|
ਗੁਰਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਰੀਨ, ਅਮਰੀਕਨ
ਆਈਡਲ (American Idol)
ਤੋਂ ਬਾਹਰ
Gurpreet Singh Sarin, Maryland college
student, ends triumphant run as first Sikh on ‘American Idol’
Source:
Washington Post
 Gurpreet
Singh Sarin sure got the raised-eyebrow treatment when he first walked
in front of an “American Idol” camera — the whole hmmm, doesn’t look
like a pop star! set-up that reality TV producers love to give quirky
contenders like Clay Aiken or Susan Boyle.
But it turned out they could sing, of course — and so, too, can Singh
Sarin, who this week narrowly missed a spot in the finals of this
season’s hit TV singing competition. With his long beard and colorful
turbans, the 22-year-old from North Potomac, Md., was one of “Idol’s”
most memorable non-finalists — and as the first Sikh contestant in the
show’s 12-year run, a major rallying point for Sikh-American fans.
“You are a winner!” read a typical tweet aimed his way today. “You
opened doors for Sikhs, and showed the world how amazing our people
are!” Another Indian-America wroter: “A little kid pointed at me and
said that looks like the guy from American Idol last night. [Gurpreet],
you have made a difference.”
While some sensitive viewers may have winced at first at “Idol’s” jokes
about “The Turbanator,” the nickname was one that Singh Sarin claimed
for himself, and he welcomed the curiosity his appearance drew.
“I knew that my uniqueness would catch the producers’ eye, but I wasn’t
sure how much of an impact that would make,” he told us Friday. ”The
opportunity to show my culture and my religion has been amazing.”
Singh Sarin performs in Las Vegas this week, in the “sudden death round”
elimination that aired Thursday. (Michael Becker /Fox)
A
Wootton High School grad, Singh Sarin spent his first three years of
college majoring in computer and information science at the University
of Maryland Baltimore County but took a semester off for a Department of
Defense internship around the time he attended one of “Idol’s” cattle
call auditions in Newark last summer. Judges were pleasantly surprised
by what his husky light tenor could do to Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” —
but were on the fence until he charmed Nicki Minaj by noting he owned a
marigold turban that would match her hair color of the moment. After the
cutthroat Hollywood auditions, he easily ascended to the top 40.
Alas, that’s as far as it went: On Wednesday night in Vegas (for the
episode that aired Thursday), the judges felt he’d made the wrong choice
with his take on James Morrison’s “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You.”
Singh Sarin admits he was surprised to be eliminated. “As you get past
one or two steps, you get closer to the prize, it’s harder to see
yourself leaving so soon,” he said via phone while beginning his trip
back east. “I really got to bond with the other contestants and the
producers.”
What’s next? He’ll finish his degree in May via University of Maryland
University College’s online program, but for a guy who only began his
public singing career a year ago — entertaining the lunch crowd at the
Potbelly in Gaitherburg’s Rio Center — this sudden blast of fame has him
wondering if he should pursue more than just computer science.
“My experience on ‘American Idol’ has definitely opened a portal,” he
said. “I want to see what I can do with singing.”
|
