Jackie Lee used to be an Idol contestant. He was on S8 (Kris Allen & Adam Lambert's season) when he was 17 yrs. old. His name at the time was Jackie Midkiff. He just missed being a semifinalist. He had to sing-off with another contestant (Idol twist that year) to get a spot. The other contestant got the spot instead of Jackie. He looks much different now.
Here's a video of him on Idol. If you want to skip to 0:40 that's when they start his singing part.
Oh wow I remember that episode but I didn't realize it was him. I remember it because I had liked both of them and wished they had both gone through. Hopefully Jackie doesn't end up where Nathaniel did though.
Here is an article from his local paper not long after he got off Idol.
From The Daily Times in Maryville, TN, Midkiff hopes a bright future will leave ‘Idol’ references in the past:
Quote :
Midkiff hopes a bright future will leave ‘Idol’ references in the past
By Steve Wildsmith
stevew@thedailytimes.com
Originally published: June 24. 2010 12:57PM
Last modified: June 24. 2010 1:11PM
With a little luck, Alcoa teen Jackie Lee Midkiff will soon add “former” in front of his hometown and drop references to his 2009 involvement in “American Idol.”
It’s not that Midkiff, the son of Jack and LaDonna Midkiff and an active leader in his dad’s church (High Praises, on East Broadway Avenue in Maryville), regrets his time spent on the nation’s No. 1 reality show. It’s just that he’s looking ahead to bigger and better things that involve him making a name for himself in entirely new ways.
“I watched the (season) finale of this past season a little bit, but that’s about it,” Midkiff told The Daily Times this week. “It’s just one of those things where I’m ready to move on. It helped me a bunch, but you kind of get sick of it after a while. I’m just so excited about what’s going on right now.”
Much has changed since Midkiff finished in the Top 54 of Season 8 of “American Idol.” Last month, he graduated from Alcoa High School, an accomplishment in itself, considering he juggled educational responsibilities with church duties and a budding singing career that kept him on the road extensively after he left “Idol.”
“I never thought it was going to come,” Midkiff said of graduating high school. “It felt like the slowest process in the world, but then it happened so quick, graduation was on us before we knew it. I always loved high school and the people, but I wanted to get out like everybody else, too. Walking across that stage kind of sealed it, and when I was walking back to my seat, I thought, ‘Life’s about to begin. Let’s hit it full force.”
Of course, Midkiff has been at it full force for a while now. He grew up singing, but for years it was for the benefit of his fellow church members. He wasn’t all that familiar with “American Idol,” but when he was encouraged to try out in 2008, he decided to give it a shot.
Traveling to Louisville, Ky., he knew that the odds were against him. Out of 10,500 people who showed up for tryouts in Louisville, only a dozen, give or take a few, would go on to the next round. His version of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” however, earned him the opportunity to move on and perform for the four judges — Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi. He sang “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts and earned his ticket to Hollywood; the rest, as they say, is history.
Back home in Blount County he started out slowly, making appearances on local television and radio while he concentrated on finishing school. Last fall, he performed at the Foothills Fall Festival, and earlier this year, he and his family began making preparations for life after high school.
“College has always been an option, but I knew what I wanted to do when I got out of high school, and my parents knew that, too,” he said. “I’m really blessed that it’s all getting started right now.”
That start entails a move to Nashville, to be closer to the music industry Midkiff is attempting to become a part of. He’s working with producer and songwriter Carson Chamberlain, whose Music City credits include Billy Currington and Easton Corbin, helping to pick out songs for what will become his debut country album, one he describes as being geared toward a style similar to that of Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban.
“All the songs we’ll do are written by someone else, or by Carson or me, so I can’t say much about the ones he sent me,” Midkiff said. “I can say this — they’re totally me, totally my age and totally who I am. I feel really great about every song he’s sent me so far.”
Chamberlain, along with Midkiff’s father, is also in serious negotiations with Bug Music in Nashville, and a possible agreement could be reached by the end of the month. It seems like enough of a done deal that the Midkiffs spent part of this week in Nashville, meeting with record executives and scouting Music City for an apartment.
“As soon as things get negotiated out and we get the deal settled, I’ll be down here,” he said. “It’ll be just me — Mom and Dad are going to want to be with me as much as they can, and my brother and sister will get to visit as much as they can, but the plan is to move me down here and get started.”
Of course, he’ll return to Blount County frequently, and he’ll remain an active member of High Praises Church. And don’t think that the move means Midkiff will get lonely — fellow Season 8 “Idol” contestant Felicia Barton is a Nashville resident, and the two have been in touch, Midkiff said.
This weekend, Blount County residents have one more opportunity to see Midkiff at a hometown performance before such shows become a rarity. Not that he plans on getting too big for Blount County by any means — he’s too well-grounded, well-raised and altogether humble to do that. But the demands of a professional music career may make such shows few and far between, and Midkiff is enthusiastic to turn such a dream into a reality.
“I’m pretty open and laid back, and I’ve had fun with it up to now, but now it’s getting to the big time,” he said. “I’ll be living full-time in Nashville and coming home on the weekends and taking care of business in both places. It couldn’t be the more perfect storm right now.”
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IF YOU GO
Jackie Lee Midkiff
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 27
WHAT: Benefit concert for Kristen Bryant to help her family purchase a wheelchair-accessible van
WHERE: Club Revelation at High Praises Church, 1601 E. Broadway Ave., Maryville
HOW MUCH: $10 in advance/$12 at the door
CALL: 681-9031
