A Massapequa Park teenager took the “American Idol” judges by storm with his performance on the show’s latest season.
Jesse Findling was 19 when he first auditioned for the show, before turning 20 this past November. Through his performance, he won a Golden Ticket to Hollywood Week, which was featured on the Monday, Jan. 26, premiere of “American Idol’s” 24th season.
Findling revealed to the judges that singing is more than just a passion; it is also a way for him to cope with the stutter he has had for most of his life.
“If you haven’t noticed, I have a stutter and that’s really where my love for singing came,” Findling said to the ABC show’s judges. “I’ve had a stutter ever since I was little and it’s something that I’ve struggled with since elementary school. It was something embarrassing for me and it’s something that I had a really hard time with.”
Findling said that his stutter made him “feel alone” at times when he was growing up, but that he worked through those negative feelings with singing.
“When I sing, I don’t stutter,” he said. “It was a way for me to express myself in a way where I didn’t have to worry about what people think or if somebody would laugh.”
Findling sang Benson Boone’s “In the Stars” during his audition, receiving a standing ovation from the show’s star judges.
“I don’t think I blinked one time,” Luke Bryan said. “You’re a real singer. I’m really proud of you.”
Carrie Underwood said she thought Findling could go far in the competition
“You were in the song emotionally. You just took us right there with you. It was beautiful,” she said.
“You don’t have a problem. The only thing wrong with you is you have to figure out how you’re going to navigate this career,” Lionel Richie said.
Besides being a praised singer, Findling is a 2023 Massapequa High School graduate and current Binghamton University student, pursuing a degree in biology.
No Long Island native has ever won an American Idol season.
