and shoot him from 8 to a 9. It was awesome!! His talent was extraordinary but I’d be lieing if I said I was totally surprised he was “bussed” as you guys say., because as I’ve said many times, the overall Idol audiences are just not strong on R&B’rs any more.
It seems to me after Season 4, with Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice at the top, a whole new viewing audience started becoming a part of the Idol Audience and couple years later it just seemed like all they wanted was country and rockers. Some other styles made it but R&B’s started taking a back seat. I’m a big R&B’r and one of my favorite Idols was Elliot Yamin and when he didn’t win I knew things were changing. Carrie and Bo were also versatile (especially Carrie), and when the country fans started seeing there is a chance for country on this show they started pouring in their votes. Bo like Phil, could do that as well as rock.
I think if DeAndre could have shown some other sides where he could use that talent, I think he would have gone much further, because then you start appealing to larger audiences, like Carrie and Bo did. Do I think DeAndre has a career in the business? Absoluetly! Will he ever be as big as someone like Carrie? Probably not. There are a lot of singers who are great and have been in this business for years that are not as big as Carrie (LOL). But even with that, she’s not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t spend my money on a Carrie Underwood CD. She’s a great singer, but I’m not into that. But DeAndre …. I’d probably would buy everyone that came out, just like I did the other R&B Idol CD’s because thats my kind of music ,
We all have different preferences. I hear a lot of here about David Archeletta. He was absolutely one of the best singers that I think the Idol stage will ever see, but I wouldn’t buy that CD unless it was “David Sings R&B” and truthfully, I can’t even imagine doing that. Its has nothing to with his singing …he’s got it, but it’s just not my preference. And I thinks thats what went on with DeAndre. You cannot the deny the talent. Its just doesn’t appeal to the the overall Idol audience. Its not their preference. If they were big fans of that style, He’d be there.
It works for me though and I think if I had to choose between DeAndre and Joshua (while I like them both and gave then both 8’s), for me DeAndre wins, hands down.
His voice is so mellow. But on another note, if I had to choose between going to a concert between the two, I’d go to Joshua’s. DeAndre is pleasant to the ears. Joshua is exciting but he’d still have to “butch it up” for me
I’ve predicted Phil and Skyler to be in the Top 5, because I think the over Idol audiences love them. Neither, in my opinion are the best singers on stage to me.
I wouldn’t buy their records OR attend their concerts buy I clearly understand why they’re there and DeAndre isn’t, but if that guy does a CD, It’ll definitely be in my car.
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Thanks Emily and BrotherKarl. I am trying to “up” the publicity train for DeAndre. He has a considerable fan base – more than people would think given his journey on Idol and it will only become larger with time. He is so talented!
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BrotherKarl-I certainly won’t hesitate to buy DeAndre’s album someday either. I bought his studio versions of I Like It, Master Blaster, and Sometimes I Cry. They are all just as amazing as his performances were on Idol. It blows my mind That DeAndre is only 17 years old! I think he’s the only 17 year old guy I’ve seen on that show who’s got anywhere near the amount of vocal talent that David Archuleta has. I’m thankful that David didn’t have to endure the cruelty that DeAndre did. I believe David’s definately more talented, but DeAndre is incredible in his own right. By the way, David loves R&B music also, and even recorded a song called Rainbow which is on his Forevermore album he recorded in the Philippines. He sounds so awesome. Talk about being able to sing the phonebook! David certainly can!
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Anita
I agree they are two of the most talented kids I’ve seen on the show but I wouldn’t compare them at all. Its like comparing Jackie Evonco(?) to Beyonce. They are both good but they’re two totally different stlyes. Jackie to me is the most talented young lady I have ever heard (and I did buy those CDs), I’d probably put David right there under her, but DeAndre is a whole other category. His runs are incredible. Davids very talented but I don’t think he could do runs like that.
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BrotherKarl and Anita. Let me settle this. David is an incredibly talented pop/R&B tenor. DeAndre is an incredibly talented pop/R&B counter-tenor. Both are phenomenal.
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brotherkarl-You’re right. It’s hard to compare the two of them. The thing with David though is that he can sing almost any style of music, and we fans don’t really like to call him a Pop singer because of this. I agree with you that DeAndre’s runs are out of this world! For Jimmy and the AI producers to just throw him away like that is beyond despicable! I have to disagree with you about Jackie. Yes, she is incredible, but I don’t think she’s better than David.
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Absolutely!! Two of the most talented young men I have ever seen on Idol
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Rosanne-AMEN!! They certainly are!
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brotherkarl-I’m sorry! I’ll stop talking about David now! Once I start, it’s hard for me to stop, LOL! After 4 years, I’ve got a special place in my heart for that young man! Have a good night, Karl!
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Anita – not to worry. We all hold David close to our hearts. Have a good night! 🙂
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Rosanne-Awww! Thanks! You have a good night too!!
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I’m right with you all. What an I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E talent!!
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I agree, he is very talented.
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Just so everyone knows, this article was per-scheduled for publication. Still recuperating from the flu.
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