A pipeline worker from Kamloops, B.C. has become the first Canadian male to earn a golden ticket on American Idol this season.
Cameron Whitcomb, who was 18 when he auditioned last October at the Lakeway Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas, was put through to Hollywood Week on the episode that aired Monday.
“During the summers I’m a Harley-Davidson mechanic and during the winters I pick stuff up and put it down somewhere else for 12 hours a day, six days a week,” Whitcomb told judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. “Pipelining. It’s just crappy labour.”
Whitcomb said he “never had any vocal lessons” (he has since had lessons) and had never performed in front of anyone except family and friends. (He shares videos of himself singing on Instagram and TikTok.)
Whitcomb auditioned with Bruce “Utah” Phillips’s “Rock Salt and Nails,” originally recorded in 1961 by Rosalie Sorrels. It was enough to impress at least two of the judges.
“The tone that you have, if organized, you could be really something amazing,” Richie said. “But you’re not organized yet. You need time to just put it together.” He voted “no” and told Whitcomb to “work on it.”
Perry was willing to give Whitcomb a chance. “I think there’s something there,” she said, before voting in favour of putting him through.
Bryan was hesitant. “I’m not sure you know what you’re doing yet,” he opined. “Like, I’m not sure you know what you’re doing, right? I mean that great… like, I don’t know if you know five songs or 500.”
Bryan gave Whitcomb the second “yes” he needed to earn a golden ticket. “I just like you for some reason,” he said.
How far Whitcomb made it is a secret for now. Hollywood Week episodes were taped in November and 24 contestants advanced to compete at the Aulani Disney Resort in Hawaii last month. A dozen finalists will take part in the live shows, which begin in April.
A review of Whitcomb’s social media reveals he’s a fan of country music (especially Tyler Childer) but also seems to like Black Sabbath (he performed the band’s 1972 track “Changes” in a 2020 clip and did a spot-on impression of Ozzy Osbourne in another).
Whitcomb plays drums and started learning to play guitar last November.
Earlier this season, Toronto’s Nicolina Bozzo earned a golden ticket on Idol after auditioning with Sara Bareilles’ 2015 song “She Used to Be Mine.” Toronto-born Leah Marlene, whose father is Honeymoon Suite's Derry Grehan, also made it through to Hollywood Week after wowing the judges with a rendtiion of One Direction's "Steal My Girl."
American Idol started allowing Canadians to compete in its 18th season. Ontario's Vivian Hicks and Saveria auditioned – the former earned a golden ticket to Hollywood (but her audition wasn't broadcast) and the latter failed to get one. B.C. singer Lauren Spencer-Smith, currently on the charts with "Fingers Crossed," became the first Canadian to make it to the Top 20 of Idol. She was eliminated in the first viewers-voted round.
Toronto’s Heather Russell earned a golden ticket in last year’s Season 19, as did Ontario-raised Lorand Kis, but neither made it past Hollywood week.
This article has been updated since it was first published.